Tetsu Yamauchi obit

Tetsu Yamauchi Has Died

 

He was not on the list.

Multiple sources are reporting that Japanese bass player Tetsu Yamauchi has died.

Th groundbreaking Japanese musician became one of the first from his homeland to make serious incursions into Western rock culture, with Tetsu Yamauchi replacing Andy Fraser in British blues rock group Free.

Becoming a fan favourite, Tetsu was then coaxed into the ranks of The Faces, replacing Ronnie Lane in the process.

Much-loved by his peers, Tetsu Yamauchi actually had a jazz background, and his undoubted technical skills was matched by a taste for hard-drinking rock debauchery that more than equalled his British and American peers.

Playing on a number of classic albums, Tetsu withdrew from the limelight in the 90s, becoming a somewhat enigmatic figure in the process. Declining the chance to join the Faces’ re-union shows, his friend Alan Merrill told media that the bass player was living a quiet religious life in the Japanese countryside.

Simon Kirke played in Free and knew Tetsu for 60 years – the English musician confirmed the news on social media: “Just heard that Tetsu passed away. He was a good friend and a great bass player. my

condolences to his family and close friends. May he rest in peace.”

In the 1970s, he was a member of several popular rock bands, including Free, where he replaced original bassist Andy Fraser before the band's final album Heartbreaker, and Faces, where he replaced Ronnie Lane and appears on the band's final single, "You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything", as well as touring with them and playing on the live album Coast to Coast: Overture and Beginners. He also recorded various solo albums and did extensive work as a session musician before retiring from the music sometime in the late 1990s.

Yamauchi was born Yamauchi Tetsuo in 1946 in Fukuoka, Japan.

In the late 1960s, Yamauchi played with Mickey Curtis and his band Samurai. The Samurai had the legendary free-jazz drummer Sabu Toyozumi who performed and recorded with such free-jazz heavy-weight like Peter Brötzmann, John Zorn, Anthony Braxton, Toshinori Kondo, Leo Smith, the musicians of the Art Ensemble of Chicago and also Charlie Mingus. The Samurai toured Europe in Casinos, Rock venues and one 1970 Rock Festival in Rome, Italy. Samurai spent some time recording tracks for an album at Tangerine studios in Dalston, London. Also singing on this album was their manager, Mike Walker, who later wrote for the National Enquirer newspaper in the USA. Two other members were named Hiro and Yujen, and harmonica was contributed by Graham Smith. The engineer was Tony Rockliff. This involvement led to him working as a session musician in both Tokyo and London. In London, he became close friends with Ginger Baker and Alan Merrill.

In 1972, he contributed to the album Kossoff, Kirke, Tetsu and Rabbit with Free guitarist Paul Kossoff and drummer Simon Kirke, together with keyboard player John "Rabbit" Bundrick. He subsequently joined Free to participate in their final 1973 studio album Heartbreaker, replacing Andy Fraser.

In August 1973, Yamauchi replaced Ronnie Lane in the Faces as their bass guitarist, but according to Faces keyboardist Ian McLagan, Yamauchi's recruitment turned out to be a mistake because he was not really the right type of bassist for them, and he had been hired to replace Lane in haste without the band properly auditioning him beforehand. Furthermore, McLagan stated that Yamauchi embraced a drinking and partying lifestyle when he, Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood and Kenney Jones were now attempting to minimize their own significant drinking behaviour and become more creative. “We made a mistake really with Tetsu,” said McLagan. “It wasn’t his fault, but he was a party boy and thought he was in for lots of drinks and a little bit of playing, while we were looking for more creation and a lot less boozing.