Long time RIC employee Brian Carman passed away last Sunday.

[Ontario_RIC_fan]

Long time RIC employee Brian Carmen passed away last Sunday.



Details here.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/spic ... eline.html

You probably don’t know Brian Carman’s name today, if ever you did. But odds are good that you do know his most famous riff, that rapid-fire burst of sound that flew from Carman’s fingers and the strings of his guitar, turning the instrumental “Pipeline” into one of the most legendary hits of surf music and transforming the Chantays from five Santa Ana teenagers barely old enough to shave into the brightest stars of pop music for a brief period as 1963 arrived.

Carman, who was 69, died Sunday, said Bob Spickard, who co-wrote the “Pipeline” with Carman and continued to play with him in the Chantays off and on until a year or two ago.

“To me, he’s like my brother,” Spickard said on Tuesday, taking a break from the weekly jam session he plays in at the American Legion hall in Newport Beach. “It’s one of those situations where he had been in ill health for quite awhile. He battled with a lot, and basically his heart just gave out.”


Torrence, a longtime resident of Huntington Beach, with his partner the late Jan Berry, had already scored a handful of hits when “Pipeline” arrived. While he didn’t know Carman (though he is friends with Spickard) he appreciated the Chantays’ hit for the way it seemed to really capture the feel of surfing in the music.

“To me it had that kind of laid back quality that some of the other surf songs didn’t have,” Torrence said. “And it seemed to shift gears as it went along, which is kind of what the art of surfing would pretty well be. If you’re trying to structure a tune around the art of surfing, it’s just a guy on a surf board in the water, what the hell.

“It would be hard to do that, and this was one of the songs that really did capture surfing.”

Eventually, the arrival of the British Invasion in the form of the Beatles, and the huge changes in the pop landscape that floowed, caused the Chantays to fade, Spickard said. They all started families – Carman, who girls in school thoguht looked like Ricky Nelson, was the first to get married, the first to have a child, Spickard said – and with that came responsibilities and eventually day jobs.

Carman went to work for Rickenbacker, the longtime guitar and bass company based in Santa Ana, and later for Music Man, the company Leo Fender started after he sold his namesake firm. Still, the Chantays would play shows regularly over the years, with Carman, Spickard and drummer Welch the main original players in the group.

[squirebass]

Oh, man, I am so sorry to hear about this. I heard he and Spickard interviewed on KNON radio here in Dallas a few years back, and they talked about creating the song "Pipeline" and the surf scene back in the day. And of course, he was the Rickenbacker operations manager, so something similar, from what I understand. Loved his music and I'm sorry to hear of his passing... RIP, Bob

[kennyhowes]

viewtopic.php?f=99&t=412541

[fabandgear]

Brian was a super nice guy. I had the pleasure of talking with him at Rickenbacker when he headed the custom shop. He beautifully refinished a '65 450 for me and was just so helpful finding a NOS bridge for it. Just a great all-around guy! Rest in Peace my friend!