Andy Bown

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Andy Bown
20170803 Wacken Wacken Open Air Status Quo 0022 (cropped).jpg
Performing with Status Quo at Wacken Open Air festival, 2017
Background information
Birth nameAndrew Steven Bown
Born (1946-03-27) 27 March 1946 (age 78)
Beckenham, Kent, England
Genres
Instrument(s)
  • Keyboards
  • bass
  • vocals
  • guitar
  • harmonica
Years active1966–present
Member of Status Quo
Formerly of
Website www.andybown.com

Andrew Steven Bown (born 27 March 1946) [1] is an English musician, who has specialised in keyboards and bass guitar. He is a member of the rock band Status Quo.

Contents

Career

Bown's first major band was The Herd, along with Peter Frampton. After The Herd dissolved he spent two years with Judas Jump [2] who were the opening act of the Isle of Wight Festival 1970. He played [keyboards at first] for Frampton in the 1970s then switched to bass briefly when Rick Wills departed the Peter Frampton band in early 1975. Bown himself left the Frampton entourage less than a year later, just as Frampton was on the verge of achieving worldwide success. He went back to England where he first dabbled with a solo career (recording two solo albums for Bill Gaff's GM label, US Mercury), then resumed work with Status Quo whom he started playing keyboards for in 1973 as a session musician, including sessions with Jerry Lee Lewis on the London Sessions Album. Andy first appeared on Quo's Hello! album in that year; performing on every album by the band from 1977's Rockin' All Over the World onwards, and supporting them in concert. He joined Status Quo as a full member in 1982, and has been with them ever since.

Bown released a number of singles in the 1970s, including "New York Satyricon Zany" and "Another Shipwreck", none of which charted. His most well-known song however was the theme tune to the children's series Ace of Wands , "Tarot". He also released five albums, the first of which, Gone to My Head, was released in 1972.

His latest solo album Unfinished Business was released on 5 September 2011. The album was produced by Mike Paxman and recorded by Chris West, it features contributions from Henry Spinetti on drums, Mick Rogers on guitars, Trevor Bolder and Brad Lang on basses as well as vocalists Juliet Roberts and Sylvia Mason-James. It was recorded at State of the Ark Studios in Richmond, Surrey in 2010. [3]

He was the bass player in the "Surrogate Band" during Pink Floyd's The Wall tour in 1980 and 1981 [4] and can be heard on the live album Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980–81 . [4] He also did some keyboards for Pink Floyd's The Final Cut album. [4] and on Jack the Lad's last album Jackpot in 1976. In addition he played Hammond organ and 12-string guitar during the recording of Roger Waters' solo album The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking in 1984, but did not take part in Waters' subsequent tours. [5]

He still plays keyboards, guitar and harmonica with Status Quo, and is an integral part of the band, having co-written many well known Quo songs on various studio albums, most prominently collaborating with Rick Parfitt on the group's 1979 hit "Whatever You Want".

Discography

Equipment

During live performances Bown uses a Roland RD-700 piano, a Hammond C3 Organ and a Roland D-70 synthesizer, which are connected to a Roland U-220, an E-mu Vintage Keys module, an Akai Sampler and a Leslie speaker.

Bown uses a vintage Fender Telecaster, a Gibson Les Paul, a Washburn semi-acoustic as well as a Takamine acoustic. [6] He also uses custom Telecaster types and a Stratocaster-type made by J Davey Guitars, and sometimes uses Rick Parfitt's custom-made Fender Telecaster Thinline

Related Research Articles

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<i>Whatever You Want</i> (album) 1979 studio album by Status Quo

Whatever You Want is the twelfth studio album by the British rock band Status Quo.

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<i>Just Supposin</i> 1980 studio album by Status Quo

Just Supposin' is the thirteenth album by Status Quo. Co-produced by the group and John Eden, it was recorded at Windmill Lane Studios, Dublin. Released on 17 October 1980, it entered the UK albums chart at number 4.

<i>Aint Complaining</i> 1988 studio album by Status Quo

Ain't Complaining is the eighteenth studio album by British rock band Status Quo. Initially released on the Vertigo label on 6 June 1988, it was the group's first album on that label to fall short of the UK Top 10, breaking a streak of 12 studio albums in the process. It reached no higher than its entry position of No. 12. The band, however, reentered the Top 10 just three years later with Rock 'Til You Drop in 1991.

<i>Perfect Remedy</i> 1989 studio album by Status Quo

Perfect Remedy is the nineteenth studio album by English rock band Status Quo. In terms of British chart success, it marked a new low for the band, reaching a high of only No. 49 during a two-week run. The two singles from it, 'Not at All' and 'Little Dreamer', peaked at No. 50 and No. 76 respectively. In the memoir, 'XS All Areas: Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt', Rossi said that it sold well in Europe and Australia, but they were back to square one in Britain. 'I don't know why it did so poorly. You could argue that the scene had moved on.'

<i>Rock til You Drop</i> 1991 studio album by Status Quo

Rock 'til You Drop is the twentieth studio album by English rock band Status Quo and their last on the Vertigo label after nearly 20 years. Singer and guitarist Francis Rossi produced the album.

<i>The Party Aint Over Yet</i> 2005 studio album by Status Quo

The Party Ain't Over Yet... is the twenty-seventh album by English rock band Status Quo, released 19 September 2005.

<i>Never Too Late</i> (Status Quo album) 1981 studio album by Status Quo

Never Too Late is the fourteenth studio album by English rock band Status Quo, coproduced by the group and John Eden. Released on 13 March 1981, it had been recorded at the same sessions – at Windmill Lane Studios, Dublin – as its predecessor Just Supposin'. It reached number 2 in the UK Albums Chart.

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<i>1+9+8+2</i> 1982 studio album by Status Quo

1+9+8+2 is the fifteenth studio album by the English rock band Status Quo, released on 16 April 1982. It was the first to include new drummer Pete Kircher, who had recently replaced John Coghlan, and also the first to credit keyboard player Andy Bown as a full member of the band; on the previous few releases he had merely been listed as a guest musician although he had long been an integral member in all but name.

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Live at The N.E.C. was the second live album by rock band Status Quo which was recorded at the National Exhibition Centre. It had originally been released as part of the 3-LP box set From the Makers of... in 1982. In 1984 the recording became available as a separate album.

<i>In Search of the Fourth Chord</i> 2007 studio album by Status Quo

In Search of the Fourth Chord is the twenty-eighth studio album by English rock band Status Quo, released on 17 September 2007. The title is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the rumour that the group always plays the same three chords, and a reference to the album In Search of the Lost Chord by British rock band the Moody Blues. The album's artwork is a parody of the Indiana Jones films.

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<i>Unfinished Business</i> (Andy Bown album) 2011 album by Andy Brown

Unfinished Business is an album by Andy Bown, currently the keyboard player in Status Quo and a former member of Judas Jump and The Herd. The album was Bown's first solo album since joining Status Quo in 1976, and was released by Cherry Red Records in September 2011.

<i>Bula Quo!</i> (album) 2013 soundtrack album by Status Quo

Bula Quo is the thirtieth studio album and the first soundtrack album by English rock band Status Quo, it was released on Monday 10 June 2013. It is the last Status Quo album recorded with drummer Matt Letley, who announced his departure from the band before the album had been released.

References

  1. "The Official Site - Band Members". Status Quo. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  2. Judas Jump at AllMusic
  3. "Interview: Andy Bown (Status Quo, Pink Floyd, Roger Waters, solo)" (in Greek). 11 April 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 Mabbett, Andy (2010). Pink Floyd – The Music and the Mystery. London: Omnibus. ISBN   9781849383707.
  5. Miles, Barry; Mabbett, Andy (1994). Pink Floyd the visual documentary. London: Omnibus. ISBN   0711941092.
  6. "Andrew Bown". Statusquo.co.uk. Archived from the original on 3 January 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2012.