Michael Kenneth Been (March 17, 1950 – August 19, 2010) was an American rock musician who achieved critical attention and rotation play on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

in the 1980s with his band The Call. He later released an album of his solo work and toured with his son's band

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (sometimes abbreviated to BRMC) is an American rock band from San Francisco, California. The group originally consisted of Peter Hayes (vocals, guitar, harmonica), Robert Levon Been (vocals, bass, guitar), and Ni ...

. His song "Let the Day Begin" was the official campaign song of

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic ...

's 2000 U.S. presidential campaign. His song "Oklahoma" was one of the top ten choices for

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

's official state rock song and a line from the song provided the name for ''Another Hot Oklahoma Night: A Rock & Roll Exhibit'' at the

Oklahoma History Center The Oklahoma History Center (OHC) is the history museum of the state of Oklahoma. Located on an plot across the street from the Governor's mansion at 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive in Oklahoma City, the current museum opened in 2005 and is operated by t ...

Background

Born in

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...

, Been later lived in Park Forest, south of Chicago, where he attended high school and formed his first band, The Chessman. After graduation, he moved to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, where he was a member of the band

Aorta The aorta ( ) is the main and largest artery in the human body, originating from the left ventricle of the heart and extending down to the abdomen, where it splits into two smaller arteries (the common iliac arteries). The aorta distributes o ...

at the time of their second album ''Aorta 2'', in 1970. He then joined Lovecraft, the successor band to the

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound effects and recording te ...

group H.P. Lovecraft. Moving to Santa Cruz in the mid-1970's, Been played with former

Moby Grape Moby Grape is an American rock band founded in 1966, known for having all five members contribute to singing and songwriting, and who collectively merged elements of folk music, blues, country, and jazz with rock and psychedelic music. They were ...

members

Jerry Miller Jerry Miller (born July 10, 1943) is an American songwriter, guitarist and vocalist. He performs as a solo artist and as a member of the Jerry Miller Band. He is also a founding member of the 1960s San Francisco band Moby Grape, which continues ...

and Bob Mosley in the band Fine Wine, and then again with Miller in the band The Original Haze which also featured Scott Musick on drums. Been also played bass on the first two albums by

2nd Chapter of Acts The 2nd Chapter of Acts was a Jesus music and early contemporary Christian music group composed of sisters Annie Herring and Nelly Greisen and brother Matthew Ward. They began performing in 1972 and enjoyed their period of greatest success du ...

, their 1974 album '' With Footnotes'' and their 1975 album '' In the Volume of the Book'', as well as

Barry McGuire Barry McGuire (born October 15, 1935) is an American singer-songwriter primarily known for his 1965 hit " Eve of Destruction". Later he would pioneer as a singer and songwriter of Contemporary Christian music. Early life McGuire was born in O ...

's 1974 release, ''Lighten Up''. After their experiences in The Original Haze, Been and Musick teamed up with

Dale Ockerman Dale Ockerman is a keyboardist, guitarist and songwriter who has worked with a variety of internationally recognized musicians since the late 1960s. He is best known for his association with the Doobie Brothers, where he was principal keyboardist a ...

to form "The Michael Been Band Is Airtight," which was quickly shortened to "Airtight". Following Ockerman's departure, Been and Musick remained together and formed Moving Pictures, which soon became The Call. The Call emerged in 1980 in Santa Cruz with Been on lead vocals and guitar, Musick on drums, Tom Ferrier on guitar, and bassist Greg Freeman. They were first discovered by Tulsa's

Phil Seymour Philip Warren Seymour (May 15, 1952 - August 17, 1993) was an American drummer, singer, guitarist and songwriter, best known for the singles "I'm on Fire" (with The Dwight Twilley Band), his own solo hit "Precious to Me" and for providing backi ...

. By the dawning of the 1980s, the band had become The Call, and they released a self-titled album in 1982 with

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it ...

. The band's 1983 album ''Modern Romans'' led to a world tour opening for

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...

and featured the song "The Walls Came Down" which achieved heavy rotation on MTV.Triplett, Gene
"Oklahoma-born rocker Michael Been dies in Belgium"
''

The Oklahoman ''The Oklahoman'' is the largest daily newspaper in Oklahoma, United States, and is the only regional daily that covers the Greater Oklahoma City area. The Alliance for Audited Media (formerly Audit Bureau Circulation) lists it as the 59th large ...

, August 20, 2010. Accessed August 20, 2010.'' Been participated in composing and performing the music to

Paul Schrader Paul Joseph Schrader (; born July 22, 1946) is an American screenwriter, film director, and film critic. He first received widespread recognition through his screenplay for Martin Scorsese's ''Taxi Driver'' (1976). He later continued his collabo ...

's 1992 film ''

Light Sleeper ''Light Sleeper'' is a 1992 American crime drama film written and directed by Paul Schrader and starring Willem Dafoe, Susan Sarandon, and Dana Delany. Set in New York City during a sanitation strike, the gritty neo-noir film stars Dafoe as a high ...

''. The film also features two of his songs, ''To Feel This Way'' and ''World On Fire''. In 1994, he recorded a solo album, ''On the Verge of a Nervous Breakthrough''. Been appeared as a sideman in bands fronted by actor

Harry Dean Stanton Harry Dean Stanton (July 14, 1926 – September 15, 2017) was an American actor, musician, and singer. In a career that spanned more than six decades, Stanton played supporting roles in films including ''Cool Hand Luke'' (1967), ''Kelly's Heroes ...

; Stanton having played harmonica on ''Let the Day Begin'' track, "For Love". He played the

apostle John John the Apostle ( grc, Ἰωάννης; la, Ioannes ; Ge'ez: ዮሐንስ;) or Saint John the Beloved was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Generally listed as the youngest apostle, he was the son of Zebedee ...

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of many major accolades, incl ...

's 1988 feature film '' The Last Temptation of Christ'' and had some film credits. Been recorded an album of solo material in the 1990s that remains unreleased. Been's son, Robert Levon Been, is the frontman for

. Michael Been was heavily involved in BRMC as their sound engineer and toured with them. Been died at the age of 60 on August 19, 2010, in

Hasselt Hasselt (, , ; la, Hasseletum, Hasselatum) is a Belgian city and municipality, and capital and largest city of the province of Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is known for its former branding as "the city of taste", as well as i ...

, Belgium, of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

while at the Pukkelpop 2010 music festival where he was on-tour as a sound man for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club."The Call's Been dies of heart attack"
CNN.com, August 20, 2010.

Discography (solo)

* ''Light Sleeper'' (1992) * ''On the Verge of a Nervous Breakthrough'' (1994, Qwest/Reprise)

Filmography

References

External links

*
Michael Been memorial page
via The Call official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Been, Michael 1950 births 2010 deaths American rock musicians Musicians from Oklahoma City Musicians from Chicago H. P. Lovecraft (band) members