Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Mark Carr Pritchett, who, sad to report, passed away yesterday morning.
Fans will know well his association with Bowie, from DB’s creation of The Arnold Corns through to Mark’s appearance as second guitarist for The 1980 Floor Show. Not to mention being the owner of the guitar Bowie posed with for the Ziggy Stardust cover shoot.
Here’s a heavily edited excerpt from Tris Penna’s notes from the RNRS! box set released tomorrow...
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Mark Carr Pritchett was a Beckenham neighbour of David’s and as a self-described ‘jobbing’ guitarist in the late 60s/early 70s’ was a band member of ‘The Arnold Corns’.
“Sometime around May 1969, I was trolling through Beckenham with guitar in hand to go and rehearse with my high school band ‘Rungk’ and I saw a poster on the wall ‘Artists, musicians, poets, potters, please come to a meeting at the Three Tuns’. That event was the genesis of the ‘Beckenham Arts Lab’ which is where I first met the then twenty-two year old David Bowie – who had just moved into the
ground floor flat in Haddon Hall which was close to my parents’ house, so we were neighbours.
And over the next year we just got matey really and he learnt more about my life and we’re playing guitars, sharing equipment and stuff.
Fast forward to January 1972.
I’m sitting there in me flat. Knock on the door. It’s David.
“Hello, mate. I need a favour”.
‘What do you want? Come in. Do you want a cup of tea?’
“No, I'm really pushed for time. Your red Les Paul, can I borrow it?”
‘Yeah, of course.’
“Now”
‘Yeah all right? Why?’
“Got a photo shoot. I really need that guitar now. Do you mind?”
I said ‘no, not at all, put it in its case and there you go.’
“I’ll get it back to you in the morning.”
‘Don’t harm it, it’s not insured.’
“No! I won’t.”
And off, he’s gone.
The next day it comes back and there were still raindrops on the bloody thing.
I said ‘Ah nice one Dave, you’ve looked after my guitar for me.’
“Ah alright, ok, sorry. I took some photos with it.”
And then when months later I saw the cover of the Ziggy Stardust album, there was my Les Paul.
It was Ziggy’s guitar – not stolen as per the song, but one that was borrowed from me!”
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