In the words written for his memorial, "Richard Fallis was probably the best musician you ever met." Without a grain of salt, that statement rings true to almost every bassist, guitarist, keyboardist, drummer and singer who has performed with the virtuoso. But Richard was much more than that: He was also a teacher, a student, a music-snob, a coffee-addict, a reader, a songwriter, a traveller, a spiritual journeyman and a kind, open-hearted and giving friend. 

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He was born on September 14, 1952, (sharing his birthdate with Luigi Cherubini, Fred "Sonic" Smith and Amy Winehouse) on the West Island of Montreal to Howard and Skippy Fallis. His older brother Jackie was born a few years before him and his sister Lorraine Madill came into the world a few years after.

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Towards the end of 1992, while filling in for bassist Harry Hip, Richard was asked to join the blues / rock group Black and Blue by its bandleader, ace guitarist Rob MacDonald. Although Richard didn't especially enjoy the repertoire, he met keyboardist Edwin Brownell there, and their friendship instantly blossomed as Richard found the younger musician to be a willing student of the blues that he himself so loved. When the vocalist Rob Brennan left the band, the original singer Angel Forrest returned, and the group performed throughout 1993 as Angel and the Bad Boys. Rob MacDonald was married to Angel at the time, but as tensions between them grew from the pressures of the road, Rob left early in 1993 and the celebrated Big City guitarist Kelly Watling took his spot. Richard continued to perform with this lineup for about six months (some later video of Richard performing with Edwin and Rob as well as earlier shows with Angel may be seen here), before he left the group to pursue a more Blues and R&B based project (He was replaced by Paul Harwood of Mahogany Rush).

 

In the summer of 1995, drummer Evans Baptiste was able to get a contract at the Armstrong Nightclub in Ain Diab, a resort suburb of Casablanca. He recruited Richard for this show, and the bassist subsequently got Derek Martin on vocals, Edwin on keyboards and Chris Swain on guitar to fill out the lineup. The newly formed Derek Martin Experience landed in Casablanca a couple of weeks later and a rather Spinal Tap-like adventure immediately ensued!!! As the first Canadian band to play that circuit, the group was utterly unprepared for the bad sound system, the pickpockets, or the effects of the local nightlife on the drummer. First, Derek lost his voice on the second night trying to hear himself through the inadequate monitor system. Second, the "Claude Van Damme" dance moves created by the pickpocketers to throw their intended prey off balance created a rather deep insecurity within the group throughout the first part of the tour. Finally, Evans had a tendency to "flex his chops" each time a pretty girl entered the club, and so the band found itself cracking up continually as "Apollo" endings turned into mini drum solos at the conclusion of EVERY song. 

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However the show went on, and as the locals began to understand that the band was there to work, the pickpocket attempts died away and real hospitality was shown to everyone. In the end, the group truly fell in love with the Moroccan people they had encountered and both Evans and Edwin ended up returning to the country regularly with other groups over the next decade.

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When the tour was finished, the group split up, and Richard returned to Montreal to work with various blues artists (including Bob Harrison of Offenbach) while Edwin continued performing with Angel Forrest and with his own group Edwin & the Bedouins. However throughout that time Edwin stayed in touch with Richard, and when the keyboardist left Angel and the Bad Boys after their own Moroccan tour in mid-1997, he asked the bassist and his long time friend, drummer / vocalist Snooky Alston, to be part of a new formation of Edwin & the Bedouins. Beginning with Galiyah Malka on lead vocals and carrying on with the late, great Bobby Lee Silcott in the same capacity, this lineup played Aretha covers and other R&B and Blues tunes regularly across Montreal through the rest of the year. In early 1998 Richard became busy with his Senegalese / Canadian fusion group Oubekou, but the unit still performed on an irregular basis until 2003 whenever their schedules would align. Although Joel Sacks took over as the Bedouins' main bassist from 1998 to 2003, Richard would sometimes substitute for him, and occasionally even do the sound for the group when they performed at some of the larger venues in town. Bobby Lee would also hire the original ensemble for his own concerts and on one memorable occasion Edwin, Richard and rock legend Jerry Mercer played a string of private house parties in the West Island ... to the joy of all who attended! 

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In 2003, Richard and Edwin performed together a final time in the Bedouins at the group's 10th Anniversary concert. Much of that show was filmed, and clips may be seen on the MUSIC and MEMORIAL pages of this website. Soon after that performance Edwin retired from the nightclubs, as his group's own Moroccan tour in the summer of that year was such a disaster that the keyboardist decided to put his energy into solo shows and classical composition. However the two musicians remained friends, visiting each other at least once a month to discuss music, books, politics, religion and spirituality. On their get-togethers they would go out for coffee (usually at the Eurodeli on St. Laurent), and often meet Richard's neighbours or their many mutual acquaintances from the Montreal music scene. Richard also came to all five of Edwin's Place des Arts classical concerts, attending even after his health began to seriously deteriorate. The last time they performed together was at a 2007 tribute concert in honour of Bobby Lee Silcott (who had died of his cancer a couple of weeks earlier) along with rock legend John McGale of Offenbach. A clip from this show may be seen here.    

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Even though they never played together again, Edwin and Richard's friendship grew over the next decade, and after the Eurodeli closed they would meet often at Inspector Le Pin, Café Nocturne and later at Café Martin for their favourite beverage. The pianist and his wife Nechama Surik would also visit Richard's home on a regular basis and Nechama developed a strong friendship with her husband's friend which continued until the end.

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Even as Richard grew weaker and weaker as the side-effects of his radiation treatment forced him to rely on tube-feeding, he still went out, rain, snow or shine to have a few sips of his beloved coffee. While he had a number of caffeinated hangouts closer to his home, after his first experience at Café Martin, he rarely went anywhere else because (1) Eva and Yvon treated him with real friendship, (2) they made excellent coffee and (3) they always changed the radio station when he came in so that Richard could listen to the music that he truly enjoyed!!! In fact, when Richard was admitted to hospital in the last month of his life, his friends Stuart and Edwin came almost every day only to see Eva and Yvon beside their buddy, visiting him just as he had come daily to their café to share their company. THAT is the kind of friendship Richard inspired!!!

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