Bryan MacLean

Bryan Andrew MacLean (September 25, 1946 — December 25, 1998) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter, best known for his work with the influential rock band Love. His famous compositions for Love include "Alone Again Or", "Old Man" and "Orange Skies".

Bryan MacLean's mother was an artist and a dancer, and his father was an architect for Hollywood celebrities such as Elizabeth Taylor and Dean Martin. Neighbor Frederick Loewe, of the songwriting team Lerner & Loewe, recognized him as a "melodic genius" at the age of three as he doodled on the piano. His early influences were Billie Holiday and George Gershwin, although he confessed to an obsession with Elvis Presley. During his childhood, he wore out show music records from Guys and Dolls, Oklahoma, South Pacific and West Side Story. His first girlfriend was Liza Minnelli, and they would sit at the piano together singing songs from The Wizard of Oz (1939). He learned to swim in Elizabeth Taylor's pool, and his father's good friend was actor Robert Stack. MacLean appears in the 1957 Cary Grant film An Affair to Remember, singing in the Deborah Kerr character's music class. Maria McKee is his half-sister.

MacLean's late teens co-incided with the fame of the Beatles, a band that had an immediate impact on him. In a radio interview from early 1998, MacLean said "When I saw A Hard Day's Night everything changed. I let my hair grow out and I got kicked out of high school."

MacLean started playing guitar professionally in 1963, making appearances at a coffee house in West Hollywood called The Balladeer. His regular set routine was a mixture of Appalachian folk songs and Delta blues. He also frequently covered Robert Johnson's "Cross Road Blues". It was there he met Gene Clark and Roger McGuinn, the founding musicians of the Byrds, when they were rehearsing as a duo. MacLean also became good friends with David Crosby, along with songwriter Sharon Sheeley, who fixed him up on his first date with singer Jackie DeShannon.

MacLean's friendship with the Byrds led to him working for them as a roadie on an American tour, which included May 1965 shows with The Rolling Stones. He said later that "It was wonderful. I can't be calm about how great it was".

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.