The Michael Knust Scrapbook

A work in progress started September 29, 2003
and viewed by visitors since.



God bless you, Michael. Thank you for the music!
With much love, 
your friends, family & fans

Special thanks go out to Tinker McGuire and Kim & Mark Dupre' for sharing from their personal photo albums. Please respect the copyright on these photos and ask permission for use. Thanks also to Kyle Glover for technical assistance.

THE INTERVIEW: Spring Branch, TX October, 2002 I was privileged to have known and played with Michael (itself an interesting story) and interviewed him for this site before it was even up. It was the most in-depth interview about his life & music (the Houston psych music scene, Fever Tree, San Francisco ) he probably ever gave. There are more
photographs there, too.

Fever Tree, 1978. (Michael is second from right.) This is the
lineup that recorded the "Live At Lake Charles" album.

MICHAEL STEPHEN KNUST passed away on September 15, 2003 
in his home at Spring Branch, Texas at the age of 54. He was preceded in 
death by his beloved father, Bernhard Knust and godchild, Michele. He is 
survived by his wife, Tinker, his daughter, Kristen Knust, beloved friend, 
Melissa Knust, his mother, Florine, brothers, Gary and Mark, sisters, 
Regina Henry, Carolyn Doga and Gail Buske and David Bell, and a 
host of niece, nephews and cousins.

Michael was THE lead guitar player for Fever Tree, a Houston based rock 
group of the 60's and 70's. He continued on with his musical career after 
the group broke up and played with many excellent musicians throughout 
his life. He will be sorely missed.

Michael plays a Gibson 12-string with Fever Tree at The Living Eye, 1967


Subject: Fever Tree and Michael Knust 
Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 01:00:50 -0700 

Ever since I heard the long sustaining tones in San Francisco Girls I have been a big Fever Tree fan.  I am deeply saddened to hear that Michael has passed on.  I have all their records both on vinyl and CD.  I consider their first album one of the true masterpieces of psychedelic rock.  I think Creation is a much under appreciated record, and there are great moments on the other two as well. 

Fever Tree and Michael's guitar playing have touched my life and made a difference.  His music and memory will live on.  I wish I could have seen them perform live when they were at their peak in the sixties but I am grateful that I am fortunate enough to have their albums to listen to whenever I want. 

Sincerely,
Terry Atwater 
Olympia Washington



Promo shot from a reformation in the late '80s...
(I know it's down, I'm still looking for it so I can fix this!)

(at this point I ask you to remove your hat, take a moment and think about the people that made the music that has become the soundtrack of your life... and wish them well...)

The Bostwick Vines, around 1966


Subject: I loved Michael's music and playing
Date: Sun, 5 Oct 2003 22:8:39 -0400

As a child I first heard Fever Tree's all-around-excellent "San Francisco
Girls" and was brained by its amazing fuzz melody. The radio station
didn't announce the song, and it took me years to find out the song name 
and band name. Later, some Xmas in the '70s my folks got the LP for me, 
and I was obliterated all over again. The endless sustain, the screaming 
vrzzzzzzz tone, the supple vibrato, and his gentle nylon-string work all 
affected me almost as strongly as when I became "Experienced" a few 
years earlier. Yea, Michael hit me almost as hard as Ustad Jimi Hendrix.

 I had trouble finding out much about Mr. Knust, but I was looking into
finding some kind of contact address for him (to ask what gear he used to
get his endless sustain and unique fuzz sound...and yes, to embarrass him
with praise) when I found out he had died, not long after poor Erik Brann, 
another childhood hero of mine.

 God Bless Both of You Guys. "And if I don't see you no more in this
world, I'll see you in the next one, and don't be late."

 Thanks for letting me blather.

Sincerely,
Tim Mungenast

Tim, blather on my friend! Thanks for the note. Michael (back in the day)
used a semi-hollow Epiphone Sheraton with a Bigsby, Vox amps and a Fuzz
Face or (his favorite) Vox Tone-Bender. The rest was his hands, as with all
the greats. Michael has a daughter and I'm putting together a scrapbook
online for fans and for her benefit, may I include your E-mail?


 Yes, Absolutely include it if you want! Let his daughter know how much 
Michael meant to me, and to other fans of great music. I mean, no flies on 
super-lung Dennis Keller or the rest of the band, certainly, they're great, 
but as a guitarist I gravitate to the man who made "San Francisco Girls" such 
an enduringly enjoyable mindf#ck! To say nothing of his classical work on 
"Unlock My Door"...the cliched phrase "indelible impression" does not 
begin to describe its effect on me.

Yours in Fuzz,
Tim Mungenast