text:
Phil Brodie Band Muso Page
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" Let
us remember the great talent each possessed "
September 20th 1921 ~ December
26th 2005
Jazz guitarist Bill DeArango, played with some
of the world's great jazz musicians. The list reads like a who's who
in jazz from the 1940's. Ben Webster, Charlie Ventura, Coleman Hawkins,
Red Norvo, Dizzy Gillespie and others
has sadly died from pneumonia at a home for seniors in East Cleveland.
He was born in Cleveland but in the 1940s moved to New York City, where
he was soon performing and making recordings with Sarah Vaughn, Charlie
Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and other jazz legends. Esquire magazine named
DeArango to its "All-American Jazz Band" in 1946. By 1950
Bill had laid down some of the most inventive and creative jazz guitar
solos known at that time. And, all this creative output was accomplished
playing in the shadows of the great horn players of that period in New
York. He returned to Cleveland at the end of the 40's, and from there
guided several generations of musicians including saxophone players
Ernie Krvida and Joe Lovano. In 1954 with a recording entitled DeArango
he displayed this great playing that set him apart from other guitarists
of that time. He ran his own music shop in Cleveland through the Sixties
and Seventies and played part-time locally. He became manager of the
rock group Henry Tree and recorded anonymously with it in 1970. DeArango
himself dabbled in Jimi Hendrix guitar styles and listed Duke Ellington
and Prince among his personal favorites. He played at Cleveland's Smiling
Dog Saloon during the Seventies and recorded again in 1981 with the
accomplished but under-recognised pianist Kenny Werner. He was a major
mentor to many musicians over 6 decades. In the last decade DeArango
occasionally played at the Barking Spider in Cleveland but he suffered
from dementia and was taken into a nursing home in 1999.
Derek Bailey
January 29th
1930 ~ December 25th 2005
improvising avant garde guitarist Derek Bailey sadly died in London
on Christmas Day at the age of
75. He had been suffering
from motor neuron disease. (A desease which destroys the cells that
control voluntary muscle activity)
Derek Bailey was born in Sheffield, England, he played the guitar from
an early age, studying with John Duarte among others. He found work
as a guitarist in clubs, radio, dance halls, and so on. He began to
play in a trio in Sheffield with Tony Oxley and Gavin Bryars called
Joseph Holbrooke. Although originally performing relatively traditional
jazz this group became increasingly free in direction. In 1966, Derek
moved to London where he met many like-minded musicians, including Evan
Parker, Kenny Wheeler, John Stevens, Barry Guy and Dave Holland, occasionally
collaborating under the umbrella name of the Spontaneous Music Ensemble
(or the SME as they tended to be known). In 1970, Derek founded the
record label Incus with Tony Oxley and Evan Parker, often said to be
the first independent label owned by musicians. In 1976, he formed Company,
an ever changing collection of like-minded improvisors, which has at
various times included Anthony Braxton, Tristan Honsinger, Misha Mengelberg,
Lol Coxhill, Fred Frith, Steve Beresford, Steve Lacy, Johnny Dyani,
Leo Smith, Han Bennink and many others. In 1980, he wrote the book Improvisation:
Its Nature and Practice. This was adapted by UK's Channel Four into
a four part TV series in the early nineties, edited and narrated by
Bailey. Derek played both acoustic and electric instruments, and was
able to obtain a far wider range of sounds from the instrument than
are usually heard, producing delicate tinkles as well as the most fierce
noise. He sometimes played on the body of the guitar rather than the
strings, but typically played a conventional instrument.
December 8th 1944 ~ December 9th
Botts, drummer of the legendary soft rock band Bread sadly passed away
December 9th after a battle with colon cancer. He was 61 years old,
dying the day after his birthday.
Born in Oakland, California, then raised for his first six years
in the nearby town of Antioch and at age seven the Botts family moved
to Sacramento. This is where Michael's fascination with music and drums
began, at school in the musical department. By the time he started high
school, he was also starting to play gigs around town with local bands
and had developed a particularly strong interest in Jazz and Rhythm
& Blues. It was during his second year of college he was offered
a few casual summer gigs with a group based out of Los Angeles called
the Travelers Three. A few months later they called him from Canada
to say they were going Electric, they needed a drummer and offered him
the job. With recommendations by a few close friends, he did more session
and studio work in between the college and club tours with the Travelers
Three. This is when he first met Dave Gates. Michael did another couple
of years with Joshua Fox band. Now a successful studio drummer based
Los Angeles, 1970 sees Dave Gates asking him to join Bread. In 1973
Bread split and he started working with Linda Ronstadt. He recorded
and toured with Linda for about two and a half years. 1976 sees him
back with Bread for a further 2 years. All this time he had done studio
work too. Next he toured with Karla Bonoff and James Taylor, and formed
a band with Andrew Gold. From 1985 through 1990 he was almost totally
involved in recording as a player, singer, writer, and producer. The
only exception was a short tour to Japan with Richard Carpenter in 1989.
The next 15 years sees him touring with many great artists including
Eddie Money, Tina Turner, Dan Fogelberg, releasing a CD rom of drum
samples and loops, "Double Platinum Drums", a 2 year tour
with Bread, his first solo CD effort, "Adults Only". This
was followed by the great 'Na Kama Hele' (the Travelers) "Slack
Key"project which was just plain fun. The original members of the
'Travelers 3' reunited along with Rick Cunha to record two CD's, "Ki
Ho `Alu Journey" and "The One They Call Hawaii". Michael
continued till 2005 writing, playing, and producing, also doing tours,
projects and live performances with Dan Fogelberg.
August 31st 1960
~ November 20th 2005
Chris Whitley died Sunday at the age of 45 after battling lung cancer.
The veteran Texas-reared artist is survived by his daughter Trixie,
his brother Dan and his girlfriend Susanne, whom he was planning to
From the Southeast, Chris eventually moving with his mother to Mexico
after his parents divorced when he was 11; they later settled in a log
cabin in Vermont. At the age of 15, he began playing guitar, inspired
by Creedence Clearwater Revival, Johnny Winter and Jimi Hendrix, eventually
learning how to play slide guitar. He quit high school a year before
graduation, moving to New York City, where he busked on the streets.
One of his performances was witnessed by a listener who ran a travel
agency, and decided that Whitley would be a success in Belgium and offered
to send him to Europe. With nothing to lose, Whitley accepted the offer,
where he recorded a series of bluesy, rocky and funk albums. He decided
to return to New York in 1990, where he met producer Daniel Lanois later
that year. Impressed by Whitley's songs, Lanois helped set up a deal
with Columbia Records for the songwriter, and produced his first album.
Released in the spring of 1991, Whitley's U.S. debut Living with the
Law was an atmospheric set of blues and folk-rock that received glowing
reviews and earned him a slot opening for Tom Petty the Heartbreakers.
It was four years till his second record, Din of Ecstasy, an attempt
to connect with the hard-edged mainstream alternative-rock audience.
. Two years later, Whitley released Terra Incognita, which combined
elements of his first two records. Dirt Floor followed on the Messenger
in 1998, restoring Whitley to a level of critical acclaim that rivaled
his early work. Live at Martyrs' followed in the spring of 2000, and
just a few months later, the spare studio effort Perfect Day appeared
on the Valley imprint. Rocket House (2001) expanded on more soulful
grooves, and boasted eclectic collaborations with Bruce Hornsby, Blondie
Chaplin, and Dave Matthews. It was also his first for Matthews' own
imprint, ATO Records. A year later, 'Long Way Around': An Anthology
1991-2001 compiled his years at Columbia. The stark, naked, and compelling
'Hotel Vast Horizon' appeared in 2003 and was followed by two, mail-order
only albums, 'Weed' and 'War Crime Blues'. His final studio outing was
earlier this year (2005) releasing the album 'Soft Dangerous Shores'.
Jerry Lynn Williams
1948 ~ November 25th 2005
Lynn Williams, the little-known writer of such songs as Eric Clapton's
"Running on Faith," Bonnie Raitt's "Real Man" and
B.B. King's "Standing on the Edge of Love," has died. He was
57. Williams died Nov. 25 of kidney and liver failure on St. Martin
in the French West Indies, where he had lived for the last two years.
A familiar name only in the music industry, Williams was probably the
most successful unknown songwriter in rock and rhythm and blues.
Born in Dallas, he grew up in Fort Worth and learned music in church.
A pastor's wife taught him to play piano, but at the age of 11, he got
his first guitar and focused on playing like Jimmy Reed. By 14, Williams
had dropped out of school and was working Texas roadhouses with his
own band, the Epics. He toured with Little Richard's band until authorities
discovered Williams' age and sent him home. He learned to play lead
guitar from a fellow band member, Jimmy James, better known as Jimi
Hendrix. A maverick, Williams spent nearly four decades bouncing between
Los Angeles, where he wrote, recorded and performed, and Texas and Oklahoma,
where he ranched. On one drive west, he stopped to look at the Grand
Canyon and was inspired to write "Standing on the Edge of Love."
The songwriter was recommended to Clapton in 1984 when the singer needed
material for what is regarded as his comeback album, "Behind the
Sun." Williams wrote the album's "See What Love Can Do,"
"Something's Happening" and "Forever Man." In 1989,
five of his songs - "Pretending," "Anything for Your
Love," "Running on Faith," "No Alibis" and
"Breaking Point" - were included on Clapton's "Journeyman"
album. The same year, his "Real Man" and "I Will Not
Be Denied" were on Raitt's "Nick of Time," which won
three Grammy Awards. Williams also contributed five songs to King's
1992 album, "King of the Blues," and wrote Clint Black's "The
Hard Way" and Delbert McClinton's signature song, "Givin'
It Up for Your Love." He helped Stevie Ray and Jimmie Vaughan write
the song "Tick Tock." Williams made four blues-rock albums
of his own, but none of them sold well.Jerry was the father of Chris
Williams, the Backbone69 rock band leader and songwriter who died in
2001 at the age of 31 when the car he was driving plunged off a Malibu
May 2nd 1929 ~ November 5th 2005
Link Wray, who was said to have invented the power chord, the major
modus operandi of modern rock guitarists, has died in Copenhagen. He
was 76. A native of Dunn, N.C., Wray's style is considered the blueprint
for heavy metal and punk music. He's especially noted for the early
feedback and distortion experimentation on his major hit, the 1958 instrumental
"Rumble", by Link Wray and The Raymen. Its menacing sound
led to a ban on several radio stations, a rare feat for a song with
no lyrics. He is survived by his wife and son.
Wray was born Frederick Lincoln Wray, Jr., in Dunn, North Carolina.
It was there that Link first heard slide guitar at age 8 from a black
player named "Hambone". Link and his family later moved to
Norfolk Virginia as his father got work in the Navy shipyards. His family
later moved to Washington DC, and from there they moved to a farm in
Accokeek, Maryland. He lived his last years in Denmark with his wife,
Olive. Wray was a veteran of the Korean war, where he contracted tuberculosis
that ultimately cost him a lung. Despite this, on his rare vocal numbers
he displays a range equivalent to Clarence "Frogman" Henry.
Wray and his brothers Doug and Vernon Wray had been playing country
music and Western swing for several years when they took a gig as the
house band on Milt Grant's House Party, a Washington version of American
Bandstand. They played for many performers, from Fats Domino to Ricky
Nelson. When attempting to work up a backing for The Diamonds' "The
Stroll", they came up with the stately, powerful blues instrumental
"Rumble", which they called "Oddball". The song
was an instant hit with the live audience, which demanded four repeats
that night. The band had several more hard-rocking instrumental hits
in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including "Rawhide", "Ace
of Spades", and "Jack the Ripper", the latter named after
a "dirty boogie" dance popular in Baltimore at the time. Wray's
career had been in and out since those days, with periods of retirement
followed by renewed popularity, particularly in Europe. He toured and
recorded several albums with retro rockabilly Robert Gordon and continued
to tour under his own name up till his death, most recently with the
San Francisco band Dieselhed.His music has been featured in numerous
films, including Desperado, Pulp Fiction, Independence Day, 12 Monkeys,
This Boy's Life, Johnny Depp's Blow, Brad Pitt's Johnny Suede, and Pink
Flamingos by John Waters, which is set in Baltimore. In 1999, his tune
"Jack the Ripper" was used in the original Taco Bell television
commercial featuring a talking chihuahua. Part Shawnee Indian, Link
frequently spoke of ancestry in performances and interviews, and three
of his compositions bear the names of American Indian tribes: "Shawnee,"
"Apache," and "Comanche.". His style is said to
have inspired many rock musicians, including Pete Townsend, David Bowie,
Bob Dylan, Steve Van Zandt and Bruce Springsteen. Link, known for his
trademark black leather jacket, gave his last performance in July 2005
in Glendale, California.
May 1st 1934 ~
October 20th 2005
Grammy-winning Shirley Horn, the US jazz pianist and vocalist who found
fame working with Miles Davis, known for her intimate, whispery vocals
and top-drawer piano playing, died at Gladys Spellman Nursing Home in
Cheverly, Md., after an extended battle with diabetes. She was 71 and
is survived by her husband, a daughter and two grandsons.
Shirley Horn was born in Washington DC and began
piano lessons at the age of five, studied piano and composition throughout
her teenage years & graduated from Howard University with a degree
in music. She worked her way through college by playing piano at the
Merryland Club. She formed her own trio in 1954 and secured the job
of opening act at Olivia Davis's Patio Lounge, one of Washington's leading
jazz clubs. In 1960, she recorded her first album, Embers And Ashes,
for the small Hi-Life label. It was heard by the trumpeter Miles Davis,
who was so impressed that he sent for her to come to New York and play
the opening set of his nightly appearance at the Village Vanguard. The
exposure led to a contract with Mercury Records, for whom she recorded
two albums, Loads Of Love and Shirley Horn With Horns. She was, however,
presented purely as a singer, backed by an orchestra. She felt so uncomfortable
away from the keyboard that she returned to low-profile but more satisfying
work in Washington. She married, gave birth to a daughter, and made
only occasional forays beyond her home town. In 1968 she recorded the
theme songs for two films, Dandy In Aspic and For Love Of Ivy. It was
not until 1978 that she re-emerged to record A Lazy Afternoon, the first
of three albums for the Danish label Steeplechase. This was, to all
intents and purposes, her recording debut as a self-accompanying singer
and it displayed her mature style to great effect. On the strength of
this album Shirley Horn began to receive invitations to tour, and she
scored a particular triumph in 1981, at the North Sea Jazz Festival
in The Hague. Even so, she was reluctant to commit herself to the life
of a full-time performer, and took only occasional engagements away
from Washington. 1986 Richard Seidel, vice-president of PolyGram, signed
her to Verve, its jazz label. This marked the start of Shirley Horn's
late-flowering prime, in which she released CDs at roughly annual intervals.
On most of them she was accompanied by the two Washington musicians,
bassist Charles Ables and drummer Steve Williams, who had been with
her since the early 1980s and knew her playing intimately. She also
formed a close musical bond with the composer and arranger Johnny Mandel,
who employed a string section to add subtle tints, notably on Here's
To Life (1991) and You're My Thrill (2000). The new century brought
two serious setbacks for Shirley Horn. Charles Ables, her trusted bass
player for more than 30 years, died in 2001 and in the same year complications
from diabetes led to the amputation of her right foot. For the first
time in four decades she was obliged to rely on another pianist for
her accompaniment. Her 2003 release, May The Music Never End, reveals
her sounding frail and hesitant for the first time. After Davis's death
in 1991 she released a particularly moving set entitled I Remember Miles,
with Roy Hargrove playing trumpet and an appearance by the harmonica
virtuoso Toots Thielemans. She was nominated for seven consecutive Grammys
and won in 1998 for the best jazz vocal performance. Her winning song
was I Remember Miles, a tribute to her mentor Miles Davis. Shirley also
won five Wammys, the Washington area's music industry award, as well
as multiple other titles.
July 4th, 1933
~ Oct 12th, 2005
Prolific songwriter Baker Knight, whose hits were recorded by stars
ranging from Elvis Presley to Ricky Nelson, Paul McCartney, Frank Sinatra
and Dean Martin, has sadly died of natural cases at age 72. He is survived
by his daughter, Tuesday Knight, an actress who lives in Studio City,
a brother, Robert; sister, Nonie and son Thomas Baker Knight, a veterinarian
and taxidermist of Pensacola, Fla.
From the 1950s to the 1970s, Knight wrote almost 1,000 songs. More than
40 singers recorded his tunes, which include the 1970 Presley hit "The
Wonder of You" and Dean Martin's "Somewhere There's a Someone"
and "That Old Time Feelin'." Nelson and McCartney sang the
same Knight hit, "Lonesome Town," decades apart. Perry Como,
Jerry Lee Lewis, Sammy Davis Jr. and Mickey Gilley also recorded some
of Knight's songs. Born Thomas Baker Knight Jnr in Birmingham, Alabama,
on Independence Day 1933., he went to Los Angeles in 1958 and met Nelson
through a mutual friend. Within six months, Nelson's version of "Lonesome
Town," a ballad about being lonely in Hollywood, was a top 10 hit
on the Billboard Pop Singles chart, as was its flip side, "I Got
a Feeling," another Knight tune. In all, Nelson recorded 21 Knight
originals. Knight learned to play guitar while in the Air Force. He
formed a rock band, Baker Knight and the Knightmares, whose height of
fame was opening for country stars Carl Perkins and Conway Twitty in
1956. Within a year the band developed a huge following in the Birmingham
area and one day, as fortune would have it, the proverbial "Hollywood
agent" came to town. He liked the band and signed them up. The
band recorded several songs but one of them stood out, "Bring My
Cadillac Back," written by Knight. It started climbing the charts,
selling 40,000 records in just two weeks. But the song was removed from
the radio play lists because the then "powers that be" felt
it was a free commercial for Cadillac. After after this the band split
up, Knight moved to L.A. for a movie role but nothing came of this venture.
He returned to Birmingham in 1985 and began to suffer from agoraphobia
and a condition similar to chronic fatigue syndrome. Mickey Gilley,
whose rendition of Baker's "Don't The Girls All Get Prettier At
Closing Time" won the Academy of Country Music's "Song of
the Year" award. Baker has the distinction of having a Two Million
Performance song and three One Million Performance songs to his credit.
26, 1950 ~ Oct 1st, 2005
Paul Pena, talented San Francisco blues guitarist who wrote one of the
biggest hits for the Steve Miller Band, died in San Francsico Saturday
evening due to complications from diabetes and pancreatitis. He has
been bravely battling ill health for 8 years. He is survived by his
parents, Jack and Virginia Pena of Harwich, Mass., and two brothers.
Tragically he lost his wife, Babe to kidney failure in 1991.
Paul is perhaps best known for writing "Jet Airliner," a No.
8 hit on the Billboard pop singles chart in 1977. He lived off the royalties
from that song. He is also familiar to audiences for the 1999 Academy
Award-nominated documentary "Genghis Blues," which tells the
story of how he took up Tuvan throat singing. Pena,
almost completely blind since birth and plagued by illnesses most of
his life, was born in Hyannis, Mass. He proved to be a natural musician,
singing and teaching himself several instruments. In the late 1960's,
he was in a band that opened for big-time acts including the Grateful
Dead and Frank Zappa. Blues artists ranging from T-Bone Walker to B.B.
King to Bonnie Raitt recognized his talents, hiring him to play guitar
in their bands. Paul became interested in throat singing when he heard
a Tuvan broadcast on his shortwave radio in 1984. Later he found a Tuvan
record, playing it countless times until he learned how to throat sing,
which involves producing several distinct vocal-cord sounds simultaneously.
In 1993 he demonstrated his technique to Kongar-ol Ondar, one of the
foremost throat singers in the world. Mr. Ondar was impressed with Pena,
nicknaming him Earthquake and inviting him to Tuva to participate
in an annual competition. His 1995 journey there is recounted in Genghis
Dec 6th,
1944 ~ Sept 19th,
Willie Hutch (Willie McKinley Hutchison),
an award-winning Motown and rhythm and blues musician, songwriter and
producer who co-wrote the Jackson 5 hit "I'll Be There," died
Sept. 19 in Duncanville, Texas, where he lived. Survivors include six
children; 10 grandchildren; one great-grandchild; five brothers, and
eight sisters.
Willie Hutch grew up in Dallas where he sang with The Ambassadors. He
was a graduate of Booker T. Washington High School in Dallas. He first
came to the attention of the music business in 1964 when his debut single
'Love Has Put Me Down' was released by the Soul City Records label.
His songs attracted the attention of The Fifth Dimension who recorded
a number of them. Willie himself recorded with Venture prior to two
albums in the early 70's with RCA (including 'Let's Try It Over'). In
1970, he received a phone call from producer Hal Davis who urgently
needed a song written to a backing track he had entitled 'I'll Be There'.
By 8 am the next morning, The Jackson 5 were in the studio recording
it. Willie later co-arranged vocals on 'Got To Be There' and 'Never
Can Say Goodbye' for the group, impressing Berry Gordy who employed
him at Motown on a more permanent basis. Willie produced the first Smokey
Robinson album without The Miracles, and when Sisters Love had a cameo
role in 'The Mack', the group's manager suggested Willie record the
soundtrack. The result was 'The Mack', including 'Brother's Gonna Work
It Out' and 'Slick', Willie's first album for Motown in 1973. (Willie
also worked with Sisters Love on 'Mr Fix-it Man'.) His other albums
at the label included 'The Mark Of The Beast' (1975); 'Concert In Blues'
(1976), including 'Party Down'; 'Color Her Sunshine' (1976), including
'I Like Everything About You', 'Havin' A House Party' and 'Fully Exposed'
before he joined the Whitfield label for two albums, 'In Tune (1978),
including 'Easy Does It', and 'Midnight Dancer'. Hutch also wrote the
entire album for the 70's movie "Foxy Brown". In 1982, he
wrote 'Keep The Fire Burning' for Gwen McCrae and returned to Motown
for three collaborations with Berry Gordy. The first was a duet for
The Four Tops and Aretha Franklin 'What Have We Got To Lose' (1983),
the second a song / production for Sammy Davis Jnr, 'Hello Detroit'
(1984), and the third a soundtrack album for Berry's film 'The Last
Dragon' (1985). This soundtrack included a Willie Hutch single 'The
Glow'. During this period at Motown he wrote/produced 'Sexy Ways' for
The Four Tops and released two albums, 'In And Out' (1985) and 'Making
A Game Of Love' (1985), including 'Keep On Jammin'. Willie has also
written and/or produced for The Miracles, The Main Ingredient ('California
My Way'), Junior Walker, Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye, among others. In
recent years, Willie with his back-up band '7 Down' recorded on his
own music label, GGIT releasing two albums 'From The Heart' and 'The
Mack Is Back'. Both sets were well received.
Sept 15th
~ Sept 13th
Jazz Guitarist Al Casey died Sunday of colon cancer at age 89, just
two days before his 90th birthday. Mainly known for his work with Fats
Waller, Casey also played with Louis Armstrong, Teddy Wilson and Billie
Holliday among a few. He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Althea
Jonathan Casey and a son Al Casey Jr.
Albert Aloysius Casey was born Sept. 15, 1915, in Louisville, an orphan.
His new family included uncles and aunts who were in a spiritual group
called the Southern Singers. One of those uncles, featured on a radio
show broadcast from Cincinnati, provided the key introduction to Waller
years later. He initially took violin lessons but switched to ukulele
"because I wanted to be popular with the girls". Moving to
New York City in 1930 to stay with other relatives, he began playing
guitar with a school friend's band that played at Harlem's Apollo Theater
and other venues. Advanced enough for his uncle to encourage a meeting
with Waller, Al impressed the band leader and began recording songs.
However, Waller refused to hire him full time until he finished high
school. Al later called Waller his "second father." Al developed
a fast-moving style that jumped from chord to chord. This, he felt,
would do justice to Waller's vocal buffoonery, as he called it. Al provided
a steady and swinging rhythmic accompaniment for the leader's vocal
antics. Casey's distinctive style helped to define the sound of Fats
Waller's band in the 1930s and 1940s. He appeared on more than 230 records
that, all told, sold millions of copies. In the late 1930s, he left
Fats temporarily to work with e pianist Teddy Wilson and also made recordings
with singer Billie Holiday and saxophonists Ben Webster, Chu Berry and
Lester Young. After Fats Waller's death, played side man to many greats.
In the 50's he switched to electric guitar and he joined a rhythm-and-blues
band led by saxophonist King Curtis and also played with Frankie Lymon
and the Teenagers and Curley Hamner. He disliked rock music's chord
structure, dismissing it as simplistic or "distorted." Over
the decades Al Casey played with names like Louis Armstrong, Roy Eldridge,
Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Coleman Hawkins, Art
Tatum, Duke Ellington, Barney Bigard and Jack Teagarden. In 1981, he
began a 20-year association with the Harlem Blues and Jazz Band, established
Albert Vollmer who revered the jazz players of the 1930s. Featuring
guest veterans of bands led by Armstrong, Ellington, Jelly Roll Morton
and King Oliver, Highly regarded in Europe, he remained largely overlooked
in the United States.
"Gatemouth" Brown
April 18th 1924
~ Sept 10th 2005
Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, the singer,
guitarist who built a 50-year career playing blues, country, jazz and
Cajun music, died Saturday after a long battle with lung cancer, emphysema
and heart disease. He had gone to brother's home in Orange, Texas to
escape and survive Hurricane Katrina, which destroyed his home in Slidell,
Louisiana, a bedroom community of New Orleans . He was 81 & survivors
include three daughters and a son.
Louisiana-born, Texas-raised multi-instrumentalist
Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown has been dishing up his unique
blend of blues, R&B, country, jazz, and Cajun music for more than
50 years. A virtuoso on guitar, violin, harmonica, mandolin, viola,
and even drums, Gatemouth has influenced performers as diverse as Albert
Collins, Frank Zappa, Lonnie Brooks, Eric Clapton, and Joe Louis Walker.
Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown started playing fiddle by age 5.
At 10, he taught himself an odd guitar picking style he used all his
life, dragging his long, bony fingers over the strings. In
his teens, Brown toured as a drummer with swing bands and was nicknamed
"Gatemouth" for his deep voice. After a brief stint in the
Army, he returned in 1945 to Texas, where he was inspired by blues guitarist
T-Bone Walker. Brown's career took off in 1947 when Walker became ill
and had to leave the stage at a Houston nightclub. The club owner invited
Brown to sing, but Brown grabbed Walker's guitar and thrilled the crowd
by tearing through "Gatemouth Boogie" -- a song he claimed
to have made up on the spot, T-Bone was not amused by the young upstart,
but the crowd went wild, tossing $600 at Brown's feet in 15 minutes.
He made dozens of recordings in the 1940s and '50s, including many regional
hits -- "Okie Dokie Stomp," "Boogie Rambler," and
"Dirty Work at the Crossroads." But he became frustrated by
the limitations of the blues and began carving a new career by recording
albums that featured jazz and country songs mixed in with the blues
numbers. "He is one of the most underrated guitarists, musicians
and arrangers I've ever met, an absolute prodigy," said Colin Walters,
who is working on Brown's biography. Brown -- who performed in cowboy
boots, cowboy hat and Western-style shirts -- lived in Nashville in
the early 1960s, hosting an R&B television show and recording country
singles. In 1979, he and country guitarist Roy Clark recorded "Makin'
Music," an album that included blues and country songs and a cover
of the Billy Strayhorn-Duke Ellington classic "Take the A-Train."
Brown recorded with Eric Clapton, Ry Cooder, Bonnie Raitt and others,
but he took a dim view of most musicians -- and blues guitarists in
particular. He called B.B. King one-dimensional. He dismissed his famous
Texas blues contemporaries Albert Collins and Johnny Copeland as clones
of T-Bone Walker, whom many consider the father of modern Texas blues.
"All those guys just tried to sound like T-Bone," Brown said.
By the end of his career, Brown had more than 30 recordings and won
a Grammy award in 1982. "I'm so unorthodox, a lot of people can't
handle it," he said in a 2001 interview.
In his last years Brown suffered ill-health but managed to record a
final album, "Timeless", in 2004.
Steven Cowsill
September 14th 1954 ~ Sept ?? 2005
Barry Cowsill, multi-musician, songwriter,
former member of The Cowsills, who went missing in New Orleans when
Hurricane Katrina struck has been found, tragically dead. December 28th
his body was found under Chartres Street Wharf in New Orleans and identified
via dental records on January 4th, 2006. The coroner has determined
the cause of death to be drowning in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
50/51 year old Barry is survived by his siblings, two daughters, one
son and two grandsons as well as a step-daughter and two step-granddaughters
Born in Newport, RI, Barry was the 5th of 7 children in the musical
Cowsill family, and by the age of 10 was drumming round the locals venues,
school halls, clubs & frat parties at Brown University in Newport,
with older brothers Bob and Bill. The band, full of Beatlemania named
themselves The Cowsills. He soon changed to bass guitar when another
brother, John joined them playing drums. Barry was only 13 when they
shot to fame with "The Rain, the Park and Other Things." with
a string of chart hits following over the next 4 years. It was obvious
at an early age Barry would be an accomplished songwriter and able producer,
penning Dover Mines from their 1970 On My Side
album and Dont Look Back from 1970s II
x II when only 14 and producing "On My Side" at age
16... the band grew bigger as another brother, a sister and their mother
became members. The Cowsills were the inspiration for The Partridge
Family. They were to star in the show, but at the last minute, they
pulled out because the network wanted to cast actress Shirley Jones
as the mother, Barbara. "If you don't have the whole family you
don't have any" said there father and manager William Cowsill.
In 1971, following a series of personal problems among the family members,
and squabbles and disagreements between each other, the band split up.
Barry, with the traumas from his childhood, domestic abuse, extreme
adulation, over exposure and sudden loss of fame was affected deeply,
and from this time on he took his sensitive tortured soul and guitar
on the road, spending most of the next 25 years roaming from town to
town. His excessive drinking didn't stop him becoming an extremely talented
guitarist and songwriter. Eventually in the late 90's he settled in
New Orleans and bought out a solo album "As Is" in 1998 and
a 2 track CD "Fishin Worm Blues" and "Drunkards Nappy"
in 2000. At the time of his death, Barry was working on a new CD with
his band US 1. His travels brought him many friends and fans, touching
each of their souls with his charismatic character, superb music, and
down to earth sense of humor. Sadly, he did not get out of New Orleans
before Katrina hit and was among the missing for 4 months. Barry had
been spotted at the Ernest N. Memorial Convention Center on August 29th,
but was not heard from after leaving phone messages for his sister on
September 1st. On Decembr 28th, a badly decomposed body was recovered
from the Chartres
St Wharf; it was identified on January 4th, 2006 as Barry Cowsill. Further
tragedy struck; a memorial service was held on February 18th, 2006 at
the King's Park Gazebo, Newport, R.I. at 1 p.m. and a Celebration of
Life party was held at 7 p.m. in the Viking Hotel Ballroom. It was between
the time of the service and the party, that the family received the
phone call saying Barry's brother, Billy Cowsill had passed away. Suddenly,
the Life Celebration became an event for two brothers instead of just
one. Billy Cowsill, who had been living in Canada had died due to complications
from a variety of illnesses including emphysema, osteoporosis and Cushing
Barry and Billy may you both rest in peace
Above : Rare shot of Barry and Billy Cowsill playing together as adults
at Taste of Rhode Island in 2000.
Top photo : Barry performing with the Cowsills on Sept. 13, 2004 at
the El Rey Theatre at a benefit concert for brother Billys medical
expenses. This was also the eve of Barrys 50th and last birthday.
Many thanks to Kate for the photographs
23rd November 1926
~ 1st Sept
Burnside, one of the last, great Mississippi bluesmen, whose raw, country
blues was discovered late in his life, has died. He was 78. He
sadly died Thursday morning at the St. Francis Hospital in Memphis,
Tennessee, where his health had been declining for some time. He is
survived by his wife, Alice Mae, 12 children and numerous grandchildren.
RL Burnside
the gifted musician, songwriter, and storyteller started life in Oxford,
Mississippi, born on a plantation. He grew up in the depression-era
deep south and saw things most people only read about or see on TV's
documentry channels. His life has been one long constant roller-coaster
ride of the blues. He spent most of his life in the north Mississippi
hills working as a sharecropper and fisherman. He began playing music
at age 16 learning his licks from Delta Blues men, such as Mississippi
Fred McDowell and Muddy Waters. Burnside started out on the harmonica
but soon switched to the guitar. In the 1940s he moved to Chicago and
later met Muddy Waters. But Burnside left the city after his father
and two of his brothers were killed there. When Burnside moved back
to Holly Springs, Mississippi, he shot a man who he said was trying
to run him off his home. He was convicted and served six months in jail
before a plantation foreman got him out to work the cotton harvest.
For many years blues fans could travel to Holly Springs and visit Junior
Kimbrough's club and see R.L. along with Junior and their combined offspring
playing the blues. Burnside wasn't recorded until he was in his 40s,
and didn't become a professional musician until 1991, when he was signed
by Fat Possum. He released over a dozen albums including the 1992 live
album "Bad Luck City" , "Too Bad Jim" in 1994. Burnside's
raw, John Lee Hooker-style, one-chord progression blues on songs like
"Death Bell Blues" and "Shake 'Em on Down" received
critical acclaim. He toured worldwide, though he performed less after
heart surgery in 1999. His last record was 2004's "A Bothered Mind.".
Anywhere he played, was just like any another Saturday night sitting
on the front porch of some Mississippi delta juke-joint, drinking corn
whiskey, telling stories and playing the music he grew up around. This
truly incorruptible delta character/musician/storyteller will be very
sadly missed.
Little Milton
7th September 1934
~ 4th August 2005
into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1988, the Grammy-nominated songwriter/artist
was also the recipient of several W.C. Handy Blues Awards, the highest
honor given to artists in the genre. Singer, guitarist and songwriter,
Little Milton, has passed away from complications from a stroke. He
was 71. Little Milton is survived by his wife, Patricia and several
Born James
Milton Campbell Jnr., to sharecropping farmers near the Mississippi
Delta town of Inverness, he played guitar from the age of 12. Little
Milton made his first public appearances as a teenager in the blues
bars and cafes on Greenville's celebrated Nelson Street. Milton first
appeared on record accompanying pianist Willie Love in the early 50's,
then appeared under his own name on three singles issued on Sam Phillips'
Sun label under the guidance of Ike Turner. Although their working relationship
continued throughout the decade, it was on signing to Chicago's Chess
/ Checker outlet that Milton's career flourished. Milton had a hit in
1965 with the optimistic 'We're Gonna Make It', and followed it with
other releases, including 'Who's Cheating Who?' in 1965, and 'Grits
Ain't Groceries' in 1968. He remained with Chess until 1971, whereupon
he relocated to the Stax imprint. Milton also worked alongside Sonny
Boy Williamson III. 'That's What Love Will Do' returned the singer to
the R & B chart after a two-year absence, but despite his appearance
in the Wattstax film, Little Milton was unable to maintain a consistent
recording career. In the 90's he was with Delmark Records. His most
recent album 'Think Of Me' was released in May 2005.
Eugene Booker Record
23rd December 1940
~ July 22nd 2005
lead singer with the velvet voice of the Chi-lites, Eugene
Booker Record has sadly passed away at his daughter's south suburban
home after a long battle with cancer.
He leaves a wife of 31 years.
music fans know the name Eugene Record, but many know his music. As
well as his creamy rich vocals this amazing man was the composer and
musical guiding force behind the greatest songs of the Chi-Lites, including
"Oh Girl," "Have You Seen Her" and "Coldest
Days of My Life." A true descendant of Smokey Robinson, Record's
emotional songs portrayed love found and mostly lost, and his vulnerable,
sensitive protagonists were quite a contrast to the "love men"
(Barry White, Teddy Pendergrass, et. al.) who would control urban adult
contemporary radio in the late 70s and early 80s. Eugene left the Chi-Lites
after 1976's Half A Love, and appeared headed for a bright solo career.
But despite creating generally good material, his solo work never properly
took off. Record's 1977 solo debut, The Eugene Record, was his most
popular, it included the minor hit "Laying Beside You," but
was overall a step down from his Chi-Lites work. He came back strongly
in 1978 with Trying to Get to You, a solid mix of ballads and dance
tunes that he debuted in an appearance on Saturday Night Live. In 1979
he released his first primarily dance oriented album, the top notch
Welcome to My Fantasy, which contained two wonderful disco tunes (the
title track and the Andre Crouch/Eugene Record collaboration "Where
Are You"), but was unfortunately overlooked by both pop and soul
radio stations and after three Warner Brothers albums he returned to
the Chi-Lites in 1980 for four more albums, including "Heavenly
Body", "Me And You" and "Hot On A Thing. "Record
retired from the Chi-Lites in 1988 to live a more spiritual life. He
spent the next decade moving into gospel music and evangelization, eventually
releasing Let Him In, his first gospel album, in 1998 on a very limited
basis. In 2001, Record co-produced a local Chicago R&B girl group
called C-Nario and was happy working with the Praise and Worship Team
at his Chicago church, Crusaders Church. He also reunited with the Chi-Lites
for one night for the PBS Soul Music special in March, 2004, and saw
his classic Chi-Lites tune, "Are You My Woman" remade as Beyonce's
across-the-board Grammy Winning hit, "Crazy In Love. Record planned
to remix and re-release Let Him In, but illness ultimately prevented
him. After a battle with cancer, he died on July 22, 2005, leaving a
rich musical legacy.
Long John Baldry
January 12th 1941~
July 21st 2005
Blues / R&B artist, the great legendary "Long John" Baldry
died last night (July 21) in Vancouver after battling a chest infection
for four months. He was 64.
January 12th 1941 in London, UK, Long John begun his career playing
folk and jazz in the late 50s, he toured with Ramblin' Jack Elliott
before moving into R&B. His strong, deep voice won him a place in
the influential Blues Incorporated, following which he joined Cyril
Davies' R & B All Stars. After Davies' death, Long John fronted
the Hoochie Coochie Men, which also included future superstar Rod Stewart,
who later joined Baldry in Steam Packet (featuring Brian Auger and Julie
Driscoll). After a brief period with Bluesology (which boasted a young
Elton John on piano & keyboards), Long John decided to go solo and
record straightforward pop. Already well known on the music scene, he
nevertheless appeared an unusual pop star in 1967 with his sharp suits
and imposing 6foot 7inch height. Composer/producer Tony Macauley and
his partner John McLeod presented him with the perfect song in 'Let
The Heartaches Begin', a despairing ballad which Baldry took to number
1 in the UK in 1967. His chart career continued with the Olympic Games
theme, 'Mexico', the following year, which also made the Top 20. Such
a shame that is his legacy .. Long John must be one of the most underestimated
singers I know. However ... sadly , by the end of the 60s, the hits
had ceased and another change of direction was ahead. Furs and a beard
replaced the suits and the neat, short haircut, as Long John attempted
to establish himself with a new audience. With production assistance
from former colleagues Rod Stewart and Elton John, he recorded a strong
album, It Ain't Easy, but it failed to sell. After a troubled few years
in New York and LA he emigrated to Vancouver, Canada, where he performed
on the club circuit. In the early 90s his voice was used as Robotnik
on the Sonic The Hedgehog computer game. After many years a new Baldry
album was released in 1993, subtly titled 'It Still Ain't Easy'.
May you rest in peace.
Renaldo "Obie" Benson
June 14th 1936~
July 1st 2005
Renaldo "Obie"
Benson, a member of the legendary Motown singing group the Four Tops,
died Friday. Benson died at 69 of lung cancer that was discovered when
he had a leg amputated several weeks ago because of circulation problems.
Orbie attended Northern High School with Lawrence Payton. The pair met
Levi Stubbs and Abdul "Duke" Fakir while singing at a friends
birthday party in 1954 and decided to form a group called the Four Aims.
Roquel Billy Davis, Payton's cousin was a fifth member of the group
for a time and a songwriter for the group. Davis played an instrumental
role in the group being signed by Chess Records who were mainly interested
in Davis' songwriting ability. The group changed their name to the Four
Tops to avoid confusion with the Ames Brothers and had one single "Kiss
Me Baby" released through Chess which failed to chart. The Four
Tops left Chess although Davis stayed with the company. The group then
went to Red Top Records and Riverside Records before signing with Columbia
Records where they released "Ain't That Love" in 1960. This
record was a supper club style record and the Four Tops would sing at
a number of jazz venues in the early 1960s. Benson was responsible for
the band's choreography in the early years of the band. He was best
known as the bass of Motown group The Four Tops, which he continued
to perform with for over five decades, until April 8, 2005. The
group signed with Motown Records in 1963 and produced a string of hits
over the next decade, making music history with the other acts in Berry
Gordy's Motown lineup. The
Four Tops sold more than 50 million records and recorded hit songs such
as "Baby I Need Your Loving," "Reach Out (I'll be There),"
"I Can't Help Myself" and "Standing in the Shadows of
Love." Benson also co-wrote "What's Going On" which became
a #2 hit for Marvin Gaye in 1971, and which Rolling Stone rated as #4
on their List of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time released
in 2004. Benson's death leaves two surviving members of the original
group: Levi Stubbs and Abdul "Duke" Fakir. The fourth original
Top, Lawrence Payton, died of liver cancer in 1997. They are members
of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Benson "enjoyed every moment
of his life," Fakir told the Detroit Free Press through a publicist.
"He put a smile on everyone's face, including my own." Benson
spent more than a third of each year performing on the road . The group
would often tour with The Temptations as part of a double bill. His
last performance was on April 8 2005 on the "Late Show With David
Letterman." He
sadly leaves two daughters.
Luther Vandross
April 21st 1951
~ July 1st 2005
Legendary R&B artist Luther Vandross, whose
smooth, silky voice gave soul to songs about life, love and relationships,
died at JFK Medical Center in Edison, New Jersey at 1:47 p.m. ET, Friday
surrounded by family, friends. He was 54 years old.
Alluding to the stroke, hospital spokesman Rob Cavanaugh said, "Throughout
his illness, Luther received excellent medical care and attention from
his medical team. Luther was deeply touched by all the thoughts and
wishes from his fans." The popular crooner suffered a debilitating
stroke in April 2003, which he never fully recovered from. Even so,
his album "Dance With My Father," co-written with Richard
Marx, sold nearly a million copies in its first month of release that
June. The following year, that album won three Grammy Awards, including
song of the year. His eighth and final Grammy came for best R&B
performance by a duo -- the remake of "The Closer I Get to You,"
sung with Beyonce Knowles. Vandross' songs and emotionally charged ballads
carry a signature sound. During his four-decade career, Vandross sold
more than 25 million copies, each one of his 14 albums achieving either
platinum or multi-platinum status. Luther Ronzoni Vandross was born
into a New York City family steeped in the traditions of gospel and
soul. He began his career writing and performing jingles for television
commercials. He even appeared on "Sesame Street" in October
1969. It was after a chance meeting with David Bowie at a recording
studio in 1975 that Vandross was asked to sing backup on Bowie's hit
album, "Young Americans." Later, Vandross served as Bowie's
opening act. Vandross also sang backup for Bette Midler and Barbra Streisand.
When record companies rejected him, Vandross used his own money to produce
his 1981 debut album, "Never Too Much." It went on to top
the R&B charts and sold 2 million copies. By the end of the 1980s
Vandross had nearly two dozen smash singles, including "Give Me
the Reason," "Stop to Love" and "There's Nothing
Better Than Love," made with Gregory Hines. Arguably his most memorable
hit was the 1989 classic, "Here and Now," which has become
a wedding staple. The momentum carried into the 1990s, with Vandross
recording "The Best Things In Life Are Free," a pop duet with
Janet Jackson that hit the Top 10 and No. 1 on the R&B charts. He
followed that in 1994 with "Endless Love," a duet with Mariah
Carey that reached No. 2 on the pop charts. "I was Luther from
day one, from the day I began, and I think that's a very important thing,"
he once said. "I think that's what sustained my career for so long
is that when I start, you know it's me." Vandross struggled with
health and image problems, claiming that he lost 100 pounds -- 13 times.
He suffered from hypertension and diabetes, which killed two siblings
and his father, but refused to slow down until his stroke two years
ago. Of "Dance With My Father," he once said that title song
"was very emotional for me and, yes, it is based on my own experience.
"It's not just about losing one's father, but about missing someone
who is gone -- for whatever reason -- and the longing you feel for that
moment in the past when you were together," he said.
Simon "Si" Waronker
1915 ~ June
7th 2005
"Si" Waronker, founder of Liberty Records, one of the top
indie labels of the 1950s and early '60s, who lent his first name to
the smartest of David Seville's Chipmunks, died of natural causes in
his sleep, in Los Angeles. He was 90. He is survived by a son, a daughter,
a sister, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Si was born in 1915 in a poor section of Los Angeles. When he was five,
his father started him playing the violin. He was a child prodigy, starting
high school at eleven and graduating at thirteen. Si got a scholarship
to study violin in Philadelphia and then France. He ended up in Germany
during the rise of Hitler. After barely escaping from a Nazi youth gang
that was pursuing him because he was Jewish, he returned to the United
States. Back in Los Angeles, he worked for 20th Century Fox, playing
on countless scores for the studio. He founded Liberty in 1955. The
company's initial single was "The Girl Upstairs," a side by
Lionel Newman, a longtime power in the Fox music department; the label's
early releases focused on film and orchestral music. Perhaps unsurprisingly,
Liberty's first big hit was by an actress, Julie London, whose torchy
"Cry Me a River" led to a run of popular albums on the label,
the young Henry Mancini, R&B veterans the Dominoes and exotica bandleader
Martin Denny. The company's diverse roster included Ross Bagdasarian's
novelty act the Chipmunks (one of whose helium-voiced members was named
after Waronker. The Chipmunks were wryly named for Liberty executives
Alvin Bennett, Simon Waronker, and Theodore Keep. ) In 1957 Liberty
acquired Dick Bock's label Pacific Jazz. During the rock 'n' roll era,
Liberty was the home of singer-guitarist-producer Eddie Cochran, teen
idol Bobby Vee, rocker-turned-pop vocalist Johnny Burnette and surf
duo Jan & Dean. In ill health, Waronker sold Liberty in 1963 to
electronics company Avnet for $12 million. Ownership of the label subsequently
changed hands several times, and its catalog is now controlled by EMI
Music. Waronker's son Lenny is the former head of Warner Bros. Records
and DreamWorks Records. Granddaughter Anna Waronker is a former member
of the group that dog and co-founder of the indie label Five Foot Two
Records. Grandson Steve Berman is head of sales & marketing at Universal's
Interscope/Geffen/A&M unit.
Oscar Brown Jr.
Oct. 10, 1926 ~
May 29, 2005
Chicago born legendary singer, songwriter, playwright,
poet and civil rights activist Oscar Brown, Jr. was originally hospitalized
in mid-April, suffering from osteo-myelitis, a bone infection. Sadly
he lost his fight and died May 29th. Oscar was 78 years old, he impacted
millions of people world-wide during his illustrious career, with both
his music and his politics.
He had become a remarkable and powerful
force for generations of young people in the community, by tapping into
their "over-looked" talents. "He is, indeed, a national
treasure, and one of the most important figures of our time, "explains
Maggie Brown, his daughter with whom he would often perform with."Although
we will miss him deeply, he has left a wealthof material that will continue
to touch the world". Brown wrote over a thousand songs, and more
than a dozen musical plays. His rendition of the musical, "Big
Time Buck White", appeared on Broadway starring Muhammad Ali. However,
his dynamic productions "Opportunity Please Knock" & "Great
Nitty Gritty," tapping into the talents of gang members and other
youth in the Chicago area, is credited with turning around the lives
of hundreds of young people in the city. He is also noted for such classic
compositions as, "The Snake", "Work Song", and "Signifyin?
Monkey". Proving that his works are timeless, Brown had become
a regular on Russell Simmons? Def Poetry Jam. His passing comes at a
time when his works are seeing a major resurgence. Brown recently established
The Oscar Brown, Jr. H.I.P. (Human Improvement Potential) Legacy Foundation,
to continue his efforts. Screenings are planned nation-wide for a newly
completed documentary about Brown?s life, (Music Is My Life / Politics
Is My Mistress). According to his daughter Maggie, "He has passed
us the torch, and we are carrying it proudly. Generations to come will
not only enjoy, but finally truly appreciate the contributions he has
Jimmy Martin
August 10, 1927
~ May 14, 2005
Jimmy Martin, a pioneering bluegrass singer/guitarist
who performed with the Blue Grass Boys and many other performers, died
Saturday. He was 77. Martin died in a Nashville hospice, more than a
year after he was diagnosed with bladder cancer. Jimmy leaves 3 sons
Ray, Timmy & Buddy Lee and a daughter Lisa.
His son, Lee Martin said "He
loved bluegrass music, country music. Bill Monroe was his idol and someone
he patterned himself after musically," referring to bluegrass legend
Bill Monroe, head of the Blue Grass Boys. Jimmy Martin, MCA Recording
Star and known as "The King of Bluegrass" and "Mr. Good
'N Country" was born in Hancock County, Sneedville, Tennessee.
His lifelong dream came true when he joined Bill Monroe in 1949 as lead
singer and emcee. Jimmy worked with Bill Monroe for five years, helping
him write and record such high lonesome classics as "Uncle Pen,"
"The Little Girl and the Dreadful Snake," and "I'll Meet
You in Church Sunday Morning (which Jimmy actually sang tenor to Bill's
lead)". In 1955, Martin formed his own band, the Sunny Mountain
Boys, and recorded with Decca (MCA) records for 18 years. "In his
heyday, he could take an audience of any size and have them eating out
of his hand," said Sunny Mountain Boy member Bill Emerson. "He'd
just smoke those people, and they'd be waiting in line for him when
he got offstage." Martin recorded several bluegrass standards,
including "Rock Hearts," "Sophronie," "Hold
Watcha Got," "Widow Maker" and "The Sunny Side of
the Mountain." Martin was inducted into the International Bluegrass
Music Association's Hall of Honor in 1995. His life was also the subject
of an independent documentary film, "King of Bluegrass: The Life
and Times of Jimmy Martin," which was released in 2003.
March 18th 1978 ~ April
19th 2005
American Head Charge guitarist Bryan Ottoson died
prior to the group's performance in North Charleston, S.C. The guitarist
was found dead in his bunk on the group's tour bus. He tragically died
of an overdose of prescribed drugs.
Sadly I can't find anymore information about Bryan
Niels-Henning Orsted
May 27th 1946 ~
April 19th 2005
Acclaimed Danish jazz bassist Niels-Henning Orsted
Pedersen has died at the age of 58. The musician, dubbed "the great
Dane," made hundreds of recordings and accompanied jazz greats
like Dexter Gordon, Chet Baker, Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie and Ella
Fitzgerald. Niels-Henning played in his first band at 14 and recorded
at the age of 15 with Bud Powell. Mr. Orsted Pedersen is survived by
his wife, Solveig, and three children.
In 1991 the internationally highly
esteemed jazz double bass player Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen was awarded
the Nordic Council music prize. It was the first time this prize for
composition went to a performing musician, which must be ascribed to
his international standing. He is presumably the internationally most
sought-after Danish instrumentalist, who has travelled and recorded
with many of the greatest jazz soloists, and he has also a particular
ability to interpret Danish songs and folk melodies, partly in collaboration
with the pianist Kenny Drew. Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen, the son
of a church organist, was born at Osted, Denmark, on May 27 1946. He
began piano lessons at the age of seven, and at 13, when he was tall
enough, took up the double bass in order to play in his family band.
He made such rapid progress that, within two years, he was playing at
the Montmartre Jazzhus, Copenhagen's leading jazz club. His
talent was soon seen to be of international quality; as a 16-year-old
he received an offer from Count Basie and did a recording with the pianist
Bud Powell, and since the 1970s he has for longish periods been the
permanent double bass player for Oscar Peterson. In addition, he has
often played in trios, partly collectively with the trumpeter Palle
Mikkelborg and the keyboard player Kenneth Knudsen, and partly under
his own name, usually with guitar and drums. Referred to as "NHOP",
was among the most frequently recorded jazz musicians in history, having
taken part in more than 400 albums. There was scarcely a major name
with whom he had not played in the course of the last 40 years.
8th 1924 ~ April 13th 2005
Johnson, a rock'n'roll pioneer has sadly died died at his St. Louis
home. He was 80. The cause of death was not immediately known. He had
been hospitalized a month ago with pneumonia and was on dialysis for
a kidney ailment, said John May, a friend and fellow musician.
Johnson was born July 8, 1924, in Fairmont, WV, and he began playing
piano at age five, thanks to his mother, who provided the funds to purchase
a piano and encouraged the young Johnnie's interest. His parents had
a good collection of 78-rpm records, including items by Bessie Smith
and Ethel Waters. In his teens, he listened to the radio broadcasts
of big bands, and taught himself based on what he heard from the likes
of Art Tatum, Earl "Fatha" Hines, and Meade "Lux"
Lewis. Johnson's goal in all of this listening and playing in his teenage
years was to come up with his own distinctive style. Piano player Johnnie
Johnson isn't exactly a household name, because for 28 years, he worked
as a sideman to Chuck Berry. Berry joined Johnson's band, 'The Sir John
Trio', on New Year's Eve, 1953, and afterward, Berry took over as the
group's songwriter and frontman /guitar player. On the strength of a
recommendation from Muddy Waters and an audition, Berry got a deal with
Chess Records. Johnson's rhythmic piano playing was a key element in
all of Berry's hit singles, a good number of which Johnson arrange.
The pair's successful partnership lasted a lot longer than most rock
& roll partnerships last these days. Johnson's albums under his
own name include Blue Hand Johnnie for the St. Louis-based Pulsar label
in 1988; Johnnie B. Bad in 1991 for the Elektra American Explorer label;
That'll Work in 1993 for the same label, and most recently, Johnnie
Be Back for the New Jersey-based MusicMasters label in 1995. All four
are winners, and all are available on compact disc. In
a 1995 interview, Johnson explains his abilities with piano as his mother
did, a gift from God. "I can hear something and keep it in my mind
until such point as I can get to a piano, and then I'll play it...that
is a gift, the ability to do that."
1967 ~ March 31st 2005
38 year old Hideaki Sekiguchi, who played bass
with Japanese rock band Guitar Wolf
died after suffering a heart attack. Hideaki's heart had stopped in
his sleep
at home the previous night, and he later died in a Tokyo hospital.
He is survived his wife Naoko and two children.
Bass Wolf, who was also known as Billy to his fans and as Hideaki Sekiguchi
to his family, was born in Japan in 1967. He was brought up with the
many influences of the great rock and punk bands of the 70 & 80's,
(Ramones a special favourite). This was a shared interest with his childhood
friend, guitarist Seiji Anno and in 1987 they together formed the band
"Guitar Wolf". The two were soon joined by drummer Toru Kuvibayashi
& within a few short years, the group established themselves as
one of the top garage rock bands in Japan. The hard-rocking trio, were
signed to Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) affiliate Ki/oon Records.
The '90s saw their popularity increase overseas as their records became
available in various countries around the world. Fans, critics and fellow
musicians raved over the group and their rapid-fire musical assault.
Their latest album 'Love Rock' was releases last year on which "Black
Hawk" penned by Billy/Bass Wolf is one of the album's most visceral
stretches. The three had just completed a month's tour in North America
in support of Guitar Wolf's most recent release. The jaunt saw the Japanese
trio use their razor-sharp brand of rock 'n' roll to deliver awe-inspiring
performances throughout Canada and the U.S.. Bass Wolf/Billy had only
been back with his family a couple of days when he died of heart failure.
The band was due to fly to Australia, April 6th, to continue their tour.
the U.S., Guitar Wolf's albums have been released by such labels as
Goner, Matador and Narnack. Narnack, had already been preparing an expanded
U.S. release of "I Love Guitar Wolf Very Much", a tribute
album, featuring the Coachwhips, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Lightning
Bolt, J. Mascis and the Fog, and Puffy AmiYumi & others. This album
will still be issued in the U.S. in the coming months.
" He rocked harder than anyone in the room,
and I would feed off that energy. He was a great friend. Lately, Billy
was acting a little odd, but said nothing was wrong. Just like him -
the hardass. I just can't believe it, he was there from the beginning.
I know Billy's up there in heaven rocking out, keeping those motherfuckers
up all night. I bet he'll start a band with Joey Ramones and Elvis.
He'd love that. I love you Billy, God speed." ~ Friend &
fellow wolf brother~ guitarist Seiji Anno
January 8th 1959 ~ March 26th 2005
Sadly, Paul Hester founder member and former drummer
of Crowded House took his own life. He had taken his two dogs for a
walk and hanged himself from a tree in Elsternwick Park near his home
in Melbourne, Australia. His body was found the next day. Aged 46,
Paul is survived by two daughters,
aged 8 and 10.
Paul Newell Hester was born in Melbourne, Australia, his father, Mulga
Mike Hester, was a legendary bushman and his mother, Ann, a jazz drummer.
From an early age, Paul was encouraged by his mother to learn to play
the drums, and was soon displaying his talent. His schooldays were less
successful. Paul had the dubious honour of being the first student in
the history of education in Victoria to have his teachers signing a
petition asking him to leave. Following his departure from school, Paul
tried out various jobs before embarking on a musical career. In 1980
he was a founding member of a quartet called Cheks, a group which in
1982 evolved Deckchairs Overboard when they relocated to Sydney. In
late 1983, popular New Zealand group Split Enz needed a new drummer
and by advice of Rob Hirst (Midnight Oil), Paul was auditioned. After
having attended three rehearsals without knowing if he was in or not,
Paul finally brought a tape recorder and got each member to say he had
got the job. Split Enz decided to go separate ways in 1984. Paul and
singer/guitarist/songwriter Neil Finn formed a new group, Crowded House
(originally called Mullanes), and Paul remained a key member of the
group until he quit during an American tour in April 1994. Paul cited
the pressures of touring and declining motivation for the group as his
reasons. After leaving Crowded House, Paul was guest host on various
radio and TV shows in Australia, and has opened a tea house in Elwood
Beach. Musically, he has collaborated with Richard Pleasance, Deborah
Conway (in the group Ultrasound) and Penny Flanagan, and wrote songs
with old Deckchairs Overboard cohort John Clifforth. He hosted a music
show on Australia's ABC network, hosted an acousting concert series,
and made several appearances on TV and radio, including a recurring
role as Chef Paul on kid's show "The Wiggles". Two weeks ago,
he appeared on the SBS music quiz show, "RockWiz."
22nd 1947 ~ March 22nd 2005
Legendary guitarist Rod Price, founding member of the blues boogie band
FOGHAT, passed away on March 22, 2005 at the age of 57. Rod sustained
fatal massive head trauma in an accidental stairway fall at his home
in Wilton, New Hampshire. He is survived by his wife Jackie and children
Rory, Jessie, David, Robin and Sarah.
Born November 22, 1947 in London, England, Price co-founded a British
blues band in the 1970s and became an American idol leading FOGHAT to
the top of the billboard charts. Price gained notoriety for his signature
slide and blues based playing earning him the reputation as "the
magician of slide." His instantly recognizable solos drove 'Foghat'
to three platinum and eight gold records during their quarter century
career. After many years of touring he settled in Wilton, New Hampshire
in 1994. Many in town knew Price as a loving father who never missed
his son's baseball, soccer or basketball games. In addition to his playing
with FOGHAT, Price has worked with Champion Jack Dupree, Duster Bennett,
Eddie Kirkland, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Willie Dixon and Honey
Boy Edwards. Price's two solo CDs, "Open" and "West Four",
allowed Rod to expand his quite capable songwriting abilities and showcase
not only his incomparable slide work but his lead vocals and heartbreakingly
beautiful acoustic abilities. In
recent years, Rod concentrated on his blues projects, cutting several
CDs and giving private guitar lessons at his home.
Liken to
many American musical sensations, Price's music; considered Classic
Rock by many Americans, will continue to bless even more with the sound
of his music long after his death.
September 15th 1924 ~ March 21st 2005
legend, pianist, husky baritone, nightclub entertainer Bobby Short,
known for his interpretation of songs by 20th century composers such
as Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, Rodgers and Hart, Vernon
Duke and George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin, has sadly died of leukemia
at New York Presbyterian Hospital, aged 80.
Robert Waltrip Short was born in Danville, IL, took an early interest
in the family piano and was mainly self-taught. He busking, at 8 started
playing in local roadhouses. Soon, he was performing at society parties
in a white tuxedo. When he was only 11, July 1936, an agent took him
to Chicago to perform in vaudeville and on radio. At 12 he moved to
New York City, where he appeared at the Frolics Cafe in October and
at La Grande Pomme, as well as at other clubs and theatres around the
country. He returned to Danville in the summer of 1938 to attend to
high school . After graduating in 1942 he went back to show, opening
at the Capitol Lounge in Chicago that July, followed by engagements
in Cleveland, Omaha, and Los Angeles. By the following year, he was
working in Milwaukee and St. Louis, and in the spring of 1945 he was
an opening act at the Blue Angel in New York City for four weeks. In
1952, Bobby spent a year in Europe, appearing at top clubs such as the
Mars Club and Spivy's in Paris, and the Embassy Club in London. He returned
to America to play the Black Orchid in Chicago, Café Gala in
Los Angeles, Red Carpet Club and Beverly Club in New York City. He recorded
a 10" album "Bobby Short Loves Cole Porter" and soon
after his first full length LP "Songs By Bobby Short" . 1956
sees his his debut at Broadway in Kiss Me Kate and on November 14th
1957, Bobby returned to the Blue Angel, but this time as top of the
bill, with a salary of 1,000 dollars a week, where he to play on and
off until 1963. While rock and pop was becoming fashionable, Bobby struggled,
but stayed true to his love of his genre music. He continued, touring,
recording and playing the big clubs on both sides of the Atlantic until
1968, when he was offered a two-week stint at the Café Carlyle
in New York City, to fill in for George Feyer. He was so popular , when
Feyer's contract expired, the Carlyle hired him as a permanent replacement.
For the next 37 years, Bobby became a huge part of the sophistication
of New York, guesting on radio and TV shows, making films with the likes
of Woody Allen, appeared on bill boards, TV advertising, Broadway and
TV films; over the years he recorded dozens of records, nominated for
three grammys, appeared with all the top jazz artists and stars, entertained
4 past US presidents ~ Nixon, Carter, Reagan and Clinton at The White
House, written articles the The New York Times and The Saturday Review
of Literature, lectured at Harvard University and New York's the New
School and written 2 autobiographies, 'Black and White' and 'The Life
and Times of a Saloon Singer'. In 2000 The Library of Congress designates
Short a Living Legend, a recognition established as part of its bicentennial
celebration. By 2004, at the age of 80, wanting to tour more, Bobby
retired from the Cafe Carlyle making his final appearance on New Year's
Eve, he agreed to appear at the club's 50th anniversary in May , but
sadly Bobby didn't make the gig, he died of leukemia on March 21st 2005.
The world has lost not only an amazing entertainer but
it also marks the end of an era of
sophistication in New York that cannot ever be replaced.
Chris LeDoux
2nd 1948 ~ March 9th 2005
Chris LeDoux, singer/songwriter and rodeo champion and acclaimed sculpture,
sadly passed March 9th at the age of 56. He had checked into the Casper
Medical Center, Wyoming earlier this week following complications from
ongoing treatment for cancer of the bile duct. He was surrounded by
family and friends at the time of his death.
Chris LeDoux was born Oct. 2, 1948, in Biloxi, Miss., and raised in
Austin, Texas. His grandfather, who had served in the U.S. cavalry and
fought against Pancho Villa, encouraged LeDoux to ride horses on his
Wyoming farm. LeDoux attended high school in Cheyenne, Wyo., and while
still at school, he twice won the state's bareback title. In 1967, after
graduating, he won a rodeo scholarship and received a national title
in his third year. In 1976, he became the Professional Rodeo Cowboys
Association's (PRCA) world champion in bareback riding. LeDoux has been
playing guitar and harmonica and writing songs since his teens, and
he used his musical ability as a means of paying his way from one rodeo
to another. Since 1971, he has been recording songs about "real
cowboys," and his albums combine his own compositions about rodeo
life with old and new cowboy songs. He describes his music as "a
combination of western soul, sagebrush blues, cowboy folk and rodeo
rock 'n' roll." Charlie Daniels, Johnny Gimble and Janie Frickie
are among the musicians who have appeared on his records, and Garth
Brooks famously paid tribute to him in "Much Too Young (To Feel
This Damn Old)." He and Brooks also teamed for the Top 10 hit,
"Whatcha Gonna Do With a Cowboy," in 1992. In October 2000,
LeDoux was diagnosed with a liver disease, and successfully underwent
a liver transplant. Within six months of the surgery, LeDoux was on
tour again - throwing himself right back into the hard-driving, full-force
stage shows he was known for. In 2003, he released the album Horsepower
and celebrated career sales of more than 5 million albums. Late last
year he was diagnosed with liver cancer and began undergoing radiation
treatment. A devoted husband and doting father, LeDoux spent his time
off the road with his family at their ranch in Kaycee, Wyoming.
26th 1941 ~ February 28th 2005
Curtis (Crummey), original drummer of 1960s pop group The Searchers,
has died at the age of 63 after a long illness. Named after the 1956
John Ford western, the Liverpool-based beat combo were formed in 1960
and sold millions of records in their heyday, being UK's top group at
the time.
Chris, born Christopher Crummey, from Oldham, was part of the original
line-up, which also included Mike Pender, Tony Jackson and John McNally.
Original bassist Tony West said Curtis "was the epitome of the
group itself, He contributed an awful lot to the vocals and the harmonies
- his was the distinctive high voice. He was also a very good drummer.
I will remember him as full of life and enthusiasm." The band's
fortunes declined after Curtis' 1966 departure. In 1967, Chris reached
number four in the UK with 'Let's Go To San Francisco', recorded under
the alias of 'The Flowerpot Men'.
Now he wanted to go one step further and form another band. "Curtis
was a very '60s man",Jon Lord recalls, "who had this very
off-the-wall idea for the time. Namely, that he wanted himself and myself
[Lord] to form the nucleus of a band, along with a dazzling new guitarist
named Ritchie Blackmore, whom Curtis had recently unearthed". As
Lord puts it, "[we] should be the center of the roundabout and
other musicians could jump on and off the roundabout as they chose.
It was 'a lovely, psychedelic sort of idea',"
~ so the band 'Roundabout' was formed ~ the band that went on to become
Deep Purple,
but it was Chris who jumped off before the group hit the big time.
Chris appeared to have it all. He was gregarious and was friends with
all the people who mattered in London. Lionel Bart. Brian Epstein. Alma
Cogan. Dusty Springfield. Madeleine Bell. Vicki Wickham. Chris was one
of the 'In Crowd'. He produced discs for Paul and Barry Ryan, Alma Cogan
and others and some of his productions made their mark, but the big
one proved elusive and eventually, when the money ran out, he returned
to Liverpool and his family, and turned his back on the fickle world
of showbusiness. After working for many years for the government as
a civil servant his health began to deteriorate and he was forced into
early retirement. He made a belated return to performing and recently
sang with charity group The Merseycats.
2nd 1939 ~ February 25th 2005
Patten a member of Gladys Knight's Pips died early this morning (Feb.
25) at a suburban Detroit hospital, according to his cousin William
Guest, another member of the group. Sadly he died at a hospital in Michigan
from a stroke he suffered a few days before. He was 65.
Edward Patten, was born in Atlanta August
2nd 1939. Edward, known for his high tenor voice, joined his cousin's
(Gladys Knight) group way back in 1959. He took over from Gladys' sister
Brenda when she left to get married. The Pips was formed in the 1950s
by gospel-singing family members, in the 50's the WHOLE of the group
was known as the Pips. The name Pips came from yet another cousins name,
Gladys' and Edwards cousin / manager James "Pips" Wood.1962's
"Letter Full Of Tears" was the first single credited to Gladys
Knight & The Pips. Edward stayed in the quartet till 1989.
Between '64 & '66 the Pips did masses of studio and sessions jobs
while Gladys had dropped out for 2 years when she too got married. After
which they signed to Motown. In 1973 their Motown contract ended and
they decided not to renew. The group moved Buddah Records in 1973, where
they had their biggest hit, "Midnight Train to Georgia,".
Throughout the 70's & 80's as we know they rentlessly toured and
recorded and by 1989 The Pips had had enough of all the touring and
Edward went into the Ice Cream business. Since then The Pips and Gladys
re-united for specials to thrill people with their amazing sound. He
was also one of the founders of Crew Records, based in Detroit and Atlanta,
and sang backup for the label's recording artists. In 1996 Edward with
The Pips and Gladys was inducted into the Rock 'n ' Roll Hall of Fame.
'Sammi' Smith
5th 1943 ~ February 18th 2005
singer Jewel (Sammi) Smith, 61, known for her trademark ballad, "Help
Me Make It Through The Night", died Saturday after a long illness.
Ms. Smith born August 5th in Orange, California won a Grammy for best
female country vocal performance in 1971 for "Help Me Make It Through
The Night," which was written by Kris Kristofferson. Ms. Smith
produced her first hit, "So Long Charlie Brown," in 1967.
Six years later, she moved to Dallas, where she joined the Outlaw Movement
with Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. Ms. Smith also celebrated her
Native American heritage and was a frequent visitor to an Apache reservation
in Arizona, where she made pottery and jewelry
4th 1938 ~ February 9th 2005
Davis, the 66 year old king of romantic Chicago soul and one of Chicago's
best-loved R&B singers , has sadly passed away after a long illness.
He is survived by his wife, Ann, numerous children and grandchildren.
Tyrone Davis was born May 4, 1938, in Greenville, MS; he spent most
of his formative years in Saginaw, MI, and moved to Chicago in 1959,
where he eventually found a job as a valet and chauffeur for bluesman
Freddie King. He befriended the likes of Bobby "Blue" Bland,
Little Milton, and Otis Clay, among others, and began to pursue his
own singing career in the clubs on the city's West and South Sides.
Singer/pianist Harold Burrage took Davis under his wing and helped him
refine his craft, and the budding blues shouter got his first shot in
1965 on the Four Brothers label. His first single, "Suffer,"
was recorded under the name Tyrone the Wonder Boy and written and produced
by Burrage, as was the follow-up "Good Company." Unfortunately,
Burrage passed away in late 1966, and after one more single Davis moved
on to cut one-offs for Sack and ABC. He found a home at Carl Davis'
new label Dakar in 1968, when a Texas DJ flipped his first release over
and started playing the B-side, "Can I Change My Mind." Showcasing
Davis' lovelorn pleading to best effect, the song went all the way to
number one on the R&B charts, and reached the pop Top Five as well
For Soul followers, probably his career high point was reached with
the album, and title track, 'In The Mood' in 1979. 'Are You Serious'
followed in 1982. His following output was remarkable. He had suffered
a stroke last September 2004 Tyrone was taken to the Adventist Hinsdale
Hospital and sadly never regained consciousness. Tyrone has recorded
over 50 hits.
8th 1928
~ February 8th 2005
unsurpassed master of Hammond B-3 organ player Jimmy Smith sadly died
at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona, apparently of natural causes. He
was 79.
Born in Norristown outside of Philadelphia on December 8, 1928. He was
playing stride piano by fourteen and performing with his piano-playing
father in a dance team during the early forties. Jimmy left school in
the seventh grade to help his dad who was having knee problems. Although
he liked school he never returned and at age fifteen joined the navy,
coming out in 1947. Jimmy used the GI bill to attend the Ornstein's
School of Music where he studied bass and piano. Jimmy didn't read music
and remembers how he cleverly hid this fact from his teacher. "She
would play a thing by Brahms, maybe a minuet or just a little waltz,
and she would say, 'Now James, you think you can read this?' I'd say,
'Yes ma'am.' I hated for her to find out I was just doing it by ear.
She'd say, 'James, are you sure you're reading music?'" In 1951,
Jimmy joined Don Gardner's Sonotones playing R&B piano. Feeling
confined, he began experimenting with the organ and went to see the
then-reigning king, Wild Bill Davis, at the Harlem Club in New Jersey.
"Bill had everything goin'. Bill had extra, booming stuff in his
speakers. He had the best stuff in those days, '50, '54, man. When you
went to hear Bill, you could hear him down two blocks." Jimmy's
organ recordings with Don Gardner reveal his initial "Wild"
Bill Davis influence. A distinct new era in Jazz organ history was underway.
Jimmy Smith's new sound utilized the first three drawbars and the percussion
feature of the Hammond B-3 model newly introduced in 1955. Jimmy cut
the tremolo off and began playing horn lines with his right hand, having
been inspired by players like Coleman Hawkins, Don Byas, and Arnett
Cobb. "I copped my solos from horn players. I don't listen to keyboard
players. I can't get what I want from keyboard players," Jimmy
Smith became the organist everyone wanted to chase. Smith became forever
linked to a new generation of listeners after the Beastie Boys sampled
his "Root Down" for their track of the same name on the 1994
album "Ill Communication." The artist continued to record
and tour in recent years, and recently completed an album with longtime
friend Joey DeFrancesco, "Legacy," due next Tuesday via Concord.
The pair were planning to begin a tour in support of the set Feb.16
[05] at Yoshi's in Oakland, Calif. "Jimmy was one of the greatest
and most innovative musicians of our time," DeFrancesco said in
a statement. "I love the man and I love the music. He was my idol,
my mentor and my friend."
18th 1948 ~ February 7th 2005
year old Keith Knudsen, the longtime Doobie Brothers drummer sadly died
of pneumonia Monday Feb. 7. after being hospitalized for more than a
month. He had a battle with cancer in 1995 from which he never really
regained to his full strength.
Keith Knudsen was born in LeMars, Iowa on February 18, 1948. The first
music that he became interested in was Elvis, Johnny Burnett and the
Everly Brothers. He began drumming in the 8th grade and joined the marching
band in Jr. High School.. Then in 1963 he discovered the Beatles and
was changed forever! His first real paying gig was at a country bar
at age 14. During his last year of High School he played in Blues bands
and really fell in love with the music of BB King, Otis Rush, Eric Clapton
and Big Joe Williams. In 1969 he moved to San Francisco and played in
the house band of a club called the Matrix for about six months, and
then performed with the Blind Joe Mendlebaum Blues Band. During this
time he ran into his future band mates. He actually met the Doobies
in the studio while we were recording demos for Warner Brothers: but
for the next 2 and a half years Keith joined up with the popular and
talented Lee Michaels, and did three albums with Lee. Keith joined the
Doobie Brothers in 1974. "After a week's rehearsal, I went on the
road with the band," Knudsen said. He played with the Doobies until
a 1982 farewell tour. During the band's pause, Knudsen and bandmate
John McFee formed the country rock group Southern Pacific, which released
four albums and had several hits. He rejoined the Doobies full-time
in 1993. "He's going to be missed," said Tom Johnston, the
band's founder. "We're going to miss him on drums. I'm going to
miss him as a buddy."
Keith Knudsen is the fourth member of the Doobies to pass away, joining
percussionist Bobby LaKind, bassist Dave Shogren and saxophonist Cornelius
February 17th 1971 ~ January 30th 2005
innovative, groundbreaking Scottish musician, Martyn Bennett, who dared
and succeeded mixing the excitment of his bagpipes and fiddle with the
dizziness of rave has lost a long brave battle with cancer. At only
33, this musical pioneer he leaves behind,
his loving wife Kirsten, his mother and his father, who were beside
him at his passing.
Martyn Bennett was born to Scottish parents, born into a Gaelic speaking
farm community in the Cordroy Valley, in Western Newfoundland, Canada,
where he was first introduced to the old traditional music of the Celtic
folk. At six, his parents divorced and he went with his mother, who
was a folk singer, when she returned to Scotland, settling in Kingussie,
Speyside. It is here where his history teacher, David Taylor, introduced
him to the Great Highland bagpipes, which he immediately fell in love
with and had a feeling of instant rapport. Martyn also had a big interest
in the folk scene and by the time he was 12, he was winning prizes in
junior piping competitions all around Scotland, playing in pubs and
appearing in festivals, where he had the privilege at this young age
to met with the Gaelic singers, the bards, the Romany gypsies, the story
tellers and many great folk artists. At 15, he moved to Edinburgh with
his mother, where he won a scholarship at the Edinburgh City School
of Music. It is here he met and worked with other highly motivated musicians
of his own age and he learnt composition, violin, piano and learned
to read and write music. After 3 years he gained a place Royal Scottish
Academy of Music & Drama to study performance on the violin and
piano under the careful and watchful eye of Miles Baster. While being
surrounded by classical music, working hard on his violin by day, Martyn
kept up with his Celtic and folk music by performing in the pubs by
night. Amazingly in the whole 4 years he attended the academy, no-one
ever knew he was a bagpipe player. In 1993, just before graduating,
he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. After medical treatment, in
1994, he spent more time with his first musical love .. folk and traditional.
Martyn began experimenting in the field of free-jazz and fusion and
he started to experiment with electronica. He was also enjoying a new
found sound, the modern dance music, inspired by this rave scene, he
started playing his fiddle and bagpipes over programmed dance beats.
Then in 1996, he released his first self-titled album followed in 1998
by "Bothy Culture". Martyn and his band did many international
tours in Europe, USA and Canada, he performed at the world premiere
party for the film Braveheart, he played for Tanzanian president on
his visit to Scotland, he started composing theatre music, but in 2000,
a few months after headlining the Cambridge Folk Festival, he was diagnosed
with Hodgkin's lymphoma. He underwent intense chemo and radiotherapy
and several major operations. Deverstated and frightened of his future
at one point he destroyed all his beloved instruments. Martyn had moved
to Mull in 1999, which now with the love of his wife and a solitude
with nature helped him back for two more alblums "Glen Lyon"
and his final album "Grit" ... Grit, sees a dramatic change
in his sound, he sampled the voices of the Scottish travellers and bards
of the 1950s, building a sound collage around them to extraordinary
effect. He recorded this last album struggling with his daunting disease,
he had become too weak to play his instruments, he had to rely on samples
and synthesizers in order to keep creating the music, bravely he finish
an amazing album. The album "Mackay's Memoirs" featuring Martyn's
compositions was recorded by Broughton High School the morning after
his death, all involved only heard about his death after they'd finishedthe
rcording. Sadly Martyn recieved little media recognition of his ground
breaking music in his lifetime, but his innovative work mixing his own
exciting bagpipe and fiddle playing with dizziness of rave, hardcore
techno and dance beats, broke into new territory and like Martyn, it
is forever in the history of music.
~ January 29th 2005
Lerchey, a founding member of one of the first integrated rock and roll
acts, the Del Vikings, sadly died Saturday January 29th at a veterans
hospital, HALLANDALE, Fla.. 67 year old Dave had been suffering from
cancer and pulmonary problems. He is survived by his wife Linda, two
sons and a stepdaughter.
The Del Vikings were formed by five airmen in 1955 at an Air Force in
Pittsburgh, said Harvey Robbins, founder of the Doo-Wopp Hall of Fame
of America. Three members were black, Lerchey was one of two white members.
"David Lerchey was a wonderful singer, he was a courageous individual,
he certainly carried himself on the stage with dignity and pride,"
Robbins said. Lerchey sang baritone and tenor. The Del Vikings appeared
on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1957, Robbins said, the same
year they had two No. 1 hits: "Whispering Bells" and "Come
Go With Me." Other Del Vikings hits included "Cool Shake,"
"A Sunday Kind of Love," "Summertime" and "Bring
Back Your Heart." The group was inducted into the Doo-Wopp Hall
of Fame in 2003. Lerchey gave his final performance last summer in a
concerned organized by the Hall of Fame at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut.
He sang with the other known surviving group member, Norman Wright,
who continues performing as the Del Vikings with his sons. "We
all knew that David was struggling over the last several years, and
yet when he hit the stage his spirit was still as it was as a teenager,"
Robbins said.
31st 1940 ~ January 29th 2005
Griffiths, a founder member of The Quarrymen who was diagnosed with
cancer last November (04), sadly died at his home in Edinburgh, Scotland,
Saturday January 29th. He is survived by his wife of 40 years and three
sons. He was 64.
was originally from Denbigh, North Wales, but had moved with his parents
to Woolton, Liverpool, aged 10. Eric and John Lennon met while attending
Quarry Bank High School in Liverpool in the 1950s. Both were fans of
rock and roll music but getting fed up with their basic guitar lessons.
When Lennon's mother Julia taught the two how to play banjo chords,
they were inspired and invited a few other school friends to form a
band which they called The Black Jacks, but later changed it to refer
to the school they attended - hence The Quarrymen. In 1957, Lennon later
invited another schoolboy, Paul McCartney, to join the group. As the
Quarrymen became more driven toward becoming a serious rock 'n' roll
band, the original schoolmate members - who had joined the group primarily
for fun - slowly dropped out, including Griffiths. Eric left the group
in 1958, around the time The Quarrymen picked up another guitarist,
George Harrison. The band became The Beatles in 1960. July 6th 1997
saw Griffiths reunited with the original Quarrymen [minus Lennon] for
a 40th year anniversary party " The Day John Met Paul" at
St. Peter's Church in Woolton. Eric (guitar), Colin Hanton (drums),
Len Garry (lead vocals, guitar), Pete Shotton (washboard, tea-chest
bass) and Rod Davis (guitar) made up the band, the same line up as when
Lennon first met McCartney on 6 July 1957 at the Garden Fete, St. Peter's
Church in Woolton.The reunited band went on to perform in Europe, North
America and Japan . The band cut an album, "The Songs We Remember",
at the Liverpool Beatles Convention August 2004. His death came just
two weeks after the release of that first major-label album under the
Quarrymen name. Although a little fame came late to him, Eric had always
been very proud of being one of the original Quarrymen, the band that
evolved into the Beatles.
August 2nd 1944 ~ January
28th 2005
rock drummer / multi musician / singer songwriter Jim Capaldi has sadly
died after a brief fight with stomach cancer. 60 year old Jim died peacefully
in his sleep with his wife and family at his bed side in the early hours
of January 28th.
Jim Capaldi born August 22nd, 1944 in the UK was of Italian decent .
His father Nick an accomplished accordionist, had a regular show broadcast
on Radio Luxembourg in it's early days and his mother Maria sang with
a touring troupe and recorded early 78 rpm records. They lived and breathed
music, Jim was born with music already in his blood. He formed his first
band at the age of fourteen and was soon recording for Pye records with
the Hellions. His next band was Deep Feeling which he shared with fellow
'Traffic' founder Dave Mason & 'Family' founding member Poli Palmer.
The idea of Traffic was born while jamming late into the night with
other bands in Birmingham after gigs. Capaldi was a member of Traffic
in their two incarnations, from 1967 to 1968 and from 1970 to 1974.
He and Steve Winwood wrote the lyrics of most of Traffic's best-known
songs. Capaldi recorded his debut solo album, 'Oh How We Danced', during
a gap in the band's career in 1972, and scored a U.S. singles chart
entry with "Eve." He turned solo full-time when Traffic split
in '74 and earned world respect in his own right with hits such as "Love
Hurts", "Its Alright". The Hollies had had eleven album
multi- platinums & Jim had enjoyed eleven solo albums, when in 1994
Traffic reformed for a for a very successful tour and released a further
album. As a songwriter Jim Capaldi enjoyed being a five time winner
of either BMI or ASCAP awards, in respect of most played compositions
in America, he has been sought after for many projects. One being The
Eagles return; having written their massive radio cut "Love Will
Keep Us Alive". On March 2004 Capaldi was inducted with Traffic
into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, just five months before being diagnosed
with terminal cancer. A re-union Traffic Tour had to be cancelled last
August due to Capaldi suffering what at the time was described only
as a "severe gastric ulcer." Jim's last Solo Album was released
in 2001 'Living On The Outside'
April 23rd 1939 ~ January 25th 2005
singer Ray Peterson has died of cancer at the age of 65. He is survived
by his wife, Claudia, and seven children.
Peterson was born in Denton, Texas, and as a child contracted poliomyelitis
in an epidemic that killed several classmates. In hospital, he sang
to entertain fellow patients, and after being discharged with braces
on both legs, he was set on a career in music. In 1957, he moved to
Los Angeles, where talent agent Stan Shulman found him a recording contract
with RCA Records. Peterson's musical hero was black vocalist Jesse Belvin,
and his first recording was a version of Fever, a recent hit for rhythm
and blues singer Little Willie John. Peterson's own first minor hit
was 'The Wonder Of You', composed by Baker Knight and later recorded
by Elvis Presley. Then came 'Tell Laura I love Her', written by Jeff
Barry and Ben Raleigh; it reached the Top 10 in 1960 and inspired an
"answer" song, 'Tell Tommy I Miss Him', recorded by Marilyn
Michaels. Laura's macabre theme had led to it being banned by a few
US radio stations, but in Britain it inspired moral panic after an extract
was broadcast on BBC television news. So great was the furore that Decca
Records cancelled plans to release Peterson's disc, declaring it to
be "too tasteless and vulgar for the English sensibility",
and scrapping the 25,000 copies it had already pressed. Meanwhile EMI
cut a new version of the song with an unknown Ricky Valance. It became
a No 1 hit even though the BBC Light Programme declined to play it,
citing a recent spate of fatal motor racing accidents. In 1961, Peterson
and Shulman created their own record company, Dunes. They hired the
then almost unknown Phil Spector as a producer. He gave a Latin tinge
to Peterson's second and final Top 10 hit, the traditional ballad 'Corrina,
Corrina', and produced Dunes' only other big success, Pretty Little
Angel Eyes, by Curtis Lee, a singer discovered by Peterson in Arizona.
In the 1970s, he moved to country music, recording the album Peterson
Country. He later became a Baptist minister, but continued to perform
on the growing oldies circuit, alongside Connie Francis and other 1960s
7th 1938 ~ January 10th 2005
Airplane drummer and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Spencer
Dryden, passed away at his home in Penngrove, California on Monday,
January 10th after a brief battle with colon cancer. He was 66. He is
survived by his son Jes from his marriage to Sally Mann, Jackson from
his relationship with Kathy Miller, and Jeffrey from his marriage to
Jeannie Davis, along with his mother Alice Judd , sisters Ginny Ramsdell
and Marillyn Morris and 5 grandchildren, Aaron, Lauren, Christen, Meagan,
and Jessica.
Nephew of the great Charlie Chaplin, Spencer was born in Manhattan,
New York in 1938 to English actor, Wheeler Dryden, and Radio City Music
Hall prima ballerina, Alice Chapple. The family moved to Los Angeles
a year later, where Wheeler Dryden went to work as an assistant director
for Chaplin. Spencer grew up honing his drumming skills on the Los Angeles
jazz circuit, playing with such notables as Charles Lloyd, Bobby Hutcherson
and Paul Bley. In 1956, Spencer joined his first rock band, The Heartbeats,
which featured guitar legend Roy Buchanan. Ten years later, he would
join Jefferson Airplane. Jefferson Airplane was the sound of a generation.
More than just the most successful and influential rock band to emerge
from San Francisco during the 1960s, they personified the cutting edge
of the decade's counterculture. The Airplane didn't just dominate American
popular music and culture at the peak of the '60s, they transformed
it. Their 1967 smash hits "Somebody to Love" and "White
Rabbit" provided the soundtrack to the Summer of Love, virtually
inventing the era's signature pulsating psychedelic music. They were
the only band to play all three of the landmark rock festivals of the
sixties: Monterey Pop, Woodstock, and Altamont. After leaving the group
in 1970, Spencer continued his musical career with The New Riders of
the Purple Sage in the seventies, and throughout the eighties with San
Francisco super group, Dinosaurs, which also featured Barry Melton of
Country Joe & The Fish, John Cipollina of Quicksilver Messenger
Service, Peter Albin of Big Brother & The Holding Company, Robert
Hunter of The Grateful Dead, and Merl Saunders of the Saunders-Garcia
band. 1996 Along with the other members of Jefferson Airplane, Spencer
was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In recent years Spencer
had been besieged by bad luck, a hip replacement that didn't take well
left him permanently disabled. In September 2003, fire destroyed his
home and all of his possessions and memorabilia. Three weeks after the
fire, he suffered a heart attack and was told that he needed cardiac
surgery. Friends and family worked tirelessly throughout 2004, to raise
the funds needed for the procedure. A week before he was set to have
it performed, he was diagnosed with cancer. His battle with the disease
lasted only three months. Even throughout this difficult period, Spencer
managed to maintain the humor and wit that so many people will remember
him for. In a December interview, he jokingly remarked, "Well,
at least I know how much I'm worth," when speaking in regards to
the seven-figure medical debt he had managed to accumulate in two-months'
+ + + + +
. 2014
. 2013 .
2012 . 2011
. 2010 . 2009
. 2008 . 2007
. 2006 . 2005
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started these tribute pages June of 2004, when the great Ray Charles
I wrote a tribute to him... and just carried it on from there.
you have a special request ~ please
email me


text:
Mike Florio and CSN's Moon Mullin, discusses the decision by the Chicago Bears to part ways with veteran linebacker Brian Urlacher. It's rare for a big name like Urlacher to face this type of scenario, but it's even rarer for a team to quickly end a situation like this.This video is no longer available. Click here to watch more NBC Sports videos!
ProFootballTalk: Why did the Bears quickly move on from Urlacher?
Posted by Scott Dargis on March 21, 2013, 7:50 PM EDT
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