BRYAN FERRY
June 5, 2004 - 8:00 pm

BIOGRAPHY

Born on September 26, 1945 in Washington (England), Ferry, the son of a coal miner, began his musical career as a singer with the rock outfit the Banshees while studying art at the University of Newcastle. Bryan Ferry rose to fame in the early Seventies as singer, songwriter and designer for those pioneering pop peacocks, Roxy Music. Roxy, now of course icons, began as iconoclasts, revolutionising notions of where the boundaries of rock music lay. They initiated a seismic shift, utilizing glamour and sensual visuals: their 1972 debut album (dressed in the first of a series of archly sexy covers) is habitually hailed as one of the greatest opening salvos of all time.

Bryan Eno who treated electronically the band’s sound, exited Roxy’s ranks to embark on a series of ambitious side projects.

Within a few years, Roxy Music had become phenomenally successful, affording Bryan Ferry the opportunity to cut his first solo LP in 1973. Far removed from the group’s arty glam-rock, “These Foolish Things” established the path which all of Ferry’s solo work would take, focusing on elegant ability to remake and remodel classic songs while still exploring fresh territory with his own writing.

Roxy, with each member hugely prolific and busy (Phil Manzanera, Andy Mackay) then took a three-year break. Ferry’s solo career flourished: “Another Time, Another Place”, “Let’s stick together”, “In Your Mind” and his own favourite “The Bride Stripped Bare” (1978) a work inspired by his broken romance with top model Jerry Hall.

In 1979, Roxy Music returned with their poignant version of John Lennon’s “Jealous Guy” who gave the band their first U.K number one.

In 1982, Avalon was the final Roxy Music album.

Ferry did not record another solo album until 1985’s “Boys and Girls”.

For 1987’s “Bte Noire”, he was joined by former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr and notched U.S Top 40 with “Kiss and Tell”.

Another covers collection “Taxi” followed in 1993. “Mamouna” and LP of originals, appeared a year later, and in 1999 Ferry returned with a collection of standards “As Time Goes By” to be studied and subverted by the man, who across three decades, has been named -to his wry amusement – “the Godfather of style” and the “coolest living Englishman”.

The recording of “Frantic” (2002) was interrupted by Roxy Music reunion tour.

Timely and timeless, Bryan Ferry’s music continues to seduce and surprise.

The 5th of June date, opening Byblos International Festival, will be his first appearance in the Middle East.