Phil Brown, bassist and founding member of The Records -- and if you don't know who they are and love them to distraction I'm surprised you're reading this particular blog -- has passed away after a long illness.
Very sad news indeed; that's all I'm gonna say.
Except, obviously -- play this loud in his honor. It doesn't get any better.
8 comments:
Sad, good band The Records were. Caught them at The Bottom Line in 1979. When I worked at the record store on Carmine Street Huw Gower came in all the time, he lived on Bedford Street, around the corner. A good guy and a good guitarist. Boy, they're dropping like flies.
I saw them at the Bottom Line and then fairly soon there after at one of those rock disco places like Danceteria, although I think it was a different place, uptown.
They were fucking brilliant both times; I remember thinking that in a better world, they would have been working as John Lennon's backing band instead of those session jerks on Double Fantasy.
Or the loopy and hairy Elephant's Memory a while earlier. At least Cheap Trick got in on I'm Losing You, if memory serves.
damn - I always loves these guys and both the Virgin American Albums. "Hearts In Her Eyes" should have been a hit for SOMEONE fer cryin' out loud.
Two of the best purchases of my life were the two Records LPs, right out of the cutout bin of J&R Music on Park Row. They set so many bars so impossibly high, for songwriting, harmonizing, guitar textures.
All these years, I thought that lead line was played on a 12-string. I'm sure that's what they wanted us to think.
AP
They are dropping like flies.
I've never been more aware of my mortality.
I completely missed the Records.
From '79-81 I was a punk in LA going out to see X, The Germs, Minutemen, Black Flag, The Plugz, Fear, The Weirdos, Top Jimmy, The Cramps, Circle Jerks, Social Distortion, The Mentors, Angry Samoans, Wall Of Voodoo, Geza X, etc, while playing bass in King James and the Bible Burners.
Power Pop was not an option, it's what you threw shit at.
It was fun for awhile, but then I moved on.
Starry Eyes is one of my all time top 10 songs. Will be missed - RIP Paul
Strange. After not listening to the Records in decades, I typed "Starry Eyes" into the YouTube search engine to see what would turn up.
Lo and behold, I found a live performance video where Phil was playing my old Rickenbacker bass (the one in the photo above). I sold it to him in London circa 1976 or '77, and had always presumed he'd used it on 'Starry Eyes.' I'd replaced the original Rickenbacker pickups with Hofner pickups, which gave the instrument a powerful, very distinctive sound -- the main reason that he'd bought it from me. I'm glad that he put it to such good use.
We didn't know each other extremely well all those years ago. But he was a decent, very likeable guy. And an excellent musician. I'm very sorry to hear that he's gone.
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