Howie Epstein
Encyclopedia
Howard Norman Epstein was a musician
best known for his work with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
.
and grew up in a musical household, but didn’t start playing the bass until a couple of years before joining the Heartbreakers. His father, Sam, was a top local record producer who worked with various Rock and Soul groups in the 50s and 60s. Howie got to hang around the studios watching his father work, as well as do a little recording under his dad’s watchful eye at a very young age. "I would go into the bars with my father to check out the bands he was thinking of working with," Epstein recalls, "and a couple of times he let me use groups he was working with as back up musicians for stuff I’d record." Howie attended Nicolet High School
in Glendale, WI and was part of the class of 1973.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Howie played in a number of both rock and roll
and country
Milwaukee bands that were regionally popular, like MHG Experience, Egz, Winks, Forearm Smash, and The Craze. When he’d gone as far as he could go in Milwaukee, Epstein decided to move to New York, but before he could pack his gear, he was lured to the West Coast by a drummer friend to play bass in a new band that singer-songwriter John Hiatt
was forming in LA. He stuck with Hiatt for two years and two albums (Slug Line
and Two Bit Monsters
) and also toured briefly with Cindy Bullens
.
. While playing on a Shannon album that Tom Petty
was producing (Drop Down And Get Me), Epstein impressed Tom with his ability. So when Ron Blair
, who had been bassist with Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers since their inception in 1976, announced that he had enough of touring, Epstein was recruited into the line-up. "We all kind of thought Howie would get the job," says Heartbreakers' drummer Stan Lynch
. "He seemed to have a real good feeling for what we were doing. He’s a good bass player, a real good singer, and he fit in real well." Epstein agreed that the transition of playing in these obscure bands to becoming part of a very popular, very established band was almost seamless. "It’s been easier than I thought it would be. I was already familiar with most of their music just because I’m a fan of the Heartbreakers, so it wasn’t like I was coming in cold."
After joining the Heartbreakers, he started to take up the bass seriously "I had a tendency to play real busy, from all the years of playing rhythm guitar". Epstein found a natural style, which he said emphasizes "simplicity, playing in the pocket, getting into a steady groove. I’ve always considered myself a good team player and that’s the way that the Heartbreakers operate. Everyone listens to what everyone else is doing musically." He made his live debut at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium on September 1, 1982 on a tour to promote the album Long After Dark
. When Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
played the US Festival
four days later in San Bernardino, California
, alongside Fleetwood Mac
, The Police and Talking Heads
, he took it all in his stride. In addition to playing bass and singing back-up vocals, he played mandolin
. His harmonies with Tom Petty were a Heartbreakers' trademark. He preferred Fender basses (particularly the Precision and Jazz models), but performed on Hofner
, Rickenbacker
and Vox
instruments sometimes.
, Bob Dylan
, Carlene Carter
, Johnny Cash
, John Hiatt
, Stevie Nicks
, Roy Orbison
, Carl Perkins
, John Prine
, Linda Ronstadt
, Del Shannon
, The Textones, The Village People, and Warren Zevon
.
He earned acclaim as a songwriter and a producer. Epstein produced two albums for John Prine
, including 1991’s The Missing Years, which won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Recording, and Eric Andersen’s Memory Of The Future (1998).
Epstein formed a creative and personal partnership with Carlene Carter
following her divorce from the English singer-songwriter Nick Lowe
, and return to the United States
in 1988. He helped Carter re-establish her career. Epstein produced her hit album I Fell in Love (1990), and co-authored the title track with his longtime collaborator, Milwaukee writer Perry M. Lamek. Carter's vocals 'I Fell In Love' earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Female Country Vocal Performance in 1991. Three years later, Epstein produced Carter's follow-up CD Little Love Letters. Epstein and Carter were engaged in the mid to late 1990s, but never married.
Epstein was taking antibiotics for an illness, and he had recently suffered from flu, stomach problems and an abscess
on his leg, friends said.
"Apparently he passed out in the bathroom, and (his girlfriend) drove him to the hospital," Madrid said.
He died on February 23, 2003 at the age of 47. Reportedly, he was extremely despondent over the death of his 16 year-old German Shepherd a few days earlier. In recent interviews, Tom Petty admitted that Epstein's behavior had become unpredictable: "He was just degenerating on us to the point where we thought keeping Howie in the band was actually doing him more harm than getting rid of him. His personal problems were vast and serious." He was interred at Second Home Cemetery in Greenfield, WI.
"We tried everything we could to reach him but it got to the point where his ability to do gigs was diminishing." Finally, Petty took the decision to recall Ron Blair
to the Heartbreakers. He said, "Eventually, we realized that we were just contributing to the problem. When you're living a life where you really don't have any responsibilities, it's easy for evil forces to take over."
"I'm devastated," said Carlene Carter, the stepdaughter of country singer Johnny Cash
and daughter of June Carter Cash
. "I loved him very much. My kids thought of Howie as their father."
Petty wrote the following in an article for Rolling Stone in response to Howie's death: "...there’s a great sadness, because Howie was never not a Heartbreaker. He just got to where he couldn’t do it anymore. ...It’s like you got a tree dying in the backyard. And you’re kind of used to the idea that it’s dying. But you look out there one day and they cut it down. And you just can’t imagine that beautiful tree isn’t there anymore."
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
best known for his work with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers are an American rock band from Gainesville, Florida. They were formed in 1976 by Tom Petty , Mike Campbell , Benmont Tench , , Ron Blair and Stan Lynch...
.
Early life
Epstein was born in Milwaukee, WisconsinMilwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
and grew up in a musical household, but didn’t start playing the bass until a couple of years before joining the Heartbreakers. His father, Sam, was a top local record producer who worked with various Rock and Soul groups in the 50s and 60s. Howie got to hang around the studios watching his father work, as well as do a little recording under his dad’s watchful eye at a very young age. "I would go into the bars with my father to check out the bands he was thinking of working with," Epstein recalls, "and a couple of times he let me use groups he was working with as back up musicians for stuff I’d record." Howie attended Nicolet High School
Nicolet High School
Nicolet High School is a public secondary school located in Glendale, Wisconsin. It is the only school in the Nicolet Unified School District, which serves Glendale, Fox Point, Bayside, and River Hills. Primary schooling is administered by three feeder districts. The Nicolet Unified School district...
in Glendale, WI and was part of the class of 1973.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Howie played in a number of both rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
and country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
Milwaukee bands that were regionally popular, like MHG Experience, Egz, Winks, Forearm Smash, and The Craze. When he’d gone as far as he could go in Milwaukee, Epstein decided to move to New York, but before he could pack his gear, he was lured to the West Coast by a drummer friend to play bass in a new band that singer-songwriter John Hiatt
John Hiatt
John Hiatt is an American rock guitarist, pianist, singer, and songwriter. He has played a variety of musical styles on his albums, including New Wave, blues and country. Hiatt has been nominated for several Grammy Awards - although he has never won- and has been awarded a variety of other...
was forming in LA. He stuck with Hiatt for two years and two albums (Slug Line
Slug Line
Slug Line was singer-songwriter John Hiatt's third album, released in 1979, after four years without a record deal. It was his first of two albums with MCA Records.-Track listing:All tracks written by John Hiatt, except where noted...
and Two Bit Monsters
Two Bit Monsters
Two Bit Monsters was singer-songwriter John Hiatt's fourth album, released in 1980. It was his second of two albums with MCA Records. It failed to chart, and MCA dropped Hiatt. "It Hasn't Happened Yet" would later be a minor country hit for Rosanne Cash off her album Somewhere in the Stars...
) and also toured briefly with Cindy Bullens
Cindy Bullens
Cindy Bullens is an American singer and songwriter who grew up in Massachusetts. She released two albums in the late 1970s on United Artists and Casablanca and another on MCA in 1989...
.
The Heartbreakers
Epstein then took a gig backing Del ShannonDel Shannon
Del Shannon was an American rock and roll singer-songwriter who had a No. 1 hit, "Runaway", in 1961.- Biography :...
. While playing on a Shannon album that Tom Petty
Tom Petty
Thomas Earl "Tom" Petty is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and was a founding member of the late 1980s supergroup Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch. He has also performed under the pseudonyms of Charlie T...
was producing (Drop Down And Get Me), Epstein impressed Tom with his ability. So when Ron Blair
Ron Blair
Ron Blair is the original bassist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. He was the band's bassist from 1976 to 1981. In 2002, he returned to the group after a 21-year hiatus, replacing his own replacement, the late Howie Epstein.His father was a Navy man, so the family relocated every few years...
, who had been bassist with Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers since their inception in 1976, announced that he had enough of touring, Epstein was recruited into the line-up. "We all kind of thought Howie would get the job," says Heartbreakers' drummer Stan Lynch
Stan Lynch
Stanley Joseph "Stan" Lynch is an American songwriter and record producer. He was the original drummer for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for 18 years until his departure in 1994.- Early years :...
. "He seemed to have a real good feeling for what we were doing. He’s a good bass player, a real good singer, and he fit in real well." Epstein agreed that the transition of playing in these obscure bands to becoming part of a very popular, very established band was almost seamless. "It’s been easier than I thought it would be. I was already familiar with most of their music just because I’m a fan of the Heartbreakers, so it wasn’t like I was coming in cold."
After joining the Heartbreakers, he started to take up the bass seriously "I had a tendency to play real busy, from all the years of playing rhythm guitar". Epstein found a natural style, which he said emphasizes "simplicity, playing in the pocket, getting into a steady groove. I’ve always considered myself a good team player and that’s the way that the Heartbreakers operate. Everyone listens to what everyone else is doing musically." He made his live debut at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium on September 1, 1982 on a tour to promote the album Long After Dark
Long After Dark
Long After Dark is the fifth album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, released in November 1982 on Backstreet Records. Notable for the major MTV hit "You Got Lucky", the album was also the first to feature the late Howie Epstein on bass and harmony vocals. Epstein's vocals are evident throughout...
. When Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers are an American rock band from Gainesville, Florida. They were formed in 1976 by Tom Petty , Mike Campbell , Benmont Tench , , Ron Blair and Stan Lynch...
played the US Festival
US Festival
The US Festivals were two early 1980s music and culture festivals sponsored by Steve Wozniak, formerly of Apple Computer. The first was held Labor Day weekend in September 1982 and the second was Memorial Day weekend in May 1983...
four days later in San Bernardino, California
San Bernardino, California
San Bernardino is a city located in the Riverside-San Bernardino metropolitan area , and serves as the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States...
, alongside Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...
, The Police and Talking Heads
Talking Heads
Talking Heads were an American New Wave and avant-garde band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991. The band comprised David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison...
, he took it all in his stride. In addition to playing bass and singing back-up vocals, he played mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
. His harmonies with Tom Petty were a Heartbreakers' trademark. He preferred Fender basses (particularly the Precision and Jazz models), but performed on Hofner
Höfner
Karl Höfner GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer of musical instruments, with one division that manufactures guitars and basses, and another that manufactures other string instruments....
, Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker International Corporation, also known as Rickenbacker, is an electric and bass guitar manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California...
and Vox
Vox (musical equipment)
Vox is a musical equipment manufacturer which is most famous for making the Vox AC30 guitar amplifier, the Vox Continental electric organ, and a series of innovative but commercially unsuccessful electric guitars and bass guitars...
instruments sometimes.
Contribution
Tom Petty commended Epstein on his collaborative efforts:"You gotta love him, I don’t know if I ever tell him how good he is. Tonight, there was a line early in the show I could just barely sing. I was having to work harder than I normally do to make it, I was getting really close on the mike. I was thinking, 'Oh boy, I hope I can do this...' I got to it and I heard Howie singing it with me over his mike. It sounded great, it sounded like a double track. I just looked at him, he caught my eye like 'Yeah!' It made me feel great, 'cause I know he was thinking the same thing, 'I know he’s tired, I’ll cover him—wham! Got it!' That’s what a great band’s all about. That’s what it’s all about." (Musician, April 1990)
Collaborations
Epstein played bass on recordings by Eric AndersenEric Andersen
Eric Andersen is an American singer-songwriter.-Biography:In the early 1960s, Eric Andersen was part of the Greenwich Village folk scene in New York...
, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, Carlene Carter
Carlene Carter
Carlene Carter is an American country singer and songwriter. She is the daughter of June Carter and her first husband, Carl Smith....
, Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
, John Hiatt
John Hiatt
John Hiatt is an American rock guitarist, pianist, singer, and songwriter. He has played a variety of musical styles on his albums, including New Wave, blues and country. Hiatt has been nominated for several Grammy Awards - although he has never won- and has been awarded a variety of other...
, Stevie Nicks
Stevie Nicks
Stephanie Lynn "Stevie" Nicks is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Fleetwood Mac and an extensive solo career, which collectively have produced over forty Top 50 hits and sold over 140 million albums...
, Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison
Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...
, Carl Perkins
Carl Perkins
Carl Lee Perkins was an American rockabilly musician who recorded most notably at Sun Records Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, beginning during 1954...
, John Prine
John Prine
John Prine is an American country/folk singer-songwriter. He has been active as a recording artist and live performer since the early 1970s.-Biography:...
, Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
, Del Shannon
Del Shannon
Del Shannon was an American rock and roll singer-songwriter who had a No. 1 hit, "Runaway", in 1961.- Biography :...
, The Textones, The Village People, and Warren Zevon
Warren Zevon
Warren William Zevon was an American rock singer-songwriter and musician noted for including his sometimes sardonic opinions of life in his musical lyrics, composing songs that were sometimes humorous and often had political or historical themes.Zevon's work has often been praised by well-known...
.
He earned acclaim as a songwriter and a producer. Epstein produced two albums for John Prine
John Prine
John Prine is an American country/folk singer-songwriter. He has been active as a recording artist and live performer since the early 1970s.-Biography:...
, including 1991’s The Missing Years, which won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Recording, and Eric Andersen’s Memory Of The Future (1998).
Epstein formed a creative and personal partnership with Carlene Carter
Carlene Carter
Carlene Carter is an American country singer and songwriter. She is the daughter of June Carter and her first husband, Carl Smith....
following her divorce from the English singer-songwriter Nick Lowe
Nick Lowe
Nicholas Drain "Nick" Lowe , is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer.A pivotal figure in UK pub rock, punk rock and new wave, Lowe has recorded a string of well-reviewed solo albums. Along with vocals, Lowe plays guitar, bass guitar, piano and harmonica...
, and return to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1988. He helped Carter re-establish her career. Epstein produced her hit album I Fell in Love (1990), and co-authored the title track with his longtime collaborator, Milwaukee writer Perry M. Lamek. Carter's vocals 'I Fell In Love' earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Female Country Vocal Performance in 1991. Three years later, Epstein produced Carter's follow-up CD Little Love Letters. Epstein and Carter were engaged in the mid to late 1990s, but never married.
Death
Epstein died of complications due to drug use; but an overdose has not been reported. Investigators were told Epstein had been using heroin. Howie was driven to St. Vincent Hospital by his girlfriend, who described him as "under distress."Epstein was taking antibiotics for an illness, and he had recently suffered from flu, stomach problems and an abscess
Abscess
An abscess is a collection of pus that has accumulated in a cavity formed by the tissue in which the pus resides due to an infectious process or other foreign materials...
on his leg, friends said.
"Apparently he passed out in the bathroom, and (his girlfriend) drove him to the hospital," Madrid said.
He died on February 23, 2003 at the age of 47. Reportedly, he was extremely despondent over the death of his 16 year-old German Shepherd a few days earlier. In recent interviews, Tom Petty admitted that Epstein's behavior had become unpredictable: "He was just degenerating on us to the point where we thought keeping Howie in the band was actually doing him more harm than getting rid of him. His personal problems were vast and serious." He was interred at Second Home Cemetery in Greenfield, WI.
"We tried everything we could to reach him but it got to the point where his ability to do gigs was diminishing." Finally, Petty took the decision to recall Ron Blair
Ron Blair
Ron Blair is the original bassist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. He was the band's bassist from 1976 to 1981. In 2002, he returned to the group after a 21-year hiatus, replacing his own replacement, the late Howie Epstein.His father was a Navy man, so the family relocated every few years...
to the Heartbreakers. He said, "Eventually, we realized that we were just contributing to the problem. When you're living a life where you really don't have any responsibilities, it's easy for evil forces to take over."
"I'm devastated," said Carlene Carter, the stepdaughter of country singer Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
and daughter of June Carter Cash
June Carter Cash
Valerie June Carter Cash was an American singer, dancer, songwriter, actress, comedienne and author who was a member of the Carter Family and the second wife of singer Johnny Cash...
. "I loved him very much. My kids thought of Howie as their father."
Petty wrote the following in an article for Rolling Stone in response to Howie's death: "...there’s a great sadness, because Howie was never not a Heartbreaker. He just got to where he couldn’t do it anymore. ...It’s like you got a tree dying in the backyard. And you’re kind of used to the idea that it’s dying. But you look out there one day and they cut it down. And you just can’t imagine that beautiful tree isn’t there anymore."