Andy Bown
Andy Bown |
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Andy Bown (born Andrew Steven Bown, 27 March 1946, The City, London, England) is an English musician, who has specialised in keyboards and bass guitar.
Career
Bown's first major band was The Herd, along with Peter Frampton. After The Herd dissolved he spend two years with Judas Jump[1] who were the opening act of the Isle of Wight Festival 1970. He played bass for Frampton in the 1970s and started playing keyboards for Status Quo in 1973 as a session musician, first appearing on their Hello! album in that year. He joined Status Quo as a full member in 1976.
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.
He was the bass player in the "Surrogate Band" during Pink Floyd's The Wall tour in 1980 and 1981. He also did some keyboards for Pink Floyd's The Final Cut album. Andy Bown also 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.
He still plays keyboards, guitar and harmonica with Status Quo to this day, and is an integral part of the band, having co-penned many well known Quo songs on various studio albums, most prominently collaborating with Rick Parfitt on the group's 1979 hit "Whatever You Want".
Equipment
During live performances Bown uses a Roland RD-100 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. While playing guitar Bown uses a vintage Fender Telecaster, a Gibson Les Paul, a Washburn semi-acoustic as well as a Takamine acoustic.[2]