Where is Leroy?

[The Primitive]

I was just listening to YHF and was reminded that it may be my all time favorite album. Anyway, my brother and I were debating on the best Wilco lineup and mine is the lineup on that album minus Jay Bennett. I know Jay is a great musician but I just thought he was kind of a tool. I had the pleasure of meeting Leroy in Arcata, CA in a bookstore and from that moment he kind of became my favorite band member. I was really bummed when he left the band and now I am wondering what he is doing. I just read that he went on tour with Beth Orton but it didnt sound like that was a permanant thing for him. Just wondering if anyone out there knows what he is up to. I hope that he is doing well.

[froggie]

i read he wasnt up for all the touring and wanted to spend more time with the family

[aricandover]

he also toured with Sonny Smith for bit, as part of the "Brain Flames". and I think it was in August '06, he was playing shows at the Hideout with Emmett Kelly.

[ms. yvon]

which bookstore in arcata?

 

i did see leroy touring with sonny smith last year. it's always terrific to see his face and hear his grooves pop up.

[FourStrongWinds]

i only just watched "I Am trying to break your heart" the other day, never got round to buying it for ages

 

Jay seems like a massive knob, althought i guess we must remember this is Jeffs dvd sorta, and you could well have been edited in his favour

just a thought

[Bradrock]

even if jay comes off as a tool, i think he's still a very talented musician. very underrated due to his behavior in the movie

[SquashedFrog]

bartending

[lost highway]

i only just watched "I Am trying to break your heart" the other day, never got round to buying it for ages

 

Ah then you are new to the all to familiar Jeff vs. Jay arguments, or perhaps you would enjoy a more obscure Kotche vs. Koomer contest, or the more classic viachicago.org argument Tweedy vs. Farrar, but there is more space in the Bach vs. Sansone battles. The trouble is everyone wants Leroy for an uncle and Pat for a little brother so they have a hard time imagining death matches or comparing musical prowess.

[fortuneinmyhead]

i wonder if T.Rex fans ever had perigrin took vs. the other guy that played congos debates

[Analogman]

Mickey Finn or occasionally Micky Finn (born Michael Norman Finn on 3 June 1947 in Thornton Heath, Surrey, England, died on 11 January 2003), was the percussionist and sideman to Marc Bolan in his band Tyrannosaurus Rex (on one album, A Beard of Stars), and later, the 70s Glam Rock group, T. Rex. Often confused with other musicians by the same name, Michael Norman Finn (apart from T. Rex) only ever played with the Blowmonkeys, the Soupdragons, and, for a tour in the 60's, Hapshash and the Coloured Coat.

 

It was rumored that Bolan hired Mickey for his good looks, and because he liked his motorcycle, rather than for his musical ability; Finn was unable to recreate the complex rhythmical patterns of his predecessor, Steve Peregrin Took, and was effectively hired as much for a visual foil for Bolan as for his drumming.

 

In the early 1970s, Finn's contribution as bongocerro, backing vocalist, and, occasionally, bassist, to Bolan's music was essential, because Tyrannosaurus Rex and T. Rex started off as a duo and Marc needed a replacement for Steve Peregrin Took. Something of a character both on and off stage, Finn was often to be seen wearing a hat (including a green bowler), a trademark that was adopted by a significant proportion of T. Rex fans.

 

However, due to T. Rex's sound becoming more and more electric-influenced, and the presence of a 'proper' drummer, Bill Legend, Mickey's bongo playing became effectively obsolete, and he left the band in late 1975.

 

Finn returned to the music scene in 1997, fronting a new, controversial version of T. Rex, Mickey Finn's T. Rex, playing old T. Rex singles. However, Finn died from liver problems, on 11 January 2003, aged 55.