Ralph Carney, versatile longtime SF musician who worked with top names, dies

Ralph Carney sits in with the Kronos Quartet. Ralph Carney sits in with the Kronos Quartet. Photo: Courtesy Of The Artist Photo: Courtesy Of The Artist Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Ralph Carney, versatile longtime SF musician who worked with top names, dies 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Ralph Carney, a versatile musician and longtime San Franciscan who had a long career as a much-sought-after sideman working with everyone from Tom Waits and Allen Ginsberg to Elvis Costello and the B-52’s, died Sunday at a hospital in Portland, Ore. He was 61.

His death was confirmed by his nephew, Patrick Carney of the band the Black Keys. Ralph Carney died after an accident at home.

“I hope everybody is lucky enough to have someone as special as Ralph in their lives at some point,” Patrick Carney said via Twitter. “He taught me so much. ... He sat me down at 15 and made me listen to the Shaggs. We all need an uncle like that.”

Carney, with his familiar mutton-chop sideburns and colorful attire, became a fixture on the Bay Area music scene after coming to San Francisco in 1989 from his native Akron, Ohio.

Having gotten his start in the punk band Tin Huey, he was determined to stay an independent agent, playing local clubs with various outfits, while recording and touring with national acts.

His signature horn blasts can be heard on the Waitresses’ new wave staple “I Know What Boys Like,” while his work is woven through the B-52’s early albums (1982’s “Mesopotamia,” 1983’s “Whammy”) and Waits’ classic albums such as 1985’s “Rain Dogs,” 1992’s “Bone Machine” and 1993’s “The Black Rider.”

“Ralph’s great,” Waits said on Carney’s official website, www.akroncracker.com. “He’s guided by some other source of information. He’s like a broken toy that works better than before it was broken.”

While his primary instruments were the saxophone and clarinet, Carney was also a dedicated collector and master of other instruments, such as a slide clarinet made of parts from a hardware store, the electric saz from Turkey and a monochord from Vietnam.

Carney took an equally eclectic approach to the bands he worked with, often making them up for the occasion, such as the Hula-Gins, the Oranj Symphonette, CarneyBallJohnson and, most recently, Ralph Carney’s Serious Jass Project.

With his ability to slip comfortably into any genre, Carney contributed to recorded projects by performers as disparate as alt-country rockers Grant Lee Buffalo and late literary giants such as William S. Burroughs and Ginsberg.

Before he left the Bay Area for Portland in 2015, Carney worked out of a crammed studio in the basement of his Bernal Heights home.

His last projects there included a classical piece inspired by the Charleston, S.C., church massacre, “Lament for Charleston,” which he performed with the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet; the saxophone sample for St. Vincent’s 2014 single, “Digital Witness”; and the soundtrack for the animated Netflix series “BoJack Horseman,” which he co-wrote with his nephew.

“Ralph was one of a kind — absolutely brilliant,” said singer-songwriter Grant-Lee Phillips, with whom Carney worked on his group Grant Lee Buffalo’s 1996 album, “Copperopolis,” on Twitter. “Grant Lee Buffalo were fortunate to work with him, witness his genius in the studio; and it will forever remain a treasured memory.”

Carney released seven solo albums, including his most recent, 2012’s “Secret Language,” with multi-instrumentalist David Coulter.

Besides Patrick Carney, Ralph Carney is survived by his significant other, Megan Hinchliffe; ex-wife, Deena Zacharin; daughter, Hedda; brother, James Carney, and his wife, Katie; and nephews, William Carney and Michael Carney.

Aidin Vaziri is The San Francisco Chronicle’s pop music critic. E-mail: avaziri@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MusicSF