Lyle Joseph Ritz was an American double bassist, electric bassist, and ukulele player. Born on January 10, 1930 in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, he began his music career as a college student working at the Southern California Music Company in Los Angeles, California, where he demonstrated instruments including the ukulele. His debut commercial album, How About Uke?, was released by Verve Records in 1957, followed by 50th State Jazz in 1959. To support himself, he transitioned to session work on the bass guitar with the Wrecking Crew, contributing to thousands of recordings, including pop hits such as “A Taste of Honey” by Herb Alpert, “You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'” by the Righteous Brothers, and “God Only Knows” by the Beach Boys. In the mid-1980s, he returned to the ukulele, releasing albums including Time (1988) and No Frills (2006). He was inducted into both the Ukulele Hall of Fame Museum and the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2007. He died on March 3, 2017 in Portland, Oregon.
