Birth name Michael Been Children Robert Levon Been Role Musician | Name Michael Been Associated acts The Call | |
 | ||
Born March 17, 1950
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S. ( 1950-03-17 ) Died August 19, 2010, Hasselt, Belgium Music groups The Call (1980 – 2000), Lovecraft Albums On the Verge of a Nervous, The Best of The Call, Live Under the Red Moon, Into the Woods, Red Moon | ||
michael been
Michael Kenneth Been (March 17, 1950 – August 19, 2010) was an American rock musician who achieved critical attention and rotation play on MTV 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. His song "Let the Day Begin" was the official campaign song of Al Gore's 2000 U.S. presidential campaign. His song "Oklahoma" was one of the top ten choices for Oklahoma'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.
Contents
Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 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, where he was a member of the band Aorta at the time of their second album Aorta 2, in 1970. He then joined Lovecraft, the successor band to the psychedelic rock group H.P. Lovecraft. He also played with former Moby Grape members Jerry Miller and Bob Mosley in the band Fine Wine, and with Miller in the Original Haze. Been also played bass on the first two albums by 2nd Chapter of Acts, their 1974 album With Footnotes and their 1975 album In the Volume of the Book, as well as Barry McGuire's 1974 release, Lighten Up.
Been formed his band The Call in the 1970s in Northern California with Tom Ferrier on guitar, bassist Greg Freeman and drummer Scott Musick. Motion Pictures aka the Call were discovered by Tulsa's Phil Seymour. They released a self-titled album in 1982 with Mercury Records. The band's 1983 album Modern Romans led to a world tour opening for Peter Gabriel and featured the song "When the Walls Came Down" which achieved heavy rotation on MTV.
Been participated in composing and performing the music to Paul Schrader's 1992 film Light Sleeper. 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; Stanton having played harmonica on Let the Day Begin track, "For Love". He played the apostle John in Martin Scorsese's 1988 feature film The Last Temptation of Christ and had some film credits.
Been's son, Robert Levon Been, is the frontman for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. 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, Belgium, of a heart attack while at the Pukkelpop 2010 music festival where he was on-tour as a sound man for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.