A Tribute To
Lanier Greig

(Lanier Holland Greig, Jr.)
(Aug. 20, 1948 - Feb. 15, 2013)

Musician and Composer
Keyboardist for Neal Ford & The Fanatics
and original member of ZZ Top



Lanier's Facebook Page

Memorial web page

Houston Chronicle article (2/16/2013)

Lanier Greig Slide Show

Photos from the Celebration for Lanier (March 10, 2013)


The Neal Ford & The Fanatics Page

Writer:

Co-Writer:

Lanier Greig YouTube Videos:


"From Another Life" (1971)

"Blues For Jimmy" (Live at South by Due East 2007)

"Blue Requiem"

"Holland's Song"

"Ariana's Song"

"Ariana's Song" (Live at South By Due East 2007)

Piano Improvisation (2012)



Salt Lick / Miller's Farm (1969 ZZ Top single) 

Comments from Lanier: "It's just me, Billy Gibbons and Dan Mitchell playing on both sides of that record (SALT LICK/MILLER'S FARM)...we did it all at Robinhood (Bryan's studio in Tyler)...I played bass on the B3 with my foot (krumar pedal attachment) and left hand...(lower keyboard) and upper keyboard organ with my right hand on the basic track...then Billy overdubbed electric bass. I think we did it all in one night...then got arrested on the way back to Houston in a dry county for possession of a case of beer...lol!! Hamm was driving...they took us all to a courthouse with a ceiling fan and a coondog in the corner with an infected ear...when the judge came out wearing a sleeveless undershirt...he said 'GET THE HELL OWTA MAH TOWN BOYS!!...now gowon fo ah change ma mahn!'"


Shindig magazine interview with Billy Gibbons, including his comments about Lanier Greig as an original member of ZZ Top


Listen to several 1970's KLOL radio spots with Lanier Greig as various characters! 
     Clip 1 - Montrose Lemus, Jr. (9:35)
     Clip 2 - R.C. Banion / Montrose Lemus, Jr. (3:17)
     Clip 3 - R.C. Banion / Angus McMurphy / Mogamba Mugumbe (4:35)


     (Many thanks to Joe Baiardi of THE FAB 5 for sharing these - Joe digitized them from Lanier's original aircheck tapes)


E-mails from Lanier:

Q:  Hi Lanier!
 

A:  Well ...yes, I know that I'm slow returning E-mails...and I apologize.You see I have a totally dedicated "Music computer" (not on line) and I have to send Emails on a teeny ..tiny...itty-bitty ..(it's very small) cell phone.Anyway tell me wassup ("MODERN SLANG FOR WHAT'S UP)..hOW CAN i HELP THE haNDICAPPEd (me 4 one).We need to all join together (literally) and form one GIANT organism (no egos) and then ...take over the worl...uh..uh OK I'll get back to you on the second part to the multi-part plan. P.S....PLEASE...please don't let my DR.see this email .I would rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy..But seriously boys and girls... RECYCLE!!! YES!...EVERYTHING!...now. Remember "Soylent Green"..."Soma"?? Well that's where we're going. In fact...that's where we are!  Help me to help myself to help you to help others to "pay forward".  As John Lennon said: "I am you and you are me and we are all together" (but ...who was the"Eggman"?? AND which came 1st the "Chickenman" or the "Eggman".)  I will end with a bit of trivia...how many grooves are on a record?...1.write back while there's still gas in the electrical generator ...otherwise i will be limited to Morse code or "Dixie cups and a string")  (Pss..I CAN be serious)...Later, Lanier.


Q: Have you traced your family tree back to one of my favorite composers - Edvard Grieg (Greig)?
 

A:  YES!...that is as a matter of fact he is (Edvard..Edward in English).Well now you've opened a can of worms!!...well in the since that that is another one of those things in my "resume" that is a "Yeah...Right...and I suppose you knew the Beachboys, Jimi Hendrix, Sonny and Cher, The Animals, 3 Dog Night, Kenny Lee Lewis (guitar for Steve Miller Band...MONSTER player), B.J. Thomas, Rascals, Edwin Starr, Chubby Checker, 13 floor elevators, Billy Gibbons/ZZtop/Bill Ham(stein), Frank Beard....ooops! sorry...it's adhd..ANYWAY...Alexander GREIG (Scotland...Aberdeen/Banff) was a clipper ship designer (also a musical family) who built specially ships to transport lobsters between Norway and Scotland. He meets lovely Norwegian girl, falls in love/lust gets married, becomes British "Consulate" to Norway has a son (Edvard) who becomes the "Chopin of the North" (I hate that...it should be Chopin was the "Grieg of the South"..ha!). Oh, yes the spelling...GREIG...GRIEG...OK. In English..ei is "long ee"..in Norwegian ie is "long ee".  Sometime Edvard's manuscripts were signed with Greig...sometimes Grieg. The Greig men were quite fond of Norwegian women and there are graves in Scotland and Norway with both spellings within one family plot....I bet you never ask me a question again!..But feel free 2 anytime .Later, Lanier.


 

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