Obituary: Glenn Pavone / Gifted blues guitarist who played with Billy Price band
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Glenn Pavone
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Singer Billy Price remembers that soon after meeting guitarist Glenn Pavone, Mr. Price suggested they learn the Albert Collins instrumental "Frosty."
"I had the record with me," Mr. Price said. "I put it on the record player and I think I just played it once. He's sitting there with this guitar, listening to it and nodding his head. He said, 'Yeah, we could do that' and counted it off and played it absolutely perfectly. 'I thought, 'What planet is this guy from?' "
Mr. Pavone, one of the most gifted guitarists in the city for more than three decades, died Tuesday of cancer at the age of 52.
A native of Alexandria, Va., Mr. Pavone, inspired by Jimi Hendrix, started playing blues guitar when he was 7 and performing when he was 9. He was playing with the Bill Blue Band in Richmond, Va., when Mr. Price caught wind of him.
"I had a guitar player who had quit the band, and we were auditioning a lot of guys to replace him," Mr. Price said. "We had already made the decision to hire a local guy from Pittsburgh. And Jimmy Thackery, from the Nighthawks, said 'You ought to give this guy Glenn Pavone a try.' Almost as a favor to Jimmy, we said 'OK.' We were playing at Desperados in D.C., and Pavone shows up.
"Keith Grimes, who was still playing with us, is one of those guys who uses like 15 guitar pedals. Pavone came up on stage and he looked at Grimes' setup like a gorilla looking at a computer or something. He just pulled his cord out and plugged it into the amp. In three seconds the game was over. He was our new guitar player. There was no doubt about it. I don't think I've ever seen a more naturally gifted musician."
The guitarist came to Pittsburgh around 1983 to become Mr. Price's sidekick in one of the most popular bands in the city, and a regional touring act, during the decade. He played on "Free at Last," Billy Price & the Keystone Rhythm Band's first album of original material, and on a live album recorded live at the Wax Museum in Washington, D.C.
"You always work around the people you have," Mr. Price said, "and he was such a strong presence we probably became more of a rock band when he joined."
After nine years, Mr. Price said, the guitarist was "itching to do something else" and departed to form Glenn Pavone and the Cyclones with KRB bassist-singer Tom Valentine and drummer Frank Sprentz.
First Published August 11, 2010 12:00 am
