Timothy B. Schmit

Timothy B. Schmit
Derek Russell · CC BY-SA 2.0 · source
Name	Timothy B. Schmit
Caption	Schmit in 2010
Birth name	Timothy Bruce Schmit
Birth date	30 October 1947
Birth place	San Francisco, California
Genres	Country rock, Rock, Folk rock
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter, bassist
Years active	1960s–present
Associated acts	Poco, Eagles, Ricotta Moon, Timothy B. Schmit Band

Timothy B. Schmit is an American bassist and singer-songwriter known for his high-register harmony vocals and tenure with the country rock band Poco and the rock band Eagles. He sang lead on the Eagles' hit singles "I Can't Tell You Why" and "Love Will Keep Us Alive" and has maintained a solo career while collaborating with artists across Los Angeles, Nashville, and international recording scenes. Schmit's work links the country rock lineage of the late 1960s with mainstream rock and adult contemporary success in the 1970s–1990s.

Early life and education

Schmit was born in San Francisco and raised in the Bay Area suburbs of Eden and Treated Creek (regional communities), where he attended local schools and absorbed the postwar California music culture influenced by performers appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show, American Bandstand, and regional radio stations. His teenage years coincided with the folk revival around Greenwich Village influences transmitted through West Coast venues and record shops that stocked releases by Bob Dylan, The Byrds, and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Although he did not pursue formal conservatory training, Schmit developed practical musicianship through local ensembles, community performances at venues similar to Fillmore West, and mentorships with established session musicians moving between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Musical beginnings and early career

Schmit's first professional engagements were with Bay Area groups that performed a repertoire bridging rockabilly-tinged country and electric folk, sharing bills with acts associated with labels such as Elektra Records and Reprise Records. Early collaborators and influences included musicians who had worked with Buffalo Springfield, Neil Young, and Stephen Stills, and he built a reputation that drew the attention of members of the rising country rock community centered around Los Angeles. Session work placed him in studios frequented by personnel connected to Asylum Records and producers who had worked with Linda Ronstadt and Jackson Browne.

Poco and country rock contributions

Schmit joined Poco in 1969 as a replacement for bassist Randy Meisner, contributing to the band's development of a genre synthesis combining country music instrumentation with rock music rhythms. During his tenure with Poco he performed alongside founding members like Richie Furay and Rusty Young and contributed to albums released on labels associated with producers who had collaborated with George Martin-era acts. Poco's touring and recording connected Schmit with contemporaries including The Flying Burrito Brothers, The Byrds, and early Grateful Dead scenes, helping to codify the country rock sound that influenced later acts such as Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, and Jackson Browne.

Joining and work with the Eagles

In 1977 Schmit joined Eagles as the replacement for Randy Meisner, entering a lineup that featured Don Henley, Glenn Frey, and Joe Walsh. He provided bass and harmony vocals on landmark recordings and sang lead on singles including "I Can't Tell You Why" (from the album The Long Run) and later "Love Will Keep Us Alive" (on Hell Freezes Over), both of which reached adult contemporary and mainstream charts associated with Billboard rankings. Schmit participated in the band's tours and high-profile performances shared with artists such as Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and venues including Madison Square Garden and Wembley Stadium. His tenure spanned the band's late-1970s studio output, the 1980s hiatus, and the 1990s reunion, linking him to producers, engineers, and arrangers who had worked with Glyn Johns, Bill Szymczyk, and other rock producers.

Solo career and collaborations

As a solo artist Schmit released albums produced with collaborators from the Los Angeles and Nashville scenes, working with musicians associated with Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, and session networks that included members of Little Feat and The Doobie Brothers. His solo discography features songwriting partnerships and guest appearances by artists such as Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Joe Walsh, Bruce Springsteen-era contributors, and Nashville session players who performed on records by Emmylou Harris and Randy Travis. Schmit has also contributed backing vocals and bass to recordings by Eddie Vedder, Bruce Hornsby, Alison Krauss, and others, and he toured in support of his solo work while appearing at benefit concerts alongside performers from Farm Aid and similar charity events.

Musical style and influences

Schmit's bass playing emphasizes melodic counterpoint, a trait shared with bassists from the 1960s and 1970s studio scene, and his high, clear tenor harmony reflects vocal approaches used by groups such as The Beach Boys, CSNY, and The Beatles. His songwriting melds country-inflected chordal structures with pop arrangements influenced by producers and arrangers who worked with Phil Spector-era personnel and contemporary adult contemporary stylists. Influences cited in interviews and collaborative credits include Gram Parsons-linked artists, Neil Young, and California contemporaries like Jackson Browne and Linda Ronstadt; his work shows affinities with the catalogues of Poco, Eagles, and the broader country rock tradition.

Personal life and legacy

Schmit has maintained a private family life while residing part-time between Los Angeles and rural locations tied to touring schedules, and he has been involved in philanthropic endeavors connected to music-industry benefit concerts and conservation efforts often supported by peers like Joni Mitchell and Neil Young. His legacy rests in contributions to the harmonies and bass lines that defined hits by Eagles and Poco, influencing later bassists and harmony singers in country rock, adult contemporary, and classic rock radio formats. Musicians, historians, and archival projects dedicated to the late-20th-century American popular music scene frequently cite Schmit's recordings alongside those of Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Randy Meisner, and contemporaries as emblematic of a cross-genre California sound.

Category:1947 births Category:American bass guitarists Category:American male singers Category:Country rock musicians Category:Eagles (band) members