My eldest brother Chris passed away on Sunday 3rd March. He had survived Hodgkins Lymphoma when he was about 20 but has had several recurrences since.
He lived in Aukland, New Zealand so I didn't see much of him but we always kept in touch.I last saw him last October when I returned from my USA trip as he was in the UK visiting my folks but he had suffered a relapse so was flying straight back to NZ for tests. Sadly they diagnosed full blown lung cancer and were only able to administer chemo and radio treatment to slow up his disease. I was planning to visit him at Easter for a couple of weeks but was told last sunday that he had gone very suddenly.
Chris was my first ever musical hero. He was a fantastic guitarist and played around the north east folk circuit alongside superstars like Lindisfarne although he never sought the limelight. Before he left home to study law, he took the trouble to teach me the basic guitar chords and I even learnt some ragtime finger picking from him. He never complained when I gave up the guitar to play bass and would always ask to see my Alembics whenever he visited.
He also helped me develop a very wide interest in music. From a very early age, each birthday or christmas would herald the arrival of some obscure LP that I often thought was rubbish (I was probably more interested in deep purple back then) but would listen to nonetheless. Without Chris I wouldn't be a Doobies fan or have an interest in Robert Palmer, James Taylor or Joan Armatrading. I'd probably never even have heard of Can let alone own some of their work. I think it's safe to say that without my brother's influence I'd probably never have taken up music.
His passing has left a huge gap in our lives that I doubt I'll ever fill.
Graeme
