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Post by washboardchris on Oct 24, 2011 6:02:07 GMT
Colin Brooks who posted on this site passed on last night after battling brain cancer for some time. I am posting this in case any friends of his on the board want to know the funeral arrangements. If so, they can contact me through this board. He was a good friend to me, and I will miss him.
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Post by marshcat on Oct 24, 2011 7:58:41 GMT
Very sad news. Colin was a kindred spirit.
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Post by Michael Messer on Oct 24, 2011 8:48:22 GMT
That is very news indeed.
Shine On
Michael.
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Post by growler on Oct 24, 2011 14:46:37 GMT
This is terrible news about Colin, he joined this forum a year before I did , we have certainly answered each others threads in the past . My sympathies go out to his family........RIP Colin
Growler
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Post by marcspark on Oct 24, 2011 16:06:39 GMT
Very sad news, i,m sure i met him at the slide festival, did he have bad arthritis in his hands ? if so i spent a couple of hours talking to him and his friend and he played my MM Blues and boy could he play, he came across as very nice person and i send my deepest sympathy to his family and friends.
All the best Marc.
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Post by Michael Messer on Oct 24, 2011 16:24:42 GMT
Hi Marc, that does sound it was Colin that you met.
Colin was one of THE most knowledgeable people on the subject National guitars.
Shine On
Michael.
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Post by marcspark on Oct 24, 2011 17:38:17 GMT
Hi Michael, Its such a shame, he came across a such a nice person. and is a big loss to the Reso community  Cancer has taken so many of my fiends and family, lets hope that they find a cure for this horrible disease that does not care what sex,skin colour how rich or poor you are. Rip Collin it was a pleasure meeting you. All the best Marc. |
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Post by Mark Makin on Oct 24, 2011 19:57:48 GMT
As Michael hinted at, Colin Brooks was one of a handful of people (which includes Michael Messer and Bob Brozman) who I value as knowing "more than most" about Nationals and related things.
I regularly spent evenings on the phone discussing models, patterns, cones, well depths and other minutiae with him for probably in excess of 30 years! I don't think there was ever something in the conversation that he hadn't heard about or didn't have another bit to add. He always had an additional article or a photograph or a new detail. His knowledge of the world of slide guitar and 30s music was encyclopaedic. Colin would turn up interesting information about sideways related subjects like European Radiotones, Faux Dobros, Konas, Weissenborns, Orpheums, Brunos, Stellas etc etc.. I would have missed so much without his input.
I am sure that much of everything we discuss and comment about on this forum related to those old instruments, Colin and I had already talked about back in the 80s.
I met Colin back in the late 1970s when he was still a Graphic Designer working for 'Dragon' - a London Design Agency. His flat in North London, even then, was full of Rickenbacher lap steels, Regal fiddle edges, banjos, ukes, books, Arhoolie and Yazoo records. As a collector or archivist, I was only a mere beginner!
At that time, he was already a formidable talent on the Hawaiian guitar (or indeed any guitar). Rather cruelly, much of this was curtailed when he developed severe arthritic problems. A lot of his guitars were sold and he simply accommodated this change of fortune by diving into the ukulele which he felt he could still play.
I believe that eventually the arthritis changed and did allow him to get much of his earlier steel guitar mobility back and in his later years in Lewes in Sussex he was again collecting and playing.
I know it seems to be the obvious and expected thing to say but I will SERIOUSLY miss those 3 hour conversations!”.
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Post by Mark Makin on Oct 28, 2011 17:03:31 GMT
Here is a relatively recent portrait that was painted of Colin which Chris has sent over for me to upload. Thank you Chris!  |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 28, 2011 17:47:11 GMT
Thats a great picture.
Presumably one of the first lightnings?
TT
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Post by washboardchris on Oct 28, 2011 21:48:21 GMT
Hi, the portrait was done no more than 6-8 weeks ago. Colin & I played together at a festlval in Brixton no more than a month ago.Sadly everything progressed very quickly.
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Post by Michael Messer on Oct 31, 2011 10:50:31 GMT
Chris, thank you for sharing this beautiful portrait with us. It is wonderful to to have it on the forum.
I will find out the serial number of Colin's guitar. It was not a very early MM as the fretboard is bound.
The strangest thing for me about this portrait is that it was painted by an artist with the same name as my late father, Peter Messer.
Shine On
Michael.
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Post by robn on Oct 31, 2011 13:45:19 GMT
It was very sad to hear about Colin.
He owned MML 0084 09. I think I remember that we search out a chickenfoot coverplate for him. We had 20 made that were an option on the very first MM Lightnings. I thought that they had all gone but Ron found one in his workshop and we offered it to Colin.
Peter you have painted a wonderful potrait !
Robin
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2011 20:04:52 GMT
hi, i was profoundly saddened to hear Colin has shed his mortal coil. i worked alongside him during his "Dragon" days for about 10 years so got to know him very well. he had a wry sense of humor which endeared him to everyone. his private life wasn't what he would have liked so i'm so glad his mercurial talents were appreciated by people such as this forums members. several people from his Dragon period (Hugo, Vernon, Tony, Joanne, Trev, John, Dave, Ron, Gethin, Chris, Simon et al) will no doubt share the sad loss of a good friend and colegue, who enriched all our lives.
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