TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

How sad to hear of the death of Robin Gibb :'( He had such a talent for song crafting and songs such as "New York mining disaster are in my opinion one of the greatest folk songs of modern times.

C x

Very true - such a pity they will be mainly mainly for the Saturday Night Fever rubbish

Unfortunately I cant hear the Bee Gees without remembering Kenny Everett's "Massive Chew Sets"

Despite his fame, Robin never seemed to be affected by it. To me he always seemed to come across as a bloke who I would have enjoyed having as a friend. A straight forward and natural fellah... RIP.

It's ironic that the song Stayin' Alive is used to keep time when giving someone chest compressions for First Aid  ::)

I loved the Bee Gees disco stuff - You Should Be Dancing is awesome and always fills a dance floor (which is what dance music is all about after all!) so I don't think it's an issue if that's all they're remembered for. Probably better that, than wearing tight white jeans  :-X

Apparently they loved the Kenny Everett sketch  ;D even though they didn't appreciate Clive Anderson's ribbing (they walked out of his show).

I miss Kenny Everett  :(

Me too - he was required viewing back in the early 1980s and if they were to repeat his shows now I bet they'd stand the test of time.

Can't say I was ever a fan of the BGs. Some good songs, but oh my word, I couldn't stand the voices! Sad of course that Robin Gibb has died at such a relatively young age.  Does anyone remember the Hee Bee Gee Bees?

Thanks for that - Meaningful Songs Sung In High Voices (With a Thousand Violins) will be streaming through my head all day now.
Loved the Bee Gees and their harmonies from the first hearing of New York Mining Disaster in 1967. They were a major part of the soundtrack to that period with Words, Massachusetts, To Love Somebody etc. Its a shame that their back catalogue has never been released properly, including Robin's solo stuff. A few of the albums contained a fair share of fillers, but on the other hand there were some gems that didn't see the light of day as singles.
Its a shame that perceptions of their image and issues in dealing with the media spotlight got in the way of the appreciation of their talents.
I agree that Robin came across as a decent and nice chap and he certainly got involved with a lot of deserving causes. RIP.

'Meaningless songs, in very high voices,
With a thousand viloins.'

A bit unkind, but funny at the time.

Robin Gibb was the first person to agree to become a patron of Festival Spirit.  Sadly he fell ill before he could get too involved. From th ereputation he had here in Oxfordshire he would have done a wonderful job.

Always found them to be one of those groups I liked far more than I realised. Listening again to the greatest hits, there were many great pop songs over a very long period of time. If Martin Carthy covered them, they had to be good!

They featured Angus Deayton, who wrote the lyrics,  I have the album somewhere. Are Trains Electric?

Perhaps this will remind some of you how wonderful his songs were  ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCRqAzCevsY&feature=related

C x

I attended a recording of a "modern" - i.e. pop music - Nativity programme in Liverpool Anglican Cathedral way back in the late 60s (church youth club trip).  Trendy vicars much in evidence.

Anyway, the Bee Gees mimed their hit "World" (and I think another song), Sir Bernard Miles and Kenny Everett (and others) provided various readings; I think Roger McGough was involved in some capacity...

Robin Gibb dropped a handkerchief & one of the girls in our party nabbed it.  

Personally, I don't like most of what the Bee Gees did after "Jive Talkin", but I've always admired their songwriting talents.

RIP Robin - as others have said, one of the good guys.

Well, I agree with all that, though I haven't really enjoyed much Bee-Gees music since, well, 1941 I suppose, when the Mining Disaster was.

Sad to see Donna Summer is gone, too. I know that electronic dance music isn't a big thing on an acoustic music forum, but she was a true innovator.

Nights on Broadway, First of May, Spirits Having Flown, Words... I have a sneaky respect for The Brothers Gibb

Doc Watson  :(

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/30/arts/music/doc-watson-folk-musician-dies-at-89.html?_r=1

Yes, on today's news. Another great folkn'bluesman gone.

How odd on the USA obit to see him referred to as 'Mr' Watson. I have had his 'Good Deal' album since it came out, Peach Pickin' time in Georgia etc.

Ironic that he said, if he hadn't gone blind, he would happily have been a motor mechanic!

Oh bum. Not entirely unexpected but still a shame and a great loss. All my bluegrass heroes are dying :(

There's a good tribute to Doc Watson here -

http://www.mixcloud.com/folkradiouk/the-mountains-and-the-doc-a-tribute-to-doc-watson/

This one (http://www2.wataugademocrat.com/News/story/Hundreds-attend-final-farewell-for-Doc-Watson-id-008032) from the Watauga Democrat left me with a lump in my throat.

Doc looked very frail at MerleFest in April but, as ever, had everyone enthralled - he will be very sadly missed

And sadly Bob Welch also:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18363214

yanks and guns, not always a good combination

That's Bob Welch. Bob Weston and Bob Brunning of Fleetwood Mac all gone in the past few months.

Crikey. I didn't know Bob Brunning had also died. Really gutted about Welch (and Weston to a lesser extent) - the mid-period Mac contains some of my favourites. In my more contrary moments, I'll say Future Games is my favourite of their LPs, though the title track will always be a top five of their complete catalogue no matter my mood. Weston also made some fine, fine guitar work, my favourite being The City. The interplay between the two Bobs on that is magic.

A man killed after a stage collapsed ahead of a Radiohead concert in Canada has been named as Scott Johnson, a drum technician, from South Yorkshire. He worked with several bands and was well-liked.

Just got the very sad news that Deep Purple keyboard legend Jon Lord died today after a long illness...it was a privilege to see his masterwork Deep Purple's Concerto For Group and Orchestra re-enacted in 1999 at The Royal Albert Hall, one of the most memorable concerts I've ever been to...RIP Jon !

Very sad news.  One of the great rock keyboardists...

A very sad loss of a great talent.

How sad. I was never a great fan of Deep Purple, but Mr Lord was certainly a great keyboard player.

RIP Jon.

I know he had been ill.....RIP to the man responsible for a substantial loss of my hearing over a 48 hour span (I seem to recall), and whose talent made me a huge fan of all things Hammond organ as the years have gone by. He really was a superb musician and seemed like such a decent guy to boot.

Sad to hear this. He was 1/5 of what was probably one of the greatest rock bands ever. Everyone of my age could come out with the classic lineup of Gillan/Glover/Lord/Paice/Blackmoor. I think my old vinyl copy of made in japan will be out tonight.

Am glad at least that I got to see them live.

RIP Jon

Very sad news. His keyboards were an absolutely essential part of the classic Deep Purple sound -  and he always came over as an incredibly nice guy in interviews, too.

A great solo in this to remember him by. Space Truckin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KZ-lSTlUnfA

Never a Deep Purple fan, but loved classic era Whitesnake.
Saw them live several times, great shame.

Actually one of my favorites featuring him is First Day Jam...which appeared on the Who Do We Think We Are remaster from a few years back....just him, Paice and Blackmore on bass. One could hear his ability in that one, on top of all the other usual places-Space Truckin, the intro to Lazy, the classical technique worked into Highway Star....great stuff. I loved hat unlike his contemporaries he did very little noodling around with synths and piano....he will always be the Hammond guy to me

I was a huge Purple fan in my yoof  :( http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18864409 some of my best times involved their music...

RIP Mr Lord

Machine Head was their -and his - finest work and it would never have been the monster it was without Jon.

I'll raise a glass of red to him tonight.

Have just heard about Jon Lord. Very sad. I liked Purple when I was growing up but of more significance to me at the time was a record that I picked up for peanuts on a market stall in Croydon when I was about 12. "First Of The Big Bands" was an album Jon Lord made with the late Tony Ashton in about 1974. Hardly anyone has ever heard of it and it sank without trace but I loved it from the moment I first heard it and I love it still having worn out two vinyl copies and finally acquired a digital download. I also liked the follow up which brought Ian Paice into the band.

Kudos to Mr Lord too for coaxing Annifrid Lyngstad out of retirement a few years ago for her last recorded vocal to date and the only one in English for more than 20 years.

He was by all accounts a gentleman and a great and influential musician.

I was a bit young to appreciate Deep Purple first time round but did see them on the Perfect Strangers tour and also saw Jon with Whitesnake round about the same time. Definitely one of my favourite keyboard players so this is very sad news. Just listening to his playing on Child in Time - sublime.

I think the second gig I ever saw was Deep Purple in 1972 (the first being Led Zeppelin the year before). Two great shows to start with . I saw Jon performing his Concerto for Group & orchestra at Liverpool Phil a couple of years ago - which was really good when heard live with a proper orchestra. He will be sadly missed.

POsted in the "celebrities " thread already  - but gutted. One of my earliest heroes.

Machine Head on this very minute as I write...............

Bob Babbit, Motown's understudy for james jamerson popped his clogs today as well, he managed a fair old list of hits on which he played, nevertheless
seemed like a decent bloke from the "Standing in the shadows of motown" film.

I also picked up a second-hand copy of First of the Big Bands when I was in my teens and still love it. Sadly, only got to see Jon Lord live once - with Whitesnaks in 81

It's that realisation of age thing again as your musical icons disappear. Deep Purple at Free Trade Hall Manc, 71/2 ish (yes that's 40 yrs and a lifetime ago) is one of my seminal gigs, and the loudest. He was so much more than a keyboard player in the background. His solos hit you in the chest.

Good call Jim. Jon Lord is the one who (probably rightly) is getting all the attention. Bob may have "only" been a session musician, but oh boy, what a musician.

Jon Lord was one of my teenage heroes - his keyboard playing took Purple out of being just another rock band and into the big league.  RIP

It's more the manner of their going that brings home the age thing - years ago, rock musicians died of drug overdoses or choking on their own vomit - now, it's natural causes, heart attacks, cancer etc. Many of the heroes of our youth are now quite old men - what does that make us?

Remarkably well preserved?  ;)

Very slightly off topic but I only noticed for the first time last night when listening to the album in homage to Mr Lord that Jerry Donahue plays on it. I'm betting that is him playing slide on the wonderful Celebration. Also Pat Donaldson whose work will be familiar to many here.

My first "proper" gig was Deep Purple at the Colston Hall - late 1970 IIRC. Came out with my ears throbbing but I always had a soft spot for them, even when I moved on in taste. RIP Jon - one of the "greats".

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so sad to hear the news of Jon Lord, one of the greatest exponents of the Hammond Organ IMHO.

Deep Purple 'In Rock' currently playing on my PC with a large JD being raised in repect.

Steve

The legendary Carlo Curley

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-19250242

all organists at the mom, keith emerson and rick wakeman need to be worried

Sorry if this has already been posted, but I learnt at Cropredy that Lol Coxhill died last month.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/jul/11/lol-coxhill

I believe Lol was one of very few musicians to have played with both Jimi Hendrix and Tommy Cooper.

I know jazz music is a rare player around here, but I will damn sure be acknowledging its masters when they pass, particularly when they are from Chicago. Von Freeman, a guy who turned down the opportunity to be the guy who replaced Sonny Rollins in the Miles Davis Quintet, Miles then went for a gentleman named John Coltrane, a player in one of the earlier versions of Sun Ra's Arkestra, and a constant presence in Chicago at the New Apartment Lounge, foregoing greater fame to remain a consistent presence in his home city. Also one of a list of students of what must nearly be a music teacher without peer, Captain Walter Dyett at Du Sable High School, recommend a wiki job on that guy for any with an interest in jazz music, the list of people under his baton is truly staggering, and including people non jazz fans will know, re Nat King Cole, Dinah Washington and the comedian Redd Foxx. Also the Father of Chico Freeman, one of adventurous players in the music over the past 40 years. I am sure his passing will be well acknowledged in a couple weeks at the free Chicago Jazz Fest #32, in the city that loved him back. Vonski!
http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/14466939-421/chicago-jazz-icon-von-freeman-dead-at-88-walked-tuff-to-the-end.html

Oh yikes... RIP Vonski.  

Bob Birch, Elton John's longstanding bassplayer, 56, apparently a suicide.

Hearing reports that Scott MacKenzie has passed away. No confirmation on BBC site as of yet.

http://www.oldies.com/artist-biography/Scott-McKenzie.html

it's on his Wikipedia entry. Shame - I'm a big fan of his voice  :( RIP Scott

Yes, he was one of the sounds of 1967, peace, love and and all that stuff we believed in.

How sad.  Btw, for fans: RAdio2 are repeating Elton John's 2007 concert on Thursday this week.

 Thank you Scott (and John Phillips too)   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bch1_Ep5M1s

Sad indeed. And it's 20 years since his original bass player Dee Murray died.

Max Bygraves.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-19450696
I saw him live, in Torquay, in the sixties.
DM played on some of his SingalongaMax albums.
Honest.

So did I. At the Princess Theatre.

Hal David:-

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/02/arts/music/hal-david-oscar-and-grammy-winning-songwriter-is-dead-at-91.html

Jules

Gosh I never thought of Hal David leaving us .. I hope there are enough new writers to fill the space he leaves behind..  :'(

he was 91, everybody dies, get over it

Feeling full of joi de vivre today, Jim?   ;)

Jules

Perhaps he accidentally caught Wh*spering B*b on the radio...and he's still not quite recovered his equilibrium?

tickety boo, chaps

Can't say I was a huge fan of Starship - to be honest I'd never heard of this guitarist - but it's still sad news especially as he was only 46

http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/news/starship-guitarist-mark-abrahamian-dies-at-46/

R.I.P.  Joe South.   I've got two of his songs as cover versions, Hush by Deep Purple, and Down In The Boondocks by Ry Cooder.

you haven't got "polk salad annie" by the king? or "rainy night in georgia"? for shame
and" rooseveldt and ira lee" was always a big favourite of mine
he wrote some great songs, RIP

Weren't they by Tony Joe White, Jim?*
 ::)

*they were.

oh s**t :-[

oh s**t :-[

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*runs away, cackling*  ;D

 Joe South's original version of "Hush" is top-class!  :)

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kisv8SYugQk

Big Jim Sullivan who played on a vast number of records that have become the fabric of our lives. I read a fascinating interview with him just a couple of months back. He played on so many huge hits that he didn't even remember he was on some them when he heard them!  ;D

Only 71.  :(

I caught the news in the "i" today, there is probably a good obituary in the Daily Telegraph, they did a superb one for Richie Hayward.
What a brilliant session musician Jim was.

Only 71, but hell he achieved a lot. Great legacy.

Michael Marra :(

http://news.stv.tv/tayside/196471-dundee-musician-michael-marra-dies-following-battle-with-illness/

Thats a shame-the little bits I heard of him or his songs I quite enjoyed.

Singer Terry Callier dies aged 67

Jazz, soul and folk singer experienced late career success after his work was rediscovered by Massive Attack and Beth Orton

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/oct/29/terry-callier-dies-aged-67?CMP=twt_gu

RIP Henry McCullough (ex Wings, Grease Band, Spooky Tooth etc etc)

I've only seen the news on FB but from his friends in the business, so I think sadly it is true...  :(

Heart attack apparently.

Sad news. He is rendered immortal by the gorgeous guitar part in Wings' My Love, a solo which McCartney did not initially trust him to create but by which he was left speechless. Macca has fulsomely credited McCullough ever since.

I might play the much maligned (but actually mostly rather lovely) Red Rose Speedway album later in memory.

Gorgeous indeed.  Pity the rest of the song is so awful.

To me his best work is certainly not in Wings, but then I don't think anybody's was, except maybe Linda.  And personally I prefer her sausages...

Harsh. A classic smoocher, given half a chance.  ;)

I grew up on Wings and will defend much, though by no means all, of their output. Unfortunately I don't know a lot of Henry's other work apart from a few Grease Band tracks. Was he in the band when they played at Woodstock with Cocker? Sadly I have never heard Spooky Tooth at all.

He was, and on the first Cocker-less album, I think.

Wiki informs me he was the lead guitarist on the original recording of Jesus Christ Superstar which I never knew...

As Twain said, reports of my death, etc, etc................

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-20239245

Fingers crossed for Henry.

Oh that is (hopefully) better news...

Not to forget his work with Sweeney's Men as well. Fingers crossed as well

I once had a lift from Henry's Dad when hitch hiking up to Belfast - was when he was playing with Wings - his Dad was inordinately proud of him.

Told Henry that years later when he was playing in Belfast - he said his Dad had always given him a hard time about playing "loud music with no tunes" and told him to get a proper job. Always the way with Dads !!!

Last news I heard is that he is hanging on still but does not look good.

Poor Henry. RIP. Wasn't he in Roy HArper's HQ era band too?

Er, still not dead....

Yes, let's not bury the poor chap just yet.  On a brighter note, I was surprised and delighted to spot this interview - a true legend living on...

http://www.npr.org/2012/10/27/163728141/at-93-pete-seeger-keeps-the-fire-burning-low

OOps, that'll teach me to read more carefully. I just saw the name in the RIP thread and posted.  :-[

Pleased to hear he's alive.

R.I.P. Michael Dunford of Renaissance.  He had just returned home from the first leg of the band’s North American tour and suffered a massive Instantaneous Cerebral Haemorrhage while dining at his home in Surrey, England Monday night. He was rushed to hospital where doctors declared his condition irreversible and terminal. He passed away at 11:06 pm GMT, surrounded by his family without having regained consciousness.

Now that is a shame.

Let's hope Henry feels a lot better soon.

Very saddened by this. Renaissance were very underrated. Listening to Novella as I write this. That opening track is stunning.

Ian Campbell according to Mike Harding. Very influential and a friend to many.

Just heard the same news.   :(

Jules

Such sad news, some of my first experiences of folk music, came from Radio Ballads and such things brought in by one of my infant school, teachers, often featuring Ian Campbell. I Always enjoyed his music and was disappointed that the only time I saw him live was at swarbs Birthday Bash at Birmingham town hall.

Oh dear. I first encountered Ian's music on a Transatlantic sampler called (I think) 'Listen Here' which came out when I was in my teens. This was a pivotal record for me - introduced me to the music of Pentangle, Ralph McTell, and - indirectly - Joni Mitchell, 'cos Ian did Circle Game'.

Highlight of the birthday bash (Peggy's?) for me. I love the live album the ICFG did. I am also sure when I was at primary school in the mid to late 1970s, we used to do 'country dancing' to Ian Campbell records. I can still recall all of us boys jostling to be next to a certain girl during the dancing.

Very sad news indeed.  The ICFG was responsible for introducing so many people to folk music.

There is an obituary in the Guardian today. Complete with a great picture of the ICFG.
Included in the photo is a young fiddle player, I wonder what happened to him?

Being reported on the BBC: Dave Brubeck aged 91.  Composer of "Take 5"

Oh... such a fantastic musician and man...  :(

a rare musician

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faJE92phKzI

91.  Wow.  Fair play to him.

Jules

Dave.......... :'(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2htbaJFEAXQ#!

Great great musician, good innings though I thought he was younger

A rare musician indeed, and Take 5 is an enduring melody.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12JgrKUfCt4

Oh man! I thought he was immortal. A wonderful man who made wonderful music his whole life. Time Out will be getting a spin in tribute and his Christmas album will be a bittersweet listen this year.

Very sad to hear about Dave Brubeck, wonderful musician, RIP.

I think my son summed it up when I told him on the phone today. He made jazz accessible.

Paul

Loved Brubeck a great man who gave us Jazz, yes it was accessible, but he didn't comprimise and he came across as a thoroughly decent human being, who did what he loved with musicians he loved to play with. Jazz Impressions of Japan, will go on tonight and under its' spell I shall drift away. Thanks Dave.

We'll be doing a tribute during our Old Mettle Christmas carol gig in Cropredy Church on Sunday - We Three Kings will be in 5/4 and become, Take Five Kings.  

Sorry to hear of the passing of Dave Brubeck. As GubGub said - I too thought he was immortal.  :(

On top of being an ace human being, he was the door through which alot of people became aware of America's richest musical vein, and in many cases, it became a lifelong commitment. RIP Mr Brubeck

So sad...just seen on the Spirit Facebook account:

"Folks, Mark Andes just announced that our beloved Ed" Mr. Skin" Cassidy had died this morning at 7:30 west coast time. Our thoughts and prayers are with Ed's family, friends and band mates. This is a sad day, indeed."

Such a great drummer...89 years old.  He bridged the generations..

Oh bugger.   :(

Jules

Sadder than sad. We saw Spirit at the Lyceum in London in early 1970. One of the guys I was at the gig with was a little worse for wear, and was pestering Cass for an autograph. Cass just kept chatting to him to keep him quiet. Then he whips a felt tip pen off someone and wrote across my friend's tee shirt 'Stay cool - Don't be a fool'. He stayed talking for about 15 mins. I think most of the other people there thought he was a roadie.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfyFUxa9LbQ  

Just been informed by a friend that former Hawkwind guitarist Huw Lloyd Langton has died.

Now that is very sad, although not unexpected...He always seemed like a loveable if somewhat damaged old soul....

Underrated guitarist too.

Sad news...am very fond of Twelve Dreams Of Dr Sardonicus...

Very sad, though I hadn't realised his age.

12 Dreams was a big part of the soundtrack of my College days and beyond. I will listen to it this afternoon ans raise a glass.

I only saw Hawkwind once in 1985. I remember them coming on stage in black robes and can't say it was a very memorable gig. In fact I enjoyed the support band, Dumpy's Rusty Nuts, more and left half way through Hawkwind's set. But it's sad to hear of Huw's passing.

According to Wikipedia, he played with Leo Sayer in the 70s. Bit of a change from Hawkwind!

Me three.  Superb record!  Thanks for the music, Ed.

Jules

Sad news.

John Harrison, who also played on the debut album, died last May, and Robert Heaton died a few years ago but was only in the band for ten minutes anyway. Bob Calvert died in 1988 but considering the band they are, and how many members they have had, they have been a resilient bunch, and long may that continue.

I'd go with that.  Brings back happy memories of spending Sunday evenings in the Marquee Club where the HLL Group had some kind of residency..got to the hallowed dressing rooms (or the sloping tunnel behind the stage.  Loved Huw's work with Hawkwind - very inventive and for those doubters take a listen to the Levitation album.  

Yeah. Fab record, great drummer. R.I.P.

 :( It's sad to hear about these talented people passing away. They will always be the orignal and the best and can never be replaced.

But it's important to remember that you and your descendants will be able to hear them all, thanks to digital preservation of music. You can still hear them excel, no pops, crackles or deterioration. Magic, really.

Aye, make a great record and your immortality is assured.

Jules

Ravi Shankar, aged 92. RIP

Blimey, the big legends are fading fast this month.   :(

Jules

Aaaw!...That's sad news !... :'(

But 92 !...Wow !...Good show !... ;)

I'm sure it's been discussed in depth elsewhere, but was just wondering what direction the Beatles and especially George Harrisons music would have taken, if Ravi's influence hadn't been in the equation from "Rubber Soul" onwards...

His performance at the Monterey Pop Festival was definitely one of the highlights. You just had to see the look on the faces of some of the other acts watching him to confirm just how good he was.

RIP

World music, before the phrase existed. His influence on western music is immeasurable.

A man, a musician, one of the few who it could genuinely be said to have brought a form of music to the masses. RIP.

I love the bit in the film where after playing some scales and getting ready the crowd starts applauding wildly, to which Ravi Shankar responds to the effect that if they enjoyed the tuning up so much they will love the actual set.

Fontella Bass of rescue me fame.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-20855193

Paul

Ray Collins of Mothers of Invention fame:

http://www.pollstar.com/news_article.aspx?ID=803736

I didn't know she sang that song, but I knew her from 'Theme De YoYo' by the Art Ensemble of Chicago. She was married to the band's trumpet player, the late Lester Bowie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PppJOrnVtkg

Jimmy McCracklin, extraordinary bluesman, passed away just before Christmas at the ripe old age of 91. Enjoy this jam with Ry Cooder and others.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GLQ2MMiKDc

I was reading with interest an obit on the Times. Seems he was one of those rare peole who seem happy without the slightest ambition.

Claude Nobs. Legendary promoter and founder of the Montreux Jazz Festival.

Nic Potter of Van Der Graaf/Hammill/Steve Swindells etc fame - brief announcement on the Sofa Sound site with no details..

From todays online Guardian:-

Nic Potter obituary

My younger brother, the musician and composer Nic Potter, who has died of pneumonia aged 61, was best known as a member of the rock group Van der Graaf Generator. As a bass guitarist, he provided inventive harmonies and rhythms, created swiftly and instinctively, for the frontline musicians he worked with, such as Peter Hammill and Duncan Browne. A generous collaborator, he offered up his exquisite riffs with a quiet passion.

Nic was born in a former army hut in the grounds of the Beltane school, Wiltshire, where our father, Norman Potter, was teaching carpentry. He was a boy of great sensitivity. At the age of two, he saw a chicken being killed and said he would never eat meat in his life. He never did. His awareness of the suffering of others was always apparent.

He was a self-taught musician who played by ear. One of my enduring memories of Nic is the image of him in his bedroom playing his unamplified bass for hour upon hour, conjuring a world of music around him that was inaudible to anyone else.

His early years as a rock musician – at 16 playing with the Misunderstood, at 18 supporting Chuck Berry in concert at the Royal Albert Hall – were exhilarating, packed with adventure as he toured the world, the start of a lifelong love of travel. With Van der Graaf Generator he recorded two albums, The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other and H to He, Who Am the Only One (both released in 1970), and toured the UK, Europe, Scandinavia, the US and South America.

After joining the Tigers and touring the US, he worked as a session musician with the Beach Boys and Jeff Beck before concentrating on his own compositions. His label, Zomart, produced 11 albums, including The Blue Zone, New Europe and The Long Hello: Volume 2, Nic often collaborating with his great friend Guy Evans, the drummer with Van der Graaf Generator.

Nic painted beautiful miniatures, including limited-edition handpainted covers for his CDs.

Two years ago, Nic was diagnosed with Pick's disease but, despite his increasing disability, he blossomed and his gentle, ironic wit, affection for his friends and appreciation of his family and of every aspect of being alive made him a joy to be with. During the last year we visited two of his favourite islands with Charlotte, our younger sister, and my husband, Christopher. Nic loved camping in a small tent in howling wind on St Agnes in the Isles of Scilly and strolling by the quayside in Hydra, Greece.

He is survived by me and Charlotte, and his uncle Nicholas.


Sally Potter

Was that the same 'funky Claude' that Deep Purple sang about in 'Smoke on the Water'?

one  and the very same, he who was "running in and out".

"pulling kids out the ground"...

Likely Mrs Goodman would prefer that I put this under recent gigs, but this Sunday past a memorial/life celebration at Space, in Evanston just north of Chicago, for the Mother of legendary Chicago folkie Steve Goodman with 100 or so of her and her son's closest friends. Usually people were both, I knew neither, though I had met Mrs Goodman a couple of times in the past calendar year, and though well into her 80's her demise did not seem imminent. I know her last comment was a request for a cigarette and a Pinot Grigio.
Entertainment was provided by a litany of Steve's closest living friends, most notably Corky Siegal and Bonnie Koloc, though extreme illness prevented the appearance of the Godfather's of that whole scene, Earl Pionke from the longtime Chicago folkie hub the Earl of Old Town, and Steve's closest friend John Prine.
Going to post a couple from her son that remain endearing to me, the second his cover of The Dutchman, one of the more moving pieces I have heard from anyone, would have little inclination to hear any other version, I know when I am hearing the best, something that cannot be improved. First Election Year Rag. Very cool to know Steve and his Mom are together again...And still the Cubs have not won. (I think Steve's last song was A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request)
http://youtu.be/-y7xgc38tW4
http://youtu.be/SOx0ywp25Qk

Thanks Raymond.  Wonderful stuff from a much missed artist.  

Thanks Ray. I was lucky enough to have seen the Earl Pionke tribute concert on-line, where Minnette stood up and said her piece about Earl. Well into her 80s she may have been, waif-like she looked, but no-one who saw her could doubt her spirit. She was a true force that night.

Steves version of "The Dutchman" is one of the most beautiful pieces of art that I know and becomes more evocative the older I get

Thanks for the post, Raymond, the "click through" from one song to another taught me something, namely that "City of New Orleans" is a Steve Goodman song.

I've been listening to that for nearly thirty years, not on repeat, obviously, but I always assumed it was Arlo's own.

Well, well.

Patty Andrews, aged 94, last of the Andrews Sisters.

As a follow up to earlier postings about Nic Potter, here's Peter Hammill on him:

Memories of Mo    ( Nic Potter )
by sofasound ( Peter Hammill )

There's really only one thing I can write about this month: the sad
passing, a couple of weeks ago, of Nic Mozart.

Nic had been in the grip of the degenerative brain disease, Pick's, for
the last couple years. (Oddly, the same rare condition was the one which
did for Pat Moran.) The prognosis was not good for Nic and as  I
understand it his condition was steadily worsening - though thankfully
he was not fully aware of this himself. In the end a bout of pneumonia
and following complications led to his death at the age of 61.

Nic was astonishingly young when he began playing professionally in the
Misunderstood and then, of course, with VdGG. His bass playing, though,
was mature, authoritative and direct from the outset.

This was all the more so when he rejoined the band in its VdG
incarnation.AT&T is point he threw himself into a world of flange and
distortion which, not for the last time, propelled his bass into a lead
role.

The VdG period was a particularly headlong and heater-smelter one, with
the playing powerfully reflecting the nature of e lives we were living.
Later, the same kind of thing obtained in the K group era and it's not
mere accident that Nic should have been so deeply involved in these
schemes. It goes without saying that I loved playing with him: he was
ever reliable and intuitive and also capable of pulling off a surprise move.

Memories of also many moments with Nic have come back to me in the last
few days, vivid and bright. Often the best communications with him were
wordless and those gestures of a raised eyebrow, an affirmative thumbs
up, still stick with me. However, I don't intend to get into telling
stories of Mo-ness and of my times with him, though there are many, most
with some element of his wry and sometimes dry approach to the
strangenesses of life, particularly on the road.

He was always in the Now, but simultaneously always looking out for what
might be Next, Elsewhere. A tapping foot, a drumming finger, a quick
gasp on the cigarette and he'd be out of  the door before you knew it.
Always, though, with deduction one could trace a line of logic back into
what was driving his current search.

Dear, dear Mo.

We'd had our failings out over the years, of course. For what it's
worth, it's a matter of some relief to me that none of these were
outstanding the last time we saw each other, some time before the onset
of the Pick's.

I couldn't be there for his funeral but at the time it was happening was
able to raise a glass to him, looking out on a cloudless sky and a deep
blue sea. At this moment I felt very close to his flown soul.

So adieu Nic, who coined as good a definition of touring life as I've
ever heard: " consuming and being consumed." Now all the hours and times
are eaten up

My final and enduring image of Nic will be not one of the  nods, winks,
smiles of the social life...but his eyes fixed in tense concentration,
head thrust slightly forward, steady at stage left. And here come those
blasted out opening bass chords of "Last Frame".

He was often complicated, enigmatic, mysterious.

But above all Nic was ever, wonderfully, Pretty Keen.

Reg Presley of the Troggs, a wild thing no more, at 71. Cancer.

Obit (http://consequenceofsound.net/2013/02/r-i-p-reg-presely-of-the-troggs/)

gone to the great crop circle in the sky....

RIP Mr Presley

That is sad.  Will have to play The Troggs Tapes in his honour  :)

Saw him a couple of times in the 80's.  Always entertaining.

I have to say that watching The Troggs, and Reg in particular, on TOTP made my flesh crawl. *shudders* No disrespect intended, but there it is.

I loved his totally non rock star accent.
RIP Reg

Saw the Troggs c1971 when they were doing the Uni circuit and hadn't had much success for a few years, they were still wearing the same style stage outfits as the TOTP appearances and they looked far from creepy - a little sad maybe, but knew how to deliver their set. Musically, they hit the note for a few glorious singles and didn't do too bad for a bunch of builders from Wiltshire. RIP Reg, you gave us two or three truly memorable songs that have stood the test of time.

A classic and unique British band. Only got to see him once but glad I did.

Yes I saw them only once in the early 80's and a thoroughly enjoyable experience it was too! I had always hoped they might appear at Cropredy one year.

Cecil (Zekkariyas ) Womack, a remarkable life...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/feb/05/cecil-womack

Donald Byrd, a mere jazz musician, on the 4th of February. http://youtu.be/tBbph3Umo2A

A merely fabulous jazz musician.. RIP

A fabulous jazz musician indeed. Oddly enough, he also had a minor disco hit here in the UK in the early 90s with Love had Come Around. I think we'd be best to remember him via Ray's link, though. RIP.

Yeah Joe, like a few other minor legends like George Benson, it really came down to stuff like wanting to eat and live a life outside poverty, I know George Benson, who rates with any of his time for skills within the jazz framework, had something like that to say as to why he had veered toward popular music, though if you look at his side work, it pretty much always is within jazz.  

Pat Halcox, the trumpeter in the Chris Barber Band for over 50 years. Saw him loads of times in the trad days, great sound.

And now Trevor Grills, of Fisherman's Friends, has just died of his injuries.

Very sad

Oh no..... :(

Oh that is tragic  :( how awful for the band, their families and the town.

Sad news indeed - has left me feeling a bit hollow inside.
I can picture him, beer in hand soaking up the atmosphere and the sunshine at Cambridge Folk Festival 2011, looking very happy with the world.

Sad news Rick Huxley of the Dave Clark Five died aged 72 following a battle with emphysema. Great pop band with only 2 original members remaining. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21428486

First band I ever saw "live", the DC5. Liverpool Empire early 60s...  that was it, I was hooked on rock/pop.

Country singer Mindy McCready has committed suicide. RIP

Very sad. R.I.P.

Bollox.  Kevin Ayers is dead...

http://www.mojo4music.com/blog/2013/02/kevin_ayers_1944_-_2013.html

 :(

Jules

Bollox, indeed.

R.I.P Dr Dream

Summer 1972 (?) - Hyde Park - Kevin Ayers and the Whole World - my first big outdoor gig. Had never heard him before but he was something special !!

RIP

Damnable news - such a shame. Was going through his anthology only last Friday.

Think that was 1970 with Pink Floyd. The Whole World Band included Mike Oldfield, David Bedford, Lol Coxhill & Robert Wyatt & it was indeed something to remember.

Bugger! I regularly play joy of a toy.
A peculiarly english talent.

Still shiver down the spine when I hear Elanor's Cake and May I?
Still shimmy round the Room to Stranger In Blue Suede Shoes.

R.I.P Kevin and

Thank You.
Very.
Much.

1970 too early for me - and never saw Floyd. 1974 possibly? LIne up was Ayers headlining, with a set from Nico and also Chapman Whitney Streetwalkers and also possibly a Gong offshoot of some sort? Do recall it was v hot and Ayers was impressive.

1974.

June 29th.

    Kevin Ayers

    Nico

    Chapman Whitney Streetwalkers.

    Kevin Coyne

    Gong

    Gt Moore and the Massed Reggae guitars

first time i saw him, Mike Oldfield was on guitar duties, sat down leaning back on his speaker cabinet, it was a year or two before he became Mr Tubular bells
ive still got my single of "stranger in blue suede shoes" some where in the house.
RIP Kevin
 

Always loved Bananamour. First time I saw him was on Whistle Test playing Shouting in a bucket blues.

Yes, I heard on national news last night. i feel so sad about this.  Without wishing to sound melodramatic, every time another death like this happens, I feel as if another fragment of my youth has gone. I've loved his solo albums for so long.

I hope he had some good wine on his last day.

Nice piece on Kevin Ayers this morning on the Today prog on R4 - interview with a delightful Robert Wyatt  :)

Yes, and didn't Robert sound halting? He may have been quite upset. They go back a long way, though KA has apparently hidden himself away  for a long time.

Magic Slim has joined his mates.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/23/arts/music/magic-slim-blazing-chicago-bluesman-dies-at-75.html?_r=0

 Texas' own, the classical pianist Van Cliburn passed away at age 78 today

Bobby Rogers of The Miracles

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21652875

the old motown lads are going down like ninepins :'(

Alvin Lee of Ten Years After fame..great guitar player and immortalized (probably) in the Woodstock film

Judy has informed of Alvin lees passing aged a young 68 .. O he of Ten Years After fame

I knew Alvin ever so slightly back in the 60s (Yes I am that old) We moved in similar circles He was at that tender young age a very nice lad very talented and very committed to music even at school. He is older than me. A lot of my time then was in the Bowling Alley and he played there in the club.  

He and TYA filled the Albert Hall in Nottingham (At that time the biggest venue in the city outside of the theatre) This would be in 1968 I think . We were seated behind the band up near the church organ. There was a roadie wrestling with a Carlsbro Amp trying to keep it sitting on the Speaker stack because it was dancing around. I think that was the first time I saw the TYA band. I followed them fairly closely for two or three years . They were brill and Alvin even then was a brilliant musician.

I have one or two LPs that i will be playing at a suitable volume .. I know he is making heavenly music somewhere  

Aaww!...That's a lovely memory Dave!...Thanks so much for sharing... :)

RIP Alvin... :'(

Alvin was a fabulous guitarist, the old lads are dropping like flies now :(

Kenny Ball...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21700146

thats a real shame, He was a real influence on me as a kid

Didn't appreciate Trad Jazz so much when I was younger, but Kenny Ball was always a smiling face on early 60's TV, so obvious that he was really enjoying what he was doing. I shall have to dig up a copy of Midnight in Moscow.

cant believe he was only 82

Me neither.  He must have been younger than I thought he was back in the day.  Maybe it was that 'tache.

Jules

Canadian icon Stompin' Tom Connors died, aged 77 of natural causes..interesing life

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stompin'_Tom_Connors

Thanks for the heads up Cat
Its been a big week for the band at the pearly gates .. I think I shall give up the bad ways and repent so I can hear them all again
Another lp to be played can you still get stylii for turntables?
Phew :-\

You can indeed: http://www.gettheneedle.co.uk/

Blokes looked older in those days, I think.

Peter Banks, original guitarist with Yes:

http://somethingelsereviews.com/2013/03/12/original-yes-guitarist-peter-banks-1947-2013-an-appreciation

  :(

I keep meaning to get that great Flash album.

Very sad news, love Peter's fine guitar work on the first 2 Yes albums and with Flash, RIP Peter !

I saw them in the early 70's and they were dreadful.
Sad news all the same . RIP

Sad indeed. I really liked that early Yes stuff. I even went out and bought that FLASH LP on the strength of Banks. Unfortunately the LP didn't live up to my expectations. Nevertheless, his passing is still sad news.

Interview with Peter Banks.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Sjxnnx-jqU

More sad news - R.I.P. Clive Burr, the man behind the superb drumming on Iron Maiden's first three albums (Iron Maiden, Killers and Number Of The Beast) :

http://ironmaiden.com/former-iron-maiden-drummer-clive-burr-passes-away.html

Not such a surprise though as he had been ill for many years.  The first 2 Maiden albums are by far their best (IMHO!) and Clive was an integral part of that early sound..

Who the hell knew he played on Lionel Richie's Hello?  Probably everybody, but certainly not me...

Shucks - Clive Burr was a great drummer - am spinning Number of the Beast as I write.

His kit was in the London Hard Rock for a while - after a few ales I was tempted..............................

Producer Phil Ramone

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21983894

This had passed me by until now but Hugh McCracken, alumni of both McCartney (Ram) and Lennon (Double Fantasy) amongst many others passed away a few days ago.

Andy Johns.
For this of us who think that the name rings a bell but can't quite place it, he produced Led Zeppelin IV, two albums by Humble Pie, three by Free and Television’s Marquee Moon.

Plus JT's "Stand Up" & Blodwyn Pig's "Ahead Rings Out". After all these years I hadn't made the connection with Glyn Johns. Duh.

Glyn's brother, right?  A talented pair.  Here's to Andy!

Jules

RIP Andy Johns, thanks for some of rock's greatest sounding albums !

Derek Watkins' funeral took place today. He died on 22 March from cancer, aged 68.  He was an English lead trumpet player best known for playing the instrument on the soundtracks of every James Bond film from Dr. No to Skyfall. He also played in  bands with Ted Heath, John Dankworth, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Dizzie Gillespie, Oscar Peterson and Stan Tracey.

More details of his career can be found here (http://www.derekwatkins.co.uk/Derek_Watkins/About.html).

The Guardian's obituary can be found here (http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/mar/25/derek-watkins).

Sue Draheim passed away from brain cancer yesterday, 11th April. R.I.P.

Oh Jude that is terrible :( R.I.P. Sue

Very sad news, Faroe Annie, Henrythe Human Fly, Stroll On, an important part of some of my favourite records and a real talent, my thoughts go out to those fortunate enough to know her.

Sorry to hear about Sue.  I really need to hear more of her music.  I've seen her name in dispatches so many times.

Jules

A name familiar from my earliest introduction to folk and folk / rock via the Albion Band initially

RIP

And she plays that lovely violin in the second half of 'Over the Hill' too... a sad loss.

Yes,always there in the background, and now gone. So sad.

Sir Colin Davis, Conductor, 85 see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22148334

Scott Miller of Game Theory and the Loud Family.

Not a musician but, nonetheless a very important part of Pink Floyd's history.

Farewell Storm Thorgerson.

Indeed.  He's already been saluted by many of us over in the celebrity death thread, Andrew:-

http://www.talkawhile.co.uk/yabbse/index.php?topic=38854.870

Jules

That's such bad news, I hadn't heard. A really gifted songwriter and deserving of a lot more recognition than he received, but he somehow seemed to slip through the net. Only 53 too.

All the Game Theory ajbums have been made available for free download on the Loud Family website.

An offhand remark from someone at Great Big Sea's concert yesterday reminds me that Rita MacNeil, a very popular singer proudly from Cape Breton Island passed away earlier this week. I only knew her by name really, but a quick glance on Youtube shows that her loss to Canada is deeply felt.

Christina Amphlett of the Divinyls, MS and Breast Cancer.


Pops 'also rans' maybe, but they had some great songs, and 53 is a tragic age to die.

Also rans in the UK perhaps, but pretty legendary in Australia: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-22/divinyls-singer-chrissy-amphlett-dies/4644172

My old band used to cover I Touch Myself.  We were mature like that.  Pretty cool song, actually.

Jules

Richie Havens, aged 72.

Bollox.  Where did you hear that, Robert...?

Just on the Clearwater Festival FB page David, as he played there many times.

Thanks.  Can't see it anywhere else yet.  I hope it's a mistake...

Have just seen a memoriam notice from his agency.

Very sad news. Jackie and I shared a stage with him at the Royal Albert Hall. Apart from being a stunning musician he was such a charming man.. :(

Damn.  So sad I never got to see him...got very close a few times  :(

Shame. I liked him

Richie Havens.    :(

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22259015

Another legendary Woodstock performer gone.   :(

Jules

Richie Havens was a unique and inspirational performer.

Sorry  to butt in; it was on the 7am news today. So sad; such a great voice.

I've loved his stuff from first seeing him in the Woodstock film and then live at the Dylan IOW Festival. But somehow or other his career just managed to keep below the level of super-stardom that he really deserved. He was always there, he was always respected and admired. Never heard anyone have a bad word to say about him. I wonder if he ever thought he was just missing out, or was he satisfied with what he achieved.

It's still a sad day...

Caught him at a Crystal Palace garden party in 1971. Wonderful , RIP Richie.
Thought he would have been older than 72.

Caught him on an old music programme on BBC iPlayer just the other day - thought it was an old TOTP, but probably unlikely.

He was a passionate peformer and I can still recall that iconic Woodstock appearance - I also thought he'd be older.

RIP

Getting reports that National Resonator guru and guitarist extraordinaire Bob Brozman has died at 59 - very sad, saw him in concert about 10 years ago - his talent and approach to the instrument were from another place entirely, RIP Mr Brozman...

Oh no! A true originator and the many and varied projects he was a part of over the years were always interesting. I was just listening to his project Songs Of The Volcano, with guitar bands from New Guinea just the other day. This is really sad to hear.

Actually, unsure if he and RT ever played together but I remember saying once about him that he should have been part of French Frith Kaiser Thompson.....it would have worked.

They keep on coming  :( George Jones, 81 years old

That's sad, his was another voice on my mum's record player when I was growing up.

I stood at the next stall to him in the Gents in a Nashville club once in the 70's.

One of the all time great voices, i loved his music and a legendary boozer, he really stopped loving her today.

Given his fondness for the sauce,a fairly respectable age.

I seem to recall a story about him driving to a bar on a ride on lawn mower after his car keys had been confiscated.

George Jones was an absolute legend.  A huge influence on Gram Parsons for one.  Great singer.  RIP.

Jules

Jeff Hanneman, one of the founders of and guitarist with thrash legends Slayer, from liver complications following a spider bite(!)

Contemporary classical composer Steve Martland, only 53  :(

Friends, via Barry Melton, are reporting on Facebook that Ken Whaley of The Green Ray (ex Help Yourself, Duck Deluxe, Man, Deke Leonard's Iceberg and The Tyla Gang) has died.

Gawd.......only last week I watched that Green Ray clip that you posted.

Yes, very sad. I really liked that Green Ray piece.

Ray Manzarek!

Just listening to The Doors' 'Other Voices' album.  :(

NOOOO!

I know it's daft, but Ray seemed like he'd live forever.  RIP.

Jules

That about sums it up Jules.

Very sad news - the unique sound of The Doors has always fascinated me, RIP Ray...

Yes, sad about Ray. He always seemed to have grown old gracefully. 74 ain't bad for a rocknroller, I suppose.

this is the end
RIP Ray,  stay fit John and Robbie.

I loved the Doors when I was little (I was 10 when Riders on the Storm was released and it still gives me shivers) and it was the combination of Jim Morrison's haunting vocals and Ray's keyboards that did it for me. RIP Ray.

Former Mott the Hoople collaborator Steve Hyams - nice tribute from Ian Hunter here.

http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/news/steve-hyams-rip/

I was just reading about that collaboration two days ago.

Trevor Bolder of The Spiders From Mars.  It's a right old day of it today.   :(

http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/news/trevor-bolder-dead-at-62/

Jules

wow RIP Trevor, say hi to Mick from all of us

Very sad

A sad week this is turning out to be...RIP Trevor !

Oh, that's a shock. I  like that old SFM CD of Mott with Steve Hyams. Ragged and rowdy.

Another Spider gone. Why do I think of his sideburns? Death nonplusses me.  ???

Only one spider left now :-[ :-[ :-[

With Trevor, it's the first thing most of us think of!

Jules

For me it's the huge fur earings he wore on TOTP - I had a similar pair  :-[

#

Bridg, those were his sideburns.   ;D

Jules

Nooo!! Oh dear I feel a right plonker now  :-[  and to think I walked around with those earings - I hope nobody thought they were MY sideburns!!!

This could possibly be the most inappropriate post ever in an RIP thread but...



 ;D ;D ;D. Post of the year!

theres loads of blokes out there who quite go for that class of thing

So Talkawhile's not the only site you visit then Jim?

Is that the sort of site that gives you a Woody Woodmansey?

Oh God  ;)

While I know jazz music has virtually no currency in this realm I do believe there are one or two others of my stripe occasionally around here and in such here to note the passing of one of the music's finest pianists of the past 30 or so years , Mulgrew Miller from a stroke at 57 years old.
While carving out more than a notable career as a leader himself I came to know him through all the following associations, Art Blakey and the Jazzmessengers, Tony Williams Quintet and Betty Carter, all also gone from this world, plus too many others to name. Essentially a giant of his time and sorely missed. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/30/arts/music/mulgrew-miller-jazz-pianist-dies-at-57.html  

amen to all that, Raymond. Well-written obituary in The Guardian too (for a change)...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/may/31/mulgrew-miller-obituary

Graham Walker, late of The Grumbleweeds.

Joey Covington, Airplane & Hot Tuna drummer, aged 67.

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/joey-covington-dead/

Bobby "Blue" Bland has gone "Farther Up the Road" - RIP
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/25/arts/music/bobby-blue-bland-soul-and-blues-balladeer-dies-at-83.html

Gary Pickford-Hopkins who played in 'Wild Turkey' (Glenn Cornick's post-Tull band) died a few days back.

An under-rated artist. He slipped under my personal radar for too many years. It was only when Mojo did an article on him I learned just how important this man was. RIP.

A tribute to Trevor Grills.
Must be really hard for those concerned:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-23031116

Also vocalist on the original Journey to The Centre of the Earth album, wasn't he?

Indeed he was:

http://www.rwcc.com/notice_garypickfordhopkins.asp

Ah thats sad.

Oh dear. I met him in the gents at a Tull convention in Gravesend in 1996. As you do.

Alan Myers, drummer with Devo from 1976 - 1985 ish.
Saw them a few times in the seventies, then they just dropped off my radar completely.
Will now re-visit the first album/singles.

JJ Cale - died last night. I've got a few of his albums, but I never saw him perform. Such a talented man.

Sad loss.Magnolia,from Naturally is one of my all time faves.R.i.p J.J.

Oh no.  One of my other half's favourites.

Jules

Sad news indeed .

Cheers Nigel

Rocket 88 is reporting online that Mick Farren has died...

Only saw him at Sonic Rock last month!  Mind you he did seem in a very bad shape. RIP

Apparently he collapsed on stage at the Borderline whilst performing with the Deviants...and died in hospital shortly afterwards.

I'm sure I watched a documentary recently with him in it (about UK music festivals maybe?)

I'm not familar with his work but he seemed a larger than life character. RIP.

I know there are a few World Music devotees here, so I must share with sadness that Chiwoniso died last week at the ridiculously early age of 37.  A real innovator, blending traditional Zimbabwean forms with blues, jazz and reggae.

news:

http://worldmusiccentral.org/2013/07/25/renowned-zimbabwean-musician-chiwoniso-maraire-dies-at-37/

sample:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SVeaJS8ATg

The mighty George Duke - ace keyboard player, alumnus of Frank Zappa's band is no longer with us...  :'(



http://www.radiofacts.com/veteran-musician-george-duke-dies/


http://www.factmag.com/2013/08/06/legendary-fusion-musician-george-duke-has-died-in-los-angeles/

Just saw that about George Duke and was heading here to post.... Really a bummer. He was one of my favorite keyboardists and seemed like an all around cool guy. I really regret not making more of an effort to catch one of his solo shows.....

Louisa (formerly Louis) Killen on 9 August.
An obituary here by Heather Wood: http://singout.org/2013/08/10/louisa-jo-louis-killen-passes/

Very sorry to hear this news. I met Louisa at the Soundpost workshops at Dungworth, near Sheffield back in 2011. (Run by Fay Hield and Nancy Kerr, amongst others).

I attended one of her singing sessions. She was very encouraging - even if (like me) you made a mess of things! RIP Louisa.

I met Louisa at the first Soundpost weekend too, and also briefly at Sidmouth not long before that.  My lasting memory of her will be a long chat we had about the problems of buying clothes when you are one size at the top and another at the bottom.  We were the exact opposites of each other size-wise, so she suggested we went shopping together.  A rather silly, but lovely memory.  RIP Louisa.

John Brookes - Drummer with the Charlatans.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-23682282

Boy that's an unlucky band.

 he as called Jon not John  he hasn't been well for a couple of years, but i was still shocked when i heard about him in the car this after
RIP

Original country music outlaw Tompall Glaser, age 79.

Thankfully we still have Willie, Kris Kristofferson and Billy Joe Shaver (when he's not shooting guys in the face).

Allen Lanier of Blue Oyster Cult

damn, what was that hit he had in the 70's?

"Put Another Log On The Fire"?

Shame, although not entirely unexpected given his health in recent years..good that he made it to the 40th reunion last year.

Thats a shame. A noted producer and writer of songs as well.

From memory:
Put another log on the fire
Cook me up some bacon and some beans
Go out to the car and fix my flat tire
Darn my socks and sew my old blue jeans

Put another log on the fire, baby
And come and tell me why you're leaving me

:)

A major talent.  Such an awesome band...glad I got to see them back in the 90's.  So much more to them than *that* song.

Today's Daily Telegraph has a very thoughtful obituary on Lou Killen:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10245684/Louisa-Jo-Killen.html
I first saw Lou in the '60s at Bristol University Folk Club - he had a fine voice and played a mean concertina. Years later, probably around 1999, I bumped into him in San Francisco at a sailing festival where he was singing sea shanties, including a great version of 'The Shoals of Herring'. He was certainly enjoying the local wine and ale, but managed to remember most of his words.  It was very surprising to learn what happened after this!

Didn't know about Alan Lanier, that's a real shame. One of the best US 70's bands, I feel.

John Richard 'Jackie' Lomax (born 10 May 1944, Wallasey, Cheshire, England. Died September 15, 2013) was an English guitarist and singer-songwriter, best known for his association with George Harrison and Eric Clapton. He resided in Ojai, California, United States, with his wife, Annie (previously Norma Richardson) mother of fashion photographer Terry Richardson.

Always had a soft spot for that Heavy Jelly track on the Island sampler,"Nice Enough To Eat". Didn't really know his work otherwise.

Farewell Lindsay Cooper, finally succumbed to MS. Great bassoon player with Comus & Henry Cow & contributor to Egg, Oldfield, the Hatfields, Steve Hillage, etc, as well as a raft of solo stuff.

Oh that's sad. Another great Canterburyite gone.

Arguably played more oboe than bassoon didn't she, but, what the hell...was bloody good on both instruments.  Been very ill for a long long time, so no surprise, but a huge loss.  Very sad.

From their official Facebook page, Phil Chevron from the Pogues :(

56 years old.  Dear me.   :(

Jules

RIP Phil  :(

Terribly sad.
Writer of my favourite Pogues track "Thousands Are Sailing"

RIP Phil

He's been ill quite a while but immensely sad all the same, It's also one of my favourite tracks Bill.

Rest In Peace Sir.

I think everyone really likes Thousands Are Sailing. Suddenly remembering another Pogues song of his (or maybe a co-write) called Lorelei which I like.

Sad news indeed.

(Who would have taken bets all those years ago on Shane McGowan outliving other band members???)

Indeed.  

Shane will probably outlive us all
i wouldnt have given him 6 months 15 years ago

He was featured in Radio 4's "Last Words" this afternoon. I only just caught the end of it, but am downloading the podcast now.

Ray Cooper (aka Chopper) had a nice recollection of him yesterday on his FB page.

Yikes..I read the first few words and thought Chopper had gone!

Glad you read it all the way through then!

So did I :( I'm off to friend him on Fb..,

Would I be correct in thinking that he was the much in-demand percussionist chap?

Jules

No, he is the former bass player with the Oysterband.  There is another Ray Cooper who is indeed the percussionist of choice..

Either way I would be sorry.  RIP Mr Cooper.

Jules

Er...Jules, I think you have got the wrong end of the stick here. Chopper was paying tribute to Phil Chevron.

Not only have I got the wrong end of the stick, but I proceeded to beat around the bush with it.   ::)

Long live both Ray Coopers!   :-[

Jules

Thank you Eric. You are a legend, a living legend, a legend who will live on long after most other living legends have died.

A legend in his own lunchtime.   ;D

Jules

Gypie Mayo, former Feelgoods plank spanker, the only man who could have followed Wilko.
Real name John Cawthra, great guitarist and a decent bloke,RIP Gypie

Bugger - just spent a long drive today listening to the Feelgoods - both Wilko and Mayo

Saw them twice - once with each guitarist - I agree James, he was the only real successor to Wilko.

I only ever saw him in 'the Yardbirds'.  Top guitarist.

Nice to see Wilko (or whoever operates his FB account) posted a brief message up there...

Rolling Stone magazine are reporting the death of Lou Reed at 71 :(

Damn. Another important voice has been stilled.

Just watching this now on BBC News :( I was a huge fan in the 70s, and Transformer is still played regularly at chez Bridgwit. He certainly lived a life, but 71 is still young...

RIP Lou

RIP good memories

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Not always my favourite musician, but always an artist that knew how to push and inspire. A great loss to the wider music family

My least favorite music related news in quite some time.... Will definitely miss being able to believe that the next Lou Reed masterpiece could still be coming. His music (solo and with the VU) influenced me as a person so much.

One of few who I regret never seeing live.
I should have done at the 1975 Reading festival, but he didn't show up.
RIP

I was at that one and the highlight of the night was the unexpected return of DM when i had been expecting tommy farnell

Classic quote when asked to play a request "i am not a human jukebox"  ;D
RIP Lou. Another great taken from us.

Saw Lou Reed with Richie Havens (RIP), Pete Townshend and Joni Mitchell at the "Day in the Garden" concert in 1998, on my honeymoon.  Very grateful for the experience.  RIP Lou and condolences to Laurie Anderson, who had to cancel a recent Austin appearance due to Lou's illness.

All of the news items seem to be focusing on 'Transformer' and before, as if he never did anything later.
Obviously the reporters haven't heard 'New York'.
 

Or Berlin, but I suppose it's inevitable that the news people should focus on what was most commercially successful.

Heard on last night's news, 6pm. Initial surprise was followed by the recollection of a thread on  another forum saying tha the'd been in precarious health for some time - liver transplant.

I saw the film Berlin Live at St Anne's Warehouse just a couple of years ago and enjoyed it enormously - didn't expect to, as rock films aren't really my thing, but it was special.

RIP Lou.

Another part of my adolescence gone.

http://youtu.be/CXwqakZskmo

Sad news, managed to catch him in Portsmouth on the Ecstasy tour back in 2000 : despite significant problems with Lou's guitar rig (the show was delayed by 1/2 an hour while the techs sorted it), a very enjoyable gig - I remember him playing Sweet Jane and, unexpectedly, Perfect Day. RIP, Mr Reed...

I saw him on that tour . Was it really so long ago!!

Was unsure of the date myself so looked it up before posting - yes, 2000 does seem like an awfully long time ago !

Whilst he obviously had a massive influence in the world of music, Transformer was undoubtedly been the high-point of his career. Subsequent albums varied from good to poor. New York was a good one, but even that was 25 years ago, so I think that the concentration on the Velvet Underground and his first couple of solo efforts is fair enough. They are the works that afforded him the position of influence that everyone acknowledges.

I don't really like Transformer...or indeed *that* much of his solo career...but New York was a great album.

Let's face it, it was the Velvets and....with Lou. That was his real contribution.  And what a contribution.  I love that (I think it's Eno) quote...only 10,000 bought the first Velvets album...but all of them formed a band.

And I thought I was the only heretic. But you're right, New York is indeed, a masterpiece.

I can remember seeing Lou reed on the whistle test, must have been early 70's and thinking Whoa!!
I think my dad made one or two comments too!!

The man was difficult and often hard to love, but for the Velvets alone Lou Reed was a major milestone in my musical education.  He earned his stripes, and the rest.  So long, Mr New York, and thanks.

Jules

pretty much the way i feel about Lou, i loved the velvets, the material that was the bedrock of
 his career. Some of his solo stuff was great much was so-so and some awful. I saw him live 3 times in the early/mid 70's twice he was good, once he was desperately bad.
I'm glad he spent 71 years on our planet and left behind some great music.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-24788829

Jack from the Alexander Brothers. Genuine Tartan twee and a bit music hall.  I had the pleasure of working with them quite a few times and while their music was not really to my taste, it was a real lesson in how to entertain an audience and present a show.

This is preposterously moving...

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/laurie-andersons-farewell-to-lou-reed-a-rolling-stone-exclusive-20131106

Yeah, that was the first thing I read online today.  I think Laurie was a good balance for Lou's more acerbic side.

Jules

First time I've cried for a long time

That was indeed wonderful, thank you for posting it David.

Very sad loss which I have just heard about Austin John Marshall who should be remembered for his production of Anthems in Eden, bringing together Davy Graham and Shirley Collins and much, much more.

http://www.goldminemag.com/news/obituaries-news/austin-john-marshall-remembering-phil-spector-folk-rock

Sir John Tavener, composer, musician, mystic.  Aged 69.

RIP, Sir John.

 :(

Oh, that is a shame.  One talented chap.

A real loss. A key musical memory of my youth was being present at the world premiere of "Little Requiem for Father Malachi Lynch" in Winchester Cathedral. I'd never heard anything remotely like it before and there I guess began my exploration of modern composers, some that have an echo of Tavener in them, like Arvo Part and others of radically different style. As it happens I have a couple of Tavener CD's in the van on my travels. A listen to "Prayer of the Heart" is, I think, called for this evening.

Just seen on the fclist:
Pete Haycock - lead/slide guitarist with Climax Blues Band, died last month of a suspected heart attack - only 62

Very sad - one of my favourite choral composers. We're singing his setting of The Tyger on Sunday, will have to make sure it's extra special.

That's very sad. Climax Chicago Blues Band were virtually the house band around my part of London at one time. Lost track of them once they became more famous & dropped the Chicago. Must dig out Plays On & Lot of Bottle when I get home.

"Police & Thieves" singer, Junior Murvin, aged about 64 - 67.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-25195933

Stan Tracey http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-25272088

OOps, I put this in celebrity deaths, which I saw first. Glad to have seen him live a couple of times. True elder statesman of British jazz.

A million or so years ago, I saw Stan at Ronnie Scotts', a brilliant musician. RIP.

i have to say, old bean, you've aged remarkably well  ::)

Richard Coughlan of Caravan...on the 1st of Dec  :(

Sad . . .Another Canterburyite leaves us.

Great drummer, awful moustache, very sad.

His latest album is brilliant. His playing reminds a bit of Monk.

The Amazing Mr Smith  :( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ78Kz7cquw

Incredibly sad news - a guitar maestro, a comic beyond compare : once seen, never forgotten, RIP Derek "The [Truly] Amazing Mr." Smith.

Very sad, especially given the circumstances - http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/10870361.Death_plunge_victim_named_as_popular_musician/?ref=var_0

Only saw him a few times but each one was wonderful and great fun.  Much more talent and skill than he was often given credit for too.

Country legend Ray Price... :(

Mrs. John From Austin and I possess front row tickets for his scheduled performance in January 2014 at the Paramount Theater.

As I have told the Mrs. many times, "We have to go to San Antonio to see B.B. King!"  "I have to go to St. Louis to see Chuck Berry!"  "We need to see Willie at the Backyard this weekend!"  How many chances do you get?

Here is Ray Price at Farm Aid Festival, two years ago. Wonderful for anyone to sing like that, but this man was 83 at the time.
A real loss. Check out some of his 50s and early 60's stuff too.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2Jdm8DtXwA   :'(

Dave Higgs, guitarist and founder of Eddie and the Hot Rods died on Saturday after losing his fight with cancer.  

Phil Everly has gone:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-phil-everly-of-the-everly-brothers-dies-at-74-20140103,0,2091176.story#axzz2pOJ7rJXg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d1ig-dYuLk

Really sad to hear this news. Great favourites from my childhood days, and beyond.  :(  :'( :'(

Those harmonies..... :(

The Everlys were one of the brightest stars to shine. Incredible harmonies, with that extra bit of magic of the supposed "third" voice. RIP Phil.

I'd heard the Everly Brothers a lot on the radio as I grew up and liked the tunes,especially Bird Dog, which appealed most to a five year old,but it was only when I found some EB records in my parents collection a few years later and listened to them properly that the harmonies got me,particularly on Crying In The Rain,a unique and special sound (a lot like when I really paid notice of Karen Carpenter's voice around the same time).
A few years after that,I had cause to be annoyed at my parents who went to see them live and they didn't ask me if I wanted to go,because they thought I wouldn't be interested as I was into Pink Floyd.I put them straight on that,so the next concert they went to, they bought me a ticket....to see Showaddywaddy...it was good fun but not a rare chance to see legends from the proper rock 'n roll era.
I know the brothers weren't as harmonious personally as musically,and that that sound was lost to us some time before,but it is sad that we will never hear them sing together again.
R.I.P Phil.

The only ones who come close are Crosby and Nash.
RIP Phil

The Everly brothers are my dads favourite artist and I therefore have more than a soft spot for them. My first ever concert was the Everly brothers at the Liverpool empire in 1985, with Albert lee on guitar. I was 12 at the time but still thought it was wonderful.  I really like some of their 'later' stuff like love is strange, roots, stories we could tell etc. Phils solo album, star spangled Springer, also has some great tracks. Sad news.

I got 'dragged along' to the Albert Hall in '83.  It was jawdroppingly good.  I hardly ever listen to them, but they're always in my head somewhere..

Very sad news :( they w I'd add Simon & Garfunkel to that list, but Phil & Don were IMHO the best. RIP Phil

Sad news. I was only reading Graham Nash's autobiography the other day where he cites the Everlys as a source of inspiration. I'm sure he was but one of many.

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Best two-part harmonies ever.  I really must do something about filling the Everlys-shaped hole in my record collection.  I know all those hits so well from hearing them everywhere.  Massive influence on The Beatles and the N part of CSN.  RIP Phil.

Jules

Without The Everlys, it's been said we wouldn't even have Simon and GArfunkel, at least as we know them. RIP MR. Everly.

Yes, me too. Phil even managed to make a great record with Cliff Richard so he must have been good. His solo album from around 1982 used to get played a lot when I worked in a record store and I always enjoyed it.

Being part of that first generation of rock n rollers I am almost surprised that he wasn't older. Just goes to show how very young they were at the time.

They made a beautiful sound.

My father's younger brother did have a lot singles, several of them were by The Everly Brothers, I did borrow them from him when I was about eleven years old, also around that time in ice cream parlours there were juke boxes were you could hear (amongst others) The Everly Brothers. All those songs are etched in my memory and even now after all those years although my music preference had changed over the years I still do have a soft spot for them.

I'm currently reading that and was actually in the section where Nash & Clarke were doimg an Everley style act when the news broke.

Just remembering Sandy singing "When Will I be Loved" on the album No More Sad Refrains.  :(

Yes, that duet with Linda Thompson. 8)

RIP Phil Everly - We had the pleasure of seeing them appear as the special guests of Simon and Garfunkel at the Frank Erwin Center on my 40th birthday in 2004.  To my knowledge, that was the only time in my adult life I was within 500 miles of an Everly Brothers appearance.

I remember they played only four songs - according to the setlist I dug up online, they were:  ´Wake Up Little Susie´´All I Have to Do is Dream´
´Let It Be Me´ and ´Bye Bye Love´ [joined by Simon and Garfunkel]

I will never forget hearing "All I Have to Do is Dream," just the two of them with acoustic guitars, singing to 10,000 hushed fans in an echoey basketball arena.

Claudio Abbado, conductor.  RIP, maestro.  :(

Ronny Jordan - jazz (& damn funky!) guitarist.  Only 51....  :(

Pete Seeger  :(

 :'(    RIP

Oh bugger - I read a post just yesterday celebrating that he was still alive.   :(

Jules

A very sad loss, but what a life well lived!

What a shame. He seemed indestructible but it was a mighty innings.

A good innings indeed. And a great contribution to the folk world.

A great man, a great life and a tremendous inspiration. Can't think of anyone who gets close to his spirit, charm and persistence, not to mention his musical contribution.

Pete Seeger was my introduction to folk and whilst he "had a good innings" I am sadder than I could ever imagine today

I'm really sad at this mornings news. Pete has been such an influence to so many lives. Not just hundreds, or thousands. Many millions would be more like it.

He reached out to me, a kid in mid teens, in the mining town of Castleford, all the way from America. He had a universal appeal. He had an energy that few will ever match. Rest in peace.

Having never heard of Bill and only heard Little Boxes by Pete, as a schoolboy I found a live album by Pete and Big Bill Broonzy in the cheap racks. It was wonderful and I still have it.

RIP Pete.

I didn't realise until I heard an obit on him earlier just how much of his music I know - and had sung heartily when I was (much) younger

RIP Mr Seeger

A friend in America wrote this earlier today.

Sadness at the passing of Pete Seeger is to be expected. He seemed so invincible, fighting every injustice at every turn, the strength of the community. However, we also will celebrate the joy of life that was, AND IS, Pete Seeger. Peaceful rest, Pete. We celebrate you and your life through every song we sing that you introduced us to, wrote or found. Make a joyful noise, world, make a joyful noise!

Never considered myself a fan but reading about his back catalogue I realise that his music touched my life in a major way.

RIP Pete, a good innings and some fine songs.

Jeremy Vine honoured Pete Seeger by playing "Where Have All The Flowers Gone?" today.

Then he dishonoured Pete by talking over the final line.  :(

Arlo Guthrie wrote:

Pete Seeger:

I usually do a little meditation and prayer every night before I go to sleep - Just part of the routine. Last night, I decided to go visit Pete Seeger for a while, just to spend a little time together, it was around 9 PM. So I was sitting in my home in Florida, having a lovely chat with Pete, who was in a hospital in New York City. That's the great thing about thoughts and prayers- You can go or be anywhere.

I simply wanted him to know that I loved him dearly, like a father in some ways, a mentor in others and just as a dear friend a lot of the time. I'd grown up that way - loving the Seegers - Pete & Toshi and all their family.

I let him know I was having trouble writing his obituary (as I'd been asked) but it seemed just so silly and I couldn't think of anything that didn't sound trite or plain stupid. "They'll say something appropriate in the news," we agreed. We laughed, we talked, and I took my leave about 9:30 last night.

"Arlo" he said, sounding just like the man I've known all of my life, "I guess I'll see ya later." I've always loved the rising and falling inflections in his voice. "Pete," I said. "I guess we will."

I turned off the light and closed my eyes and fell asleep until very early this morning, about 3 AM when the texts and phone calls started coming in from friends telling me Pete had passed away.

"Well, of course he passed away!" I'm telling everyone this morning. "But that doesn't mean he's gone."

I wrote this on my Facebook, and it seems appropriate to repeat here-

R.I.P. Pete Seeger. We had the privilege of seeing Pete just last summer at his own festival-Clearwater's Great Hudson River Revival, a reminder that we owe Pete a lot for a clean Hudson River, compared to what it used to be. So there he was, in his 90's last summer, still getting young and old singing along, telling jokes and clearly enjoying himself. 20 years or so I also saw Pete at a tribute to Woody Guthrie in Central Park, where again, he held his own against the younger acts on the bill. As the Oysterband just wrote, RIP doesn't seem fitting, but simply, Peace

Peggy Seeger's Tribute: http://www.peggyseeger.com/about/videos/peggy-seeger-videos/its-pete/view

Harry Chapin's tribute.  RIP Pete

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6N3-obj0Xvk

RIP Pete Seeger.

When Mrs. J From A and I were up in the Bethel/Woodstock NY area years ago, the local paper profiled neighborhood resident Pete Seeger.  Apparently, he was picketing a local store that refused to hire union labor.  By himself, every day.  At the time, he was only 79 years old.

The first LP I ever owned was "We Shall Overcome" Pete Seeger live at Carnegie Hall 8th June 1963. I don't think I realised for many years what an influence it was to be. It was my introduction to folk music, to Pete and to the whole concept of music as a means of protest and resistance.

When the full concert was released on CD of course I bought it and am listening to it now as I type this. It is fair to say that without Pete and this album I may not have discovered so much other wonderful music.

Bunny Rugs of reggae/soul band Third World.

I just learned today is the 25th anniversary of the death of Trevor Lucas. Time really does fly. It seems so recent. He was only 49, but  his contribution to the Fairport 'family' was substantial.

Certainly was.  Good spot, Alan.

Yes. I was a bit disappointed at the 40th anniversary Cropredy that more wasn't made of Trevor. I wasn't a fan (of Fairport) 25 years ago, but I've read quite a bit about them since and it seems to me Trevor kept it all together during some pretty lean years. I could be mistaken of course

When they have the anniversary years 'everyone up on stage' ones they generally play a fair amount of Fotheringay and Fairport with Trevor era material...with Jerry leading the guitar line.

He was certainly a strong part of the Fairport lineup, but only for 3 years and 3 albums, all of which are flawed but contain some great work, much of it his...

Crivens. 25 years? I caught one of his early shows with the new band after the chaotic Manor Sessions period, at North East London Poly & he & JD just blew me away. The 1982 appearance is one of my all time favourite Cropredy memories. Bless 'im.

Much maligned, but I always liked his work with Fairport.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-s9QKuoIZc   :)

Really?  By whom...?

The only one I can think of is Clinton Heylin, but the less said about that the better.

Most of the books that we've read.

This was always one of my favourites Trevor compositions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7tTfHKwTRM

Joe Boyd has never exactly sung Trevor's praises either.

Jules

RIP Trevor Lucas, indeed. I am a huge fan of Rosie/Nine/RFTM, as well as Fotheringay, and his contributions particularly.

The Way I Feel, The Ballad of Ned Kelly, Knights of the Road, Polly on the Shore and Restless are in constant rotation on the iPod.  And what would Hungarian Rhapsody, Meet on the Ledge or Down Where the Drunkards Roll be without that deep bass vocal?

Or Si Tu Dois Partir without that triangle?

RIP Trevor...Bring 'Em Down (a Lucas original) is one of the finest songs in the FC catalogue...

It is indeed.

The stuff I'v e heard which was critical of Trevor, and bear in mind I'm  not  Fpt scholar, has been about how he conducted his personal life. He wasn't always faithful after his marriage, it's been said. I don't know how true this is or to what extent he strayed.  These things can be complicated.

I've just been listening to this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-s9QKuoIZc  

I want this at my funeral! What a beautiful song  :)

One of Bob's finest.  I'm playing it in a couple of weeks at a birthday bash.

Jules

That is a terrific version by Trevor. I wonder if that album is still available?

I have always found him very good singer and he certainly added something to Fairport.

Aye...used for a reasonable cost http://www.amazon.co.uk/Attic-Tracks-1972-1984-Sandy-Denny/dp/B000024IJC  Copies on eBay and elsewhere too of course..

And his version of The Town I Loved So Well isn't shabby either, on the same album.

I know you wouldn't be so crass Sir....  ;)

Anyway you know how it is with us proggers - we're so far behind the times  ::)

Just how far can we drift away from the topic?

RIP Beach Boy Carl Wilson, 1998 : can it really be 16 years ago ? The lead voice of God Only Knows, Good Vibrations, Darlin', the soul of Kokomo. A nice commemorative article here :

http://www.examiner.com/article/carl-wilson-s-spirit-lives-on-his-music

That whole album is unfairly overlooked, IMO. Boxes sets? Pshaw.  8)

I don't have it.  I think maybe I should do something about that.

Jules

He actually passed about two weeks ago, but Johnny Allen, pianist and arranger for both Motown and Stax. He shared a Grammy Award with Isaac Hayes for Shaft.

Sean Potts - founder member of the Chieftains.

Died Tuesday and funeral today.

Those early albums seem dated now of course, but incredibly fresh in their day and Potts whistle playing was masterful

RIP Sean.  Sad that the Chieftains are becoming so depleted.   :(

Jules

Only Paddy Moloney left from the oiginal Cheiftains. RIP Sean.
 i just realised it over 50 years ago their first lp came out

I saw something about that the other day in passing, but yes, it is indeed sad that only Paddy is left of the original lineup. RIP Sean.

 :(

Reminds me I should go see the Chieftains (Paddy and the Replacements?) at the River Bend Center, coming up shortly.

Must talk to the Mrs.

Well to be fair Sean Keane has been there since the 60's, Kevin Conneff since the 70's and Matt Molloy since '79 or so if I recall correctly, so they aren't exactly replacements

Going to see The Chieftains with Ry Cooder in June..

Who's driving - you or Ry?

Ry of course...

Well, he is crazy bout an automobile

Bob Casale (aka 'Bob 2') of DEVO has died. Bummed I didn't make their last tour.  :(

Sad news, another part of my youth gone,

http://p.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/feb/18/devo-guitarist-bob-casale-dead-61/

Ditto.  They came to Austin twice in the last few years and I missed both, gosh damnit.

Francesco Di Giacomo, lead vocalist of Italian prog band Banco Mutuo Soccorso, aged 67, in a car accident.

http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/paco-de-lucia-r-i-p.344702/

Mat Fox, founder of Barely Works and Happy End.  Inspiring teacher.

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/mar/03/mat-fox-obituary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=za1cjn0HmMk

I only knew of him as a member of the Barely Works, and an amazing hammered dulcimer player. I wasn't aware of all his later activities. Sad news, but thanks for posting.

Shame, 57 is so young...  :'(

I loved The Barely Works.. so much energy and always made me smile.

Oh that is a shame, I loved The Barely Works. RIP

Jerry Corbitt of the Youngbloods, which he founded with Jesse Colin Young.

Corbitt left the Youngbloods in 1969 before the recording of Elephant Mountain to work on a solo career. His first success came in 1971 touring with Charlie Daniels in the duo Corbitt and Daniels. While he did record a couple of solo albums, his main work from the 70's on was in production, starting with Don McLean's Castles in the Air and going on to work with such artists as Pete Seeger, Buffy St. Marie, Janis Ian, Charlie McCoy, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Joy of Cooking, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee, Felix Pappalardi and many others. He also worked on numerous movies, TV shows and commercials. - http://www.vintagevinylnews.com

Jesse wrote in Facebook:

Jerry Corbitt is gone from this world. We lost him this weekend. He left peacefully and willingly having lost a long battle with lung cancer. He was my best friend and I miss him. There seems to be a hole in my life now and I'm trying to fill it with memories of him and all the adventures we shared creating the Youngbloods.
I just watched Jerry singing Grizzly Bear on the Dick Clark show. That was the fall of 1966. He is so young and handsome and his voice so strong in that video, strong as his love of ragtime music learned from the old folk guitar masters. We still lived in New York when the first album came out but we were destined to play the Avalon Ballroom in the Spring of 1967 and head west that next September. We caught the leading edge of the summer of love and knew we belonged in San Francisco.
Jerry and I drove my funky little Valiant across the country together. We were so excited and full of the dreams of a new life in the hills of West Marin. What a time! It has all happened way to quickly. And now I shall have to press on without him. But this video is how I will remember him....young and strong and full of dreams. And I will carry the strength of our friendship with me always.

Grizzly Bear (http://-http://youtu.be/JbRvXhyFmZY)

Scotty Asheton, erstwhile Stooges drummer, 64.

Now it really has to be time to call a halt to the reunited Stooges, surely?

Jules

Iggy said several years ago that The Stooges died with Scott's brother Ron Asheton in 2009. The current band is Iggy and the Stooges which, admittedly, is a fine distinction. Toby Dammit took over on drums after Scott's stroke in 2011.

I just realised I've seen Toby a few times drumming with Iggy in the years before he reformed the Stooges. He also goes by the name of Larry Mullins.  Sad to hear of Scott's passing though. I hadn't heard about him having a stroke.

Me either.  Or that he hadn't been playing in The Stooges of late.  I guess this means that the show will go on after all.

Jules

Last I was reading (can't remember where) was that Iggy had left the Stooges who've just recorded a lot of post-Raw Power stuff but put it out under Williamson's name?  The law of diminishing returns in all its glory...  Scott was a top drummer.  RIP.

Joe Lala (Manassas, Gene Clark et al).  

Had no idea he was an actor in recent decades...

A master of percussion.  RIP Joe.

Jules

Not sure where I should have posted this but, it's 14 years ago today that Ian Robins Dury passed away.  14years!!

I don't know that any of you would have heard of him but Coventry singer songwriter Rod Felton died yesterday.

He was one of the first folkies I ever came across, at Brinklow Wurzel bush folk club, he was a very funny man and a very good song writer and guitarist, in a band called the Modern Idiot Grunt Band with Rob Armstrong guitar maker.  I only got to see him do a few floor spots and some small festival spots but it made me wish I had been around in his younger years when he performed a lot more in Coventry and surrounding areas, he was a real character, there are some you tube clips but they don't do him justice.  

I wish he had recorded his songs on CD  :(

Sad news indeed. Rod was a familiar site when I first started going to folk clubs around cov.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't 'Rod's Song' on Shelagh McDonald's first album about him?  

I believe so  :)

Lovely song - -I always wondered if it was about a real person.

Father Joe Frazier - founding member of the Chad Mitchell Trio
Johnny We Hardly Knew Ye
http://www.chadmitchelltrio.com/

Frankie Knuckles - one of the originators of "house". Only 59...  :(

Jesse Winchester at 69 RIP

Really heartbroken at this news. My wife and I loved him from his first album RIP Jesse Winchester.  :'(
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA0CowCWtgw

When I first met Elvis Costello, Jesse Winchester was his favourite artist along with Dylan and the Band.  Listen to the sound/production of the track above if proof were needed. Costello briefed the engineer on his first album to try and duplicate that sound.

Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith - guitarist.

As well as writing the tune that gave him his nickname, he wrote "Feudin' Banjos", and successfully sued the studio that used a (renamed) cover version on the Deliverance soundtrack.

Not sure that he has died yet, he is very ill, but still clinging on

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2014/04/07/jesse-winchester-gravely-ill/7414733/

If gravelly I'll can be good news,then that is good news

Saw Jesse Winchester for the first time just a few months ago.  Absolutely amazing, intricate guitar playing (while singing, of course) and he never once looked at his guitar.  Basically had my mouth open the whole show.

Here's a nice example of Jesse Winchester never looking anywhere but at the audience, on Elvis Costello's "Spectacle" program:  http://youtu.be/5uKGWpqnS8E

Apparently Jesse Winchester is dead according to the Grauniad
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/apr/12/jesse-winchester-musician-songwriter-dies

So Gerry Goffin has died...

RIP Gerry

Goffin/King may not have been the hippest writing team, but they were up there with the very, very best.  RIP Gerry Goffin.

Jules

They were pretty dam' hip in their day. Will You Love Me Tomorrow alone, does it for me.

Yup,-still - one of my heart-stoppers...

Other Goffin/King standouts include:

Up On The Roof (Drifters)
Take A Giant Step (Monkees)
Sometime In The Morning (Monkees)
Goin' Back (Byrds + Dusty Springfield)
Wasn't Born To Follow (Byrds)
Pleasant Valley Sunday (Monkees)
(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman (Aretha Franklin + Carole King)

Jules

- and Chris While! - I'm hoping for a spirited rendition tomorrow night  ;D

Some of my favourite music, him and Carole were a great writing team.

RIP Mr Goffin, your music will live on  :)

RIP Mr Goffin. So sad for Carole.

They parted a long, long time ago, but, still, I imagine she's feeling pretty raw.

Jules

One Fine Day
I'm into something good
Take good care of my baby
Some kinda wonderful
I can't make it alone

All great songs to add to the list.RIP Gerry

Sorry if I shouldn't requote, but Chris While did indeed sing 'A Natural Woman' on Saturday night, and it brought the house down - or rather, brought the field to its feet - superb!

Absolutely stunning. ;D

Felix Dennis, co-editor of Oz magazine, aged 67. Not a musician as such, but very much part of the late 60s/early 70s underground sub-culture. Ended up with a fortune of around £500 million from his publishing company apparently.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-27972771

Poignant. The Oz trial happened  around the time I was just beginning to become aware of the Counterculture.  8)

Soul legend Bobby Womack, age 70. R.I.P.

"its all over now"

JAZZ GREAT AND FATHER OF NEW AGE-WORLD MUSIC, PAUL HORN, PASSES AT 84

Internationally acclaimed musician and recording artist Paul Horn passed away Sunday morning, June 29 after a brief illness. He was 84. Horn is survived by his wife Ann Mortifee, his sons Robin and Marlen, stepson Devon, 4 grandchildren -Brittany, Tyler, Jonah, Ana- and daughters in law Robin, Alison and Beth. The family has been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support from people around the world who admired Horn as a musician and respected him as a man of great integrity and deep philosophical principles. A private memorial-celebration of life is being planned.

http://paulhornmusic.com

Tommy Ramone.  Now they're all gone.   :(

Jules

Hey ho
Let's.............gone

Charlie Haden today too.  :(

Yes, a great loss.  :(

Doesn't anyone remember Inside the CAthedral, Inside the TAj Mahal etc??

[/quote]

Doesn't anyone remember Inside the CAthedral, Inside the TAj Mahal etc??
[/quote]

Yep, "Inside" at the Taj Mahal was one of my favourite post lysergic lps when I were a lad.  :)

Doesn't anyone remember Inside the CAthedral, Inside the TAj Mahal etc??
[/quote]

Yep, "Inside" at the Taj Mahal was one of my favourite post lysergic lps when I were a lad.  :)
[/quote]

Cripes yes, See also- -  Beaver and Krause: Ghandarva, w. Gerry Mulligan.  8)

Strongly rumoured that Johnny Winter has died. Not yet officially confirmed as far as I can see but seems genuine.

I've just got this from Google
http://consequenceofsound.net/2014/07/r-i-p-johnny-winter-blues-legend-dead-at-70/

Funny - I was watching him on BBC Guitar legends on the weekend and thinking I must try and see him next time he tours the UK. Such energy.

Never mind, RIP Johnny and your amazing guitar skills.

I love blues but could never take to Johnny Winter's solo records, he didnt seem to have a quality control option,just went on and on. Then i got his lps with Muddy Waters, where he had to play with restraint and he was fabulous. I love those records but still wish he had shown similar restraint on his own stuff.

pretty much what Jim said, shame he's gone though.

I saw Johnny and Edgar Winter many, many, many years ago. At the time I thought them absolutely fabulous. Although I never followed his career, I am sorry he has left us.

RIP, Mr Winter.

Dick Wagner, aged 71. Played guitar for Lou Reed, Alice Cooper and dozens of other albums by the likes of Aerosmith, Kiss and Rod Stewart.

He was also frontman and lead guitarist for a band called The Frost, in the late 60's/early 70's.  Their first album, that I puchased, was imaginatively entitled 'Frost Music', if memory serves me right.

Fans of what might justifiably be termed Rory Gallagher's mid seventies pomp will be saddened and/or surprised to hear of the passing of drummer Rod de'Ath. I know I was.

i saw photos of Rod at lou martins funeral and he didnt look a particularly well man. Thats only Gerry McAvoy left from Rory's great mid-late 70's band. RIP Rod

It seems Rod didn't have the best of times after being ousted from Rory's band. He emigrated to the States, got married and had a baby, but during a return visit to the UK had an accident when running for a moving train in which he lost an eye and ended up in a coma with brain damage and total memory loss. When his wife left their New York apartment to visit him in hospital it was cleared out by looters. As a result they stayed in London and started again, but although his memory returned slowly his injuries meant he could no longer play. Pretty tragic story, RIP Rod.

Didn't know this. Sad. I believe RG kept the same band for a long time.

 He joined in 1972 and the last lp he appeared on was calling card from 76, after which he and Lou Martin got the push and he was replaced by Ted McKenna from the SAHB. So not that long a time.

Two very big names in traditional music passed away the last 2 days. Legendary Cape Breton fiddle player Buddy MacMaster (Natalie MacMaster's uncle) was 89. Also, the legendary Jean Redpath, age 77. Both very important to the tradition.

Belated post, but Jean Redpath RIP:
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/aug/22/jean-redpath

Very sad. Rod's drumming had his critics - e.g. Roger Glover -  but for me the Rod-Gerry-Lou team were the best band Rory ever had.

I knew about Jean Redpath, but I've only just heard about Buddy MacMaster.

Buddy was a true master of his style.

Glenn Cornick from Jethro Tull

http://jethrotull.com/glenn-cornick-290814/

Now that's a shame. A bit surprising he never caught on with another successful group.

 :(  Loved his work with early Tull and with Wild Turkey. Rest easy fella.

RIP Glenn

It's amazing how sad stories like this (which once might have got a paragraph on page 37 of the Grauniad) now feature on the front page of the BBC News website....

Lovely comment on BBC report from Glenn Cornick's son: "To the end he was brilliant and cantankerous." Hope someone says that about me!

Was he Cropredy one year?
I know I spoke to him somewhere but can't place it.

RIP

1996 I think it was.....Maart mentioned it on FB when he mentioned Glenn's passing.