Biography
Rock guitarists who served as elite side players and recording artists in their own right—Mick Taylor, Peter Green, Rick Derringer, and Bread’s Larry Knetchel—carry a distinct aura beyond the hit records they helped create. Asa Brebner operated in that same sphere, though the albums containing his performances never reached the Billboard charts or earned extended MTV rotation backed by gold or platinum certifications that would have made the songs household names. Even so, his guitar work displayed remarkable intuition, moving fluidly from premium slashing leads in the Johnny Thunders mold to the inventive rhythmic style associated with Keith Richards.
Born November 21, 1953, as the only child of Winston Brebner and Ardell Cogswell Brebner, he grew up with a father whose novel Doubting Thomas attracted interest from filmmaker Ingmar Bergman. His official biography notes that “he attended progressive high school and learned guitar from listening to R&B, the Rolling Stones, and oddball blues records.” The same document recounts an episode in which Brebner hitchhiked through Central and South America after graduating at age 17, was arrested on charges of being an American drug smuggler, received a twenty-year prison sentence, and was later smuggled out of custody and returned home by U.S. diplomats from the American Embassy.
His first appearance on vinyl came via the 45 rpm single by Mickey Clean & the Mezz, a staple at Boston’s Rathskellar during the 1970s and 1980s. “Hillside Walking” b/w “Drifting” appeared on Asa Records and stood among the independent Boston singles that encouraged countless subsequent bands to press their own records in later decades. Leroy Radcliffe produced the follow-up Mickey Clean & the Mezz single “Voodoo” for the French Co-Pilot label. When Brebner and Radcliffe, together with future Cars drummer David Robinson, joined Jonathan Richman for the singer’s second wave of recorded Modern Lovers material, Brebner’s position in rock history was established. During this period Richman embraced his most eccentric phase, delivering a non-commercial set of songs including “Ice Cream Man” that thumbed its nose at industry expectations. Brebner later observed that Richman “would have made a lot more money if he’d stayed just hardcore but he went his own artistic way and I respect him for it. Jonathan stuck to his eccentric guns and remains a true artistic oddity...you probably won’t see him on ‘Behind the Music.’ ‘Ice Cream Man’-type stuff was a slap in the face to all that macho/punk posturing and was a much bigger risk than stepping into line with the rest of the leather jacket/safety pin poseurs. You have to have been there to see what a shock it was to the people whose music he helped spawn as the ‘godfather of punk.’ It was truly scary and at times we feared for our lives.”
The collaboration yielded two Beserkley Records albums—among them the Richman classic Back in Your Life and Modern Lovers Live—plus several tracks on the label’s Spitballs compilation, with some titles originally distributed by CBS. “Egyptian Reggae” from Modern Lovers Live earned gold status in England, France, Germany, and Holland.
In 1978 Robin Lane secured a deal with Private Stock Records and assembled Robin Lane & the Chartbusters; Brebner served as one of the guitarists alongside a frontwoman capable of matching Chrissie Hynde and Stevie Nicks. After two EPs and two albums, Brebner and the band (without Lane) recorded Warner Bros. demos with Dire Straits’ David Knopfler. In 1982 Brebner formed the Grey Boys, his first group in which he handled all lead vocals and songwriting, while also contributing cartoons to High Times and additional magazines. He established Asa Brebner’s Idle Hands in 1986 and recorded a tape featuring “Last Bad Habit,” which later appeared on Warner Bros.’ Best of the Unsigned Bands CD compilation in 1988. Between 1996 and 2001 he issued three solo albums on three separate labels, followed by the Windjam imprint compilation Time in My Way.
Alongside production credits for Mickey Clean’s Unsung Heroes, Peter C. Johnson’s Bloodshot album, and Kendra Flowers’ Severance, Brebner remained a fixture in Boston’s rock clubs, performing regularly and supporting fellow musicians through benefit concerts. Asa Brebner died on March 10, 2019, only a week after performing a pair of reunion shows with Robin Lane & the Chartbusters.
Born November 21, 1953, as the only child of Winston Brebner and Ardell Cogswell Brebner, he grew up with a father whose novel Doubting Thomas attracted interest from filmmaker Ingmar Bergman. His official biography notes that “he attended progressive high school and learned guitar from listening to R&B, the Rolling Stones, and oddball blues records.” The same document recounts an episode in which Brebner hitchhiked through Central and South America after graduating at age 17, was arrested on charges of being an American drug smuggler, received a twenty-year prison sentence, and was later smuggled out of custody and returned home by U.S. diplomats from the American Embassy.
His first appearance on vinyl came via the 45 rpm single by Mickey Clean & the Mezz, a staple at Boston’s Rathskellar during the 1970s and 1980s. “Hillside Walking” b/w “Drifting” appeared on Asa Records and stood among the independent Boston singles that encouraged countless subsequent bands to press their own records in later decades. Leroy Radcliffe produced the follow-up Mickey Clean & the Mezz single “Voodoo” for the French Co-Pilot label. When Brebner and Radcliffe, together with future Cars drummer David Robinson, joined Jonathan Richman for the singer’s second wave of recorded Modern Lovers material, Brebner’s position in rock history was established. During this period Richman embraced his most eccentric phase, delivering a non-commercial set of songs including “Ice Cream Man” that thumbed its nose at industry expectations. Brebner later observed that Richman “would have made a lot more money if he’d stayed just hardcore but he went his own artistic way and I respect him for it. Jonathan stuck to his eccentric guns and remains a true artistic oddity...you probably won’t see him on ‘Behind the Music.’ ‘Ice Cream Man’-type stuff was a slap in the face to all that macho/punk posturing and was a much bigger risk than stepping into line with the rest of the leather jacket/safety pin poseurs. You have to have been there to see what a shock it was to the people whose music he helped spawn as the ‘godfather of punk.’ It was truly scary and at times we feared for our lives.”
The collaboration yielded two Beserkley Records albums—among them the Richman classic Back in Your Life and Modern Lovers Live—plus several tracks on the label’s Spitballs compilation, with some titles originally distributed by CBS. “Egyptian Reggae” from Modern Lovers Live earned gold status in England, France, Germany, and Holland.
In 1978 Robin Lane secured a deal with Private Stock Records and assembled Robin Lane & the Chartbusters; Brebner served as one of the guitarists alongside a frontwoman capable of matching Chrissie Hynde and Stevie Nicks. After two EPs and two albums, Brebner and the band (without Lane) recorded Warner Bros. demos with Dire Straits’ David Knopfler. In 1982 Brebner formed the Grey Boys, his first group in which he handled all lead vocals and songwriting, while also contributing cartoons to High Times and additional magazines. He established Asa Brebner’s Idle Hands in 1986 and recorded a tape featuring “Last Bad Habit,” which later appeared on Warner Bros.’ Best of the Unsigned Bands CD compilation in 1988. Between 1996 and 2001 he issued three solo albums on three separate labels, followed by the Windjam imprint compilation Time in My Way.
Alongside production credits for Mickey Clean’s Unsung Heroes, Peter C. Johnson’s Bloodshot album, and Kendra Flowers’ Severance, Brebner remained a fixture in Boston’s rock clubs, performing regularly and supporting fellow musicians through benefit concerts. Asa Brebner died on March 10, 2019, only a week after performing a pair of reunion shows with Robin Lane & the Chartbusters.
Albums
