John Entwistle 1944-2002

Its hard to believe that 10 years have passed since we lost John Entwistle.  

The last time I saw him in person we had just finished a tour in Japan and we were having the customary end of tour party in John's hotel room.  We were due to catch our flights home the next day.  I remember leaving his room a bit earlier than usual because I had an early flight from Tokyo back to the states.  He was scheduled to leave the next afternoon for the UK.  I knew I'd be speaking to him almost daily by phone but I had no idea it would be the last time we would ever be in the same room.  Maybe I should have stayed a little longer...

Over the months that followed we spoke almost everyday and I'd get the odd fax here and there with some of John's unique humor scribbled across the page...a drawing, a joke or a fax of John's hand in the fax machine flipping me off.  I still have all of those faxes.  If he were still with us we'd be using Face-time or Skype, but 10 years ago it was a good ol' landline and a fax machine. 

As I write this blog entry (06/26/12) I realize that 25 years ago I had not yet met John Entwistle.  Of course I knew him as a musician that would turn out to be the bassist of the millennium!  I had no idea how my life would be transformed by a simple introduction thanks to a mutual friend in Chicago on June 27th, 1987. 

I am proud to say that John Entwistle was my friend for 15 years.  I miss him to this day and still find it hard to listen to our music or watch our performances.  On this blog I shared the story of my first meeting with John 25 years ago.  Today I am posting the eulogy that I was invited to write and deliver at his memorial service in London.  It was truly an honor.  They called him 'the quiet one' but I still hear him ringing in my ears. ~SL

The following is the eulogy delivered by Steve Luongo at John's memorial service, 

Thursday, October 24th, 2002 St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, London

John Entwistle was a man of few words and many notes. His Mother, Queenie, told me that by the age of 3 he was standing on a table performing Al Jolson songs at a social club that was frequented by the family. This was the beginning of his public performance career and John loved the attention.

When he wasn't singing or entertaining the adults he spent his time trying to perfect a suit of cardboard armor to indulge his childhood fascination with knights. A fascination, by the way, that he never outgrew. As a child he used to build castles in the rubble of the bombsites in London and play knights for hours even though his cardboard armor made him look more like a robot than a knight.

John was 14 when he was asked to play the trumpet in Teddy Fuligar's band. He was given a hand-me-down tuxedo and played with Fuligar every Saturday night. At 15 he was also performing and passing the hat in local pubs to raise a little extra money during the Christmas holidays. John soon traded in his trumpet for a bass and the moth-eaten tuxedo for some snappier stage clothes. They didn't call him "Big Johnny Twinkle" for nothing.

John went on to change the face of bass guitar and revolutionize the role it played in modern music. He did for bass what Jimi Hendrix did for guitar and there isn't a bassist alive today that hasn't felt the everlasting effect of John Entwistle. But he was much more than a musician. He was also an artist and loved to draw or paint and even built models as a child. His art appears today on album covers and in galleries.

John's humor still rings in the ears of anyone who came in contact with it. John was a very funny guy with an extremely dry sense of humor. He could make anyone laugh at any time and often chose the most awkward times to do so. He could tell jokes for hours and when the old standards ran out he'd start making up his own. If you asked him who his favorite bass player was he would respond "ME…of course." That was John!

He loved old classic period films like Ivanhoe and High Noon. He spent many Sundays with his son Christopher watching the classics and passing on his love of old films mixed with a bit of Buck Rogers. John was somewhat of a historian on the old American west. In fact he knew more about that period in American history than most Americans. He would always know when they were using the wrong gun in a western movie. He'd point it out and say "that gun wasn't invented for another 3 years." He knew about these guns because he collected them along with all sorts of period weaponry and of course knights in armor. He was very proud of the full suits of armor, swords and shields that could be found thoughout his house.

John collected of all sorts of things. In fact he is still the only person I know of that has all of the Marilyn Monroe collector plates. He collected trains, lighters, Disney porcelain, guitars, animated toys, teapots, rugs, art and the list goes on and on.

He also loved dogs and had several of them. He even built them their own miniature estate that he named Dun Sniffin.

He collected cars too although he never learned to drive. He was asked during an interview "What do you do with all those cars if you don't drive them?" He replied, "I drink in them."

John loved deep-sea fishing and cherished his vacations to warm exotic places. He enjoyed good brandy, fine wine and the occasional Cuban cigar. He could sit alone for hours doing a crossword puzzle or spend the day with friends on a shoot in the countryside. He also enjoyed sitting by his koi pond where he could always find peace even in the midst of turmoil. However he hated the heron that kept stealing these expensive fish out of the pond when he wasn't there.

John loved to give gifts. He enjoyed watching the expression on people's faces as they opened whatever he gave them. Sometimes the gift would be humorous and he would wait for you to get the joke. Other times he would touch your heart by turning up with the most thoughtful gift picked out just for you and carried half way around the world. He once scoured the toy shops in the United States until he was able replace a hard-to-find toy that was stolen from his son during a train ride. John loved the holidays and enjoyed decorating his home for Christmas. He would shop for Christmas presents year round and spoil everyone that he was close to on Christmas Day.

John was a truly the definition of a friend. When he found out that an old friend of his was dying of cancer he invited that friend and his family to stay in his house. He opened his home unconditionally and indefinitely in order to make an old friend comfortable in his final days. That is the kind of friend John was.

John did a lot for charity. Too much to even begin to address today. But one thing he did does stand out. John had a tour planned for his band during October of last year. After the disaster at the World Trade Center John wanted to add a fundraiser to the band's schedule.

We later found out that the concert for NY would fall right in the middle of John's tour. Rather than cancel a single date or disappoint a single fan he managed to do all the performances including his benefit. When The Who were finished performing at Madison Square Garden John jumped in a car and was driven 8 blocks uptown to perform again with his own band.

I met John Entwistle on June 27th 1987 and he was a gift in my life the likes of which I will never know again.  He was the most gifted musician I have ever had the pleasure of playing with. He was my musical soul mate for 15 years. I was inspired by far more than just his talent. I was inspired by how he lived his life. No excuses and no apologies. He remained one of the most grounded people I have ever known despite his immense celebrity.

John Entwistle was honest, sincere and truly cared about his family, friends and his fans. He was one of the kindest people it has ever been my privilege to know. I have watched him stand in the rain and sign his name on anything until the last autograph was signed. Of course then I listened to him complain for the next half hour about what the rain did to his hair.

I had the honor of calling him my band mate, my writing partner but above all these things he was my friend. I loved him like a brother with all my heart and I will miss him forever…

I would like his fans to know that he loved them very much and would, as he used to say, "play at the opening of an envelope" if they were there.

I would like his family to know that while there is a breath in my body I will sing his praises.

I say to you all…when it thunders…think of John Entwistle.