Sal Maida
Salvatore "Sal" Maida (July 29, 1948 – February 1, 2025) was an American bass guitarist. He was known for his work with Milk 'N' Cookies, Roxy Music and Sparks.[1]
Early life
[edit]Maida was born in New York on July 29, 1948.[2] He was raised in Little Italy and started playing in the local band The Ouija before joining The Five Toes.[3] He graduated from Fordham University with a BA in economics. After Fordham, he traveled to London. He found a job there working in a record store.[2]
Career
[edit]While working at the record store in London, he met Paul Thompson, the drummer of Roxy Music. He went on to join the band on their 1973 Stranded Tour. His contract with the band ended after the tour,[3] though he later supported another ex-Roxy Music member Brian Eno as a bass player during the production of Lucky Leif and the Longships, an album released by Robert Calvert in 1975.[4]
In 1974, he became a member of Milk 'N' Cookies, a band from Long Island. The band's power-pop sound was influential in the early punk scene.[2] In 1976 he recorded the album Big Beat with Sparks who had the same manager and the same producer like Milk 'N' Cookies. Later that year, they toured with Patti Smith Group who had just released their Radio Ethiopia album.[3] In 1977 Maida played the bass on Beauty's Only Skin Deep, the debut solo album of Cherie Currie, the former lead vocalist of The Runaways. In 1980 he teamed up with New wave solo vocalist Lisa Burns and arranged her single Love Wanted. Later on, in 1983, they released the EP After Hours by going under the band name Velveteen.[5] Their songs Some Girls and As I Came of Age were recorded by soprano Sarah Brightman for her second studio album As I Came of Age that was released in 1990. Between 1992 and 1997 Maida played the bass on several tracks from the three albums released by the duo Golden Carillo, consisting of Annie Golden and Frank Carillo.[4]
In the mid-2000s, the Milk 'N' Cookies debut album Milk 'N' Cookies was reissued. It led to a reunion of the band for occasional shows through the 2010s.[2]
In 2006, Maida joined the band Cracker with David Lowery, Johnny Hickman, and Frank Funaro. Maida and the rest of the band co-wrote most of the material on the band's 2009 album, Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey.[6][7] As of 2010, Maida played the bass on six albums recorded by the British songwriter Edward Rogers,[3] with the last three being released under the name of Rogers & Butler after starting a collaboration with Stephen Butler from the band Smash Palace.[4]
In 2014, Maida authored the memoir Four Strings, Phony Proof, and 300 45s, which detailed his experience of being in the music scene as the major changes which brought the end of the psychedelic era occurred.[8][9] In 2015 he started a Lovin' Spoonful tribute band called A Spoonful of Lovin' and in 2017 and 2018 he toured with the band The Brandos in Germany and the Netherlands.[3]
In 2023, Maida authored The White Label Promo Preservation Society Vol 2: More Flop Albums You Ought to Know with Mitchell Cohen and 53 friends of his. The book examines 100 albums which were not commercially successful, "flopping" by not making the top 100 in Billboard.[10]
Death
[edit]Maida died due to complications of a fall in New York, on February 1, 2025, at the age of 76.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ Kurtz, Warren (February 19, 2019). "Fabulous Flip Sides – Roxy Music Interview with Sal Maida". Goldmine Magazine: Record Collector & Music Memorabilia. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
- ^ a b c d e Barnes, Mike (February 3, 2025). "Sal Maida, Bassist With Roxy Music and Milk 'N' Cookies, Dies at 76". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
- ^ a b c d e Simadis, Valerie (December 11, 2018). "ADVENTURES WITH ROXY MUSIC, SPARKS, AND MILK 'N' COOKIES: AN INTERVIEW WITH SAL MAIDA". Please Kill Me: the Uncensored Oral History of Punk. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
- ^ a b c Sal Maida discography at Discogs
- ^ Allen, Jim (February 5, 2025). "Remembering Sal Maida (1948–2025): All-Star Bassist and More". Rock and Roll Globe. Retrieved February 7, 2025.
- ^ "Cracker On Mountain Stage". National Public Radio. July 22, 2010. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
- ^ Sullivan, Derek (July 31, 2014). "Cracker brings old and new faces to Down by the Riverside". Rochester Post Bulletin. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
- ^ Scott, Tim (August 21, 2017). "Sal Maida is One of the Coolest 70s Rock Stars You've Never Heard Of". VICE. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
- ^ Fricke, David (January 11, 2018). "David Fricke's Year in Rock 2017: Tom Petty, Phish and More". Retrieved February 5, 2025.
- ^ Kurtz, Warren (September 25, 2023). "Author Sal Maida on the 'Flop Albums You Ought to Know'". Goldmine Magazine: Record Collector & Music Memorabilia.
