My friend Roger Pomphrey, who has died of liver cancer aged 60, was a prolific documentary film and video director and an exceptional blues guitarist who was in the original lineup of Eurythmics. Known to all as "Dodge", he made more than 400 films, TV programmes and music videos featuring many of the biggest names in rock and pop.
Among his triumphs, Roger directed what many aficionados regard as the finest film about Jimi Hendrix, Electric Ladyland (1997), which looked at the creation of Hendrix's seminal album of that name. He also directed The Alchemists of Sound (2003), a documentary about the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, and Who the Hell Is Pete Doherty? (2005), which portrayed the chaos surrounding the controversial Babyshambles singer. Beyond the Groove (1990), a film series for Channel 4, featured Tom Petty, Dr John, the Womack family and Harry Dean Stanton.
Away from music he directed two episodes of Three Men Go to Ireland (2009-10), as well as programmes on topics ranging from cookery to social injustice. His award-winning Life, Death and Damien (2000), about Damien Hirst, was full of long graceful tracking shots that exemplified the way music and rhythm informed his approach to visual style.
Roger was born to Fred and Audrey in Fishponds, Bristol, where his father had a heating engineering business. As a teenager he showed exceptional promise as a guitarist and, with his two brothers, would experiment with elaborate sound systems, much in the spirit of his beloved Hendrix. Although he had tremendous intellectual energy and curiosity, he left Alexandra Park secondary modern school without sitting any exams, determined to pursue artistic, rather than academic, avenues.
He first came to some kind of public prominence as a guitarist with Eurythmics, co-writing two songs on their debut album In the Garden. But he departed before their breakthrough to enter the world of film-making. He worked his way up from transport captain on the Mike Leigh film Meantime (1984) to assistant director on Channel 4's The Comic Strip, where he began his longstanding friendship with the Allen clan of Kevin, Keith and singer Lily, whose godfather he was. In 1990 he directed the first video for his Bristol-based musical friends Massive Attack, an experimental film that set an important aesthetic template for the trip-hop pioneers.
He was also a passionate and talented chef who enjoyed hosting elaborate feasts for his loved ones, even cooking at summer festivals for his friend Joe Strummer. On social occasions he loved to get out his guitar, and he often played on stage at informal events – parties, after-shows and so on – including with the likes of Bono, Strummer, Mick Jagger and members of UB40.
Roger was a respected and hugely loved figure in his home area of Notting Hill, west London, where he directed the star-studded Notting Hill Pantomime each year. A Saturday stroll with him down the Portobello Road was an enjoyable if lengthy affair, as he would stop to swap stories with almost everyone. His electric personality, big-heartedness and good humour will be greatly missed.
Roger is survived by his mother, his former wife Caroline Thomas and their son Tom, and his brothers Rick and Chris.
