Monday, August 24, 2009

Larry Knechtel Dies

Larry Knetchal 1940-2009 Kip Tyler- Will His Story Ever Be Told? Studio keyboard player and bassist Larry Knetchal died of a heart attack last week. Knechtel was a member of LA's session players loosely known as the Wrecking Crew as well as a former member of Duane Eddy's Rebels and Kip Tyler and the Flips. He was born in Bell Garden, California in 1940. He also played on the Elvis '68 Comback (Singer Special) TV Show, played organ on the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, played bass on the first Doors and Byrds albums (that's him on Mr. Tamborine Man). As the original members of the Flips die off (sax player Steve Douglas died in recent years)a great story is rapidly being lost to time, that is the story of Kip Tyler & the Flips. Still living members include Sandy Nelson, Jim Horn, Kip Tyler, Mike Bermani, Mike Deasy and Jimmy Troxel. Anyone out there got Kip's phone #?
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19 comments:

  1. NickAugust 24, 2009 at 11:26 AM

    Hound! Cut out the bad news!
    Gee whiz... droppin' like flies.

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  2. TimmyAugust 24, 2009 at 2:49 PM

    For Kip info, try: http://www.wreckingcrewfilm.com
    or drop a line to: claude@claudehallonline.com
    All I can say is: Vaya con Dios...

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  3. the family catAugust 24, 2009 at 6:09 PM

    Sandy Nelson is still alive and cut an album 18 months ago

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  4. The HoundAugust 24, 2009 at 6:46 PM

    "Sandy Nelson is still alive and cut an album 18 months ago"


    You're right, I messed that up....I'll change it.

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  5. AnonymousAugust 24, 2009 at 9:33 PM

    Man this cat was a MONSTER!! Correct me if I'm wrong but I think he was also the bass player in the Shindig house band (not the Shindogs) including Leon Russell,Russ Titleman,Jim Horn, Ritchie Frost and Jerry Cole . The Wrecking Crew has lost one of it's finest. RIP Mr. Knechtel

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  6. The HoundAugust 24, 2009 at 11:48 PM

    He was indeed in the Shindig house band, his credits would fill up this blog ten times. The Shindogs were pretty cool too, come to think of it.

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  7. AnonymousAugust 25, 2009 at 11:31 AM

    Larry Knechtel jump-started his professional career with Duane Eddy. As member of The Rebels for four years on the road, and recording in the studio with Duane led to Larry's becoming an established member of the L.A. session scene.

    Jimmy Troxel passed away quite some time ago, as did Mike Bermani.

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  8. The HoundAugust 25, 2009 at 12:13 PM

    "Larry Knechtel jump-started his professional career with Duane Eddy. As member of The Rebels for four years on the road, and recording in the studio with Duane led to Larry's becoming an established member of the L.A. session scene.

    Jimmy Troxel passed away quite some time ago, as did Mike Bermani."

    All three passed through Kip Tyler & the Flips before joining the Rebels (which Eddy frequently raided for touring musicians). I mixed up Sandy Nelson and Mike Barmani in the original posting which I've since fixed.

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  9. Mark HoffmanAugust 25, 2009 at 2:38 PM

    Larry Knechtel played bass with a lot of great people on Shindig. For example, he played behind Howlin' Wolf when Wolf was on Shindig with the Rolling Stones in 1965. Also in the band that night were James Burton on guitar, Billy Preston on piano, and Mickey Conway on drums. Except for Wolf, they were "play-synching," having recorded their instrumental tracks the day before. Wolf was singing and playing harp live, though.

    You can see a clip of it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIcIsVKmmRY

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  10. The HoundAugust 25, 2009 at 2:54 PM

    "You can see a clip of it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIcIsVKmmRY
    "
    That clip is so cool, I ran the clip last year I think, I remember seeing it as a kid, the Stones sitting at Wolf' feet looking up at him like he was the Messiah. For years I'd thought I'd imagined it, or dreamed it, but that clip changed my life for ever.

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  11. Mark HoffmanAugust 25, 2009 at 3:17 PM

    Yeah, it's a great clip! You can tell the dancers and musicians were really getting off on Wolf. Look at Burton and Knechtel smiling behind Wolf; you can tell they were having a great time! Wolf rose to the occasion, doing his hula-hoop moves and his crazy dance and totally throwing himself into it. One of my favorite moments is when he starts to play harp, realizes his harp is upside down, calmly flips it over, and just wails out a fantastic solo. This is my favorite Howlin' Wolf clip, and I've seen them all (including some that aren't publicly available).

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  12. AnonymousAugust 26, 2009 at 8:45 AM

    Kip's down on Shadow Street...

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  13. JumpyAugust 27, 2009 at 4:46 PM

    Yeah, the ShinDOGS were the Bobby Fuller 4 trying to get on the show, if I'm not mistaken.
    PJL

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  14. ClearPlanAugust 28, 2009 at 9:17 AM

    Despite being a big Kip Tyler fan I just found out, via the Kogar's Jungle Juice blog, that there is pretty much a full CD of material available on the Hydra label. Link is here, sorry, the amazon listing was the best one i could locate.
    http://www.amazon.com/Ooh-Yeah-Baby-Kip-Tyler/dp/B0001ZDJC0

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  15. The HoundAugust 29, 2009 at 2:47 PM

    "there is pretty much a full CD of material available on the Hydra label. "

    yeah, it's a bootleg that's been around for awhile, too bad it's missing his Imperial 45- Rock Around The Universe b/w Goblin Trot, that would have made it complete. Still, it's well worth buying, most of the stuff on there is pretty killer.

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  16. AnonymousSeptember 5, 2009 at 11:42 AM

    In case you're interested, Mike Deasy became a 'born again' preacher, has led several ministries to Russia and India.
    He leads his own church in the Port arthur Texas area and until recently was still producing his own (and wife Kathie's) gospel tinged CDs.

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  17. mrostronFebruary 17, 2011 at 12:46 PM

    One of his last recording sessions was with Bellingham singer/songwriter Lesley Rostron. At least one of those songs, Losin', is now available at CD Baby. Larry's organ chops really add the shimmer to this pop gem.

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  18. mrostronFebruary 17, 2011 at 12:51 PM

    Here is the link to the song.
    http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/lesleyrostron
    Larry was very excited and proud of the work he did with Lesley. It is regretful the songs were never completed and released as he was in fine creative form and had high hopes for the project.

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  19. tablet pc tiendaSeptember 14, 2011 at 4:14 PM

    Really effective data, thanks for this article.

    ReplyDelete