I was very saddened to hear of the death of the astonishingly talented blues/slide/Hawaiian* guitarist Bob Brozman, probably by suicide, on 23 April 2013. It is believed he took his life because he was becoming less able to play, as the pain from a car crash thirty years ago became too intense in his hands.
I met Bob Brozman a couple of times when he played York Arts Centre. A lovely guy, nerdy to look at, but brilliant to listen to. I have a couple of cassettes of his music. I wasn't so keen on the Hawaiian stuff, but he was an expert (in both playing and knowledge) on the National & Dobro steel resonator guitars. At one point, he had the world's largest collection, but that was lost in a forest fire IIRC that destroyed his California home, and sent him back on the road.
Bob stayed at my house on one of those visits, as artists & technicians occasionally did. He was good fun to talk to, and we got onto the subject of comics, of which he was also an afficionado. I had a collection of early Viz, which he leafed through with reverence, and some
Gas,
Knockabout and
Brain Damage as well. We discussed our shared love of
Hunt Emerson and
Robert Crumb, and he told me of his collections of Crumb and Shelton comics and prints.
Before he left, I gave him the Viz, BD & Gas. He was utterly delighted, especially because, since I'd been living in the North East in the late 80s, I had picked up some fairly early copies of Viz, which were highly prized in the States. He reckoned all his comic-nerd friends would be finding excuses to come round and look at the British comics.
Wonderful man. I'm proud to have known him, and very sad that he is no more. There is some of his music on Youtube, but the medium doesn't do him justice. Anyway, do your best to hear his recordings.
* and virtuoso of almost any style of guitar
