Born in London in 1950, Rhett Davies' father Ray Davies (not to be confused with the same-named Kinks member) was one of the U.K.'s top trumpet players and mentored his son on the instrument. Young Rhett also listened to the family record collection, which included releases from Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker, and Burt Bacharach. He once met the composer at a session for the movie soundtrack to #What's New Pussycat.

After doing some hitchhiking and opening a record shop, Davies became a recording studio intern/engineer at Island Studios. His first full session was on Brian Eno's 1973 LP, Taking Tiger Mountain (by Strategy). An appreciative Eno granted Davies a royalty on that album and his subsequent innovative releases with Davies. The two pioneered the "playing the studio like an instrument" concept: tape loops in pop music and using a rhythm box to lay down the beat during basic recording, then adding a live drummer later.

In 1990, Ray Davies left the music business to pursue other business interests, while still privately creating music.

Some Rhett Davies-related CDs are As Time Goes By, Mamouna by Bryan Ferry, More Than This: The Best of Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music, Popular Favorites 1984-1992: Sand In the Vaseline, More Songs About Buildings and Food by Talking Heads, Time Capsule: Greatest Hits by the B-52's, Ambient 1: Music for Airports, Another Green World, Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy), Before After Science, Music for Films by Brian Eno, Dire Straits by Dire Straits, Selling England By the Pound by Genesis, Avalon by Roxy Music, Legend [1985], Natural History: The Very Best of Talk Talk, Discipline, Beat, The Compact King-King Crimson, the movie soundtrack to #9 1/2 Weeks, Welcome Home, Everything's Different Now, Coming Up Close: A Retrospective by 'Til Tuesday, Sneakin' Sally Through The Alley by Robert Palmer, and the second TV soundtrack volume Miami Vice II. ~ Ed Hogan, Rovi