8 minute read
From Rock Star to High Finance and Back Again
Brian Burr has moved from one extreme to another and taken the ride back again. From front man in 70s rock band to high finance specializing in government bonds. After a 46-year pause, he's on his way with a new album.
Photo: Andreas Vinther
By: Nis Refslund Poulsen
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You need to wave your arms in big movements if you're going to draw Brian Burr's career development. But as he sits there quietly on the sofa in his large Frederiksberg Villa, it is more his words that want to appear in the world. The innate New York era of aggression sets a clear linguistic footprint, even after 50 years in Denmark.
"I fucking loved Denmark, immediately" he exclaims, but adds that the Danish test he had to pass to get entry to the university and his scholarship, was not exactly "a walk in the park."
"I thought, ok, just relax. I can handle that easily. But when I heard this language, it was like hearing seals talk," laughs Brian Burr as he imitates a sea lion and jumps back and forth between English to Danish, depending on what makes the most sense.
Rock stars on the way
We're going back to Copenhagen anno 1971. The year after pornography has been legalized and the young American makes his entrance on the music scene.
"I was trying a guitar in a music store. I remember it clearly. It was a Martin D9 and it cost 3500 kr. back then. A lovely handmade acoustic guitar. Suddenly this guy, Krishna Yarbrough, comes up to me and says, 'What are you doing this weekend? You're good and I need a singer.' When I protested, he replied that I should just sing whatever I wanted. They played so loud no one would hear the words! That's how it started."
Soon after, it became more serious and the band Sensory System was formed.
"We had ambitions. We weren't great, but we had great potential."
The same potential is also something the band's drummer, René Wulff, highlights when asked to produce his inner Sensory System film.
"There are many who still say to me that we were special. And Brian was a big contributing factor to the fact that we had so much of a great ride. He was a great showman who really got stage cooking, reaching audiences. And then he just sings super great," says René Wulff, who after Sensory System played with C.V. Jørgensen.
- René Wulff, Musician -
Sensory Systems' second and final album from 1975. On the cover, Brian Burr is listed by fellow band member Helge Solberg.
Photo: Andreas Vinther
Brian Burr has just released his new single "Crystalline". Soon the album "Even children grow older" will be released.
Photo: Andreas Vinther
If you ask Brian Burr if his young group with all that potential were 'rock stars,' he thinks about it and responds:
"We were certainly on our way to becoming big. We were on tour with famous names like Nazareth, Slade, Steve Miller and Redbone. We had our own fans and I was recognized on the street," says Brian Burr, explaining that one of the highlights was the band's concert at the third Roskilde Festival in 1973.
Sex and drugs
This puts a check mark on a third of the trinity sex, drugs and rock'n'roll in Brian Burr's story. The other two elements come here.
"At the time, the United States was puritanical. When I was young, it was about telling girls that you definitely didn't want to have sex with them. 'No, no, I only wanted to be friends,' and it was their 'personality' that I was interested in. But all I wanted to do was sleep with them. Obviously. That's all you think about as a teenager," he laughs, and then blocks his eyes up, as in order to illustrate the youthful reaction to the libertarian Denmark he was dumped into.
"It was completely new to me that girls could be free and talk openly about desire instead of them camouflaging how they felt. I was shocked," he says, switching tracks to the third and final component of the rock stars' favorite cocktail.
The magic fades
Sensory System and Brian Burr had their successes and they, on the other hand, experienced what belongs to that particular world. After four weeks on tour, the magic is fading.
"Let me tell you something. Those who get really good have been through 15 years of pain and suffering. And only 1 in 10,000 makes it," says Brian Burr, pinpointing the moment when his career as a rock star had ended.
"When the tour was over and I came home to my daughter of 18 months, she turned around and ran to her mother when she saw me. She didn't recognize me. That night I got really stoned and stayed up most of the night. I listened to Elton John, Led Zeppelin and all the amazing bands that were that time and I asked myself: Am I that good? The next day, I called my mom. She asked me two questions: 'Can you make a living from this, provide for your family, vacations and a good life, saving money for your old age? And are you ready to lose your family?' Eventually she said, "Son, you've done it. You've proven it. Now it's time to stop and grow up."
And you listened?
“Yes.”
From diamonds to stock broker
After two albums it was over and a diverse civil career began. According to Brian Burr, the titles included retailing, wholesaling, mail order, design & production, and finally finance spanning music store manager, record label in a record company, importer and mail order of Indian diamonds, entrepreneur and developer of an ISO 8000 standardized infra red communication systems for the handicapped, that linked them to petrol stations, government offices, etc., as well as European director of Combi-Camp, the well known recreational vehicle factory.
- Brian Burr, Musician and Private Equity Specialist -
"After the 1987 stock market crash, I started marketing and selling Danish government bonds to London and New York. Later, I opened my own FSA authorized stockbroker's outfit.
"I'm a curious guy and there's something to learn everywhere, and finance is super exciting. Finance is the pulse of society," he says, adding that he has mustered the same energy and passion for work as when he stood on a stage, even though the audience is somewhat more light blue, mundane, wearing a tie and everything is somewhat different than it was back in the 70s.
The success of Brian Burr as a Private Equity Specialist is far from a surprise to René Wulff. Even in the era of Sensory System, the young American had talent for organizing and business.
"There were many good musicians, but most were bad businessmen. But that was one of the things we were good at - especially Brian. There is no doubt that I inhaled everything I could and learned a lot from him at that point. The music must of course be in order, but it is also a commodity that must be sold and shot over the counter," says René Wulff, remembering, among other things, how Brian Burr got the Sensory System pressed into the program at the very first Roskilde Festival in 1971.
Since joining Denmark in 1970, American Brian Burr has had a motley career as a rock musician and Private Equity Specialist.
Photo: Andreas Vinther
Rediscovery
But even though Brian Burr shelved the music back then many years ago. Then he's never quite let it go.
"Over the years I've gone to the studio every 10 years with some bits & pieces and recorded a song or 2 - just to see if I could still," he says, adding that he "has always written down little lyrics and melodies on pieces of paper all over the house" and wherever he was.
And various nice cars in the garage, and large Villa in the inner Frederiksberg, his children who have long since moved away from home. And he gradually began to grow a "why not" in him. That's why a year and a half ago he turned down Board positions and various project offers, and tried to regain the musical form of the past.
'It's hard work both mentally and physically, trying to be as good as I was. When I was ready, I took a number that was very difficult to sing, because if I could handle that number, I could handle anything. Now I'm where I can stand up to the microphone and deliver the goods after three-four attempts. It's extremely satisfying," he says.
At the same time, he is also aware that he does not have all the time in the world left to him. Something Brian Burr notes as he strikes again in English.
'I'm what you call the +25 category in X-Factor. So, this is the time to do it. Unless I want to wait until I use a walker," he chuckles and leans back into the beige leather sofa.
"I never regretted that I stopped being a musician. But I wonder why it would take over 40 years to finally come back", says Brian Burr.
Bio: Brian Burr
- Born in New York.
- Jewish grandparents emigrated from Russia.
- Has the children Rebecca, Jacob and Daniel with three different women.
- Stay active by playing tennis several times a week.
- In addition, he also plays golf and skis, if otherwise corona would allow it.
- Dream of coming on tour again, though he would be scared shitless.
- Has not yet formally retired and has continued the company Scandinavian Asset Management.
