From the time he was born some twenty-five years ago in Atlanta, Georgia, Mike Greene has lived around music. His father directed the Charlie Greene Orchestra, and was well respected in musical circles. From his earliest years, Mike was a singer of the highest quality whether in the church choir, talent and variety shows, or as a singer/drummer in various teenage bands.
Mike started out as a drummer, but his vast musical talent and knowledge Jed him toward more melodic areas of music and instrumentation. He soon became an accomplished clarinetist, and his expertise advanced him into the other woodwind instruments to include his favorite, the saxophone. His woodwind prowess brought him a great deal of orchestral work. While working as a drummer in his first three rock bands, he managed to fit in with the Atlanta Symphony as well.
Mike went on to study music and art in college. He attained a B.A., BBA, and studied in London, Canada for his M.F.A. He is one of the Southeast’s best known ceramicists. His porcelain is shown in over 35 galleries and museums from New York to Los Angeles.
As time passed, Mike moved up the scale in popular music. He came to work with better and better musicians. He played for many years in commercial groups to sustain his education, and his last commercial venture, Shalomar, became one of the most sought after groups in the South. As the challenge of popular music began to gain importance in Mike’s career as a musician, he followed the muse to create music that was uniquely the own expression of himself. In order to effectively write his own music, Mike studied the piano for a number of years. His talent once again manifested itself as he became a most accomplished pianist.
In the late sixties, Mike made a move that was to bring him ever closer to being a star performer in his own right He departed from the safe, commercial confines of Shalomar, and became a member of The Stump Brothers. They were a progressive, jazz-oriented group which included some of the finest players in the Southeast. This group played for over four years, and produced some of the most innovative music to ever come out of the South. The other members of the Stump Brothers were also in that iconoclastic band of musicians that were the East Coast’s answer to The Mothers of Invention and The Hampton Grease Band. Mike joined the Grease Band in 1970, and was a great factor in the establishment of the band’s widespread following. Despite the fact that the Grease Band’s album was a commercial disaster, their fans were numerous and they were respected by many as some of the finest musicians to be heard anywhere. The Grease Band’s anti-establishment image touched all those associated with the group. This. however, was a group which stressed originality above all else. Their performances always featured much improvisation, so much so that it was certainly a feather in one’s cap to jam successfully with the Grease Band, and only the best musicians ever got the chance.
Through his association with the Grease Band, Mike gained valuable creative experience and was able to realize at least in part his talents as a composer. Mike’s Grease Band association was not without its frustrations.
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Hermetically Sealed
1 -
I Do All I Can
2 -
I Wonder Why
3 -
In The Morning
4 -
It's Hard
5 -
Just Me And You
6 -
Pale, Pale Moon
7 -
Valdez Bailey
8 -
Why Must I Be Lonely
9 -
With The Knife
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