[DrBenway]

According to the Athens Banner-Herald, Randy Bewley, the guitarist for the legendary Athens band Pylon, has died. He apparently suffered a heart attack while driving his van in Athens, where he still lived, and passed away later in the hospital.

Pylon sprang from the same fertile Athens scene that produced the B-52s and, a little later, REM. Their sparse, chiming sound was related to punk, but it really stood on its own as an original statement of rock n roll purpose. They were together relatively briefly, though they reunited a number of times over the years.

It's difficult to communicate the significance of this great band to anyone who wasn't around during the heady musical times of the late 70s and early 80s. When I was in my early 20s, I had a 7" 45 of their classic "Crazy," later beautifully covered by REM. That little plastic disc, lost somewhere in the mists of my earlier life, symbolized some of the simplest, greatest and most defiantly original rock music I have ever heard.

 

[tru blu]

I remember seeing them in Jacksonville, FL during that 1989-91 reunion. For some reason, the audience was throwing dollar bills on the stage, like people do at concerts for African performers. It totally surprised Pylon, but Bewley couldn't stop laughing. At the end, as they were going offstage, he looked down, saw a bill, picked it up with a huge smile and said, "Money? You guys are great." R.I.P…

 

[DrBenway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tru blu /img/forum/go_quote.gif I remember seeing them in Jacksonville, FL during that 1989-91 reunion. For some reason, the audience was throwing dollar bills on the stage, like people do at concerts for African performers. It totally surprised Pylon, but Bewley couldn't stop laughing. At the end, as they were going offstage, he looked down, saw a bill, picked it up with a huge smile and said, "Money? You guys are great." R.I.P…

I was never lucky enough to see them play, but I've still got one of their albums sitting around somewhere in my collection (which is badly in need of re-alphabetization). They came to NYC during one of their periodic reunions. I was living in the East Village, and all I had to do was walk over to the Ritz and buy a ticket. But somehow I never got around to it, and ended up reading a review of the show in the Times the next day. At times like this I always think ruefully of opportunities casually missed.

My oldest friend went to U of Ga., Athens, and he was on campus when Pylon was still playing house parties. He later saw REM in similar, early form, not to mention a host of other great bands like Love Tractor. He once introduced me to a frat brother of his, who had founded dB Records, the label that many Athens bands recorded for early in their careers.

I can't imagine what that scene must have been like. He's talked about it a bit over the years, but I'm going to have to feed him some bourbon, and get him to reminisce in more detail.

 

[VicAjax]

i grew up in Atlanta in the 80s, so Pylon was a big presence in my life, along with bands like the Bar-BQ Killers, Flat Duo Jets, Arms Akimbo and clubs like the 688, the Metroplex and the 40 Watt.

hearing about Bewley is terribly sad... like another part of my youth has been chipped away.