Michael Been

Michael Been
Michael Been, 1994
Background information
Birth name	Michael Kenneth Been
Born	(1950-03-17)March 17, 1950 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.
Died	August 19, 2010(2010-08-19) (aged 60) Hasselt, Belgium
Associated acts	The Call

Michael Kenneth Been (March 17, 1950 – August 19, 2010) was an American rock musician who achieved critical attention and rotation play on MTV in the 1980s with his band The Call. He later released an album of his solo work and toured with his son's band Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. His song "Let the Day Begin" was the official campaign song of Al Gore's 2000 U.S. presidential campaign. His song "Oklahoma" was one of the top ten choices for Oklahoma's official state rock song and a line from the song provided the name for Another Hot Oklahoma Night: A Rock & Roll Exhibit at the Oklahoma History Center.

Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Been later lived in Park Forest, south of Chicago, where he attended high school and formed his first band, The Chessman. After graduation, he moved to Chicago, where he was a member of the band Aorta at the time of their second album Aorta 2, in 1970. He then joined Lovecraft, the successor band to the psychedelic rock group H.P. Lovecraft. He also played with former Moby Grape members Jerry Miller and Bob Mosley in the band Fine Wine, and with Miller in the Original Haze. Been also played bass on the first two albums by 2nd Chapter of Acts, their 1974 album With Footnotes and their 1975 album In the Volume of the Book, as well as Barry McGuire's 1974 release, Lighten Up.

Been formed his band The Call in the 1970s in Northern California with Tom Ferrier on guitar, bassist Greg Freeman and drummer Scott Musick. Motion Pictures aka the Call were discovered by Tulsa's Phil Seymour. They released a self-titled album in 1982 with Mercury Records. The band's 1983 album Modern Romans led to a world tour opening for Peter Gabriel and featured the song "When the Walls Came Down" which achieved heavy rotation on MTV.