RIP Go-Betweens' Grant McLennan
Via go-betweens.net:
On Saturday 6th May 2006, legendary Australian singer-songwriter and member of The Go-Betweens Grant McLennan died in his sleep at his home in Brisbane.McLennan was only 48 and cause of death is unknown. Two classic tunes from the duo:He will be deeply missed by all who knew him, whether personally or through his music.
The Go-Betweens - "That Way" (MP3 Link Expired)
The Go-Betweens - "Streets Of Your Town" (MP3 Link Expired)
Fans grieve on the official G-B board. Share your thoughts, favorite tunes...
Posted at 12:14 PM in MP3
Jesus, just less than a year ago the Go-Betweens released their LP. They were always a great, underrated & Grant will surely be missed.
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I've got a big thing for "Love Goes On" and the entire 16 Lovers Lane and Liberty Bell LP's for that matter. R.I.P. So sad.
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And to think, the Go-Betweens' last 3 albums were among the best of their career. Utterly, utterly tragic.
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One of the great underheard bands of the last 20-odd years, and Grant one of the great songwriters of the last 50 or so. I remember the first time I heard them, "I Just Get Caught Out"...Truly, a tragedy.
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that's terrible!
i also really loved that Jack Frost album Grant did with Steve Kilbey.
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that's really really sad...
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The GB's 1980's output could rank alongside the Smiths'. This is a terrible, terrible loss for the music world.
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"caught in your light ray"
Thanks for the music. R.I.P.
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thank God for Grant McLennan
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I live in Brisbane quite near Bellavista Terrace. The news is that he died in his sleep while resting before going out to a party. I think it was a heart attack. The Go-Betweens have been such a part of my life for the last 10 years and it mattered to me a great deal that they came from the place that I was born and grew up in. I shed a tear on SUnday and I think I will again. His funeral is this Friday.
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What a sad day...much sympathy and love to his family partner and son and friends.
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ahhh, yes, love goes on...
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ouch.... I live in the US and I JUST NOW found out. Wow for a guy I never met, I feel like I've lost a lot. I hope my work mates dont have to see a grown man cry today.
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The album Horsebreaker Star, and all the Go-Betweens' records, helped me get through my PhD dissertation days in Seattle. I used to play on my guitar "From my lips" for friends. McLennan was a great songwriter, and I'm very saddened by this loss.
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Grant and the Go-Betweens formed the sountrack to the last 20 years of my life. I feel really saddened by his death. My thoughts are with his family, the band and friends. Rest in peace.
James.
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McLennan's songs were timeless. For me it was the sheer sonic beauty and tenderness of songs like Bye Bye Pride and Quiet Heart although critics tend to revere songs he wrote such as Streets of Your Town and Cattle and Cane.
His solo album Fireboy from 1993 still gets a regular spin in my CD tray. Haunting songs like The Pawnbroker, Riddle in the Rain, Dark Side of Town, Fingers, Signs of Life, When I Close My Eyes etc.
When a great person dies it can be sad. I felt an immediate sense of loss, which is funny cos I didn't know him, but his songs were such an embodiment of life and the odd one got me thru some dark times in my life.
When Grant McLennan died though he was very happy. Celebrating life with a new house, a new partner and a stitched up deal whereby he'd sold his back catalogue to EMI. He died a few hours after decorating his new house for a house-warming, feeling a little ill and going to bed early. I think that McLennan's death must be incredibly sad for his friends and family. For those of us who loved his music there will be no more live gigs, no doubt some release in the not too distant future of the album of songs he had written but not released. But the classic songs will remain for as long as we wish to recall their magic. If you never quite got around to the Go Betweens go visit them now. Their songs really are timeless.
I'll finish this post with the lyric of his I love the most:
"I tried to tell her, yeah, I could only say it when we're apart,
about this storm inside of me and how I miss her quiet quiet heart"
Quiet Heart 1988.
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We are now in 2008. My parents just sold their house and I went there to pickup some of my CD's (I moved out of their house maybe 14 years ago). One of those CD's was Watershed, Grant's solo album from 1991 before he reunited with the Go-Betweens.
This is one of my best albums. I listened to it as many times as Grandaddy's Sophtware Slump I think. So after ripping the album so it stays with me on my iPod I went to read about Grant and was deeply shocked to find out that he had passed away so silently.
It's such a shame that such great talent only reached North America faintly. This is still a very small world, when all the great bands from Australia and New Zealand (Tall Dwarfs, Chills, Verlaines, etc.) lived and died and never got to be known around our waters.
Grant, even though this is two years after your sad departure, I will play your music for a long time to come.
Peace all,
Alain
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