Chris Michie (January 12, 1948 – March 27, 2003) was an American guitarist and composer and best known for his work with

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

. Chris Michie was born in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named ...

in 1948 and moved to

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

, when he was a teenager. He attended the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

. Michie played in a band named The Grapes of Wrath, while still a teenager. In 1969, he moved to California as a member of the Madison band, The Mendelbaum Blues Band.

Keith Knudsen Keith A. Knudsen ( ; February 18, 1948 – February 8, 2005) was an American rock drummer, vocalist, and songwriter. Knudsen was best known as a drummer and vocalist for The Doobie Brothers. In addition, he founded the band Southern Pacific wit ...

, a future Doobie Brothers drummer was also a member of the band. Michie quit the band in 1971 and joined the rock band,

Lamb Lamb or The Lamb may refer to: * A young sheep * Lamb and mutton, the meat of sheep Arts and media Film, television, and theatre * ''The Lamb'' (1915 film), a silent film starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in his screen debut * ''The Lamb'' (1918 ...

. David Rubinson, the band's producer, picked Michie to be guitarist with

the Pointer Sisters The Pointer Sisters are an American pop and R&B singing group from Oakland, California, that achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. Their repertoire has included such diverse genres as pop, jazz, electronic music, bebop, bl ...

. In 1981, Michie played on Van Morrison's album ''

Beautiful Vision ''Beautiful Vision'' is the thirteenth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in February 1982. It continued Morrison's departure from R&B at the time, instead favoring Celtic folk and American jazz in its musi ...

'' after picking up a message from engineer Jim Stern. Chris and his family had just arrived in Hawaii for a vacation. Jim asked if he could get to the studio the next day. Chris turned around and flew home to do the session, then returned to Hawaii. When recording the album, Morrison had a certain guitar tone in mind that neither Herbie Armstrong nor

Mark Knopfler Mark Freuder Knopfler (born 12 August 1949) is a British singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Born in Scotland and raised in England, he was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits. He pursued a s ...

had been able to produce.Heylin, ''Can You Feel the Silence?'', p. 372 After ''Beautiful Vision'', Michie then played guitar and toured with Van Morrison as a band member until 1986, playing on the albums ''

Inarticulate Speech of the Heart ''Inarticulate Speech of the Heart'' is the fourteenth studio album by People of Northern Ireland, Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1983. Morrison said he arrived at the title from a Shavian saying: "that idea of commun ...

'' (1983), ''

Live at the Grand Opera House Belfast ''Live at the Grand Opera House Belfast'' is a live album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1984. It was recorded from four live shows in March 1983 at the Grand Opera House, Belfast, Northern Ireland (Morrison's b ...

'' (1984), '' A Sense of Wonder'' (1985) and '' No Guru, No Method, No Teacher'' (1986). Other band members of Van Morrison's band were David Hayes and Mark Springer. Michie would also play lead guitar on the album ''Sneaker Waves'' with them and play in a band with them called The Adapters. Michie worked as a freelance guitarist in the San Francisco Bay Area. He worked with Boz Scaggs, Maria Muldaur, Jerry Garcia and Link Wray. Michie composed soundtracks for the TV show '' Starsky and Hutch''. He also served as musical director for

David Soul David Soul (born David Richard Solberg; August 28, 1943) is an American-British actor and singer. He is known for his role as Detective Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson in the television series ''Starsky & Hutch'' from 1975 to 1979; Joshua Bolt on ' ...

. His final project was to compose the soundtrack for '' The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill''. The movie was released posthumously, and was dedicated to him. Michie was married to Deborah Brown Michie for thirty five years and had a daughter, Claire, with her. He died at his home in Fairfax, California in 2003 from melanoma after having the disease for six years.

Discography

*''Bridge'' (1981) *''Guitars and Oranges'' (1993) *''The Night Flight'' (1994) *''Following Old Joe Clark'' (1995) *''Seven Rivers'' (1997) *''Tough Love'' (1998) *''The Goyer Golf Suite'' (2001) *''The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill'' (2005)

Notes

References

*Heylin, Clinton (2003). ''Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography'', Chicago Review Press,

External links

Chris Michie @ Allmusic
{{DEFAULTSORT:Michie, Chris 1948 births 2003 deaths Musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area Lead guitarists American rock guitarists American male guitarists American film score composers Deaths from cancer in California 20th-century American guitarists People from Fairfax, California 20th-century American composers Guitarists from California American male film score composers 20th-century American male musicians