The Smiley Smile Message Board
Welcome,
Guest
. Please
login
or
register
.
1 Hour
1 Day
1 Week
1 Month
Forever
Login with username, password and session length
If you like this message board, please help with the hosting costs!
681076
Posts in
27629
Topics by
4067
Members - Latest Member:
Dae Lims
May 21, 2024, 02:39:30 PM
The Smiley Smile Message Board
|
Non Smiley Smile Stuff
|
General Music Discussion
|
The Left Banke's Michael Brown, 1949-2015
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
« previous
next »
Pages:
[
1
]
Author
Topic: The Left Banke's Michael Brown, 1949-2015 (Read 3089 times)
rn57
Smiley Smile Associate
Offline
Posts: 918
The Left Banke's Michael Brown, 1949-2015
«
on:
March 19, 2015, 05:34:20 PM »
Tom Finn, onetime bassist of The Left Banke, just posted on his Facebook page that the band's leader in its heyday, Michael Brown, has died. No more word than that. But it's stunning.
Those familiar with the LB's career know that Brown was often compared to Brian, both as a songwriter and in terms of reclusiveness/eccentricity. He leaves a legacy much less extensive than Brian's - though one wonders what will become of the hundreds of songs he is said to have written and recorded over the last 40 years in private - but nonetheless his best work is immortal. Simple as that. RIP.
Logged
Michael Edward Osbourne
Smiley Smile Associate
Offline
Posts: 666
My name is Lovecifer. Please take my hand. \m/
Re: The Left Banke's Michael Brown, 1949-2015
«
Reply #1 on:
March 19, 2015, 05:36:36 PM »
Love their tunes. RIP Michael Brown
Logged
rn57
Smiley Smile Associate
Offline
Posts: 918
Re: The Left Banke's Michael Brown, 1949-2015
«
Reply #2 on:
March 19, 2015, 06:29:04 PM »
First obit I've seen, with a photo of Michael Brown at the age he wrote Walk Away Renee, which was sixteen. Yes, sixteen.
http://www.oregonlive.com/music/index.ssf/2015/03/michael_brown_the_left_banke_death.html
Logged
rn57
Smiley Smile Associate
Offline
Posts: 918
Re: The Left Banke's Michael Brown, 1949-2015
«
Reply #3 on:
March 20, 2015, 08:56:45 AM »
Well, so far Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and the rest of 'em have taken no notice of Michael Brown's passing but Bob Stanley has posted this pretty well-written tribute over in Blighty:
http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2015/mar/20/michael-brown-left-banke-died-fragile-talent
Logged
rn57
Smiley Smile Associate
Offline
Posts: 918
Left Banke on the road with The Beach Boys Feb '67
«
Reply #4 on:
March 20, 2015, 09:40:00 AM »
Although it doesn't seem to have been mentioned on the board before, the late Michael Brown once did a string of dates with the BBs - in Feb '67, playing Florida, Peoria, Dayton and Detroit, as listed in Badman's book. This would have been with the "classic" Left Banke lineup - him, Steve Martin Caro, Tom Finn, George Cameron, and I think Rick Brand. The other acts on the bill were the Electric Prunes, ? and the Mysterians, and Keith aka James Barry Keefer who was hot with 98.6 at the time.
(Funny thing, looking this up on Wiki - I never knew that Keith wound up being a backing singer on one of Zappa's tours in '74 and even recorded a few singles for the DiscReet label then.)
It was during that tour that Brown was reminded that Brian stayed in LA and made the records rather than touring, and decided he should do that himself. Which, in turn, led to the temporary fragmentation of his band when he decided to work with Bert Sommer while the other guys were still touring.
«
Last Edit: March 20, 2015, 09:41:01 AM by rn57
»
Logged
SMiLE-addict
Smiley Smile Associate
Online
Gender:
Posts: 888
Re: The Left Banke's Michael Brown, 1949-2015
«
Reply #5 on:
March 20, 2015, 06:56:20 PM »
Oh no how sad, didn't hear about this one until now.
Logged
rn57
Smiley Smile Associate
Offline
Posts: 918
Coverage of the passing of The Left Banke's Michael Brown
«
Reply #6 on:
March 26, 2015, 09:36:17 AM »
It's been pretty scanty - Mike's own hometown rag The New York Times simply ran a short obit from the Associated Press. But then again the Vienna papers gave Mozart's death next to no ink in the day so he's in fine company.
But there were some things worth linking to.
http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2015/mar/20/michael-brown-left-banke-died-fragile-talent
-tribute by Bob Stanley of Belle and Sebastian
http://www.northjersey.com/arts-and-entertainment/celebrities/walk-away-renee-collaborator-dies-1.1293283
-obit from the newspaper in Bergen County NJ where he lived his last 25 years, with quotes from his widow
http://www.examiner.com/article/the-left-banke-s-michael-brown-an-appreciation
-good article by the ever-reliable Jim Bessman, with quotes from the only person to wrote in collaboration with Mike AND also Brian, Andy Paley
http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-michael-brown-20150321-story.html
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-rip-michael-brown-left-banke-appreciation-ronstadt-20150320-story.html
-two articles by Randy Lewis of the Los Angeles Times, with quotes from Linda Ronstadt, and the man who brought us the There's Gonna Be A Storm compilation CD, Andrew Sandoval
Mike was interred this morning in the Mt Carmel cemetery in the Ridgewood section of Queens, should you be in the neighborhood sometime and feel like paying your respects. Again RIP.
Logged
the professor
Smiley Smile Associate
Offline
Posts: 982
Re: The Left Banke's Michael Brown, 1949-2015
«
Reply #7 on:
March 26, 2015, 10:19:09 AM »
just walk away renee is potentially the single most powerful and beautiful song about heartache ever written. I found a YouTube video of Michael playing the keyboards with the most recent manifestation of the remainder of the band, but something is wrong about the sound or the arrangement and his part does not seem to go with what the band is playing. I am failing to link to it here because I am on the phone but we should all take a look and see if we can find a legitimate high quality and successful version of him playing that most wonderful song. of course, the magic of the song comes from Martin vocal part which is celestial, haunting, and soul gripping.
Logged
rn57
Smiley Smile Associate
Offline
Posts: 918
Re: The Left Banke's Michael Brown, 1949-2015
«
Reply #8 on:
March 26, 2015, 03:26:51 PM »
Quote from: the professor on March 26, 2015, 10:19:09 AM
just walk away renee is potentially the single most powerful and beautiful song about heartache ever written. I found a YouTube video of Michael playing the keyboards with the most recent manifestation of the remainder of the band, but something is wrong about the sound or the arrangement and his part does not seem to go with what the band is playing. I am failing to link to it here because I am on the phone but we should all take a look and see if we can find a legitimate high quality and successful version of him playing that most wonderful song. of course, the magic of the song comes from Martin vocal part which is celestial, haunting, and soul gripping.
Mike Brown appeared twice with the Left Banke, each time just sitting in on one song. In 2012 he came to a gig at BB King's in NYC and played Pretty Ballerina, locked in all right with the band and singer (Mike Fornatale). The next year he appeared with the Left Banke again, playing Walk Away Renee. That worked less well as noted above - he doesn't sound as if he'd even rehearsed the song with them beforehand.
You won't find any other live version of him playing the song with the band, unless, incredibly, someone shows up with a tape of one of the eight or nine shows he did on the tour in early 1967 where the Banke opened for The Beach Boys. There is what seems to be a TV appearance from 1967 on Youtube, with the recording of the song replacing the clip's original soundtrack - ie, they were probably lip-synching to start with and the sound was muddy. But the keyboardist on that clip doesn't look like Mike - may be the guy who went on the road after he decided to emulate Brian and stay in NY.
Logged
the professor
Smiley Smile Associate
Offline
Posts: 982
Re: The Left Banke's Michael Brown, 1949-2015
«
Reply #9 on:
March 26, 2015, 05:46:29 PM »
Thanks RN. I could not find any live (not lip synced) version from the 60. I would love to hear Caro singing live, then or now. The song is haunting, right from that bizarre first lyric, in media res, about the one-way sign, right up the the pathetic fallacy at the end of the 2nd chorus. The professor lives and dies with this song.
What happened in that video? Not likely that the composer would play the wrong chords. Something goes wrong--can you tell what?
Logged
rn57
Smiley Smile Associate
Offline
Posts: 918
Re: The Left Banke's Michael Brown, 1949-2015
«
Reply #10 on:
March 26, 2015, 07:13:43 PM »
Quote from: the professor on March 26, 2015, 05:46:29 PM
Thanks RN. I could not find any live (not lip synced) version from the 60. I would love to hear Caro singing live, then or now. The song is haunting, right from that bizarre first lyric, in media res, about the one-way sign, right up the the pathetic fallacy at the end of the 2nd chorus. The professor lives and dies with this song.
What happened in that video? Not likely that the composer would play the wrong chords. Something goes wrong--can you tell what?
If we're talking Walk Away Renee with the wrong chords check this out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rms44INc2k
Herman's Hermits did not release this version and it apparently surfaced on a podcast a few years back. Michael Brown seems to have been amused by it because he favorited it at his Youtube.com/leftbankemusic channel.
«
Last Edit: March 26, 2015, 07:19:31 PM by rn57
»
Logged
rn57
Smiley Smile Associate
Offline
Posts: 918
John Cowsill (and family) play Walk Away Renee
«
Reply #11 on:
March 26, 2015, 07:15:40 PM »
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-BjJq_yO-Q
And then there's the above - the Cowsills doing the song live, with Bob on lead (and doing a damn impressive job even if he ain't Steve Martin Caro).
«
Last Edit: March 26, 2015, 07:17:05 PM by rn57
»
Logged
Pages:
[
1
]
Jump to:
Please select a destination:
-----------------------------
Smiley Smile Stuff
-----------------------------
=> BRIAN WILSON Q & A
=> Welcome to the Smiley Smile board
=> General On Topic Discussions
===> Ask The Honored Guests
===> Smiley Smile Reference Threads
=> Smile Sessions Box Set (2011)
=> The Beach Boys Media
=> Concert Reviews
=> Album, Book and Video Reviews And Discussions
===> 1960's Beach Boys Albums
===> 1970's Beach Boys Albums
===> 1980's Beach Boys Albums
===> 1990's Beach Boys Albums
===> 21st Century Beach Boys Albums
===> Brian Wilson Solo Albums
===> Other Solo Albums
===> Produced by or otherwise related to
===> Tribute Albums
===> DVDs and Videos
===> Book Reviews
===> 'Rank the Tracks'
===> Polls
-----------------------------
Non Smiley Smile Stuff
-----------------------------
=> General Music Discussion
=> General Entertainment Thread
=> Smiley Smilers Who Make Music
=> The Sandbox
Powered by SMF 1.1.21
|
SMF © 2015, Simple Machines
Page created in 0.108 seconds with 22 queries.
Helios Multi
design by
Bloc
Loading...