Bye Mel
Mel Galley of Whitesnake fame died on the 1st. He died of cancer, knew he was going out soon, and handled it like we all probably wish we would in the same circumstances: fearlessly and at peace.
He was 60 years old, and in my opinion is responsible for one of the woodiest and well-recorded tones ever put on record. You can’t go wrong with a Les Paul and a Marshall, and he certainly didn’t.
Just a bit of bio info:
Whitesnake
He played in Whitesnake in what I would consider a classic lineup. Check this video out, which has the lineup of: vox, David Coverdale; guitars, Mel and Micky Moody; bass, Colin Hodgkinson; keys, Jon Lord; skins, Cozy Powell.
Mel apparently played on two Whitesnake albums — Saint & Sinners and Slide It In — the latter having some just killer WoodyTones on it that still give me a ToneWoody (and I suppose always will). Very tasty playing as well. This was the more blues-rock version of Whitesnake before Coverdale got more ’80s.
Trapeze
The singer in this band is the one and only Glenn Hughes, and both men were on I believe 13 albums together. Couldn’t dig up any interesting Trapeze on YouTube, but I’m curious about the music (don’t own any — yet).
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> Here’s a link to coverage of Mel’s funeral, at which Glenn said of Mel: “He was my oldest, closest friend, bandmate and brother.” Glenn also said on his website of Mel that “he alone is responsible four my career as a working musician/singer-songwriter.”
> Here’s his MySpace page.
Thank you and we’ll miss you, Mel.
Category: Les Paul, Marshall, Whitesnake
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