Continued from item 63 in the old music conference (item:music2,63)106 responses total.
Today's news reports the death of Norman Granz, 83. Granz' most important work was the development of the Verve jazz label, which made many of the key recordings of Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald. After he sold Verve to a conglomerate, in the 1970s or so he started the Pablo label, which was still active when I got into jazz. Pablo had lots of late small-group recordings with Basie, and Duke Ellington, and still more Ella Fitzgerald.
I'm not a big jazz fan, but Verve seems to have been quite an important label during its heyday..
By now everyone who has looked at a news web site probably has learned that George Harrison is dead. (The inner grump says: so much for this summer's vigorous denials of how sick Harrison was...) I dug out the chintzy BEST OF GEORGE HARRISON cd that Capitol/EMI put out some years ago: seven of his Beatles songs, and just six songs from his early solo career. So we had a little memorial listening party on the drive to work this morning. That compilation lacks my favorite Harrison Beatles song, a single B-side called "Old Brown Shoe" which is on the PAST MASTERS v.2 set. I also need to dig out the Travelling Wilburys discs. Harrison's fall from commercial favor is kind of surprising; IIRC, several of his solo albums were never released on CD and most seem currently out of print. (I'll have to dust off the turntable if I want to hear "33 1/3" which was highly regarded among my friends when it was released.) Maybe Capitol can put together a nice tombstone set, a 2-cd compilation including *all* of Harrison's Beatles recordings, and a more generous selection of his solo work including the CLOUD NINE singles.
For more discussion and rememberance of George Harrison, please go to the Music Conference, item 59.
Of course George Harrison's best friend was fellow guitar god Eric Clapton, and there is the famous story how how they were both in love with the same woman. She married Harrison. Clapton went on a drug binge and wrote a song about his heartbreak over losing her, that of course being "LAYLA"
Harrison knew and married Patty Boyd before both meet Clapton. With Olivia, I think Harrison got the best of deal of Patty being stolen from him.
The Guardian reports the death of Stuart Anderson, the (former?) leader of the band Big Country. He was found dead in a hotel in Hawaii. Age, 43. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,620182,00.html and that leads to a number of other links.
Under the circumstances, I'd say it's definitely safe to remove the question mark following the word "former."
Damn.
Re #8: Well, there's former and then there's even formerer.
Usenet newsgroup rec.music.celtic carries a notice of the death of Tony Cuffe, who was the leader of the fine 70s-80s Scottish folk group Ossian. Death from cancer. I saw Ossian live once in the early 1980s, they were quite impressive. ---- resp:7 :: argh, his name was Stuart Adamson, not Anderson.
Damn. Damn. Damn. Tony Cuffe too? I always loved Ossian.
Yesterday I saw an obit for the singer in Big Country. Can't remember his name, though.
I was just driving back home from downtown, listening to KGSR, and heard that Waylon Jennings died this afternoon. I haven't searched yet to get more details, but I believe the cause was complications from diabetes. He was in his mid-60s. There will be a tribute tonight on KGSR, in the Eleventh Hour (CST), in case anyone's interested. http://www.kgsr.com
Layne Staley, 34, singer of Seattle rock band Alice In Chains was found dead in his house late last week.
Have they positively identified the body as Staley? Initial reports here in Seattle were quite tentative -- they just said that a body had been found in his house in the U District and that it was believed to be Staley.
Quotes from Staley about the tragedy of Kurt Cobain's death were hauled out and were effectively ironic.
Dave Carter of Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer died yesterday at age 40. Heart attack. (Does anyone know if Dave and Tracy are husband and wife?)
Damn. And I've missed them every time they were at the Ark. They were a really good duo, and it's really sad that he died so young.
Wow, that's a shock. They were just starting to peek in along the edge of my awareness. NPR and the New York Times ran substantial obituaries on Alan Lomax, who died this week at 87. Alan Lomax was a folksong collector and promoter of folk music, very important in the history of American music.
He's not dead yet, but Wired and Rolling Stone report that Warren Zevon has been diagnosed with untreatable lung cancer.
Bummer. <must resist the urge to make jokes about needing a "Miracle of Science" or about poor, poor, pitiful he. There's not much funny about lung cancer.>
Zevon's comment was that it would be a bummer if he didn't last long enough to see the next James Bond film. (which is due in November or December.) The stories say he is continuing to work on recording and on spending time with his kids.
oops.. now that I re-read my response, I think "Miracle of Science" was a Marshall Crenshaw album, not Warren Zevon. I don't know why I sometimes confuse those two.. I'll have to remember to listen to the "Excitable Boy" album when I get home..:
I'm sorry that this Warren Zevon guy is terminally ill, but I wonder why I've never heard of him before, if he's as ubiquitous a cultural icon for the post-60s generation as people are now saying. I've certainly seen his song titles used as catchphrases, but up until last week I never knew those were song titles at all, let alone whose; and somehow his name never came up. As someone whose friends introduced him to Talking Heads back when they were still an obscure NYC art band (and this was apparently right around when Zevon was making his big impact), I didn't think I was that culturally obtuse.
"ubiquitous cultural icon for the post-60s generation" is definitely
stretching it a bit, but he did have a successful career and a dedicated
following, despite the fact that his starkly cynical songs often weren't
very radio-friendly.
It's hard to believe you didn't at least hear *some* of his work
("Werewolves of London", anyone?) without knowing whose it was, and likely,
too, that you often heard his songs covered by other performers without
knowing they were his (e.g. Linda Ronstadt's cover of "Poor, Poor,
Pitiful Me")
The only reason I ever heard Warren Zevon was because of my gaming group. (They also introduced me to Blue Oyster Cult...) Of course, once I did hear him, I became a fan, but I don't think he was ubiquitous unless you happened to be in circles that had a reason to have heard of him.
"Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner" "Lawyers, Guns and Money" "The Envoy"
resp:27 - Twila, it turns out I -am- in circles that had a reason to have heard of Zevon. It's friends of mine who are mourning his illness, and they're citing listening to him in the days when I knew them best, and was, willy-nilly, listening to what they listened to. Yet I don't think I heard his songs, because in those contexts I knew who I was listening to. And I know further that he was a cultural icon for these folks, because I was hearing and reading frequently in those days phrases - like "I'll sleep when I'm dead" and "Send lawyers, guns, and money" - that I now discover are Zevon song titles. Yet up until last week I never knew they were song titles at all, let alone whose. resp:26 - Mike, I believe I may have heard "Werewolves of London". Was that a song whose chorus consisted of, or contained, a howl followed by the title phrase, the whole then repeated? I may well have heard some of the music, but I never heard nor read the name.
Yes, pretty much..
" I met a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand
Walking through the streets of Soho in the rain.
He was looking for a place called Lee Ho Phuk's [sp?]
Gonna get a big dish of beef chow mein.
Aaaahhooooohh! Werewolves of London.. Aaaahhhooooohh! "
I think my favorite Zevon song is "Poor, Poor, Pitiful Me."
It's typical of his cynicism and humorous word-play and a
fun up-tempo number..
" I met a girl in West Hollywood,
ah, but I ain't namin' names.
She really worked me over good,
she was just like Jesse James.
She really worked me over good,
she was a credit to her gender.
She put me through some changes, Lord,
sort of like a Waring blender. "
Perhaps Zevon was overshadowed in his fame by other songwriters
even more cynical and dark. I know I enjoy his music but I don't
hold him in the same esteem as Elvis Costello or Richard Thompson.
I think in some ways I sort of see him as Elvis-Costello Lite,
but that's definitely not being fair to Zevon.
Hell, I say "I'll sleep when I'm dead" all the time, and I haven't heard any Zevon past "Werewolves of London" in my life. Well, okay, I used to say it all the time. My appreciation for sleep has gone up in the past few years.
Judging by the tenor of the comments I've seen about Zevon in the weblogs of his fans, if you wrote "I enjoy his music but I don't hold him in the same esteem as Elvis Costello or Richard Thompson" there, they might stampede you. OTOH, if it were Richard Thompson who was terminally ill, they'd probably be grieving even more. Those people talked in those days (and still do today) about Richard Thompson the way they now claim they talked about Warren Zevon. (Elvis Costello, no, but I certainly heard of him. I have never been able to take seriously anyone who would voluntarily adopt the name Elvis, so I can't be too objective here.)
I'm not sure it was entirely voluntary. I think his manager came up with it.
Warren Zevon is still not dead; in fact, he must be feeling pretty good, he's been announced as David Letterman's guest for Wednesday night. 11:30 pm Eastern time on CBS, channel 62/cable 14 in Ann Arbor.
Warren Zevon's ghost is haunting / Cable Channel 14 ...
Lonnie Donnegan died Sunday at the age of 71. He'd just be a very minor footnote in music, except that the "skiffle" music craze he started in 1960's England inspired a lot of kids (including those who later formed The Beatles and The Who) to start playing.
Skiffle also played a large role in the 1960s British folk revival.
IWLTA with great sadness the passing of Zal Yanovsky, who was an original member of the 1960's group The Lovin'Spoonful. He left the Spoonful under less than friendly terms with the group, especially frontman John Sebastian. More recently, he owned a restaurant in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. "Zally" died of an apparent heart attack on December 13. He would have turned 58 later this week.
Sad news indeed. The Lovin' Spoonful is one of my favorite rock groups from the 60s; I still have some of their LPs that I acquired back then. I always thought Zal was a great contributor to the group and was sorry when he split.
I *can't* believe someone didn't get this first! Maurice Gibb, bassist and keyboardist of the Bee Gees, died at 53 last Sunday of cardiac arrest before undergoing surgery for a blocked intestine. One article on the story can be found at: http://entertainment.msn.com/news/article.aspx?news=111793 Sad. I really liked the Bee Gees, and thought they very talented and not just a disco band, although a lot of their hits were during the disco era.
Are they the guys who sang that once ubiquitous song that went "ah, ah, ah, ah, stayin' alive, stayin' alive"? If so, I will refrain from commenting on their talent only out of respect for the dead.
He's Still Not Dead Department: Jon Pareles has a lengthy article on Warren Zevon and his final months of creativity in Sunday's New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/26/magazine/26ZEVON.html?8hpib
resp:41 Yes, but really, I couldn't disagree with you more vehemently, if only because you're probably thinking of their disco hits alone. I think Barry Gibb, who is still alive, is quite a talented songwriter. The BeeGees may not be to your taste, but I think he knows how to write a catchy hook that's easy to sing along to. "Grease," written for the movie version of the musical of the same name and performed by Frankie Van..ack, I forget the last name.. is one of my favorite Barry Gibb tunes.
I've always appreciated the Bee Gees less for their music and more for their acting career, which included the phenomenally misguided film "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." Despite the fact that it's an awful film with the Bee Gees acting the parts of the band and playing their own unique interpretations on a number of Beatles classics, I have a mysterious soft spot for it and can't resist watching it on the increasingly infrequent occasions when I come across it on late-night TV. All hail FVB!
"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" - wow, terrible movie. Still, it's got Alice Cooper AND Aerosmith, and Earth Wind & Fire's tune is awesome.
resp:43 About popular music, I only know what I hear on the radio stations that are being played in stores.
resp:44 The storyline was a colossal flop-- was George Harrison doing drugs when he wrote it? (He's done better. Time Bandits was weird, but cute.) I think my folks still have a taped copy, so resp:45 I'll have to go back to look at the EWF segment. Really, the covers by the various bands and other celebrities are what make movie interesting.
Obituary: Lou Harrison, aged 85, a late survivor of the Henry Cowell- John Cage circle of 1940s avant-garde American composers, on Sunday in Lafayette IN on his way to a festival of his music at Ohio State. (He lived in Aptos CA.) His most typical music blended western instruments with eastern aesthetics, with more rigor and astringency than Alan Hovhaness; he also wrote for what he called the American gamelan, a collection of tin crockery and other miscellanea he and his partner, an instrument-maker, put together. It's not been a good couple years for great musicians named Harrison.
We also lost legendary Latin jazz musicial Mongo Santamaria, who is best remembered for his 1960's hit "Watermelon Man".
And as was announced in Agora, Noel Redding, 57, former bassist of The Jimi Hendrix Experience.
June Carter Cash, the wife of Johnny Cash, has died following surgery earlier this month to replace a heart valve. June Carter was the daughter of A.P. and Maybelle Carter, who as The Carter Family were towering figures in American folk music. June Carter was also the mother of country-rock singer Carlene Carter, from a previous marriage. June Carter Cash had a lovely solo album which came out in 1999, "Press On." USA Today reports that she had just completed another album, and presumably it will be released posthumously. Johnny Cash has been very sick for years, and from all accounts June has been taking loving care of him. Hard to imagine that he'll outlive her by very long. The NY Times has an excellent obituary: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/16/obituaries/16CASH.html
A couple of weeks ago I believe she was featured on A&E's "Biography". One wonders if this was because of suspected grave state of health affairs...
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i caught that. :)
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As reported in summer Agora (see item #221), Johnny Cash has passed away at the age of 71.
And according to his obituary, Johnny Cash's first name was actually the initial "J."
Just got word that singer/actor Sheb Wooley died at the age of 82. His biggest hit was the 1958 novelty song "Purple People Eater."
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Nope.
Oh, hell no.
Under his 'gise as Ben Colder, Sheb Wooley also did a number of country parody songs. (late 60s, early 70s).
Singer-songwriter Elliot Smith, 34, has died aparently at his own hand... http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/03-10/22.shtml
NPR did a nice piece on him this evening. It's a shame that that (and possibly music he had on the "Good Will Hunting" soundtrack) will be what most people remember about him.
never heard of him.
Smith was an "alternative" (whatever that means anymore) singer/songwriter from the Portland area. He had a fairly large regional following and a cult national following among those of us who like fairly mopey and depressing singer/songwriter stuff. A high-profile song on the soundtrack for "Good Will Hunting" earned him an Oscar nomination for best song and enough exposure to swing a major-label record deal. It appears that he finally succumbed to his long-term problems with substance abuse and depression. He wasn't among my favorite musicians, but I found a fair amount of his work enjoyable. Personally I thought his performing talents were stronger than his songwriting talents -- much of his self-penned material seemed too mired in cliche and self-pity, even for my tastes, but he undeniably had a voice and playing style that was effective and very well suited for his material.
All I remember about "Good Will Hunting" is that I didn't believe in Robin Williams's character for a minute. Any of the other characters, either.
Scottish fiddler Johnny Cunningham has died: reported today on Radio Scotland and confirmed at his web site. Johnny Cunningham, the brother of Phil, was probably best known for work in the bands Silly Wizard and Relativity, and more recently he'd been part of the Celtic Fiddle Festival tours.
Now that's tragic. Johnny Cunningham was a wizard of Celtic fiddlers. He'll be missed - but his records won't, because they're not going away.
From the Ann Arbor News:
http://www.legacy.com/annarbor/LegacySubPage2.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonId=1
998
199
George R. Cavender
Cavender, George R. Ann Arbor, MI Professor Emeritus of music at the
University of Michigan passed away Tuesday, March 2, 2004. He was born in
Wakefield, Michigan, the only son of Emma (Ylkanen) & George Cavender.
George served in the Marine Corps in the South Pacific during WWII.
He spent 40 years at the University of Michigan, primarily with the marching
band. To quote one of his students, George had indefatigable enthusiasm,
the ability to bring out the best in people, and a deep caring for those in his
charge. Surviving are his wife of 57 years, Florence; his two children,
Dr. David Cavender and Patricia (John) Crick; four grandchildren, Brendan and
Carly Cavender and Brian and Kathleen Crick. Services will be private.
Those who wish may make memorial contributions to the George Cavender
Scholarship Fund C/O University of Michigan Bands. Arrangements by MUEHLIG
Funeral Chapel.
Published in the Ann Arbor News on MLive.com on 3/5/2004.
It doesn't say hold old he was. I want to say in his 80's. George was my / our director while I played in the [non-music-major] Varsity Band at U-M during 1975-1977. He also was a regular guest conductor during one of the summer concerts of our Plymouth Community Band. He has been "out of circulation" for several years, I believe, due to health reasons. He certainly *did* have a lot of enthusiasm - quite often "over the top" - but I managed to learn a few things about music while playing under him.
The article I saw said he was 84.
BBC Radio 3 reports the death of Bob Copper, 89, the patriarch of England's Copper Family of folksingers. The Copper Family are considered very important for having a family tradition which preserved lots of old songs, and Bob got to be quite appreciated in his later years. He made two or three tours of the USA in the last decade, IIRC, and I think he was also given an award from the Queen this year.
Ah, this news story says that Bob died four days after travelling to Buckingham Palace to be made a Member of the Order of the British Empire. There is an official? family web page at http://www.thecopperfamily.com
That's very sad. People who get6 that award get to put "MBE" after their names. Supposedly the government are looking to change the system to get rid of the "Empire". Personally, I'm amazed they didn't do it when they changed the name of the Empire itself. But maybe I shouldn't be; they still can't agree on what to replace the House of Lords with, having originally intended to to abolish it in 1911! (one suggestion I heard was for a "House of Senators" (not "Senate"). Ugh.)
re #75:
If it's going to be "House of {X}" clearly it {X} ought to be
replaced with "Pancakes." The Pancakes won't like it at first,
but they'll get used to their new title. For everyone else it
will be an easy adjustment -- it practically rolls off the tongue
automatically..
[Or don't you have IHOPs in Britain? Don't tell me they're lying
about the "International" part..] ;-)
Assuming you're referring to members of the aristocracy as "Pancakes", your xenophobia is unwarranted, as the point of reforming the House of Lords is to get rid of the, um, Lords - or at least to avoid their automatic membership in Parliament.
As an aside, I watched an interview with an Iraqi intellectual. In the course of the interview, he said that America must get used to idea that it is a part of the world, rather than the view that the world is part of America. While I think it's unfair to tarnish all Americans with the same brush, the current Administration's conduct, and #76, are perfect examples of what he was talking about.
Dunno if the author of #78 is an American or not, but "Can't recognize a joke when he sees it" does seem to be a good description.
Au contraire, mon ami. #76 is too consistent6 with mcnally's style to be a joke.
It would seem to be a joke that didn't survive crossing the Atlantic. Sorry it drowned on the way, Jeff.
Ayup. Can't recognize a joke when he sees it. Just as I thought.
Jeff is from Northumbria.
Now explain to him where that is...
Surprisingly far from plain old Umbria..
Yeah. Care to hazard why that is?
All the good names were taken?
Influential music producer Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd died in Jamaica on May 4th. Dodd's "Studio One" record label was instrumental (no pun intended) in turning Jamaica into a world music power. Through his influence over the work of Studio One artsts such as the Skatalites, the Maytals, and a young Bob Marley, Dodd changed the course of popular music forever. http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/story.jsp?story=518871
Just about every news source is reporting the death of musical pioneer Ray Charles, at age 73. It would be difficult to overstate Charles' contribution to the development of soul music and (to a much lesser extent) his pioneering country crossover work influenced that genre as well. Yesterday's mail brought me my copy of "The Birth of Soul: the Complete Atlantic Recordings, 1952-1959", so I guess I know what I'll be listening to when I get home tonight..
Responding to the suggestion that the late R. Reagan's picture be placed on the $10 bill, The New Yorker this week ran a cover showing the picture of Ray Charles on a $10 bill: surely on the grounds that if a recently deceased person should get this honor, it should be someone generally admirable.
Generally, or at least in the opinion of The New Yorker.
not that Ray Charles isn't generally admirable, as he is...
David Raskin, composer for Laura among other movies, died of heart failure at 92. Jerry Goldsmith, composer for many movies & shows, including several Star Trek Movies, The Blue Max, First Knight, The Waltons, Supergirl, Basic Instinct and countless others died of cancer at 75.
Re: Jerry Goldsmith, according to http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0000025/
he died July 21. His most recent work is listed as:
1. Star Trek: The Experience - Borg Invasion 4D (2004)
(from "Star Trek: First Contact" and "Star Trek: Voyager")
Elmer Bernstein, composer of "The Magnificent Seven" and "Far From Home" among many others, died last week of a long illness at 82.
Ah. I thought I was hearing "Leonard Bernstein," who I _thought_ died some years back.
Elmer was his waskuwy evil twin. ;-)
R.I.P., John Peel, Radio 1 DJ/broadcaster since the network's launch in 1967, died suddenly while on holiday in Peru. Check the Radio 1 site for more details. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/alt/johnpeel/index.shtml
Wow. No more Peel Sessions.
Received an e-mail announcing the death of famed bandsman from Eastman School of Music, Frederick Fennell, on Tuesday, December 7, 2004. Writes his daughter: Dad asked to be cremated and that I scatter his ashes in the woods at Interlochen, Michigan this summer.
Spencer Dryden, the drummer for the Jefferson Airplane through their glory years, has died of cancer at the age of 66. Dryden had had health problems for years and was nearly destitute. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/01/13/BAGVGAPF1T1.DTL
How sad..
Martyn Bennett died on Sunday, age 33, "following a long battle with Hodgkin's Lymphoma." Martyn's last album, GRIT, was a techno-folk masterpiece which was developed while he was recuperating at his parents' home, and listening to old traditional Scottish folk LPs. GRIT was my pick for my favorite CD of 2003. Here's an obituary from a Scottish newspaper: http://news.scotsman.com/archive.cfm?id=118752005 Over the last five years, Martyn was probably the musician whose new recordings I most eagerly looked forward to. I knew that this premature death was a possibility, but he had sounded pretty good in the last round of interviews on BBC radio shows.
I'm very sad to hear this.
I liked this odd scrap of info from his biography in the All Musig Guide: > He served as personal piper to the president of Tanzania during the > president's visit to Edinburgh.
Jazz organ legend Jimmy Smith has died.
You have several choices: