Ric Grech
| Ric Grech | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Richard Roman Grechko |
| Also known as | Rick Grech |
| Born | 1 November 1946 |
| Origin | Bordeaux, France of Ukrainian origin |
| Died | 17 March 1990 (aged 43) |
| Genres | Rock |
| Instruments | Bass guitar, violin, viola, cello |
| Years active | 1965–1977 |
| Associated acts | Family, Blind Faith, Ginger Baker's Air Force, Traffic, KGB, Gram Parsons, The Crickets |
| Notable instruments | |
| Fender Jazz Bass | |
Richard Roman Grech (1 November 1946, Bordeaux, France – 17 March 1990, Leicester, England) was a British rock musician and multi-instrumentalist.
He was educated at Corpus Christi RC School, Leicester, after attending Sacred Heart Primary School. He played violin in the school orchestra.
Grech originally gained notice in the United Kingdom as the bass guitar player for the progressive rock group Family. He joined the band when it was a largely blues-based live act in Leicester known as the Farinas. He became their bassist in 1965, replacing Tim Kirchin. Family released their first single, "Scene Through The Eye of a Lens," in September 1967 on the Liberty label in the UK, which got the band signed to Reprise Records. The group's 1968 debut album Music in a Doll's House was an underground hit that highlighted the songwriting talents of Roger Chapman and John "Charlie" Whitney as well as Chapman's piercing voice, but Grech also stood out with his rhythmic, thundering bass work on songs such as "Old Songs New Songs" and "See Through Windows," along with his adeptness on cello and violin.
Released in February 1969, Family Entertainment, the group's second album, was a major turning point for Grech personally. In addition to playing bass and violin, he wrote three of the album's other songs: "How-Hi-The-Li," "Face In the Cloud," and "Second Generation Woman," which was first released as a single in Britain in November 1968. This song featured Grech on lead vocals, leading Family through a cheeky lyric about a woman who "looks good to handle from a personal angle," with an arrangement that recalled the Beatles's "Paperback Writer" and owed an obvious debt to Chuck Berry. Tellingly, however, all of Grech's songs contained obvious drug references - "How Hi-The-Li" wondered aloud if Chinese premier Chou En-Lai "gets high with all the tea in China" - and drugs would eventually plague Grech throughout his career.
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