RIP Robert Quine

Guitarist Robert Quine, one of punk rock's most daring soloists, was found dead Saturday in his New York apartment.

According to close friend and guitar maker Rick Kelly, who discovered Quine's body, the musician died of a heroin overdose Memorial Day weekend. He had been despondent over the recent death of his wife.

Born in Akron, Ohio, Quine was heavily influenced by the Velvet Underground, whose music he recorded obsessively while living in San Francisco. He moved to New York in 1971 and became the lead guitarist for bassist Richard Hell's important group the Voidoids, with whom he recorded two albums. His skittering, unpredictable work with Hell defined the possibilities of punk guitar.

During the '80s, he recorded and toured frequently with Lou Reed and played on saxophonist/composer John Zorn's best-known albums. Quine made key guest appearances on Tom Waits "Rain Dogs" and Marianne Faithfull's "Strange Weather". In 1989, he began a long association with Matthew Sweet; he also worked regularly with Lloyd Cole.

In 2001, Universal released a three-CD box of Quine's live 1969 recordings of the Velvet Underground, "The Bootleg Series Volume 1: The Quine Tapes."

"Robert Quine was a magnificent guitar player -- an original and innovative tyro of the vintage beast," Reed said in a statement released to Billboard.com. "He was an extraordinary mixture of taste, intelligence and rock'n'roll abilities coupled with major technique and a scholar's memory for every decent guitar lick ever played under the musical son. He made tapes for me for which I am eternally grateful -- tapes of the juiciest parts of solos from players long gone. Quine was smarter than them all. And the proof is in the recordings, some of which happily are mine. If you can find more interesting sounds and musical clusters than Quine on 'Waves of Fear' (from Reed's 1982 album "The Blue Mask"), well, it's probably something else by Robert."

"He was a marvelous guitarist, a soulful music lover with high standards and had an eviscerating wit," Patti Smith Band drummer Jay Dee Daugherty told Billboard.com. "He did not suffer fools gladly, but made up for it with a thinly disguised generosity of spirit."



[Edited on Jun 08, 2004 by googuse]

Wow...that's so sad. He also did some fine work for John Zorn.

R.I.P.

Jesus--that's terrible news. Time to put on The Blue Mask...

he will be missed....


...reaching for my copy of The Bootleg Series Volume 1: The Quine Tapes...

This truly sucks. Robert Quine was always the best thing about the Voidoids I always thought, and like Lou Reed said a true music lover with higher standards than most. He'll definitely be missed from where I'm sitting. Rest in peace.

I never get sick of listening to Blank Generation. It's one of the most swirly guitar songs ever. So good!

I heard about this yesterday...it's so tragic I can barely stand it.

He's one of my all-time favorite guitarists...if you haven't heard him tear through 'Waves of Fear' or the title track on Lou Reed's The Blue Mask, then you ain't heard guitar playing. He was fantastic on Matthew Sweet's records, too.

I'm really going to miss him.



[Edited on Jun 08, 2004 by DrNecessitor]

fuckin' drag

R.I.P.

Sad. His work with Matthew Sweet was really underrated. He could make complex guitar lines sound like simple pop songs.

This news cast a shadow over my day. Has anybody else ever heard The Painted Desert, the album he recorded in the mid 90's with Marc Ribot and Ikue More? It's beautiful. He'll be sorely missed...

a shame

Yeah, he and Matthew Sweet had recently re-joined talents w/ all of the original players on Girlfriend. Because of Sweet's waining popularity State-side, this new album had only been available as a japanese import. Really sad news!

Yes. I bought that when it came out. I remember being sooo excited that Ribot and he were on the same album

His work on Blue Mask is devastating! When I saw him play with Lou Reed in the mid 80's, the two of them would go off on these frantic solos/jams that just about tore the top of my head off! A phenomenal guitarist!

He will not be forgotten.

Sad to say I don't know much about Quine the guitarist. But many thanks must go out for capturing those VU shows. Great 3 CD set.

It may sound trite but I don't think I could say this more truly about anyone.

He is the greatest guitarist of all time. At least to me. The guitar work he did on Girlfriend (album) and Altered Beast changed my perception of music for ever.

I regret never having seen him live.

interestingly (to me at least) Robert quine was the nephew of willard quine, probably the most important/influential/whatever philosopher of recent times after bertrand russell as well as the cousin of the black keys' singer/guitarist. all three, i am proud to say, are akron-canton-ites.

Played a tribute to Robert Quine on my radio show tonight:

Richard Hell & the Voidoids - Love Comes in Spurts, Funhunt, Oh
Lou Reed - Waves of Fear, Betrayed
James Chance - Off Black
Dim Stars - All My Witches Come True
Sonny Vincent - Busted
Ikue Mori - Cheyenne
Robert Quine & Fred Maher - Bluffer
Lloyd Cole - Chelsea Hotel
Matthew Sweet - Does She Talk?, Devil with the Green Eyes, We're the Same

Ended the show with Matthew Sweet's "Nothing Lasts"

Thanks, doc.