Chris Michie (January 12, 1948 – March 27, 2003) was an American guitarist and composer and best known for his work with Van Morrison. Chris Michie was born in Ithaca, New York in 1948 and moved to Madison, Wisconsin, when he was a teenager. He attended the University of Wisconsin. Michie played in a band named The Grapes of Wrath, while still a teenager. In 1969, he moved to California as a member of the Madison band, The Mendelbaum Blues Band. Keith Knudsen, a future Doobie Brothers drummer was also a member of the band. Michie quit the band in 1971 and joined the rock band, Lamb. David Rubinson, the band's producer, picked Michie to be guitarist with the Pointer Sisters. In 1981, Michie played on Van Morrison's album '' Beautiful Vision'' after picking up a message from engineer Jim Stern. Chris and his family had just arrived in Hawaii for a vacation. Jim asked if he could get to the studio the next day. Chris turned around and flew home to do the session, then returned to Hawaii. When recording the album, Morrison had a certain guitar tone in mind that neither Herbie Armstrong nor Mark Knopfler had been able to produce.Heylin, ''Can You Feel the Silence?'', p. 372 After ''Beautiful Vision'', Michie then played guitar and toured with Van Morrison as a band member until 1986, playing on the albums '' Inarticulate Speech of the Heart'' (1983), ''

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'' (1984), '' A Sense of Wonder'' (1985) and '' No Guru, No Method, No Teacher'' (1986). Other band members of Van Morrison's band were David Hayes and Mark Springer. Michie would also play lead guitar on the album ''Sneaker Waves'' with them and play in a band with them called The Adapters. Michie worked as a freelance guitarist in the San Francisco Bay Area. He worked with

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and

Link Wray Fred Lincoln "Link" Wray Jr. (May 2, 1929 – November 5, 2005) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist who became popular in the late 1950s. ''Rolling Stone'' placed Wray at No. 45 of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. In 2013 ...

. Michie composed soundtracks for the TV show ''

Starsky and Hutch ''Starsky & Hutch'' is an American action television series, which consisted of a 72-minute pilot movie (originally aired as a ''Movie of the Week'' entry) and 92 episodes of 50 minutes each. The show was created by William Blinn (inspired by th ...

''. He also served as musical director for David Soul. His final project was to compose the soundtrack for ''

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''. The movie was released posthumously, and was dedicated to him. Michie was married to Deborah Brown Michie for thirty five years and had a daughter, Claire, with her. He died at his home in

Fairfax, California Fairfax is an incorporated town in Marin County, California, United States. Fairfax is located west-northwest of San Rafael, at an elevation of . The population was 7,605 at the 2020 census. History The Coast Miwok Native Americans occupied ...

in 2003 from

melanoma Melanoma, also redundantly known as malignant melanoma, is a type of skin cancer that develops from the pigment-producing cells known as melanocytes. Melanomas typically occur in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye ( ...

after having the disease for six years.

Discography

*''Bridge'' (1981) *''Guitars and Oranges'' (1993) *''The Night Flight'' (1994) *''Following Old Joe Clark'' (1995) *''Seven Rivers'' (1997) *''Tough Love'' (1998) *''The Goyer Golf Suite'' (2001) *''The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill'' (2005)

Notes

References

*Heylin, Clinton (2003). ''Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography'', Chicago Review Press,

External links

Chris Michie @ Allmusic
{{DEFAULTSORT:Michie, Chris 1948 births 2003 deaths Musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area Lead guitarists American rock guitarists American male guitarists American film score composers Deaths from cancer in California 20th-century American guitarists People from Fairfax, California 20th-century American composers Guitarists from California American male film score composers 20th-century American male musicians