Thought it might be an idea to start a general thread for artist profiles/bios/tributes all in one place – in case anyone wants to talk about a musician/singer for whatever reason. I, for one, sometimes do, particularly when coming across lesser lauded individuals (and those whose birthdays I’ve missed or don’t feel like waiting for, lol!).
This thread is not intended to be prescriptive – these are not wiki entries after all, so whatever format works for the poster, comprehensive or not – it’s for interest and for fun and not meant to be a chore. Sort of like a continuation of the BOTD thread, just with random entries. Mine will take a certain shape – someone else may want to do things differently; whatever works, as long as it’s not a copy and paste – or at least not without credit and or/acknowledgment where it’s due.
So without further ado …
I’ve been poking around the discography of the actual guitar man on Bread’s “Guitar Man”, who oddly enough was also the piano man on Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water”! And to add to this interesting equation, he also contributed to Billy Joel’s Cold Spring Harbour.
The gentleman in question - California born Larry Knechtel (04 August 1940 – 20 August 2009). He's at top left on the album cover below.
He had perfect pitch and took music lessons as a teenager but soon after building himself a crystal radio became heavily enamoured of the blues and rock n roll, moved past being dependent on sheet music and started playing by ear.
He mastered the piano, Hammond organ, electric piano, harpsichord, harmonium, guitar, keyboards, bass and harmonica.
Primarily (and preferably for him) a studio musician, he was a session man with the Wrecking Crew (which is a whole 'nother story) and worked with an untold number of artists (including two Elvis’s!) as well as being a full member of Bread.
He won several awards as a result of his collaborations - these are they (or some of ‘em at any rate – may not be complete):
"Apart from being a brilliant musician, Larry was loved by many for his character – honest, humble, hard-working, and charismatic. He was a loving and devoted father and husband. Larry preferred a simple rural lifestyle and valued the quality of life. Those close to him knew Larry as a student of western lore and history, an outdoorsman, a farmer, and a good neighbor. All who were lucky enough to know or work with Larry miss him dearly to this day."
Both “Bridge over Troubled Water” and “Guitar Man” are unforgettable pieces of music (for me) so I was interested in the fact that Larry Knechtel had played a different instrument on each of them and that his playing is very much to the forefront in making them sound the way they do. Here then is the former of those … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIm-YTrs4tM
And the track that started this discourse ….
This thread is not intended to be prescriptive – these are not wiki entries after all, so whatever format works for the poster, comprehensive or not – it’s for interest and for fun and not meant to be a chore. Sort of like a continuation of the BOTD thread, just with random entries. Mine will take a certain shape – someone else may want to do things differently; whatever works, as long as it’s not a copy and paste – or at least not without credit and or/acknowledgment where it’s due.
So without further ado …
I’ve been poking around the discography of the actual guitar man on Bread’s “Guitar Man”, who oddly enough was also the piano man on Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water”! And to add to this interesting equation, he also contributed to Billy Joel’s Cold Spring Harbour.
The gentleman in question - California born Larry Knechtel (04 August 1940 – 20 August 2009). He's at top left on the album cover below.
He had perfect pitch and took music lessons as a teenager but soon after building himself a crystal radio became heavily enamoured of the blues and rock n roll, moved past being dependent on sheet music and started playing by ear.
He mastered the piano, Hammond organ, electric piano, harpsichord, harmonium, guitar, keyboards, bass and harmonica.
Primarily (and preferably for him) a studio musician, he was a session man with the Wrecking Crew (which is a whole 'nother story) and worked with an untold number of artists (including two Elvis’s!) as well as being a full member of Bread.
He won several awards as a result of his collaborations - these are they (or some of ‘em at any rate – may not be complete):
- Grammy Award for Song of the Year in the Grammy Awards of 1971 – “Bridge over Troubled Water”
- “Monday Monday” – The Mamas & the Papas – Gold Single Award
- “Poor Side of Town” – Johnny Rivers – Gold Single Award
- “Aquarius” – Fifth Dimension – Gold Single Award
- “Up-Up and Away” – Ditto^
- CH’s favourite – “MacArthur Park” - Gold Single Award
- Bread – Baby I'm-A Want You - Platinum Album Award
- David Gates – Goodbye Girl - BPI Platinum Album Award
- “Mrs Robinson”, Simon & Garfunkel, from The Graduate – Gold Single Award
- Bookends – Simon & Garfunkel – Gold Album Award
"Apart from being a brilliant musician, Larry was loved by many for his character – honest, humble, hard-working, and charismatic. He was a loving and devoted father and husband. Larry preferred a simple rural lifestyle and valued the quality of life. Those close to him knew Larry as a student of western lore and history, an outdoorsman, a farmer, and a good neighbor. All who were lucky enough to know or work with Larry miss him dearly to this day."
Both “Bridge over Troubled Water” and “Guitar Man” are unforgettable pieces of music (for me) so I was interested in the fact that Larry Knechtel had played a different instrument on each of them and that his playing is very much to the forefront in making them sound the way they do. Here then is the former of those … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIm-YTrs4tM
And the track that started this discourse ….
"The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us." ~ Bill Watterson