Howard "Howie" Epstein
Born	July 21, 1955 Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Died	February 23, 2003 Santa Fe, New Mexico

Howard Norman Epstein (1955-2003), was one of the most noted bass guitarists in rock music. He had a long career in music, but is best known for his work with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Image File history File links HowieEpstein. ... July 21 is the 202nd day (203rd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 163 days remaining. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Nickname: Cream City, Mil Town, Brew City, The City of Festivals Location of Milwaukee in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Coordinates: County Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett Area    - City 251. ... February 23 is the 54th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Nickname: The City Different Location in the State of New Mexico Coordinates: Country United States State New Mexico County Santa Fe Founded 1607 Mayor David Coss Area    - City 96. ... Martin EB18 Bass Guitar in flight case. ... Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ... Tom Petty Thomas Earl Petty (born October 20, 1953 in Gainesville, Florida) is an American musician. ...

Contribution

Tom Petty had the following to say about Howie's abilities: "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)

Early Life

Epstein 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 50’s and 60’s. Howie got to hang around the studios watching his father work, as well as doing 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 Milwaukee, part of the class of 1973.

In the late 60s and early 70s, 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. Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ... This article describes country as a type of geographical or political entity. ... John Hiatt (born August 20, 1952 in Indianapolis, Indiana) is an American musician with a growing following, who gets airplay on alternative radio stations. ...

Epstein then took a gig backing Del Shannon. While playing on a Del Shannon album that Tom Petty was producing (Drop Down And Get Me), Tom became impressed by Epstein's ability. So when Ron Blair, who had been bassist with Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers since their inception in 1976, announced that he had had enough of touring, Epstein was duly 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." Del Shannon should not be confused with Dell Shannon, the pseudonym under which Elizabeth Linington wrote police precedurals for 26 years. ... Thomas Earl Petty (born October 20, 1950) is a popular American musician, known for his album-oriented, classicist rocknroll. ... Ron Blair, original bassist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, was born on September 16, 1948 in San Diego, California. ... Stan Lynch, now a full-time songwriter and producer, was the original drummer for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, enjoying 18 years with the band until his departure in 1994. ...

The Heartbreakers

After joining the Heartbreakers, Epstein says, is when he started to take up the bass seriously. "I had a tendency to play real busy, from all the years of playing rhythm guitar," but he settled down and 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 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. Beyond his role in the group as a musician and a backing vocalist, he played mandolin and his harmonies with Tom Petty are a Heartbreakers trademark. Long After Dark is the fifth music album by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers released in November of 1982 on MCA Backstreet Records. ... San Bernardino is the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... Talking Heads was an American rock band existing between 1974 and 1991, composed of David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth, and Jerry Harrison. ... Carved (electric) and round backed mandolins (front) A mandolin is a small, stringed musical instrument which is plucked, strummed or a combination of both. ...

As a musician, Epstein had been featured on songs by such artists as Eric Andersen, 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. Howie also earned acclaim as a songwriter and a producer, producing two albums for John Prine, including 1991’s The Missing Years, which won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Recording, as well as Eric Andersen’s Memory Of The Future (1998). Most notably, Epstein formed a creative and personal partnership with Carlene Carter. Following a stint in the UK and in the run-up to her divorce from the English singer-songwriter Nick Lowe, Carter had returned to America, where in 1988 she met Epstein. At first, Epstein helped Carter get her career back on track, producing the hit album I Fell in Love (1990) and co-authoring its title track with longtime collaborator, Milwaukee writer Perry M. Lamek. In 1991, 'I Fell In Love' earned a Grammy nomination for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. Three years later, Howie produced Carter's follow-up CD Little Love Letters. Eric Andersen (singer/songwriter; born on February 14, 1943, Pittsburgh, PA, USA) belonged in the early sixties together with Phil Ochs en Bob Dylan to the Greenwich Village folkscene in New York. ... Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman on May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, author, musician and poet who has been a major figure in popular music for five decades. ... Inside front cover photo from the insert to I Fell in Love. ... Johnny Cash (born J.R. Cash, February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an influential American country and rock and roll singer and songwriter. ... John Hiatt (born August 20, 1952 in Indianapolis, Indiana) is an American musician with a growing following, who gets airplay on alternative radio stations. ... Stephanie Lynn Stevie Nicks (born May 26, 1948) is an American singer and songwriter, best known for her work with Fleetwood Mac and a long solo career, which altogether has produced over 20 Top 40 hits. ... Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988), nicknamed The Big O, was an influential American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll whose recording career spanned more than four decades. ... Carl Perkins Carl Lee Perkins (April 9, 1932 – January 19, 1998) was an American pioneer of rockabilly music, a mix of rhythm and blues and country music that evolved at Sun Records in Memphis in the early 1950s. ... Prine performing at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco, CA, October 3, 2004. ... Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is an American singer most closely associated with the country rock genre prevalent in the 1970s. ... Del Shannon should not be confused with Dell Shannon, the pseudonym under which Elizabeth Linington wrote police precedurals for 26 years. ... Village People were a disco band of the late 1970s. ... Zevon on the cover of his 1978 album, Excitable Boy. ... Prine performing at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco, CA, October 3, 2004. ... Grammy Award statuette The Grammy Awards, presented by the Recording Academy (an association of Americans professionally involved in the recorded music industry) for outstanding achievements in the recording industry, is one of four major music awards shows held annually in the United States (the Billboard Music Awards, the American Music... Inside front cover photo from the insert to I Fell in Love. ... Bowi EP sleeve (1977). ... Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from... Grammy Award statuette The Grammy Awards, presented by the Recording Academy (an association of Americans professionally involved in the recorded music industry) for outstanding achievements in the recording industry, is one of four major music awards shows held annually in the United States (the Billboard Music Awards, the American Music...

Death

Epstein died (of complications attributed, in part, to drug use) on February 23, 2003 at the age of 47. Reportedly he was extremely despondent over the death of his 16 year-old German Shepherd Dog 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." February 23 is the 54th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The German Shepherd Dog or Alsatian (See History), is a breed of dog. ...

“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.” Ron Blair, original bassist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, was born on September 16, 1948 in San Diego, California. ...

“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.” Johnny Cash (born J.R. Cash, February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an influential American country and rock and roll singer and songwriter. ... Valerie June Carter Cash (June 23, 1929 – May 15, 2003) was a singer, songwriter, actress, a member of the first family of country music, the Carter Family, and the second wife of singer Johnny Cash. ...

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."

External links

• Howie Epstein's Official "I Go On Living" MySpace Profile: [1]
  
  
• Listen to Epstein/Lamek co-written songs: [2]
  
  Listen to more Epstein/Lamek co-written songs: [3]
  
  
• Howie Epstein at Find a Grave