My tribute to a great musician and friend.
Will Killeen
You might be a fan of
Rory Gallagher, Gary Moore,
Jeff Beck, Chet Atkins, Knofler or Stevie Ray Vaughan,
Keith Richards, Lukather, Lifeson, Blackmore, Page,
and Jimmy for sure!
But the best in my book
Best on the scene,
Like the whisk’ of the Jamesons
And copious cups of tea,
The very best with a bottleneck
Who's that then,
Who's he
Yes, the quietly spoken,
WILL KILLEEN.
You wanna hear ole time country,
Indian folk, Delta blues,
A Killeen take on the covers
Of the Rolling Stones ruse
Thanks for coming
The very thing
Ladies and Gents
WILL KILLEEN
Who needs a Martin, Taylor or Takimine,
I'll tell you who doesn't
It's WILL KILLEEN
If Guitars were made by Fisher Price,
He'd make them sound better
At half the price,
On his Gibson Les Paul
Gordon Smith,
Yamaha FG,
The one and only,
WILL KILLEEN.
Give him a Hohner blues harp
Or anything that works
Mandolins, banjos
Totally talented,
Dexterously diverse
Two Trains (One Going One Coming)
Solo dueling banjos
Diamond Jack
There's a maestro in town
Yes,
Billy’s back!
Yeh, that's what your dealing with!
Whatever you think!
No guitar gadgetry gizmos
He's a musician's musician.
He's sensationally slick
Who needs pedals
When you don't have a bike?
He rides horses bareback
An Irish Apache
No regalia in sight
You've heard of Hank Marvin,
Bo Didley, The Pretty Things,
You've heard,
Seen nothing yet,
Who's that?
WILL KILLEEN
You know ya know eh?
Whatever suits?
Appalachian hoedowns
Thanks for calling!
Toodle oo,
You wanna hear Irish traditional,
Or a dirty blues riff?
Country or pop played Will's way,
The whole lot of it.
Not heard of the great
Elmore James’ song Dust My Broom,
Then get to a Killeen gig,
And hear Will's version........
Tune!
Used to call myself a musician,
Till I'd seen my now friend and ole bean,
That quiet smiley modest man
Yes him,
WILL KILLEEN
Killeen covers Cash, Robert Johnson, Slim Harpo, Bob Dylan Freddie King,
Etta James, Chuck Berry, Howlin Wolf, Buddy Guy,
Like you've never seen
Twelve bar blues some Rockabilly
Hey Joe, played by Hendrix
Played by Will's such a thrill
Original, eccentric
See him in a three piece
Suit..able electric axe in hand
His guitar mimicking his vocal lines
With drums and bass
Fine tunely jammed.
One may have seen The Stones, Kinks, Beatles, Yardbirds,
Great stuff, agreed,
But until you've seen the man from Mayo,
Who's that then,
Tis WILL KILLEEN
The Little Red Rooster won't Fade Away
Hoochie Coochie
Roll & Tumble
You've gotta see this guy play
Lord he don't need a Mercedes Benz
But bending them harp notes
Man, I don't want it to end!
Long flowing wispy
White grey hair
Infectious smile
High top cowboy boots,
Selfmade shirts, waistcoat jackets,
You can be musically beguiled,
Such affinity with the equine race
This enigmatic man from Cradley
His oil paintings sold far and wide
There's not one painted badly,
He's an insomniac with brush in hand
All his talents, he should be banned,
It really nearly is obscene,
Have I mentioned,
WILL KILLEEN
He's not into technology
He's into H&H amplogy,
Failsafe reliability
Sometimes he'll hail an Orange cab,
Squeezing out licks
That'll drive you mad
Cause it sounds better than Clapton in Cream,
He's Brill,
He's hair raising,
Nothing fazes,
WILL KILLEEN
End this Poem for goodness sake,
Ok Ed.
Will's art adourns walls in The Chestnut Tree Inn,
There's BB King, Carry On Folk, The Two Ronnie's there's Clint, I think?
There's so bloody many
Colin must be skint,
The best pub in Worcester so get yourselves there,
I added this bit for Rob & Coll,
Who are they?
How very dare,
I'll tell you who
That's Rob,
It is what is,
And,
Mad Pierre,
Get on with it!