Mick Green 1944-2010

You’d think Woody’d be able to afford his own guitar…

Sweet Jesus, this is the one I really didn’t want to have to write.

Mick Green, the man whom I regard as probably the most influential guitar player in the UK (with the possible exception of Hank Marvin) has passed away after an extended illness. EVERY SINGLE ENGLISH GUITAR PLAYER YOU CAN THINK OF owes him a debt – Townshend, Richards, Beck, Clapton, Page…anyone you’d care to name. He was first, he was best…and every single player who came after readily acknowledged that fact. In 1962, when Jagger, Richards, Lennon and McCartney were really just noisy teenagers, he was (well, to be honest, he was a teenager, too!) touring with the foremost “real” rock’n’roll band in the UK, Johnny Kidd and the Pirates. He was the natural bridge between the chicken-pickin’ of Scotty Moore and Cliff Gallup, and the powerchording of the Kinks and the Who. He was also a primary influence for a couple of my contemporaries that tore the roof off – Wilko Johnson and Futoshi Abe.

I’d go so far as crediting Mick with the salvation of rock’n’roll in the UK – coming home from a residency in Vegas with Englebert Humperdinck (!) in 1975 and agreeing to reform the legendary Pirates (Johnny Kidd’s backing band – remember “Shakin’ All Over”?) for a one-off gig at Dingwalls . That did as much to kick off the punk thing as any single event before or after. That gig led to their playing at the  New Musical Express Christmas party, which led to a record deal, whcih led to….well, history.

Please, everyone, go to Mick’s website and sign the guest book. Show’em how we feel.

Heaven just got a little louder….

EDIT 01/13 – It’s a measure of the man how many pickers have offered their condolences in that guest book. In amongst the heartfelt messages from John and Frank (the rest of the Pirates) , and from the students at the middle school where Mick had been teaching guitar, are messages from some genuine heavyweights – Albert Lee, Chris Spedding, Pete Townshend, Sonny Curtis….and I`d like to thank Mick`s son Brad for borrowing my “heaven just got a little louder“ for the eulogy. I`m honoured (stunned, more like) to the point of speechlessness.

         

MIck Green

Just found out that Mick Green, possibly the most influential of the original (ie: pre-Beatles) English guitar players, has been hospitalized for what now sounds like a pacemaker replacement.

Here’s a video message he composed to his fans earlier this week. His son offers some encouraging updates on the site – let’s hope Mick can get up, around, and slashing out those wicked-cool solos again soon.

Here’s  a little taste of Mick with Sir Paul – Hey, Macca – it’s friggin’ MIck Green!! Let him solo for two choruses in a row!! And yes, the other guys in the band are Ian Paice and Dave Gilmour, but who cares? It’s friggin’ Mick Green!!

     

Some things just seem TOO perfect…

Mick Green, who many regard as one of the true pioneers of English rock’n’roll, and whom I have named in these pages as a personal favourite, (being the guitar player in the seminal band the Pirates [both before and after Johnny Kidd‘s demise]), has made his acting debut!

He plays  Des Gilmour, ex-rock’n’roll star and perennial troublemaker, who has been confined to a wheelchair after an onstage accident. The short film follows his misadventures as he gets kicked out of one National Health Service nursing home after another, until he’s finally forced to live with his brother in their decaying childhood home.

The film is called “Raspberry Ripple“, and is apparently intended to be a pilot project for a feature-length film. This version has already won the “Best Drama 10-30 Minutes” award from the Picture This Film Festival in Calgary.You can view Mr. Green excerising his acting chops in the preview clip below:

XM III

Posted: January 12, 2007 in Music
Tags: Mick Green, Pirates, radio, rock'n'roll

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XM4 played Louis Jordan last night, just when I happened to be listening. I’m sure it was just to spite me.

Also:

You’ve all probably figured out from my Youtube playlist that I’m a big fan of Johnny Kidd and the Pirates, especially their 70’s incarnation when they decided to come back and show the punks how to kick a little ass. Well, a Pirates fansite that I visit on occasion has posted some photos of the lads from 1961 (England…1961. Let’s think about that for a sec. John & Paul have just met George Harrison, Mick & Keith haven’t gigged with Alexis Korner yet. These guys are already touring) from bassist Johnny Spence’s private collection. The real revelation is a 17 year-old Mick Green (one of the original Telemasters) playing a JUNIOR! Makes you wonder how many of those great sounds on their early records are the result of P-90’s. Check it out here.