Rick Parfitt
Richard John Parfitt OBE (born October 12, 1948 in Woking , † December 24, 2016 in Marbella , Spain ) was a British musician . He was the singer , guitarist and songwriter for the rock group Status Quo .
Life
Parfitt was in 1948 in Woking in the county of Surrey south-west of London born. He discovered his musical talent during his school education. He first learned to play the piano and later also to play the guitar . His skill in presenting himself in front of an audience was shown early on. He won several talent competitions and, together with twin sisters Gloria and Jean Harrison, founded the group The Highlights as Ricky Harrison.
He also worked as a supervisor and animator in English holiday camps for some time before he was discovered and regularly booked for smaller events. In 1965 he met Francis Rossi and they became friends. 1967 joined Parfitt Rossi's band Traffic Jam, which had emerged from the Specters . In order to avoid confusion with the band Traffic , from then on they called themselves Status Quo . Rossi and Parfitt were considered the core of the band. Rick Parfitt, like Rossi, mainly played on a Fender Telecaster .
In 1980 Parfitt's daughter died when she drowned in a home swimming pool at the age of four. In the following years his first marriage with Marietta Böker-Parfitt fell apart. He suffered from alcohol and drug problems in the years that followed. After the reunion of Status Quo in 1986, his health improved at times. An interim solo project failed shortly before publication. Sporadically he could be heard as a guest musician on various projects. He was a partner in a Porsche car dealership in London and collected cars in the higher price categories.
In 1995, under the influence of alcohol and drugs, he caused a traffic accident in his Porsche. In 1997 he received quadruple heart bypass . Live performances followed immediately after his recovery. In December 2005 Parfitt was diagnosed with laryngeal disease. All dates of the Status Quo tour that was running at the time were canceled. From April 2006 he went on tour again, but initially with restrictions in his voice. In late 2011 and early 2012 Parfitt had to go to the hospital again to have a stent placed . He was also treated for heart problems in the summer of 2014.
In 2008 a guitar course was released on DVD under the title Rick Parfitt's Rhythm Method . A year later he brought the single Christmas in the Sun to the market together with the Australian artist Rolf Harris . In December 2009, Parfitt was awarded the Order of the British Empire as an Officer (OBE).
In June 2016, after a concert in Antalya , Parfitt collapsed in a hotel after another heart attack and was taken to a Turkish hospital after successful resuscitation. In September 2016, Status Quo management announced that Parfitt would not be able to perform at least until the end of 2016. A possible return to the stage was deliberately left open (quote: “Rick may well have performed his last show with Quo”). The final tour, The Last Night of the Electrics , which has been running since October 2016, nevertheless took place at Parfitt's request. He was replaced by the Irish guitarist Richie Malone. At some shows during the summer he was represented by Freddie Edwards, the son of bassist John "Rhino" Edwards .
Parfitt lived with his third wife in Marbella , Spain . He has three sons, born in 1975, 1988 and 2008, and a daughter (* 2008). In December 2016, he injured his shoulder in a fall. He was admitted to a hospital in Marbella on December 22nd, 2016 because of complications after an operation. There he died on December 24, 2016 as a result of an infection.
Musician
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In some songs Parfitt played solo guitar or keyboards and sang the lead vocal. In March 2018, Parfitt's solo album Over and Out was released posthumously , on which he had started working after his heart attack in the summer of 2016. John David and Wayne Morris were involved in the making of the album, Parfitt recorded the vocals and guitar parts, but he died before he had the opportunity to produce the album.
Guest musicians who helped finalize the album included Brian May of Queen (band) , Chris Wolstenholme of Muse (band) , former Status Quo bassist Alan Lancaster and current bassist John "Rhino" Edwards. The album debuted at number 4 in the British and at number 10 in the German album charts in the first week of its release.
Equipment / technical equipment
The guitar systems by Rick Parfitt and Francis Rossi were very similar, and Parfitt mainly played a Fender Telecaster (65 model). This was in its original condition. So that he didn't injure his right wrist ("slap hand") during his tough game, only the bridge was exchanged for a product from Badass . In accordance with its hard attack, the instrument was strung with extremely thick strings. On other guitars he used a Gibson SG , which is tuned to the basic E chord. Like Rossi, he used several open-tuned guitars ("open tuning") combined with a capo . Like Rossi, he used up to 18 guitars live on tours. Among other things, an 81 Žemaitis (in the song Forty Five Hundred Times ), a Schecter , a Giffin and a Chet Atkins acoustic guitar were used for the song Gerdundula . For the medleys, Parfitt used a Fender Esquire .
Like Rossi, Parfitt played over two Marshall boxes, controlled by a Marshall amplifier JCM 800 Lead Series or a JCM 900. He also used a Roland GP8 as an effect, three different chorus / flange and three overdrive settings were programmed. With him, too, a Vox AC30 was hidden behind the marshals and contributed to the sound.
Publications
- Rick Parfitt, Francis Rossi, and Mick Wall: The Status Quo Autobiography . Hannibal Verlag, Höfen 2011, ISBN 978-3-85445-365-9 (Original edition: XS All Areas: The Status Quo Autobiograhpy ).
- Francis Rossi, Rick Parfitt: Just For The Record . Bantam Press, September 1994. ISBN 0-593-03546-1 .
- Francis Rossi, Rick Parfitt, Mick Wall: Status Quo. XS All Areas . Sidgwick & Jackson, September 2004, bound. ISBN 0-283-07375-6 (Paperback: Macmillan Publishers Ltd, August 2005, Paperback, ISBN 0-330-41962-5 ).
- Francis Rossi, Rick Parfitt, Bob Young : "Status Quo": The Official 40th Anniversary Edition . Cassell Illustrated, October 2006, hardcover. ISBN 978-1-84403-562-5 .
Web links
- The London Gazette, Supplement No. 59282, page 11, dated December 31, 2009.
- Rick Parfitt at Allmusic (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Rick Parfitt 1948–2016 - Statement from The Parfitt Family & Status Quo Manager, Simon Porter. December 24, 2016, accessed December 24, 2016 .
- ↑ http://www.viviano.de/ak/News-Promante/rick-parfitt-18164.shtml
- ↑ Message on the band's homepage ; StatusQuo.co.uk, accessed September 15, 2016.
- ↑ http://www.celebrity-babies.com/2008/05/rick-parfitt-an.html
- ↑ Chart sources: DE AT CH UK
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Parfitt, Rick |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Parfitt, Richard John |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British musician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 12, 1948 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Woking , Surrey |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 24, 2016 |
| Place of death | Marbella |