Michael Brown wrote music and occasionally lyrics for four bands between 1966 and 1976 - consecutively The Left Banke, Montage, Stories and The Beckies. He was with each band for less than two albums, leaving the Left Banke and Stories while they were working on their second, and making only one record each with Montage and the Beckies. Despite or because of this slim output, Michael is a cult figure, a prickly genius composer whose intricate, classically-influenced songwriting has often been compared to Brian Wilson's. He hasn't made a record of his own since 1976, although he produced an album for wife Yvonne Vitale in 1994, which supposedly came out in an edition of 200 copies.
Left Banke
Although Brown's work suffers from the law of diminishing returns, each project a little less compelling than the last, there are moments of brilliance throughout. It seems as Brown's paranoia and his mistrust of the music industry grew, so his commitment to creating consistently great work diminished, but the rewards are there for those who persevere. His work with the Left Banke is littered with gems like "Walk Away Renee", "Desiree", "Myrah" and "She May Call You Up Tonight", but Montage's "She's Alone", Stories' "Love Is In Motion" and the Beckies' "River Bayou" are almost as magical.
Beckies
Michael Brown trivia - in 1965 Brown absconded from New York with the Left Banke's first drummer, the openly bisexual Warren David, heading for San Francisco. They sold Brown's expensive watch collection to finance the trip, but his father, producer/studio owner Harry Lookofsky, found out and had them arrested at the airport and shipped back to New York. David, who many years later had a sex change operation and changed his name to Lisa, was summarily fired from the group.
"You recognise that your talent is of a unique and extraordinary nature, and meanwhile (the record companies) tell you what to do on everything...You can't sleep at night, you keep thinking about songs that are done the wrong way,and they're your babies, you write them, you nurture them, you bring them into being...The whole point is music is a very high form of art. Now it's like the global village, all kinds of awards ceremonies, going through rooms of all these gold and platinum records, and 'don't you look beautiful, let me put my face in this gold record to see how beauitiful I look' , and of course let's not forget the four inch velvet carpetting, and the people over these speakers who are ushering in...and oh sure, they made all of their money from people like you. But if you became people like them and got along with them, then you're in real trouble." -- Michael Brown interviewed on WFMU in 2003
Stories
From: "Guy Blackman"
To: "Shane Faubert"
Date: Tue, 16 May 2006 13:22:31 +1000
Subject: recordings with Michael Brown
Dear Shane,
I was just listening to an interview from 2003 archived on the WFMU website that says you've been working with Michael Brown from the Left Banke on some new material. I'm a big Left Banke/Brown fan so I'm very curious to know if anything has happened with this project.
Regards,
Guy Blackman
Hello Guy -
There were 7 new songs recorded with a band plus 2 songs that I overdubbed my lead vocals onto previous recordings... all of the material was at least very good, and 3 or 4 of these songs were quite amazing: nearly as good as anything Michael Brown ever recorded. I am also a big fan of his, and I believe that I am being pretty objective about the quality of this material.
Michael lost interest in the project shortly after the interview that you heard on WFMU and has said that he would prefer that these recordings remain unheard and unreleased. Please keep in touch, though... he could change his mind (again).
Bye for now,
Shane Faubert
Left Banke tribute page with interviews and two CDs worth of Left Banke rarities
Another Left Banke fan page
Left Banke 'Walk Away Renee'
Left Banke 'Pretty Ballerina'
Left Banke 'She May Call You Up Tonight'
Left Banke 'Something on My Mind'
Left Banke 'Shadows Breaking Over My Head'
Michael Brown/Steve Martin 'Love Songs in the Night'
Left Banke 'Ivy, Ivy'
Left Banke 'Desiree'
Stories 'Words'
Stories 'Please Please'
Stories 'Hey France'
Beckies 'One of These Days'
Beckies 'Fran'
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*
p.s. Hey. Yeah, so like I wrote in tiny little type up there, this was my blog's first ever guest-hosted post. It was unsolicited, published on a whim, and it singlehandedly started the tradition of hands-on d.l. blog usage that both makes this joint what it is and helps me way the fuck out. I retrieve it from my old blog's grave for historical reasons, because it was made by the great life term d.l. Tigersare aka revered music artist Guy Blackman, and because Michael Brown is a sublime pop music auteur whose godlike work in the late 60s and early 70s is far, far too rarely celebrated. That's the deal. Enjoy, say hey to Tigersare, and thanks. ** Allesfliesst, Well, I'm even more curious about this already legendary abstract now, of course, but my novel's all about the value of kept secrets, so I will respect your need for secrecy just so long as you, unlike my novel, pony up when the time comes. Uh, I need more coffee. ** David Ehrenstein, Hey. Well, yes, now you see why the name Franzen doesn't bring even a peckish smile to my face. That Carol Burnett anecdote was wonderfully weird. That boy in your photo du jour is that guy from 'Glee', isn't it? ** Paradigm, Hey. First, I thought your review was fascinating as well as written so very gracefully. I was especially drawn into your talk of the intricacies of the massacre caused by the different tellings. That idea is inherently thrilling to me, but I was both attracted to the book and compelled by your writing. Very, very good. Respect, Scott. Wonderful thoughts on Lily Hoang's work and project. Yeah, I very much agree. I think her practice is exciting, and I'm looking forward to catching up with the work of hers I don't yet know. Her piece on the Perec book that I included was spot on too, I think. I was just reading while I was coffeeing this morning about the likelihood of the minority Labor government, and also about some scare tactic propaganda from the right about how that coalition would encourage illegal immigration and blah blah blah. ** David, Hey, there! Where you been, how you doing? Last I saw, the hurricane is pooping out into a baddish storm, I think? ** Dan Callahan, I'm not sure what generation you're part of, but mine knows her mostly from her role on that TV show we all seem to have watched as kids. I forget its name ... 'The Virginian' maybe? Sad, that. But that only speaks to the necessity for your book. Thanks much for tracking down the real deal with that Salter quote. It seems a minor glitch. I mean, as someone who reads/loves the work of hugely problematic thinkers like, say, Celine, and problematic representers like, say, Winsor McCay, and so on and so forth, I can't see that being a big issue for me, at least. Anyway, thanks a lot. It's a real pleasure to have you here. ** Tosh, Hey. Ha ha, yeah, I actually went so far to take the book to that location and read for an hour or two while sitting there, so yeah. Just a lovely book. ** Pilgarlic, Listen, I can't believe I passed up that offer either. Wtf, etc. If John W. comes through Paris like he has promised to do, I'll follow him anywhere, trust me. Even if that means the Paris Sewers tour, which everyone I know here has warned me against taking while holding their noses. ** Sypha, Yep, you said it better than I could about Franzen. Hear hear. ** Will Decker, Well, a hello right back to you, sir. ** Alan, Know that all my fingers are crossed that you do absolutely nothing else for the next four days. Well, except visit here, of course. Surely, that doesn't count. ** Plexus, Hey, Gabe. My name isn't as easy to modify as yours. It's always Denny or sometimes Den. One friend used to call me Dennisio. Whereas Gabe is so maleable. Gabey. Gaberino. Etc. I'll stop. Yeah, I like cake. Don't you? Cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. And with a dollop of hot fudge on top if possible. Actually, your favorite food sounds quite tasty in theory, even though I hate Coke and all carbonated drinks. Even Perrier, etc. I don't know why. Some childhood trauma, I guess. Nachos would be in my top five faves, I think. With you on black licorice. Ugh! I only like marshmallows on smores. Anyway, how are you today? Oh, I owe you an email. Today almost for sure. ** Steevee, You had a long day. I hope when you awake today, your head is as bloodless and painless as a bust. No, I don't know Camu Tao's posthumous album. The Costello sampling sounds intriguing, but the Gnarls Barkley comparison wards me off a bit. I'll try it. ** Tomkendall, Writing 'Period' just about did me in, it's true. But at least it was very short. This one is very long. Not Franzen long, mind you, but very long for me. It's partly the length that's killing me. The way I write, I shouldn't write longish books. It's a bad idea. Never again. Glad you got to Oscar's opening. Sounds raucous. I'll try to pry some gossip from the lady today. Comedy? You mean of late, and you mean TV-wise? Hm, nothing, as far as TV goes since everything I watch is in French, so I don't quite get it. Otherwise, the new Tao Lin novel is really funny. I think I need to get more comedy into my intake, now that you mention it. ** Misanthrope, Man, I wish we had a bunch of weird food shows over here like those. Not as much as I wish we had 'Hoarders' or that teen psychics reality show. I watched my first 'Master Chef' episode last night. Not bad. Kind of chilly, tone-wise. I guess that's the French aspect. Still, the contestants cried and leaped for joy and all that just like in US shows. It felt kind of forced. I liked that it felt kind of forced. I think it'll work as my new TV show addiction maybe. Everything you're eating right now makes me feel slightly nauseous. I hope you're happy. You know the main staple of my diet is gluten. I eat almost nothing but wheat gluten. So, take that! My teeth are fucked up, two broken, at least one of them needing a root canal, and I'm ignoring them for as long as I possibly can for the obvious (money) reason. ** JW Veldhoen, Hm, maybe I do terrify everyone. That would explain a lot. Pride in Moscow? What, you want me to get beaten to death by a cop's truncheon for simply being who I am? Sounds good, yeah. Oh, let me see what you bought. Hold on. Wow, that's an interesting purchase. Kudos. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hey, Ben! I'm very glad to hear the steroids have made at least an initial improvement. Is it a wait and see thing? Do you have to do exercises as a complement or anything like that? Wow, chartered buses and everything? That's amazing! I had no idea the event would be so massive. Yeah, please, if the Skinny article ends up online, let us know. Is your own entry pretty much worked out now? ** Im not an asbo im your next Prime minister, You or I or both must be psychic. I'm reading about, uh, six books at the same time right now. Kind of a problem, but I can't bring myself to not read all of them immediately. The French do like their politicians virile, I guess. I assume that's why Sarkozy married Carla Bruni, although that doesn't explain why she married a racist troll. I guess power explains that. Anyway, it might be interesting to see if I could become the first French prime minister or whatever who doesn't speak French. I think the French can forgive a lot, but not that. ** Chilly Jay Chill, I liked Ondaatje's 'CWoBtK' when I read it way back whenever, yeah. But he turned into such a middlebrow bore of a writer, I keep thinking I must have been wrong to like that book. But maybe he just decayed. That certainly happens. Yeah, 'Inherent Vice' was an uneven little thrill, but it was a thrill anyway, I thought. Ha ha, yeah, I'm trying desperately at times to think of my novel as tantalizing prospect too. ** Bernard Welt, Hey, hey, hey, B. Are you friends with a guy on Facebook named Jon Nalley (or something close to that)? I ask because he just posted a bunch of photos from the 1984 Gay Pride march in NYC, including a freaky shot of me, but, if you're connected with him, and if you look at the photo with the 'Writers' banner in it, an uncredited, crookedly grinning Tim Dlugos can be semi-seen. ** Eli Jurgen, Hi, Eli. Artists I would recommend? You mean, like, my favorite current artists? Hm, okay, off the top of my head, Richard Hawkins (I actually have a post about him coming up), Vincent Fecteau, Charles Ray, Torbjorn Vejvi, Paul Thek, Evan Holloway, Ryan Trecartin, ... uh, I could go on and on, but there are some. Man, the art world is so tough, no question about that. It can be so cliqueish and blindly swayed by trendiness and so much about what art school one attended and all that. There are ways around that, and some of my favorite artists broke through even though they're social misfits and lack status and stuff, but, yeah, it's hard. Applying to galleries is just dropping off your resume and disc basically, ideally with a recommendation from some artist friend who's further along than you. But all that said, I have no clue what the scene is like in New Zealand. I suppose they're the same everywhere. Anyway, you're really talented, obviously, and I think you should definitely make the push. ** Bill, Hey. Hope it all does fall into place over the ... wait, long weekend? Long ...? Oh, is it Labor Day weekend? It is, isn't it? ** Oscar B, You're here! Yep, yep, yep, 'P3D', for sure. Talk to you and make a plan pronto. ** The Dreadful Flying Glove, Sir. Using Royal Trux to wake up? Now I've heard everything, ha ha. Wake sideways maybe. Marion Brown, nice idea. I'll check for mp3s. Oh, while I've got you, slight change. I moved your upcoming post one day, from Wednesday the 8th to Thursday the 9th, if that's okay. Better flow. ** Please spare some of your time today for Michael Brown because you will be rewarded handsomely. I'll go cringe at my novel now and then see 'Piranha 3D' later. Reconvene with you here tomorrow?
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