Tim Burgess pens touching tribute to ‘everyone’s mate’ Mani

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Tim Burgess tribute to Mani from Stone Roses Sunday Times

Legendary local musician Tim Burgess has written a touching tribute to the late, great Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield as people continue to pay their respects to the iconic Stone Roses bass player.

The Charlatans’ frontman, who recently got the band back in the recording studio for their stunning 14th studio album, is one of many who have taken the time to honour the influential Manc musician over the past few days.

Mani, 63, who also saw his career reignited as a regular member of Primal Scream after his time with the Roses, sadly passed away last week.

Penning a lengthy eulogy for The Sunday Times, Burgess was unaware that the digital version of the paper would be behind a paywall, deciding instead to share it publicly online.

Sharing the first few excerpts from the full article, the 58-year-old lead singer, solo artist and Salfordian said of Mani: “People have more stories to tell of their shared adventures with Mani than anyone else I know, often simply about enjoying a gig with him.”

The most striking part of his column is how much of it reiterates not just the Crumpsall native’s undying love for music but his raw obsession with the medium.

Perhaps most touchingly, however, is how he is positioned as “everyone’s mate” in the piece – a sentiment that seems to have been echoed all over social media, among the countless Manchester United fans that bumped into him at games, in the pub chat since and countless other corners.

Burgess is one of several high-profile artists to have honoured Mounfield in their own way; Richard Ashcroft and Oasis playing the ‘She Bangs the Drums’ riff and dedicating ‘Live Forever’ to their idol, The Membranes member and Louder Than War boss, John Robb, speaking via the BBC, just to name a few.

A particularly heartbreaking line is when he says, “On hearing the news of his death last week, I found solace in the idea that Mani lived life to the full. But at 63, it was a life cut lamentably short.” You can read more down below.

Since disclosing the Times write-up with his followers, it’s clear that the 58-year-old is going through a period of reflection following the death of not just a peer and role model but a close friend.

As well as sharing his work with Peter Hook, Andy Rourke and Mani on their short-lived Freebass project (a supergroup that far too few people knew about until now), he’s also been sharing countless pictures and posts, not to mention interacting with other Stone Roses fans and audiophiles over tales about the bassist.

On Sunday, he summed up his feelings perfectly: “Go to that gig. Listen to that song, dust off that record player, learn to play that guitar. Music helps us through. Life can be overwhelming at times. Music can help, I promise you that.”

We couldn’t agree more.

Speaking of – we don’t know about you, but we’re going to be playing the best of The Stone Roses for the foreseeable future, and there’s a good chance we’ll also be heading to Chorlton for a special tribute DJ set by one of his friends and former colleagues.

An Emmerdale star is kicking off a series of special guest DJ slots in Manchester
Like Tim says, there are few things as curative as live music… RIP Mani.

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Featured Images — Edwardrhodes06/mari (via Flickr)