Paul Brett (20 June 1947 – 31 January 2024) was an English

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

. He played

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

with

Strawbs The Strawbs are an English rock band founded in 1964 as the Strawberry Hill Boys. The band started out as a bluegrass group, but eventually moved on to other styles such as folk rock and progressive rock. They are best known for their hi ...

(although he was never actually a member), The Overlanders, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera, The Velvet Opera, Tintern Abbey,

Fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion re ...

, Roy Harper,

Al Stewart Alastair Ian Stewart (born 5 September 1945) is a British singer-songwriter and folk-rock musician who rose to prominence as part of the British folk revival in the 1960s and 1970s. He developed a unique style of combining folk-rock songs wi ...

, and

Lonnie Donegan Anthony James "Lonnie" Donegan (29 April 1931 – 3 November 2002) was a British skiffle singer, songwriter and musician, referred to as the " King of Skiffle", who influenced 1960s British pop and rock musicians. Born in Scotland and brought ...

. He switched to twelve-string guitar in the 1970s. His first twelve-string guitar suite, ''Earth Birth'', was released on his own

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...

, Phoenix Future, and was produced by artist Ralph Steadman of '' Fear and Loathing'' fame. Critical acclaim led to Brett being signed on a four-album deal with

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

. His

K-tel K-tel International Ltd is a Canadian company which formerly specialized in selling consumer products through infomercials and live demonstration. Its products include compilation music albums, including ''The Super Hits'' series, ''The Dynamic ...

''Romantic Guitar'' album went

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

in the United Kingdom, but Brett stopped recording soon afterwards. He started recording again in 2000, with long-time friend and fellow twelve-string guitarist, John Joyce. Brett wrote for

music magazine A music magazine is a magazine dedicated to music and culture in music cognition, music culture. Such magazines typically include music news, interviews, photo shoots, essays, record reviews, concert reviews and occasionally have a covermount with ...

s ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'', ''Sound International'' and '' International Musician'' and continued working in the

music industry The music industry are individuals and organizations that earn money by Songwriter, writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music and sheet music, presenting live music, concerts, ...

in the later part of his career. He latterly wrote a regular column for '' Acoustic'', a magazine specializing in

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

s. He was also the Associate Editor and Features Writer for ''Music Maker'' and ''Live in London'' magazines. He has appeared on

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

's '' Antiques Road Show'' and '' Flog It'' in the mid-2000s. Brett has worked as a guitar designer for Vintage Guitars in the UK, including The Viator 6 and 12 string travel guitars, The Gemini, The Viaten tenor guitar, and the Paul Brett signature 6 and 12 string guitars. Released in 2017 was the Statesboro' 12 string, which was a tribute to the blues musician,

Blind Willie McTell Blind Willie McTell (born William Samuel McTier; May 5, 1898 – August 19, 1959) was an American Piedmont blues and ragtime singer, songwriter and guitarist. He played in a fluid, syncopated finger picking guitar style common among many Eas ...

Career

In 1967, Brett was a member of The Warren Davis Monday Band. He played on their single, "Wait for Me" bw "I Don't Wanna Hurt You". In 1973 / 74 he released the album, ''Clocks''. Paul Brett died on 31 January 2024 of a heart failure.

Discography

With other groups

* Roy Harper - ''Sophisticated Beggar'' LP (Strike Records) *

- "Electric Los Angeles Sunset" single, '' Zero She Flies'' LP * Arthur Brown - "Devil's Grip" / "Give Him a Flower" single * Tintern Abbey - "Vacuum Cleaner" / "Beeside" single * Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera - "Volcano" and "Mary Jane" singles *The Velvet Opera - "Anna Dance Square" and "Black Jack Davy" singles, ''Ride a Hustler's Dream'' LP *

- ''Magic Shoemaker'' LP *

- ''

Dragonfly A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of dragonflies are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threat ...

'' and ''Classic Strawbs'' LPs

Solo material

*(as Paul Brett Sage): ( Pye / Dawn Records) *:''Paul Brett Sage'' (1970) *:''Jubilation Foundry'' (1971) *:''Schizophrenia'' (1972) * Emergence (2014) Paul Brett Sage *Eclectic (2017) Paul Brett Sage *( Bradley's Records) ''Paul Brett'' (1973), ''Clocks'' (1974) *(Phoenix Future) ''Phoenix Future'' (1975) *(

) ''Earth Birth'' (1977) - ''Interlife'' (1978) - ''Eclipse'' (1979) - ''Guitar Trek'' (1980) *(

) ''Romantic Guitar'' (1980) - ''Themes'' - ''Themes 2'' ''Great Themes'' *(Eclipse) ''Guitar For All Seasons'' never released, but 1000 copies pressed. *(Music Manifold) ''Music Manifold'' *(Albion Music) ''Transmissions'' *Brett & Joyce (Fretdancer) ''Acoustic Power'' (2001) *''Collecting Vintage Acoustic Guitars'' DVD (Fretdancer, 2006) *''12 String Guitar & Beyond'' DVD (Fretdancer, 2007) *''Songs from The Compleat Angler'' CD (Fretdancer, 2009)

Other work

Brett also performed as a

session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...

with The Ivy League, The Flower Pot Men, Carter & Lewis, Hudson Ford, Johnny Joyce, Michel Polnareff, Max Bygraves, The Cyril Stapleton Orchestra,

, Ralph McTell,

Neil Christian Neil Christian (born Christopher Tidmarsh, 14 February 1943 – 4 January 2010) Related session musicians * Paul Brett *Jimmy Page * Ritchie Blackmore * Nicky Hopkins *Albert Lee Albert William Lee (born 21 December 1943) is an English ...

Status Quo is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, economic, legal, environmental, political, religious, scientific or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the curren ...

, Paul King, Barclay James Harvest, Tom Newman and The Overlanders. In 2012 he set up and managed the annual Llyn Acoustic Guitar Festival in North Wales.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brett, Paul 1947 births 2024 deaths English rock guitarists English session musicians Progressive rock guitarists Musicians from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham People from Fulham Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera members