HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO CHAS CHANDLER! Born Bryan James Chandler on December 18th 1938 in Heaton, Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland. He was a musician, record producer and manager, best known as the original bassist in the Animals, and manager of Jimi Hendrix. He became a interview subject for Hendrix until his death in 1996. Chandler grew up, along with the rest of the original Animals, near Newcastle upon Tyne. He learned to play the guitar but became the bass player when he joined the Alan Price Trio in 1962. After vocalist Eric Burdon joined them, the group was renamed the Animals. Chandlers bass lines were rarely given critical attention, but some, including the opening riff of the groups 1965 hit We Gotta Get Out of This Place subsequently received praise. Chandler was also the most prominent of the groups backing vocalists and did occasional songwriting with Burdon. Despite commercial success, Chandler became disillusioned with the hard work and lack of money, recalling that We toured non-stop for three years, doing 300 gigs a year and we hardly got a penny. The group split up in late 1966. During his final tour with the Animals that year, Chandler saw a then-unknown Jimi Hendrix play in Cafe Wha?, a Greenwich Village, New York nightclub. Hendrix was at the time using the moniker Jimmy James. In September, Chandler convinced James to go with him to Britain, suggested that he revert to using his actual name, and later suggested naming the band the Jimi Hendrix Experience. In Britain, Chandler recruited bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell as the other members of the Experience. Chandler provided somewhere for him to stay, and self-financed the Experiences first single, Hey Joe, before they had a recording contract. He was also instrumental in introducing Hendrix to Eric Clapton. It was through this introduction that Hendrix got the opportunity to play with Clapton and Cream on stage. It was Chandlers idea for Hendrix to set his guitar on fire, which made national news when first done at the Finsbury Astoria Theatre, and subsequently at the Monterey Pop festival. Hendrix engineer Eddie Kramer later said On the first two [Hendrix] albums it was very much Chas ... He was his mentor. And, I think it was very necessary. By 1968, Chandler had become fed up with the recording sessions for Hendrixs album Electric Ladyland, claiming they were self-indulgent, and left management services in the hands of co-manager Micheal Jeffery the following year. Chandler then went on to manage and produce the British rock band Slade for twelve years, during which time they achieved six number one chart hits in the UK. During this time, Chandler bought IBC Studios which he renamed Portland Recording Studios, and ran it for four years. Chandler also ran a series of record labels from the studios, and formed a music publishing agency and management and production companies. In 1977, Chandler played with and recorded the Animals during a brief reunion, and he joined them again for a further revival in 1983, at which point he sold his business interests and became a musician again. During the early 1990s, he helped finance the development of Newcastle Arena, a ten-thousand seat sports and entertainment venue that opened in 1995. Chandler died of an aortic aneurysm at Newcastle General Hospital on 17 July 1996, only days after performing his final solo show. Heres the Animals performing, Weve Gotta Get Out Of This Place with the iconic Chas Chandler bass line..... Enjoy! (P.S....somebody tell me what movie this is)
Posted on: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 18:46:39 +0000
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