Rex Brown
| Rex Brown | |
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 Rex Brown, live with Down in 2008 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Rex Robert Brown |
| Also known as | "Rexx Rocker" (pre-1990) |
| Born | July 27, 1964 |
| Origin | Graham, Texas, USA |
| Genres | Heavy metal, groove metal, sludge metal, glam metal |
| Occupations | Musician, songwriter |
| Instruments | Bass, guitar, keyboards, vocals |
| Years active | 1981–present |
| Labels | Roadrunner |
| Associated acts | Pantera Down Kill Devil Hill Arms of the Sun Jerry Cantrell |
Rex Robert Brown (born July 27, 1964 in Graham, Texas)[1][2] is an American heavy metal bassist. A former member of Down,[3] he is most famous as the longtime bassist for the Grammy-nominated, platinum-selling band Pantera.
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[edit] Life and career
[edit] Pantera
Rex joined Pantera in 1982 with his classmate from the high school jazz band drummer Vinnie Paul, guitarist Dimebag Darrell (then known as Diamond Darrell), and vocalist Terry Glaze. During the early days of Pantera, Rex Brown went by the stage name Rexx Rocker. For the 1990 album Cowboys from Hell he was credited simply as Rex. It was not until the 1996 album The Great Southern Trendkill that he used his full name of Rex Brown.
Pantera recruited vocalist Phil Anselmo to replace Glaze in 1987. By 1990 the band had been signed to Atco Records and released Cowboys from Hell which proved to be the band's turning point. Over the course of four more studio records, a live album and a greatest hits compilation, Pantera were nominated for four best metal performance Grammys, for "I'm Broken," "Suicide Note Pt. I," "Cemetery Gates," and "Revolution Is My Name." During downtime Brown, Dimebag, and Vinnie teamed up with country artist David Allan Coe in a project called Rebel Meets Rebel in 1999. This group released an album on May 2, 2006 on Vinnie Paul's Big Vin Records label. Rebel Meets Rebel disbanded in 2004.
[edit] Down
In 2001, Anselmo decided to put Pantera on hold because of back pain while he toured and recorded with his side projects, including Down. Pantera disbanded in 2003 and also released the greatest hits compilation CD/DVD The Best of Pantera: Far Beyond the Great Southern Cowboys' Vulgar Hits! (an international version released in Europe titled Reinventing Hell: The Best of Pantera, featuring slightly different songs). Brown subsequently rejoined Anselmo in Down to replace bassist Todd Strange. On March 26, 2002, Down released their second album called Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow with Brown on bass. After Down reunited in 2006 after a four-year hiatus, work began on their third album, Down III: Over the Under. They are currently recording their fourth album to be released sometime in 2011. On June 22, Jimmy Bower stated in a interview that Rex will be replaced by Pat Bruders from Crowbar and Rex had given Pat his blessing.
[edit] Other work
Rex has worked previously with Jerry Cantrell on five tracks included on the album called Boggy Depot as well as eleven tracks with Crowbar on the album Lifesblood for the Downtrodden. He has also provided bass work for Crowbar in 2004 and 2005 and to Cavalera Conspiracy in 2008. Rex revealed his new project Arms of the Sun, a project also featuring John Luke Hebert (of King Diamond) on drums, Lance Harvill on vocals and guitar, and Ben Bunker (of Gryn) on guitar. The group has completed work on thirteen tracks at Willie Nelson's Pedernales Recording Studio in Austin, produced and mixed by Terry Date. In February 2011 it was announced that Rex had amicably left Arms of the Sun. A replacement bassist has not yet been announced.
In March 2011 it was announced that Rex had formed a new band, Kill Devil Hill with Vinny Appice (Heaven & Hell, Black Sabbath, Dio) on drums, Mark Zavon (RATT, W.A.S.P., 40 Cycle Hum) on guitar and Dewey Bragg on vocals. The group has demoed around 10 songs, which, according to Appice, sound "like a cross between Black Sabbath, Alice In Chains and a little bit of Led Zeppelin thrown in. It's heavy, but with a lot of cool hooks and melodic overtones, too."[4]
[edit] Personal life
[edit] Health concerns and illness
In August 2009, Brown had to sit out the Down tour due to acute pancreatitis.[5] He would then have his gallbladder and polyps on his pancreas removed.[5]
Bassist Rex Brown – Diagnosed with acute pancreatitis, he underwent surgery, during which his gall bladder, along with some polyps were removed.
“He’s doing much better. He’s gaining a little weight back. Rex is one of my best friends in the world. I love him to death. He’ll be all right. Everybody’s not Lemmy (from Motörhead). I tell him that sometimes. It got to the point where his body just started giving out from 25 years on the road – drinking every day and what not. Most people do it on the weekend. Add that up to every day for 25 years and that’s what happens. By no means is he out of the band."
— Kirk Windstein on Down's website
As of December he is almost three years sober. As of the end of January 2010, Rex has nearly fully recuperated from his fight with pancreatitis.
"After two major surgeries to close out 2009, I have recovered from pancreatitis and am looking forward to getting back to work with Down. I'd like to thank everyone for their support and well wishes during my illness and recovery."
— Rex Brown
[edit] Playing style and equipment
Rex was a jazz bassist and was offered a scholarship to the University of North Texas but declined.[6] He often plays with a pick. He is widely considered to be, along with Dimebag Darrell, one of the driving forces behind groove metal.
Rex was notable for often contributing walking basslines underneath Darrell's guitar solos. Standout tracks include "Floods" "Walk" "5 Minutes Alone", "Throes of Rejection", "Cowboys from Hell", "Living Through Me (Hells Wrath)", "I Can't Hide", "Use my Third Arm", "Where You Come From", "This Love", "I'm Broken" and many others.
In Pantera's earliest days, Brown was witnessed playing an Ibanez Roadster bass. In the late 80's he switched to Charvel basses and played a white 5 string and a black 4 string model. He used these basses exclusively through the Cowboys From Hell and Vulgar Display of Power albums, before he briefly used a 4 and 5 string model Ernie Ball MusicMan Stingray bass during the Vulgar Display of Power tour as well as a Fernandes Telecaster shaped bass for the "Walk" music video. In 1993, Rex began endorsing Spector bass guitars, notably all his basses had humbuckers. He continues to use Spectors to this day, with his own signature model. Slightly shaped like a Gibson Thunderbird, the Spector Rex Brown Signature bass comes in several different finishes and is available in 4 and 5 string models. In 2011, Spector released a new signature bass by Rex. Named the Spector RXT, the bass has the same electronics as his first signature bass but instead of a Thunderbird, it is shaped like a Telecaster.
Brown is currently endorsed by Spector basses and Ampeg amplification.[6][7]
[edit] Basses
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[edit] Effects
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[edit] Amplifiers
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[edit] Discography
[edit] Album appearances
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[edit] Collaborations
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[edit] References
- ^ Texas Births, 1926-1995, Rex Robert Brown
- ^ Biography for Rex Brown at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ "BLABBERMOUTH.NET - Bassist REX BROWN Will Not Return To DOWN, Says Drummer JIMMY BOWER". Roadrunnerrecords.com. http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=159766. Retrieved 2011-07-04.
- ^ "VINNY APPICE And REX BROWN Join Forces In KILL DEVIL HILL; First Photo Available". Roadrunner Records. http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=154921.
- ^ a b "DOWN/Ex-PANTERA Bassist REX BROWN Diagnosed With Acute Pancreatitis". BlabberMouth. http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=126396.
- ^ a b Pantera’s Rex Brown Digs In With Down
- ^ "rex brown of pantera". GuitarGeek. http://guitargeek.com/rigview/420/. Retrieved 2011-07-04.
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