Ultimate Classic Rock reports that Chris Squire, legendary Bass player for the progressive rock band Yes has died (June 28th) after a battle with Leukemia. He was 67 years old. This kills me, as Squire was one of my rock heroes and my favorite bass player ever, followed by John Entwistle and Dennis Dunaway of Alice Cooper. Not only was Squire a phenomenally innovative bass player, but he was also one of the first bassists to release a solo album (1975’s Fish Out of Water) on which the bass is played as a lead instrument with no other guitars appearing on the record.
All you have to do is listen to the lead track on that album, “Hold Out Your Hand” — a song that I would put up against the best of Yes’s entire catalog — to have your mind completely blown. Chris Squire was a true Rock God. Both his contributions, as well as the loss of his talent, to the world of Rock music, is immeasurable.
Apparently, Jimi Hendrix Always Dressed Like This (all Post Photos By Gail, Click any Image to Enlarge)
Every picture tells a story. During his career, Photographer Barrie Wentzell collected an endless cache of unheard stories from and about many of rock’s greatest legends that would blow your head right off. From 1965 to 1975 – certainly one of the (if not the) most vibrant and fertile decades for Rock & Roll music and culture — Wentzell shot both live performance and candid, intimate photographs of everyone who was anyone: from Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles to The Kinks and Led Zeppelin for the UK weekly music rag, Melody Maker.
John Entwistle and Pete Townshend During Recording Sessions for Tommy
His pay was about 20 pounds per week, but Wentzell will tell you even today that his dream gig during the Golden Age of Rock & Roll was never about the money; it was about the experiences he had with these artists.
An Early Incarnation of Yes
Right now, you can view a small portion of Wentzell’s extensive and wildly impressive career legacy at the Morrison Hotel Gallery in the comprehensively entitled exhibit, Melody Maker: The Best Years, 1965-1975, The Photography of Barrie Wentzell. Most of these pictures have never been published or viewed by the public. In fact, Wentzell admitted that, prior to staging the exhibit, he’d not viewed the majority of these photos since he first took them. And that is just shame, because his pictures are transcendent.
Ray Davies Plays Pool
Pete Townshend & Friends
I have seen many, many great rock photography exhibits and I must say that this is the first one where the words “Fine Art Rock Photography” – which is what Morrison Hotel Gallery is known for – really resonated with me when experiencing Barrie Wentzell’s photos. The oddest reaction I had was while silently gazing at a black and white photo of Elton John and Bernie Taupin, taken while both were still in their early 20s. They just looked so young and unjaded, with their entire lives and careers ahead of them. I thought about the first Elton John songs I ever heard, like “Mona Lisa’s and Mad Hatters,”“Mad Man Across the Water” and “Sixty Years On.” And unexpected tears of deep nostalgia welled up in my eyes. It was embarrassing to dork out in public like that, but it was also such an amazing feeling to be so fully transported back to a time when Rock Stars meant everything to me. Barrie Wentzell’s work is truly as magical as the music of that era.
Jimmy Page
Read more about Barrie Wentzell, and view some of the photos in this do-not-miss show, at This Link.
Barrie Wentzell
Morrison Hotel Gallery is Located at 116 Prince Street (Loft) and 124 Prince Street (Store Front) in NYC’s Greenwich Village.
David Bowie
Cat Stevens
This Photo of Led Zeppelin In Concert Fully Captures the Energy of the Performance in a Static Medium. Amazing.
John “The Ox” Entwistle, bassist for The Who and astounding musical genius, was born on this today, October 9th, in 1944. Of course, Entwistle is not the only massively-famous-but-dead rock star posthumously celebrating a birthday today. John Lennon (born in 1940) would have celebrated a birthday on today’s date had he not been assassinated by the psychotic Mark David Chapman in 1980. John Lennon’s son Sean also turns another year older today (Born 1975), and Al Jorgensen of Ministry (Born 1958) and a zillion other projects has lived for another year as today. Happy Birthday, guys!
On This Date, June 27th, In 2002: Who bassist John Entwistle was found dead in his hotel room at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas one day before The Who were to kick off their 2002 tour. It was later revealed he died of a heart attack. Entwistle was 57 years old.
You can read a collection of brief remembrances of John – including one from yours truly – written by the staff writers of Ink19at This Link.
Yes’ bassist Chris Squire was born on this day, March 4th, in 1948. Squire was always one of my favorite bass players, along with the late John Entwistle, and Dennis Dunaway from the original Alice Cooper band, whose innovation on the bass is just insane. Happy Birthday, Chris!
