OT: RIP Glen Frey

[Bruce K]

Another great singer/song writer gone

BK

[Repack Rider]

I am not posting on this thread to diminish Mr. Frey's contributions, but to add another name to the list of influential musicians who passed yesterday. Mic Gillette did not have the name recognition of Glen Frey, but in musical circles he was just as influential. When I heard of Mic's passing, I wrote a personal tribute that has since been passed around the Internet.

R.I.P. Glen Frey, your horn section is waiting in Heaven for you.

News on all the musical community wires today that Mic Gillette, an original member of Tower of Power and the signature trumpet sound on their classic hit, "You're Still a Young Man," has died of a massive heart attack at the age of 64.

Mic was the most sought-after horn player in the Bay Area, a musician so good that there was nowhere left to go. He could play anything he thought of, as soon as he thought of it, and he could think of stuff other people can't. You could put a chart in front of him that had more black than white on the page, and he could look at it and play it, in time, with perfect tone, first time he tried. He was on thousands of recordings in his lifetime.

He was also my dear friend. We worked together for about eight years with the Sons of Champlin. (Mic did eight years with the band, I did 42 years with them.) I was the roadie, I handled Mic's horns, set up his music stand and his lights. I would loan him my baseball cap and sunglasses for a stage gag he was fond of, putting on the shades and cap while playing a "cool" solo with a mute in his trumpet. He carried his smaller horns, but he also played a tuba, and took a solo on it now and then. That big instrument was my responsibility, like a violinist saying hey, take the Stradivarius over to the hotel, would you?

My other business was piano moving, and I helped him with that also when he changed locations. Mic had a very nice grand piano. He gave my crew some beautiful leather furniture, which ended up in a bachelor pad, and was always called "Mic's couch."

I loved the guy, and he loved me. We never had a harsh word, because we were both good at what we did, and we always delivered. No. Matter. What. There was no duplicity in either of us. What you saw was what you got.

I will miss my friend

[OtayBW]

Aw geez - what a shame.

[jimcav]

i learned to play guitar with Eagles tunes

[pdmtong]

I am not posting on this thread to diminish Mr. Frey's contributions, but to add another name to the list of influential musicians who passed yesterday. Mic Gillette did not have the name recognition of Glen Frey, but in musical circles he was just as influential. When I heard of Mic's passing, I wrote a personal tribute that has since been passed around the Internet. R.I.P. Glen Frey, your horn section is waiting in Heaven for you.

I did not know Mic passed as well. I am born in Oakland, and having seen ToP many times, that horn section s was simply awesome. That you knew him personally, I am sorry for your loss.

Glen was part of one of the 70s icons bands. They headlined the Day on the Green one year. Doobie Bros opened.

[David Tollefson]

My wife and I just saw the Eagles in Tacoma last year. Great concert. They had made lots of inuendo that it was their last opportunity to tour together. But we figured it would be Joe Walsh that would go first.

[Dromen]

Royal Oak, MI mourns.

[Matthew]

Real bummer. Love the Eagles. All these great artists passing away really sucks. Man, I hate getting older.

[texbike]

Wow. That's too bad. So many great songs to his name...

RIP indeed.

Texbike

[Bob Ross]

I am not posting on this thread to diminish Mr. Frey's contributions, but to add another name to the list of influential musicians who passed yesterday. Mic Gillette did not have the name recognition of Glen Frey, but in musical circles he was just as influential.

Thank you for that. Mic was way more important and influential to me than Glen, but it's been hard to find a sympathetic ear for that sentiment today.

[roguedog]

Another two? WTH is going on?

[djg21]

But Keith Richards lives on. Who would have thunk it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ultraman6970]

Richards, Jagger and ozzy have a pact with the devil to live forever.

[regularguy412]

Fortunate enough to see The Eagles twice. Once was in 1977, my very FIRST live rock n' roll concert ever. I guess I got spoiled by seeing the best first. No others ever really compared with their ability to sound EXACTLY like the studio version except doing it ON STAGE. Biggest difference was, usually, the instrumental parts were just longer in concert. That was Joe's first tour with the Eagles. We got to see him do Turn to Stone and Walk Away , some of the old James Gang tunes at that concert. Oh,, and tickets for that event were a whopping $7.25!

That first concert was the Hotel California tour. Andrew Gold opened for them. No flashy lights or smoke or lasers. Just damn good musicians doing their thing.

The second time was in 1980 -- The Long Run tour. My buddy and I spent the night in my mom's car in the parking lot of the arena in early February,, hoping to get seats as close as we could to the stage. It was damn cold. We managed to stay awake all nite, and finally got out of the car around 6 AM to stand in line. We were the 4th and 5th persons. Finally around 9 AM they let us at least inside out of the 20 degree cold, but the actual ticket office didn't open until 10. After all the cold and sleep deprivation, inside in the warmth we almost fell asleep on our feet. We managed to get 20th row seats, as most of the ones truly 'down front' were for all those 'special' people who won them on the radio, etc.

Man that's been such a long time ago. Both he and they have had such marvelous careers. Glenn's finally ended his Long Run.

Mike in AR:beer:

[Louis]

Richards, Jagger and ozzy have a pact with the devil to live forever.

Just out curiosity, what's the evidence that they're still alive?

Certainly not this:

http://also.kottke.org/misc/images/nearly-headless-mick.jpg

[ultraman6970]

:d

[Elefantino]

This has not been a good month.

Glenn Frey was an enormous talent. He came off as somewhat ruthless in the Showtime documentary, but that aside he helped make the Eagles perhaps the greatest American band and one of the seminal acts of the late 20th century.

Wow. Just wow.

[Ray]

Thank you for that. Mic was way more important and influential to me than Glen, but it's been hard to find a sympathetic ear for that sentiment today.

Fewer people were really aware of the TOP horns than the Eagles, let alone individual members, so it's understandable. Public reaction doesn't have all that much to do with greatness. I thought that within the Eagles, Henley was the one with some real talent (although he could also be pretty overwrought). Frey wrote some good stuff though, and spent a lot of time writing with Jackson Browne, which isn't chopped liver.

When I was a kid growing up in Tucson, the trio of the Eagles, Jackson Browne, and Linda Ronstadt (a local girl who went to my HS about 10 years ahead of me) were ALWAYS playing shows together - the Eagles had been Ronstadt's backing band briefly before they went out on their own and the partnership with Browne was very real. They were around so much a lot of us didn't know what we had right under our noses and we used to almost complain, "man, when is somebody really GOOD gonna play here"? But some of those shows were plenty good. The Eagles were always one of those bands I took for granted, and sort of liked, but not that much. But it's those folks who are just kind of always around, love 'em or not, that are more shocking when something like this happens to a guy so relatively young...

-Ray

[Elefantino]

And now Dallas Taylor. Music is taking a big hit.

[Ray]

And now Dallas Taylor. Music is taking a big hit.

He died a year ago...

-Ray

[Bob Ross]

Dale "Buffin" Griffin, drummer for Mott The Hoople, died yesterday also.

Death, what the hell?

[Elefantino]

He died a year ago...



-Ray

Uh, oops. I meant to say Dale Griffin and somehow typed Dallas Taylor. And they died pretty much one year apart.

That was very weird.

[rounder]

I watched pretty much every band I ever wasted to see...but never saw the Eagles. I thought Glen Frey was great...will miss him.