Music Industry/Authors Obituary Thread

[Brian in Mesa]

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/printer_friendly.asp?nid=17832&cf=5609

[WizardOfAz]

Singer Barry White Dies at 58

By ANTHONY BREZNICAN, AP Entertainment Writer

LOS ANGELES - Velvet-voiced R&B crooner Barry White (news), renowned for his lush baritone and lyrics that oozed sex appeal on songs such as "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe," died Friday morning, his manager said.

White, who had suffered kidney failure from years of high blood pressure, died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center around 9:30 a.m., said manager Ned Shankman. He was 58.

White had been undergoing dialysis treatment and had been hospitalized since last September.

His work epitomized seductive disco music, also known as "make out" music. The heavyset musician enjoyed three decades of fame for songs like "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" and "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next To Me."

White's canyon-deep, butter-smooth vocals and throbbing musical tempos emphasized his songs' sexually charged verbal foreplay. His 1975 song "Love Serenade" began with the purring, first-person lyrics: "I want you the way you came into the world/ I don't want to feel no clothes ..."

Although his popularity peaked in the 1970s, White received belated recognition for his work in 2000 when he won his first two Grammys (news - web sites) for best male and traditional R&B vocal performance for the song "Staying Power."

Born Sept. 12, 1944, in Galveston, Texas, to a single mother, White and his younger brother, Darryl, spent most of their childhood in south central Los Angeles. He said he had a lifelong love for music. During his early teenage years, he began singing in a Baptist church choir and was quickly promoted to director.

In 1990, White told Ebony magazine that his voice changed overnight from the squeaky tones of a preadolescent to the rumbling bass that made him famous.

"It scared me and my mother when I spoke that morning," he said. "It was totally unexpected. My chest rattled. I mean vibrations. My mother was staring at me, and I was staring at her. The next thing I new, her straight face broke into a beautiful smile. Tears came down her face and she said, 'My son's a man now.'"

He was jailed at age 16 for stealing tires, a punishment he credited with helping him straighten out his life and dedicate his efforts to music.

Inspired by the Elvis Presley (news) song "It's Now or Never," White joined the Upfronts soul group as bass singer and cut six singles. For several years, he stayed away from performing and focused on work behind the scenes as a songwriter and producer.

He married a childhood sweetheart, identified only as Mary in his autobiography, and fathered four children with her before they separated in 1969 and later divorced.

White discovered the female trio Love Unlimited — which included his future second wife, Glodean James — and produced their million-selling 1972 single "Walkin' in the Rain With the One I Love."

The next year, White returned to performing with the song "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby," which topped the R&B chart and hit No. 3 on the pop chart.

He is credited by some for helping launch the disco phenomenon with his orchestral "Love's Theme" in 1973, which he conducted with his group, The Love Unlimited Orchestra.

In 1974, his album "Can't Get Enough" climbed to the top of the pop charts on the strength of the signature hits "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" and "You're the First, the Last, My Everything."

That year he also married James. The couple had four children together and collaborated on the 1981 album "Barry & Glodean," which featured the songs "I Want You" and "You're the Only One for Me." They divorced in 1988, but he said they always remained good friends.

White suffered a family tragedy in 1983 when his brother, Darryl, was shot and killed in a dispute with a neighbor over change from a $20 bill. In his 1999 autobiography, "Love Unlimited: Insights on Life and Love," Barry White said music likely spared him a similar fate.

After working on more than a dozen albums in the 1970s, his career waned over the next decade as he attempted small comebacks with the albums "The Right Night & Barry White" (1987) and "The Man is Back!" (1989.)

He enjoyed a larger resurgence with 1994 album "The Icon Is Love," and his ballad "Practice What You Preach" became his first No. 1 hit in 17 years. Toward the end of the 1990s, his songs were regularly featured on the Fox comedy series "Ally McBeal (news - Y! TV)" and he made an appearance on the show as himself.

His single "Staying Power," off a 1999 album of the same name, won White two Grammys and proved he hadn't tamed his libidinous lyrics. "Put on my favorite dress, the one that oozes sexiness," he cooed in the title track's opening lines.

That year White's chronic blood pressure problem forced him to cancel several live performances with the group Earth, Wind & Fire and he was briefly hospitalized.

White's survivors include eight children, grandchildren, and his companion Catherine Denton.



http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=5&u=/ap/20030704/ap_on_en_mu/obit_white_7

[Brian in Mesa]

'Wierd Al' Yankovic’s Parents Found Dead

FALLBROOK (CNS) — An elderly couple found dead in their smoke-filled Fallbrook home were the parents of comic singer "Wierd Al" Yankovic, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office.
Nick Louis Yankovic, 86, and wife Mary, 81, were found dead in their home at 226 Foxfire Lane shortly after 1 p.m. Friday when relatives stopped by to check on them, according to the Medical Examiner's Office.

The cause of death appeared to be carbon monoxide poisoning. An investigation into the deaths is continuing, according to coroner's officials.

"The house was full of smoke when they opened door," sheriff's Sgt. Conrad Grayson, a fire investigator, told the North County Times. "We examined the fireplace. They were burning wood. The (family member) had found the flue closed."

The identities of the three relatives who discovered the body were not disclosed.

Nick Yankovic was found in a chair in the living room, and his wife was found on the bathroom floor, Grayson said.

The couple had lived in the two-bedroom hillside home for about 12 years, according to neighbors.

"They were just really enjoying their retirement and having a quiet life," neighbor Joe Fedorchak told the newspaper.

The elder Yankovic was a World War II veteran.

His son, born Alfred Mathew Yankovic in Lynwood, was known for parodying popular songs. The 2003 Grammy winner for best comedy album was on tour and scheduled to perform in Appleton, Wis., last night, according to the North County Times.

[Kate]

That's so sad. :(

[Jersey Girl]

Thisis indeed sad. Everyone should have a carbon monoxide detector. If you don't have one, get one.

[FischerKing]

Extremely tragic - very sad news. :(

Here is a post from Al that he put up on his website:

A MESSAGE FROM AL

On April 9, my mom and dad, Nick and Mary Yankovic,
passed away in their home in Fallbrook, California. It
was the result of a terrible accident – that morning
they had started a fire in the fireplace with the flue
closed, and were asphyxiated by carbon monoxide
poisoning.

Suzanne called me that afternoon on the bus to give me
the news, so that I would hear about it before the
wire services picked it up.

Needless to say, I feel pretty much the way you would
expect me to feel – shocked and devastated beyond
words. I loved my parents so much, and this all still
seems like a horrible nightmare that I can’t wake up
from.

I want to thank my family, friends and fans for the
incredible outpouring of love and support that they’ve
shown me. It’s wonderful to know that there are so
many people around the world who truly loved my
parents, and also nice to know that I am not alone in
my grief.

I take some small measure of comfort in knowing that
they died peacefully, and that they never had to
suffer through the pain and loneliness of living
without each other. I'm also grateful that they both
lived long enough to see me happily married to
Suzanne, and particularly happy that they got to meet
our beautiful baby daughter Nina. She filled their
lives with so much joy this last year. Nina may be too
young to remember playing with her grandparents when
she gets older, but don’t worry, we’ll have some great
videotape to show her.

Many people have wondered what’s going to happen with
the tour. I briefly considered canceling some shows,
but I ultimately decided that it would be better for
me personally to continue working. Plus, I’ve heard
from so many people over the years that my music has
cheered them up in times of tragedy… well, I thought
maybe my music would help me too.

So far, it has. Going up on stage in front of
thousands of supportive fans is a cathartic and
somewhat therapeutic experience for me right now. I
don’t know if I can say that the concerts really take
my mind off of the tragedy, but at least they give me
a break from sobbing all the time.

Anyway, I have decided not to cancel any shows – the
tour will continue as planned. However, I have decided
to put a moratorium on all interviews and
meet-and-greets for the time being – I just feel like
I need some time alone right now.

The funeral will be a very small, intimate service
with only the immediate family attending, so please, I
ask that you respect our privacy. Just knowing that
your thoughts are with us at this time is more than
enough, but if you care to contribute anything, in
lieu of flowers, Suzanne and I suggest a donation to
the Natural Resources Defense Council in my parents’
name.

One thing I would like to ask everybody to do, though…
please, go out and get carbon monoxide detectors for
yourself and your loved ones. If my parents had had
one in their home, there’s a very good chance that
they would still be with us today.

In fairness to the memory of my mother, I should point
out some errors that appeared in the press. Although
she was starting to have a problem with short-term
memory loss (she was taking medication for it), my
mother was never diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

As long as I’m pointing out errors that the press has
made, it was my Aunt Dot who found my parents when she
was bringing them lunch that day, as she routinely did
(and not a group of relatives concerned that they
“hadn’t heard from them in a while” – the family was
close and caring and saw each other several times a
day). Also, my aunts and uncles all live in separate
houses (not together, as some articles implied), and
for what it’s worth, I am not represented by the
William Morris Agency either.

I don’t know how much else I can say about my parents
that I haven’t already said in interviews over the
years. Although I always found it a little
uncomfortable, my dad talked a lot about death. He
mentioned a few times that he was planning to go on a
diet so that his “casket would be easier to carry.” I
guess that’s where I got my sick sense of humor from.
And he was always talking about how much he was
looking forward to seeing his old army buddies again
(in the next life). I sure hope they’re having a great
reunion right now.

As unthinkable as this tragedy is to me, I just know
that my mom and dad were very much at peace with the
world and with their lives. And I guess I can take a
small amount of comfort in that too.

Thank you all again for your overwhelming kindness and
support. It means more to me than you can ever know.

Love,
Al

Shawn

[SunCardfan]

:(

[Jersey Girl]

R&B Artist John Whitehead Shot Dead

Wed May 12, 8:11 AM ET Add Top Stories - AP to My Yahoo!

PHILADELPHIA - John Whitehead, a prominent R&B artist best known for the 1979 hit song "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now," was shot dead Tuesday, police said.

Whitehead, 55, and another man were working on a vehicle when they were shot by two gunmen, police said. The assailants fled.

Whitehead was shot in the neck and collapsed. Ohmed Johnson, who was shot in the buttocks, was in good condition early Wednesday, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Police said the gunmen fired a series of bullets; a young neighborhood girl said she heard about a dozen shots.

"Why did they do this to my dad?" Dawn Whitehead, 33, asked at the scene. "I just talked to him yesterday ... He was a fun person. Who would want to kill him?"

Police had no immediate suspects or motive.

Gene McFadden, who was Whitehead's partner in the singing group McFadden & Whitehead, went to the scene in the city's West Oak Lane neighborhood and stood there trembling, WPVI-TV reported.

The two men formed a group called the Epsilons in their youth and were discovered by Otis Redding (news), touring with the legendary performer in the 1960s, according to their Web site.

The duo wrote several hit songs performed by others in the 1970s, including "Back Stabbers," "For the Love of Money," "I'll Always Love My Mamma," "Bad Luck," "Wake Up Everybody," "Where Are All My Friends," "The More I Want," and "Cold, Cold World."

"Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" went to No. 1 on the R&B chart and reached No. 13 on the pop chart. The song became an unofficial anthem for the Phillies as they charged to a World Series (news - web sites) championship in 1980 and the Eagles as they reached the Super Bowl in 1981.


Dudes, I totally remember that song playing when the Phillies won the championship. On a side note, if you are ever in Philly, do NOT go to the West Oak Lane section. People seem to get shot there all the time.

[Cardinal Bob]

John Whitehead was a really talented guy. Anyone who listens to Philly soul music from the late-60s through the 70s - Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, The O'Jay's, Lou Rawls, Billy Paul, Teddy Pendergass, Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff produced stuff - like I do (thanks to an older brother who love that music back in the day) will recognize his name, and the titles fo the songs they list in that story.

He will be missed, but his legacy will live on for long, long time.

[FischerKing]

Wow - what a legend - he'll be missed... :(

Story (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=501&e=4&u=/ap/20040610/ap_on_en_mu/obit_charles)

Shawn

[jf-08]

he was a true icon.

[Rivercard]

Wow - what a legend - he'll be missed... :(


I guess he never saw it coming...... :O

[Chandler Mike]

I guess he never saw it coming...... :O

Gawd, that's horrible, but really funny at the same time :)

Sad day for sure, a legend is gone...

Hopefully this isn't one of those times when famous people dying comes in groups of threes...

Mike

[FischerKing]

Gawd, that's horrible, but really funny at the same time :)

Sad day for sure, a legend is gone...

Hopefully this isn't one of those times when famous people dying comes in groups of threes...

Mike

Reagan, Charles...BIM? :O

Shawn

[Brian in Mesa]

:cool: RIP :cool:

[azdad1978]

RIP Charles

[CardLogic]

Ray Charles - "the Genius!" :cool:

RIP

[KLL]

This is a complete shock since there wasnt any news of his health deteriorating.....

What can be said about Ray Charles? He certainly was a musical prodigy whose legacy will last for eternity through his masterfully done songs....

What I enjoy about his music is that he was extremely verstatile with how he covered almost every genre throughout his career without compromising his sound whatsoever (especially that distinct voice of his).... He was probably one of the "Founding Fathers" of "Rock-n-Roll"....Definitely one of the true legends of Soul and whenever he did the Blues, Jazz, or Country music.. he was still as impacting....

My personal favorite songs by Ray Charles are "I Got A Woman", "Hallelujah I Love Her So," his remake of The Beatles "Yesterday", but of course to me personally the best song he ever recorded was "What'd I Say." It's overwhelming how that song was recorded in 1959 because he was way ahead of its time (especially with that perfectly crafted introduction)....Also.. who could possibly forget his Pepsi ads from the late 80s-early 90s? "You got the right one baby!" "Uh-huh!"

Yes, Ray Charles physically died today, but his heart, soul, and music will last forever.....

[Brian in Mesa]

Gary Allan's Wife Dies of Self-Inflicted Gunshot (http://www.cmt.com/news/articles/1492995/20041025/allan_gary.jhtml?headlines=true)

Gary Allan's wife, Angela Herzberg, died early Monday morning (Oct. 25) of a self-inflicted gunshot, his record label confirms.

No other official details are immediately available, but the shooting reportedly occurred in the Nashville suburb of Hendersonville, Tenn. Allan and Herzberg, 36, have six children and moved to Tennessee from California in 2003.

Allan immediately cancelled a series of tour dates, including shows this week in Portland, Maine, Uncasville, Conn., and Burgettstown, Pa.

[Ryanwb]

I've never heard of this guy.... but that is sad. 6 kids????

[Brian in Mesa]

Gary Allan bio (http://www.garyallan.com/bio/index.html)

Gary Allan is Nashville’s best-kept secret. And maybe that’s because this, Orange County, California-born cowboy surfer who still makes his home in Huntington Beach, finds his frequent touring takes him far from Music Row.

The musical influences on See If I Care, his fifth album, also travel a great distance, but remain true to Gary’s roots. Gary’s love of country idols like Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, George Jones, Willie Nelson, Buck Owens and Lefty Frizzell are blended with an appreciate for fellow So Cal rockers like the Blasters, X and Jane’s Addiction to create his own unique style.

The aching torch ballad “Tough Little Boys,” could be Allan’s biggest hit yet. The single comes on the heels of his recent #1 hit, “Man To Man,” from 2001’s Gold-going-on-platinum Alright Guy, which also had a #3 smash in “The One.” He recently introduced “Tough Little Boys” into his live shows and was stunned by the instant response it evoked.

It’s a song that comes, like all of Allan’s best work, straight from the heart to his audience. “Kids can bring you to your knees no matter how tough you are,” says the veteran singer. “I don’t really like sappy songs, unless they’re done sincerely and honestly.”

The new album, produced by Allan with longtime collaborator Mark Wright (Lee Ann Womack, Brooks and Dunn), features many of the same musicians he’s played with previously, including keyboardist Steve Nathan, drummer Chad Cromwell, electric guitarists Brent Rowan and Michael Rhodes, acoustic guitarist John Willis, with Dan Dugmore and Robby Turner on steel.

The production leaves in the rough edges, especially on the raucous honky-tonk of guitarist Mike Henderson’s rowdy “Drinkin’ Dark Whiskey” and the south-of-the-border Tex-Mex accordion strains of “Guys Like Me.” Allan shows his gentler side on the plaintive, Roy Orbison-by-0way-of Chris Isaak blues of the Jamie O’Hara-penned “See If I Care,” and on Brice Long, Odie Blackmon and Byron Hill’s sensuous “Nothing On But The Radio,” with its sawing fiddle and weeping steel guitar.

”I believe that’s going to be a make-out song,” drawls Allan about the latter’s classic double-entendre title. “I can definitely hear that one on the radio,”

Other standouts include Pat McLaughlin’s “Songs About Rain,” a name-check of tunes like “Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again” and “Rainy Night In Georgia” that Allan sings in what he calls his “best Tom Petty imitation.” He co-wrote “You Don’t Know A Thing About Me” with Jamie O’Hara and Odie Blackmon, and it’s as close as you’ll get to a personal revelation from Allan. His moving, semi-autobiographical version of Jesse Winchester’s “A Showman’s Life” reminds you that this young veteran started performing in clubs with his father and older brother Greg when he was just 12, writing songs by the time he was 14 and turning down record contracts at 15.

”That song is so true,” he admits. “Just seeing the underbelly of show business - the other side of the curtain, so to speak. It killed me when I first heard it.”

From the very start of his career, being true to himself has brought Allan to the brink of stardom. His dad Harley “smoked, drank and played bars,” introducing him to the music of his icons. As a youngster Allan’s father took him to see artists like Merle Haggard, Ernest Tubb, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. He also spent time branding cattle on the family ranch in Lancaster. This is no rhinestone cowboy, folks. Gary Allan is the real deal.

After releasing a pair of albums on Decca (‘96’s Used Heart For Sale included the Top 10 country single, “Her Man” and ‘98’s It Would Be You), he signed to MCA Nashville for ‘99’s Smoke Rings In The Dark. The platinum album produced two hit singles in the title-track and “Right Where I Need To Be,” helping to establish Gary as a heartthrob with the likes of People and Country Weekly calling him “country music’s sexiest star.”

Now, it appears the stars are finally aligned for Allan. “I’m proud of this album,” he says. “I think we walk the line between commercial success and critical acclaim. It’s made our career start slower, but I think we’ll be around a lot longer. I feel like, in the past, with each record, something’s gone wrong. But with this album and the last one, it’s the first time I haven’t felt that. I think we’re going to get our best shot. Everything is coming together for us.”

See If I Care reveals Gary Allan as a sturdy traditionalist who’s not afraid to embrace the future, a man who unabashedly mixes country with rock. A “Tough Little Boy” who has grown into an impressive guy.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My Dad was/is a huge Country music fan, so I grew up in SoCal listening to a lot of the artists that influenced Gary Allan.

From what I've found online, Gary and his wife met and were wed in 2001, so most, if not all, of the kids are from previous relationships they each had.

I've heard Allan in a lot of interviews and he recently did a Pratt Private Reserve, where he came to Phoenix and sang live on the KMLE morning show with an audience of Dave Pratt and a select few listeners. He seems like a good 'ol country boy along the lines of a Merle Haggard.

[sly fly]

Wow. Sad to hear that. That's devastating news, especially with 6 kids involved.

... Gary Allan is one of my favorite country musicians.

[CQ]

Wow. Sad to hear that. That's devastating news, especially with 6 kids involved.

... Gary Allan is one of my favorite country musicians.
I can't imagine how he or the kids are feeling right now. He has some amazing talent. I'm glad he is taking some time off though. He's going to have a lot of things to work through emotionally.

[CQ]

I've never heard of this guy.... but that is sad. 6 kids????
Ryan, Gary Allan has an amazing voice. http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/allan_gary/artist.jhtml Go here and click on the link under videos called Tough Little Boys. This song is so true! Every daddy out there will relate to it, I'm sure!

[Brian in Mesa]

John Peel, Who Played New Rock on the BBC, Dies at 65
By BEN SISARIO
October 27, 2004

John Peel, a BBC radio disc jockey who was a champion of innovative and independent music for nearly four decades, died on Monday night in Cuzco, Peru. He was 65 and was a longtime resident of Great Finborough, England.

The BBC reported that he had a heart attack while on vacation with his wife, Sheila.

A broadcasting legend in Britain and perhaps the only British D.J. known by name to American rock fans, Mr. Peel had been on the BBC's Radio 1 since its inception in 1967 and had a reputation for playing cutting-edge music from around the world.

Though most American listeners could not hear his show until the advent of the Internet, fans were well familiar with the phenomenon of "Peel Sessions." From the first days of his program, Mr. Peel invited groups into the studio for live performances that were, by practical necessity, scrappy and unembellished.

The bands, chosen by Mr. Peel and his staff, were often unfamiliar to most listeners; many were on Mr. Peel's show even before they had recording contracts.

The sessions, which were sometimes live and sometimes taped in the weeks before a broadcast, were often circulated in bootleg recordings, and many were released commercially.

Over the years hundreds of bands recorded on Mr. Peel's show, from Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd to the Damned, Napalm Death, the Smiths, the Birthday Party, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins and the Pixies. More recently the guests included Clinic, Elastica, Mouse on Mars, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, the Make-Up, Cat Power and Neko Case.

He was an unabashed advocate for hungry new bands. When the Undertones, a British punk group, released their song "Teenage Kicks" in 1978, it did not reach the pop charts, but Mr. Peel played it relentlessly on his show and has long raved about the band as one of his favorites; after his death was announced yesterday, Radio 1 played "Teenage Kicks" in tribute.

Born John Ravenscroft in Heswall, near Liverpool, Mr. Peel began his radio career in the United States. He worked for a number of American stations in the early 60's, including WRR in Dallas, and when he returned to England in 1967 went to work for Radio London, a pirate station that broadcast from a ship outside British territorial waters. Later that year he was hired as one of the first D.J.'s on the BBC's new all-pop station, Radio 1.

His live studio performances began as a way to comply with broadcasting rules. A legal requirement of radio stations at the time, limited the amount of time that could be devoted to playing records; the Radio 1 crew met the requirement by bringing in new groups eager for radio play.

Mr. Peel was on Radio 1 three times a week, and since 1998 also had a program on Radio 4 called "Home Truths," about family life.

He was awarded an Order of the British Empire in 1998. Besides his wife, his survivors include four children.

Mr. Peel's show has remained a popular attraction for young bands seeking exposure and, more importantly, the imprimatur of a Peel Session. In an interview in 2002, Mr. Peel said he received more than 200 CD's a week, but he was modest about his influence as a tastemaker.

"You get a lot of credit for putting these bands on the radio, but the fact is that it's like being the editor of a newspaper - you don't claim credit for the news," he said.

"It's not up to me to discover them - bands discover themselves," he said. "They make the records; the records arrive. I think, 'Let's play it on the radio,' and when they come over here, I think, 'Let's book them for a session.' It's very little to do with me, to be honest."

[DevonCardsFan]

:( Mac Dre the famous Bay Rapper got killed in Kansas City






http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansa...10070292.htm?1c

Man dies after shots are fired into car on U.S. 71

By CHRISTINE VENDEL The Kansas City Star


A man died this morning after someone shot at the car he was riding in and the car crashed off U.S. 71.

The wreck occurred about 5:30 a.m. on the highway between 75th and 87th streets. The victim's name was not released, pending notification of relatives. It was unclear whether the victim died of injuries from the shooting or the wreck.

Police said the victim was believed to be a passenger in a northbound car when a second car pulled alongside and an occupant began shooting. The victim's car careened across a grassy highway median and then the southbound lanes before crashing down a steep embankment.

The driver apparently crawled out of the car and summoned help, police said. The victim was ejected.

Officers who investigate traffic fatalities responded to the crash, but they determined the death was not the result of an accident. They turned the case over to homicide investigators.

[Gee!]

Read about that awhile ago. Although it was only a rumor at that time. Not confirmed to be Mac Dre.

[DevonCardsFan]

Read about that awhile ago. Although it was only a rumor at that time. Not confirmed to be Mac Dre.

No this is not a rumor. He died 2 days ago. It's 100% true check out www.siccness.net, Go to the bart forum not a rumor. They talk to his family Mac Mall and a bunch of people about it. Thats Mac Dre' s board. He's dead.

[DevonCardsFan]

Heres a update

http://www.rapnewsdirect.com/News/2.../02/Mac.Dre.Up/

Police released a picture of a car that may have been used in the murder of California rap artist Andre Hicks, also known as Mac Dre.

The vehicle is a 2003 Infiniti G36. The car was found in the 5600 block of East 29th Street. The car had no license plates on it.


Investigators said that the car had evidence inside linking it to the shooting, but they declined to specify what that evidence was.

Mac Dre ( Hicks ) was a passenger in a van that was headed north on Highway 71 near 85th Street when someone in a car pulled up alongside the vehicle and opened fire. The driver of the van crossed over into the southbound lanes of the highway before crashing into a ravine.


Police said Hicks died from a bullet wound.


Hicks had performed at a concert in Kansas City, Kan., on Friday night and stayed in the area during the weekend.


Police ask anyone with information on who may have been driving the Infiniti to call the TIPS Hotline at (816) 474-TIPS.

[100%CardsFan]

That sucks. He is one of my favorites....Stupiddoodoodumb forever!! RIP Dre

[DevonCardsFan]

That sucks. He is one of my favorites....Stupiddoodoodumb forever!! RIP Dre


Just went to his concert a few months back, glad I went.

[Brian in Mesa]

Since the movie thread about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory took off so well, I thought I'd post a bit about it's author.

Roald Dahl (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/rdahl.htm)

British writer, famous for his ingenious short stories and macabre children's books. Dahl's taste for cruelty, rudeness to adults, and the comic grotesque fascinated young readers, but upset many adult critics. Several of Dahl's stories have been made into films, including Matilda, dir. by Danny DeVito (1996).

'Aunt Glosspan,' the boy said, ' what do ordinary people eat that we don't?'
'Animals,' she answered, tossing her head in disgust.
'You mean live animals?'
'No,' she said. 'Dead ones.' (from 'Pig' in Kiss, Kiss, 1959)

Roald Dahl was born in Llandaff, Wales, of Norwegian parents. His father, Harald Dahl, was the joint owner of a successful ship-broking business, "Aadnesen& Dahl" with another Norwegian. Before emigrating to Wales, Harald had been a farmer near Oslo. He married a young French girl named Marie in Paris; she died after giving birth to their second child. In 1911 he married Sofie Magdalene Hesselberg. Harald died when Dahl was four years old, and three weeks later his elder sister, Astri, died from appendicitis. The family had to sell their jewellery to pay for Dahl's upkeep at Repton, a private school in Derbyshire. His years at public schools in Wales and England Dahl later described without nostalgia: "I was appalled by the fact that masters and senior boys were allowed literally to wound other boys, and sometimes quite severely. I couldn't get over it. I never got over it..." (from Boy: Tales of Childhood, 1984) Dahl especially hated the matron who ruled the school dormitories. These experiences later inspired him to write stories in which children fight against cruel adults and authorities. "I have never met anybody who so persistently writes words meaning the exact opposite of what is intended," one of Dahl's English teachers commented.

"Parents and schoolteachers are the enemy," Dahl once said. "The adult is the enemy of the child because of the awful process of civilizing this thing that when it is born is an animal with no manners, no moral sense at all." In WITCHES (1973) behind the mask of a beautiful woman is an ugly witch, and in MATILDA (1988) Miss Turnbull throws children out of windows. Both parents are eaten in JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH (1961), but the real enemies of the hero of the story, a little boy, are two aunts.

At eighteen, instead of entering university, Dahl joined an expedition to Newfoundland. Returning to England he took a job with Shell, working in London (1933-37) and in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (1937-39). During World War II he served in the Royal Air Forces in Libya, Greece, and Syria. He was shot down in Libya, wounded in Syria, and then posted to Washington as an assistant air attaché to British Security (1942-43). In 1943 he was a wing commander and worked until 1945 for British Security Co-ordination in North America.

In the crash Dahl had fractured his skull, and said later: "You do get bits of magic from enormous bumps on the head." While he was recovering from his wounds, Dahl had strange dreams, which inspired his first short stories. Encouraged by C.S. Forester, Dahl wrote about his most exiting RAF adventures. The story, A Piece of Cake, was published by the Saturday Evening Post. It earned him $1,000. The same story was later included in OVER TO YOU: THE STORIES OF FLYERS AND FLYING (1946). Dahl's first children's book, THE GREMLINS (1943), about mischievous little creatures, was written for Walt Disney and became later a popular movie. His collection of short stories, SOMEONE LIKE YOU (1954), gained world success, as did its sequel, KISS KISS (1959). The two books were serialized for television in America. A number of the stories had appeared in the New Yorker. Dahl's stories were seen in Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955-61) and in the Tales of the Unexpected (1979) series.

In 1953 Dahl married the successful and wealthy actress Patricia Neal; they had one son and four daughters - the eldest daughter Olivia died of measles when she was eight. Dahl's wife suffered a series of brain hemorrhages at the age of 38; while pregnant with their fifth child she had a stroke. She described her recovery and her husband's solicitous help in the autobiography As I Am (1988). The marriage ended in 1983 after other family tragedies, and Dahl married Felicity Ann Crossland.

The only stageplay Dahl ever wrote, THE HONEYS, failed in New York in 1955. After showing little inclination towards children's literature, Dahl published JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH (1961). It was first published in the United States, but it took six years before Dahl found a published in Britain. James and the Giant Peach was followed by the highly popular tale CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (1964), filmed in 1971. The story dealt with one small boy's search for the ultimate prize in fierce competition with other, highly unpleasant children, many of whom come to sticky ends as a result of their greediness. It presented the central theme in Dahl's fiction for young readers: virtue is rewarded, vice is punished. In the end the fabulous chocolate factory is given to Charlie, the kind, impoverished boy. THE WITCHES (1983) won the Whitbread Children's Book Award in 1983. The judges described the book as "deliciously disgusting". Later Felicity Dahl collected her husband's culinary "delights", such as "Bird Pie", "Hot Frogs", and "Lickable Wallpaper" in Roald Dahl's Revolting Recipes (1994).

MY UNCLE OSWALD (1979) was Dahl's first full-length novel, a bizarre story of a scheme for procuring and selling the sperm of the world's most powerful and brilliant men. Dahl received three Edgar Allan Poe Awards (1954, 1959, 1980). In 1982 he won his first literary prize with THE BFG, a story about Big Friendly Giant, who kidnaps and takes a little girl to Giantland, where giants eat children. In 1983 he received World Fantasy Convention Lifetime Achievement award. Dahl died of an infection on November 23, 1990, in Oxford. Dahl's autobiographical books, BOY: TALES OF CHILDHOOD and GOING SOLO, appeared in 1984 and 1986 respectively. The success of his books resulted in the foundation of the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery in Aylesbury, not far from where he lived.

"Good ghost stories, like good children's books, are damnably difficult to write. I am a short story writer myself, and although I have been doing it for forty-five years and have always longed to write just one decent ghost story, I have never succeeded in bringing it off. Heaven knows, I have tried. Once I thought I had done it. It was with a story that is now called 'The Landlady'. But when it was finished and I examined it carefully, I knew it wasn't good enough. I hadn't brought it off. I simply hadn't got the secret. So finally I altered the ending and made it into a non-ghost story." (from Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories, 1983)

Dahl's stories have unexpected endings and strange, menacing atmospheres. The principle of "fair play" works in unconventional but unavoidable ways. Uncle Oswald, a seducer from 'The Visitor', gets seduced. In 'Parson's Pleasure' an antique dealer tastes his own medicine and the Twits from THE TWITS (1980) use glue to catch birds and meet their own gluey ends. In 'Lamb to the Slaughter' the evidence of a murder, a frozen leg of lamb, is eaten by officers who in vain search for the murder weapon. The story was inspired by a meeting with the writer Ian Fleming at a dinner party. Puns, word coinages, and neologism are more often used in the children's stories, whereas in adult fiction the emphasis is on imaginative plots. In addition to his children's books, Dahl also aroused much controversy with his politically incorrect opinions - he was accused of anti-Semitism and antifeminism and when a prowler managed to get into Queen Elizabeth's bedroom, Dahl was wrongly suspected of giving to the unwanted guest the idea in one of his books, The BFG (1982).

For further reading: Roald Dahl by Chris Dowling (1983); Roald Dahl by Alan Warren (1988); Roald Dahl: A Biography by Jeremy Treglown (1994); St James Guide to Young Adult Writers, ed. by Tom Pendergast and Sara Pendergast (1999); Beatrix Potter to Harry Potter: Portraits of children's writers by Julia Eccleshare (2002)

Selected works:

THE GREMLINS, 1943 - originally written for Walt Disney. The Gremlins movies uses the name but are unrelated: first 1984, dir. by Joe Dante; the second 1990, Grewmlins 2. dir. by Joe Dante. - One episode of The Twilight Zone Movie (1983), scripted by Richard Matheson was based on the idea
OVER TO YOU, 1945
SOMETIME NEVER, 1948
SOMEONE LIKE YOU, 1953, rev. 1961 - Joku kaltaisesi
THE HONEYS, 1955 (play, prod. in New York)
KISS, KISS, 1959
JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH, 1961 - animation film 1996
CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, 1964 - film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory in 1971 - Jali ja suklaatehdas
THE MAGIC FINGER, 1966
YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, 1967 (screenplay based on Ian Fleming's novel, with Harry Jack Bloom)
CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG, 1968 (screenplay based on Ian Fleming's children's book, with Ken Hughes)
TWENTY-NINE KISSES FROM ROALD DAHL, 1969
FANTASTIC MR. FOX, 1970
FANTASTIC MR. FOX, 1970 - Kekseliäs kettu
SELECTED STORIES, 1970
THE NIGHT-DIGGER, 1970 (screenplay)
THE LIGHTNING BUG, 1971 (screenlay)
WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, 1971 (screenplay)
CHARLIE AND THE GREAT GLASS ELEVATOR, 1972
PENGUIN MODERN STORIES 12, 1972 (with others)
THE WITCHES, 1973 - film The Witches, 1989
SWITCH BITCH, 1975 - Alahuuli
DANNY, THE CHAMPION OF THE WORLD, 1975 - film 1989
THE WONDERFUL STORY OF HENRY THE SUGAR AND SIX MORE, 1977
CHARLIE AND THE GREAT GLASS ELEVATOR, 1978
THE COMPLETE ADVENTURES OF CHARLIE AND MR WILLY WONKA, 1978
THE ENORMOUS CROCODILE, 1978 - Suunnattoman suuri krokotiili
THE BEST OF ROALD DAHL, 1978
TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED, 1979
TASTE AND OTHER TALES, 1979
MY ONCLE OSWALD, 1979 - Oswald-eno
THE TWITS, 1980
GEORGE'S MARVELOUS MEDICINE, 1980
MORE TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED, 1980 - television movie, 1979
THE WAY UP TO HEAVEN AND OTHER STORIES, 1980
A ROALD DAHL SELECTION, 1980
THE BFG, 1982 - Iso kiltti jätti
ROALD DAHL'S REVOLTING RHYMES, 1982
MATILDA, 1982 - suom.
ROALD DAHL'S BOOK OF GHOST STORIES, 1983
TWO FABLES, 1983
DIRTY BEASTS, 1983
RHYME STEW, 1983
THE WITCHES, 1983
BOY: TALES OF CHILDHOOD, 1984
THE GIRAFFE AND THE PELLY AND ME, 1985
TWO FABLES, 1986
GOING SOLO, 1986
THE SECOND ROALD DAHL SELECTION, 1987
MATILDA, 1988 - film Road Dahl's Matilda, 1996, dir. by Danny deVito
RHYME STEW, 1989
AH, SWEET MYSTERY OF LIFE, 1989
ROALD DAHL: CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, CHARLIE AND THE GREAT GLASS ELEVATOR, THE BFG, 1989
ESIO TROT, 1990
THE MINIPINS, 1991
THE VICAR OF NIBBLESWICK, 1991
MEMORIES WITH FOOD AT GIPSY HOUSE, 1991 (with F. Dahl)
THE COLLECTED SHORT STORIES, 1991
THE DAHL DIARY, 1992, 1991
THE DAHL COLLECTION OF NURSERY VERSE, 1992 (ed.)
MY YEAR, 1993

[Kate]

He was one of my favorite authors growing up...

[Gee!]

http://www.allhiphop.com/CelebImagesTWO/macdre.gif
Police Say Rap War Could Be Brewing In The Mid-West
By Nolan Strong
Date: 11/10/2004 11:30 am


Over a thousand fans, friends and family members of Andre “Mac Dre” Hicks gathered to bid the rapper farewell yesterday (November 9th) in California.

The rapper’s music blared from vehicles of the Fairfield church the parking lot, while viewers looked at Mac Dre’s body, which was covered with a plastic shield to prevent people from touching the body.

Meanwhile, police continue to investigate Mac Dre’s shooting, which happened early in the morning of November 1st in Kansas City, Missouri.

Police have met a stone wall of silence from associates of Mac Dre and fear that a rap war or some sort of retaliation is being planned.

Kansas City Police Department detectives said they were monitoring Hip-Hop websites, seeking clues. Detectives said the websites revealed that “California was planning to retaliate.”

One lead they are pursuing is that a rapper named Fat Tone was involved in the murder of Hicks, but said they had nothing to substantiate the lead.

Sources told AllHipHop.com that police believe Fat Tone may have thought Mac Dre was involved in an altercation earlier this month.

In that incident, Fat Tone allegedly was leaving a Kansas City nightclub and was shot at. He was not injured.

In March, Ramone C. Davis, 31, of San Diego was shot to death in Kansas City as well. Police said a man tried to rob Davis of 10 pounds of marijuana. A 27-year-old Kansas City man was charged in that case.

[Brian in Mesa]

Creator of DC Comics Superhero 'The Flash,' Dies

BOCA RATON, FL (AP) -- The illustrator who created the D-C Comics superhero "The Flash" has died.

Harry Lampert began drawing professionally at 16, inking cartoons in New York for characters such as Popeye and Betty Boop.

Six years later he created the D-C Comics original "Flash Comics number one" in 1940.

His family says he had no idea how popular it would become.

Lampert received a steady stream of fan mail and requests for his early 'Flash' drawings. His daughter says he was redrawing "The Flash" and selling it to people almost until his death.

The family says his favorite illustrations were gag cartoons, which appeared in publications including Time, Esquire and The New York Times.

They say Lampert suffered from brain cancer.
He was 88 years old.

[TastyNugget]

Yea, I loved his stuff, still do actually. Glad he lived!

[Brian in Mesa]

Legendary Guitarist Hank Garland Dies

By RON WORD, Associated Press Writer

ORANGE PARK, Fla. - Legendary country, rock and jazz guitarist Hank Garland, who performed with Elvis Presley, the Everly Brothers, Roy Orbison, Patsy Cline, Charlie Parker and many others, has died at the age of 74.

Garland died of a staph infection Monday at Orange Park Medical Center, said his brother, Billy Garland.

In the 1950s and '60s, Walter "Hank" Garland was the talk of Nashville, known for musical riffs that could take a recording from humdrum to dazzling, as he did on Elvis hits like "Little Sister" and "Big Hunk of Love."

He had his first million-selling hit at 19 with "Sugar Foot Rag," a famous country tune.

"He is heralded as a quintessential Nashville studio guitarist," musician Wolf Marshall said in an e-mail interview earlier this year.

In addition to performing with Elvis and other stars in Nashville, Garland was at the forefront of the rock 'n' roll movement, enjoyed a prestigious career as a country virtuoso, pioneered the electric guitar at the Grand Ole Opry and inspired jazz instrumentalists such as George Benson. He jammed in New York City with George Shearing and jazz great Charlie Parker.

His detailed session logbook reads like a "Who's Who" of the stars of country music, including Brenda Lee, Mel Tillis, Marty Robbins, Boots Randolph, Conway Twitty, Hank Williams Sr.

Garland worked with Elvis from 1957 to 1961, and was playing on the soundtrack for his movie "Follow That Dream" in 1961 when a car crash put him in a coma for months.

The crash injuries and a series of 100 shock treatments administered at a Nashville hospital left him a shadow of his former self. He had to relearn everything from walking and talking to playing the guitar.

Billy Garland claims the crash was no accident, that it was an attempted killing by someone in the Nashville record scene.

Garland spent the final years of his life fighting ill health, trying to pry royalties out of record companies and talking with Hollywood about a movie based on his life.

Garland started playing guitar at age 6 and appeared on radio shows at age 12. He was discovered at the age of 14 at a South Carolina music store where he had gone to buy a guitar string.

He soon would set Nashville on fire.

"He was born with talent," said Billy Garland. "A God-given talent."

Hank Garland (http://www.hankgarland.com)

[Kate]

I'm sorry if this is a stupid question but is there any relation to Judy Garland?

[Brian in Mesa]

Comic legend Will Eisner died Monday evening, due to complications from heart surgery performed on December 22nd. Eisner had undergone quadruple bypass surgery, and was last reported to be recovering well.

Eisner was 87 years old, and was still actively working. His latest graphic novel, The Plot is due to be released later this year by W.W. Norton.

----------------------------------------

Bob Andleman, author of the upcoming Eisner biography, Will Eisner: A Spirited Life has written the following obituary via the Will Eisner: A SPirited Life eNewsletter:

Legendary comics and graphic novel artist and writer Will Eisner died last night, Monday, January 3, 2005, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at the age of 87, following complications from quadruple heart bypass surgery.

Will Eisner didn't create Superman, Batman, Spider-Man or even Archie and Jughead. Some comic book fans may scratch their heads when asked to describe his work. But every artist and writer in comic books, as well as graphic artists across the entire spectrum of modern illustration, television and film, owes a debt to him.

In 1941, Eisner created a goofball detective named Denny Colt who died (not really) and was reborn as "The Spirit," the cemetery-dwelling protector of the public - and pretty girls in particular. The Spirit possessed no superpowers. He couldn't see through his girlfriend's clothing the way a curious alien like the Man of Steel might scientifically investigate Lois Lane. And he wasn't a brilliant technologist like Batman, imagineering hokey gadgets and psychedelic compounds for all-night parties with the Joker.

The Spirit broke so many molds:

- Eisner was the strip's artist and writer, a feat that is still rare today.

- The Spirit was published and distributed as an insert in Sunday newspapers, ala Parade magazine. It was seen weekly by as many as 5-million people from 1941 to 1952.

- No two Spirit sections looked alike. Although most commercial operations - from Superman to Pepsi-Cola - spend millions of dollars testing, proving and marketing their logos, Eisner thought it was more challenging to change The Spirit's masthead every week - for 12 years.

- The Spirit was a fun, mature read, aimed at adults but accessible to kids.

For all of these reasons, The Spirit was published and reissued in various forms almost uninterrupted for 60 years. Its look, feel and smartass humor is timeless, which accounts for the countless revivals.

Eisner, who went to high school with "Batman" creator Bob Kane, provided first jobs in the comics business to everyone from Jack Kirby (co-creator of "Captain America" and the "Fantastic Four") to Pulitzer-winning writer and artist Jules Feiffer.

If not for Eisner's influence, Pulitzer Prize winner Art Spiegelman might never have published his graphic novel Maus: A Survivor's Tale (Eisner is credited with popularizing - if not inventing - the medium of the graphic novel with the 1978 publication of his graphic story collection, A Contract With God) and fellow Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay would have been missing quite a few Eisner-inspired tales.

For comic book professionals, the highest honor in the industry is either an Eisner Award, named for Eisner and given out every summer at Comic-Con International in San Diego, or a Harvey Award, named for Eisner's late friend Harvey Kurtzman, the creator of Mad magazine and Playboy's "Little Annie Fanny," given every April in Pittsburgh. Kurtzman, who discovered talents as diverse as R. Crumb and Gloria Steinem, passed away in 1993, making Eisner the last man standing.

Literally.

At every Eisner Awards ceremony, each recipient was handed his or her award by the man himself.

Several years ago, a big red velvet chair was put on stage for Eisner. The Eisner Awards promoters said, "Come on, Will, you shouldn't have to stand up all this time; here, have a seat." Eisner sat on it briefly, got a laugh out of it, but then he stood up again, and stayed on his feet the rest of the night. Eisner demonstrated his strength of character and enduring physical wherewithal by standing on stage throughout the entire presentation, shaking hands and personally congratulating the winners. Because there is a different presenter for each award, no one else stood for as long as Eisner.

That's why, when Eisner handed the 2002 Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story (Amazing Spider-Man #30-35: "Coming Home") to writer J. Michael Straczynski and artists John Romita Jr. and Scott Hanna, Straczynski thrust the award in the air and remarked, "You know, you get the Emmy, you don't get it from ' Emmy.' You win the Oscar, you don't get it from 'Oscar. 'How freakin' cool is this?"

Published in November 2004, DC Comics' The Will Eisner Companion is the first comprehensive, critical overview of the work of this legendary writer/artist. Divided into two sections - his Spirit work and his graphic novels - this authorized companion features all-new critical and historical essays by noted comics historians N.C. Christopher Couch and Stephen Weiner, as well as alphabetical indexes relating to all aspects and characters in his oeuvre. Also includes a chronology, a bibliography and suggested reading lists, as well as an introduction by Dennis O'Neil.

A new generation of comics fans learned about the man in the 1970s when underground comix publisher Denis Kitchen began reprinting "The Spirit" stories and eventually produced new stories of the character by top comic book talent including Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons and Neil Gaiman. Kitchen became one of Eisner's closest friends and confidants, as well as his personal representative and literary agent (with Judith Hansen).

More recently, "John Law," a 56-year- old Will Eisner character, was given fresh life and adventures in 2002 by Australian artist and writer Gary Chaloner as an online comic book hero at ModernTales.com. In December 2004, Law returned to print in IDW Publishing's "Will Eisner's John Law" hardcover trade paperback. These stories were the first original John Law adventures published since Eisner worked on the character in 1948. This edition includes both new material and classic John Law tales by Eisner himself.

And Eisner's final - and likely most controversial - graphic novel, The Plot, finished last summer, will be published this spring by W.W. Norton.

Will Eisner was the wizard behind the curtain, except in his case, the magic was real.

There will be no funeral service, per Will's wishes. "Will and I hated funerals," his wife, Ann, said the morning after his death." We made plans long ago to avoid having them ourselves." He will be buried next to his late daughter, Alice, who died in 1969. Surviving Will are his wife, Ann, and his son, John.

Cards may be sent to:

Will Eisner Studios
8333 W. McNab Road
Tamarac, FL 33321

Unofficially, in lieu of flowers, you might consider a donation in Will's name to the American Cancer Society - his daughter died of cancer - or the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, which Will was known to have supported.

[Brian in Mesa]

Frank Kelly Freas
Source: Blog of Death

Frank Kelly Freas, an award-winning illustrator, died on Jan. 2. Cause of death was not released. He was 82.

Freas was born in New York, but raised in Canada. He conducted photo reconnaissance for the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II and drew pinup girls on the noses of bombers. After the war, he worked at an advertising agency and attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh.

In 1950, a friend encouraged Freas to submit a class assignment to Weird Tales magazine. When the editor, Dorothy McIlwraith, used the illustration of Pan dancing in the moonlight for her November cover, his career as a science fiction/fantasy artist took off.

Each assignment involved a process of studying, dreaming, drawing and painting. Freas would read each story assignment three times -- once as a reader, once with a sketchpad and once to add specific details. A die-hard science fiction fan as well, he knew the genre well enough to incorporate background concepts and imaginative speculation within his illustrations.

For nearly half a century, Freas painted covers for Astounding Science Fiction Magazine and Analog Science Fiction and Fact. He illustrated stories by legends in the field, including Poul Anderson, Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Heinlein, Ursula K. LeGuin, Frederik Pohl and A.E. Van Vogt. The prolific artist painted 58 covers for Laser Books and 90 for Ace, and drew MAD Magazine covers from 1958 to 1962.

He wrote and illustrated the books "The Astounding Fifties: A Selection From Astounding Science Fiction Magazine," "Frank Kelly Freas: The Art of Science Fiction," "Frank Kelly Freas: A Separate Star" and "Frank Kelly Freas: As He Sees It."

Outside of the genre, Freas drew over 500 portraits for the "Franciscan Book of Saints," and illustrated the cover of the Queen album, "News of the World." An official NASA mission artist, Freas also designed the crew patch for the Skylab I astronauts. His inspiring space exploration posters hang in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.

Freas received numerous honors, including 10 Hugo Awards, three Chesley Awards, five Locus Poll Awards, a Skylark Award and a Retro Hugo. In 2000, Freas was elected a fellow of the International Association of Astronomical Artists. He is survived by his wife Laura Brodian Freas, an artist and the host of a Los Angeles classical music program, two children and six grandchildren.

http://www.geocities.com/scifiart/images/AstoundingSept54.jpg

[Brian in Mesa]

Danny Sugerman

Danny Sugerman was 12 years old when he attended his first Doors concert and became the group's biggest fan.

A year later, the teenager was hired by The Doors' charismatic lead singer Jim Morrison to answer fan mail and put together a scrapbook about the rock band. Once accepted into the inner circle, Sugerman joined his idols in experiencing the rock 'n' roll lifestyle of the 1960s.

When Morrison died in 1971, Sugerman served as the manager for Doors' guitarist Robby Krieger, keyboardist Ray Manzarek and drummer John Densmore. He co-wrote the band's biography, "No One Here Gets Out Alive," with music journalist Jerry Hopkins, and worked as a technical advisor on the 1991 Oliver Stone film, "The Doors," starring Val Kilmer.

The Los Angeles native later recounted his struggles with heroin addiction in the 1991 autobiography "Wonderland Avenue: Tales of Glamour and Excess." He also wrote two Doors-related compilations and a book about the heavy metal band Guns N' Roses.

Known for recording the songs "Light My Fire" and "Riders on the Storm," The Doors regrouped in 2002. Featuring Manzarek, Krieger and former The Cult singer Ian Astbury, the band is now called The Doors of the 21st Century.

Sugerman died on Jan. 5 of lung cancer at the age of 50. He is survived by his wife, Fawn Hall Sugerman, who testified against her former boss Oliver North during the Iran-Contra scandal.

------------------------------------

"No One Here Gets Out Alive" - good book, I let my aunt borrow it and haven't seen it since. :O

[KLL]

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/6872081/stevewinwood?pageid=rs.Home&pageregion=single1

Traffic's Capaldi Dies

Drummer and Hall of Famer loses battle with cancer


Drummer Jim Capaldi, who co-founded the late-Sixties psychedelic blues band Traffic with then eighteen-year-old Steve Winwood, died early today of stomach cancer at a London hospital. He was sixty years old.

Born in England to Italian immigrants, Capaldi lived and made music with friends Winwood, Dave Mason and Chris Wood in a cottage in the Berkshire countryside. The crew of multi-instrumentalists and songwriters scored U.K. hits with songs such as "Dear Mr. Fantasy," "Paper Sun" and "40,000 Headmen," releasing eleven albums before breaking up in 1974.

Capaldi went on to record eleven solo records with his own band, the Contenders, while Winwood achieved chart-topping success with his own solo career in the Eighties. In 1994, the two reunited to tour extensively as Traffic, appearing at the revived Woodstock festival. (Of the other original band members, Wood had died of pneumonia in 1983, and guitarist Dave Mason has had a tempestuous relationship with Winwood over the years.)

Traffic were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last March, five months before Capaldi was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Winwood and Capaldi had been set to launch another Traffic tour last October but were forced to cancel in August w[quote[hen Capaldi began treatment for a severe gastric ulcer.

Capaldi is survived by his wife Aninha and his daughters Tabitha, 28, and Tallulah, 26.


ALEX MAR
(Posted Jan 28, 2005)

Traffic has to be one of the most underrated bands in "rock" history...Capaldi definitely deserves more recognition/credit than he has received for being one of the most steady drummers of his era.....

Also, who could possibly forget his lead vocal contributions on "Rock & Roll Stew" (http://a420.v8383d.c8383.g.vm.akamaistream.net/7/420/8383/3b858b51/mtvrdstr.download.akamai.com/8512/wmp/5/767/5693_1_3_05.asf) from Traffic's 1971 release, "Low Spark of High Heeled Boys"?

My condolences to his family...His contributions to music will always be rembered and last to eternity.....

[KLL]

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/21thomp.html

Author Hunter S. Thompson commits suicide

February 20, 2005

BY ASSOCIATED PRESS

ASPEN, Colo. -- Hunter S. Thompson, the acerbic counterculture writer who popularized a new form of fictional journalism in books like "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," fatally shot himself Sunday night at his home, his son said. He was 67.

"Hunter prized his privacy and we ask that his friends and admirers respect that privacy as well as that of his family," Juan Thompson said in a statement released to the Aspen Daily News.

Pitkin County Sheriff Bob Braudis, a personal friend of Thompson, confirmed the death to the News. Sheriff's officials did not return calls to The Associated Press late Sunday.

Juan Thompson found his father's body. Thompson's wife, Anita, was not home at the time.

Besides the 1972 drug-hazed classic about Thompson's time in Las Vegas, he is credited with pioneering New Journalism-- or "gonzo journalism"-- in which the writer made himself an essential component of the story.

An acute observer of the decadence and depravity in American life, Thompson wrote such books as "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail" in 1973 and the collections "Generation of Swine" and "Songs of the Doomed." His first ever novel, "The Rum Diary," written in 1959, was first published in 1998.

Other books include "Hell's Angels" and "The Proud Highway." His most recent effort was "Hey Rube: Blood Sport, the Bush Doctrine, and The Downward Spiral of Dumbness."

Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

[Pariah]

Wow.

My old boss had an episode/encounter with Thompson. He (my old boss) used to be EIC of Soldier of Fortune or some such nut magazine/. They used to have a ball every year and invite Thompson to it. Every year they would't get so much as a "no thanks." One year out of the blue he accepts. My boss is invited later out to Thompson's spread in Aspen to fire soem of the demo rifles the magaine gets. Thompson is high as akite on something, and suggests they shoot his jeep. So, they do. It blows up and Thompson flips out--accusing my boss and his buddy of coming to kill him.

I guess it's written up in one of his books. Something about pigs...I can't remember the title right now.

Anyway, strange dude. I'm sorry he was sad enough to kill himself.

[KingofCards]

I just bought his book ":Hey Rube" on Friday.


I am seriously bad luck.

[RugbyMuffin]

The last free man in america just died
:(

[vince56]

Seriously, who didn't see this coming a mile away?

Talented? Yes, very. Disturbed? Definitely.

[Mulli]

The last free man in america just died
:(

Excellent point. But we have to remember the guy lived on borrowed time a long time. Remember when Laslow had that adrenal gland.........

[Pariah]

The last free man in america just died
:(pfft. I don't know about that. Thompson was a writer, and a real character, but I don't think he ought to be made out to be a hero or a martyr.

[Rivercard]

Thompson probably planned suicide
Remains may be blasted out of a cannon
Wednesday, February 23, 2005 Posted: 12:29 PM EST (1729 GMT)

DENVER, Colorado (AP) -- Journalist Hunter S. Thompson did not take his life "in a moment of haste or anger or despondency" and probably planned his suicide well in advance because of his declining health, the family's spokesman said Wednesday.

Douglas Brinkley, a historian and author who has edited some of Thompson's work, said the founder of "gonzo" journalism shot himself Sunday night after weeks of pain from a host of physical problems that included a broken leg and a hip replacement.

"I think he made a conscious decision that he had an incredible run of 67 years, lived the way he wanted to, and wasn't going to suffer the indignities of old age," Brinkley said in a telephone interview from Aspen. "He was not going to let anybody dictate how he was going to die."

Thompson, famous for "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" and other works of New Journalism, spent an intimate weekend with his son, Juan, daughter-in-law, Jennifer, and young grandson, William, the spokesman said.

"He was trying to really bond and be close to the family" before his suicide, Brinkley said. "This was not just an act of irrationality. It was a very pre-planned act."

The family is looking into whether Thompson's cremated remains can be blasted out of a cannon, a wish the gun-loving writer often expressed, Brinkley said.

"The optimal, best-case scenario is the ashes will be shot out of a cannon," he said.

Other arrangements were pending.

[Brian in Mesa]

Dead at 56. Battled liver cancer in recent years. :(

[FischerKing]

:(

shawn

[Brian in Mesa]

Country Singer Chris LeDoux Dies at 56

By ROBERT W. BLACK, Associated Press Writer

CHEYENNE, Wyo. - Chris LeDoux, a world champion bareback rider who parlayed songs about cowboys he knew on the rodeo circuit into a successful country music career, died Wednesday from complications of liver cancer. He was 56.

LeDoux died Wednesday in Casper, according to Judy McDonough, spokeswoman for Capitol Nashville, LeDoux's recording company.

He had checked into the hospital this week following complications from his cancer and was with family and friends at the time of his death.

"All of us at Capitol Records and EMI Music are saddened at the passing of Chris," said Capitol Nashville President and CEO Mike Dungan. "In a world of egos and soundalikes, he was a unique artist and a wonderful man. We have always been proud to represent his music, and honored to call him our friend."

In November, LeDoux canceled several tour dates while undergoing treatment for cancer of the bile duct. He had undergone a liver transplant in 2000 after a lengthy illness.

LeDoux described his music as a combination of "Western soul, sagebrush blues, cowboy folk and rodeo rock 'n' roll."

By 1989, LeDoux had released 22 albums. They were mostly cassettes produced by his parents, which he sold at concerts and rodeos. He had a loyal, if limited, fan base.

But that all changed that year when Brooks had a hit with "Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)," which included the line: "A worn-out tape of Chris LeDoux, lonely women and bad booze/seem to be the only friends I've left at all."

The song came at a time when LeDoux's career was sputtering with an independent label and no marketing.

"And here he comes along and mentions the worn-out tapes in his song," LeDoux said of Brooks in an interview with The Associated Press in 2001. "To me, Garth, he's kind of like my guardian angel. It's like every time I need some help, he's there."

LeDoux soon became a country star, teaming up with Brooks for the Top 10 hit, "Whatcha Gonna Do With a Cowboy," in 1992.

LeDoux (pronounced luh-DOO) had been playing guitar and harmonica and writing songs since his teens, and he used his musical skills to help pay for his rodeo entry fees in his younger years.

He recorded songs about cowboys, the ups and downs of the rodeo circuit and his adopted home of Wyoming. In 1976, he became the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association's world bareback champion.

In 2003, he released the album "Horsepower" and celebrated career sales of more than 5 million albums.

[KLL]

I must admit that I never heard of him (since Im not that big a fan of country), however, may my deepest condolences/prayers/thoughts/symphaty go out to his family, friends, acquaintances, and fans/supporters.....

[FischerKing]

I must admit that I never heard of him (since Im not that big a fan of country), however, may my deepest condolences/prayers/thoughts/symphaty go out to his family, friends, acquaintances, and fans/supporters.....

he was great - had an extremely long and successful career all the while not being very well known. great talent.

shawn

[BigJoe]

That sucks. Chris LeDoux was one of the best country artists ever, it's just that not many people listened to him much. If anyone is interested in listening to his music, check out his "Live" album. Fantastic stuff. His studio work didn't do him justice.

As a side note, this is the first time I have posted on this forum. I just happened to see this thread title on the main page and clicked on it. I get more news from this site than everywhere else on the internet combined. Thanks.

[Brian in Mesa]

Molly Hatchet Lead Singer Dies at 53

DAVIE, Fla. - Danny Joe Brown, the lead singer of the Southern rock band Molly Hatchet, died of complications from diabetes, his family said Monday. He was 53.

Brown died Thursday at his home in Davie, a suburb of Fort Lauderdale, his sister Lyndia Brown said.

"He had been in the hospital for about four weeks before he died, and he wanted to come home and he was home for 30 minutes when he died," Lyndia Brown told The Associated Press. "He was surrounded by his children and his wife."

In 1975, the Jacksonville native joined Molly Hatchet, named after a Southern prostitute who allegedly beheaded and mutilated her clients. Brown was frontman for its self-titled album in 1978, which went platinum. In 1979 the next album, "Flirtin' With Disaster," sold over 2 million copies.

Brown left the band in the early 1980s because of his diabetes.

After creating his own group, the Danny Joe Brown Band, he rejoined Molly Hatchet in 1982 to participate in the album "No Guts ... No Glory." The album had limited success and the group eventually disbanded.

Molly Hatchet reunited and toured in 1996 for release of the album "Devil's Canyon."

Brown ended his career after a stroke in 1998, according to reports.

"Danny was way more than a singer for a rock 'n' roll band. He was a great brother, a wonderful son," Lyndia said. "He is going to be missed terribly by everybody."

[Dback Jon]

Saw them in Flagstaff many many years ago......

They played a show in Springfield (where I lived) in the late 70's - trashed their hotel rooms. They had to come back and play another concert to make enough many to pay for the damage :)

[KLL]

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/7209581/foghat?pageid=rs.Home&pageregion=single1

Foghat's Rod Price Dies

British "magician of slide" suffers fatal accident


Rod Price, lead guitarist and founding member of British rockers Foghat, died Tuesday in Wilton, New Hampshire, after suffering head trauma from an accidental fall down a stairway. He was fifty-seven years old.

Born in London, England, Price's signature playing earned him the title "the magician of slide," and propelled Foghat to three platinum albums, including 1975's Fool for the City, which featured the classic-rock radio staple "Slow Ride."

The guitarist also worked with Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Willie Dixon and Champion Jack Dupree and released two solo albums, 2002's Open and 2003's West Four.

Price is survived by his wife, Jackie, and five children.


JESSICA ROBERTSON
(Posted Mar 24, 2005)

[KLL]

That sucks. Chris LeDoux was one of the best country artists ever, it's just that not many people listened to him much. If anyone is interested in listening to his music, check out his "Live" album. Fantastic stuff. His studio work didn't do him justice.

As a side note, this is the first time I have posted on this forum. I just happened to see this thread title on the main page and clicked on it. I get more news from this site than everywhere else on the internet combined. Thanks.

Welcome to the forum and definitely feel free to post in regards to any genre that you may choose.....

Sorry it took me so long to reply back, but I took a 2-week hiatus from posting on here.......

Anyways, I did check-out his music and am impressed on what an excellent "story-teller" that he was..... He just seemed to know how to paint a vivid picture through his lyrics which has become a lost art now-a-days....

[KLL]

May all our deepest condolences go out to her, Nelly and their family.....

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1498948/20050324/nelly.jhtml?headlines=true

Nelly's Sister Loses Her Battle With Leukemia
03.24.2005 12:55 PM EST

After Jacqueline Donahue's diagnosis, rapper had encouraged minorities to become bone-marrow donors.

Nelly's sister Jacqueline Donahue, 31, lost her three-year battle with leukemia Thursday morning.

In 2003, Donahue co-founded the Jes Us 4 Jackie Foundation, dedicated to educating black people about bone-marrow and stem-cell transplants.

Nelly also worked to raise awareness of his sister's disease, and has appeared at numerous events to enroll minority participants in the National Bone Marrow Registry (see "Nelly Encourages Minorities To Become Bone-Marrow Donors"). Bone-marrow transplants can often offer a better chance of survival for those suffering from leukemia.

A statement from Nelly's family and the Jes Us 4 Jackie Foundation said, "We want to thank everyone for their love and support of Jackie. In particular, we want to thank those who participated in the Jes Us 4 Jackie bone-marrow drives. We are very proud of her efforts to educate and raise awareness about the disease and the need for African-Americans to join the National Donor Registry. She will always be remembered for her loving spirit, energy, courage, and unshakeable faith."

After performing at the Star of Texas Rodeo in Austin, Texas, Wednesday night, Nelly canceled Thursday night's (March 24) performance in Beaumont, Texas, as well as shows he had planned for Friday, Saturday and Monday. It has not yet been determined when he'll resume his tour, which also features Fat Joe and T.I.

His label said, "We are saddened by the loss of Nelly's sister, Jackie Donahue, and extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to Nelly and Jackie's family during this difficult time."

— Abbey Goodman

[Brian in Mesa]

That sucks. My thoughts and prayers go out to her family for their loss.

[Kate]

r.i.p.

[MikeOnTheMic]

This is one of those artists I wish Iwould have taken the time to see live, and now am kicking myself that I never did.

I think its refreshing to hear a real cowboy sing about experiences and stories of a life they lived. His music always came off as sincere and real.

[Brian in Mesa]

Father of Chicano Music Dies
Source: D B Freedlander

Lalo Guerrero, known as the father of Chicano music, died Thursday (3/17/05) at his home in Southern California. He was 88.

Born Eduardo Guerrero Jr., he for 60 years created songs in Spanish and English chronicling the Mexican-American experience, including Pachuco music later used in the play "Zoot Suit."

Guerrero created more than 700 songs and sold millions of records in both Spanish and English in a bewildering number of styles, from swing to protest songs, cha-chas to rock'n roll. His Spanish hits included Nunca Jamas and Cancion Mexicana, which has been described as Mexico's unofficial national anthem.

He also wrote ballads in the Mexican "corrido" style that honored Robert Kennedy and farm workers' rights leader Cesar Chavez.

However, Guerrero will primarily be remembered as a satirist. He became a star in 1955 with a parody of "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" from a Walt Disney movie; the track went on to sell 500,000 copies.

There followed a string of hit parodies in both English and Spanish with names such as Pancho Claus, Elvis Perez and Tacos for Two (to the tune of Cocktails for Two). Some took satirical swipes at discrimination, such as Mama, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Busboys.

After dropping out of high school during the Depression, Guerrero drifted to Los Angeles, where arranger-producer Manuel Acuna saw him on a street, asked if he was a musician and took him to a recording studio the next day.

"It wasn't planned. I didn't have an agent," he told the Associated Press last year. "It just never occurred to me.”

President Clinton conferred on Guerrero the Medal of the Arts in 1997. Guerrero was also a National Heritage Fellowship winner in 1991 and was named a "National Folk Treasure" by the Smithsonian Institute in 1980. In 1991 he received a National Heritage Award from the National Foundation for the Arts.

Guerrero's last work was to record three of his songs for an album by guitarist Ry Cooder called Chavez Ravine, which is scheduled to be released this summer.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

:lmao:

I've got to go find some of this guy's stuff, especially looking forward to the Ry Cooder cd. :thumbup:

[Ryanwb]

Is Chicano music the same as "Ranchero"??? That stuff that has tubas and accordians?

[SunCardfan]

I call it poka music...

[HeavyB3]

Is Chicano music the same as "Ranchero"??? That stuff that has tubas and accordians?

If it is, I wish I had had a chance to punch that guy in the face before he died.

[Ryanwb]

If it is, I wish I had had a chance to punch that guy in the face before he died.

:biglaugh:

[Renz]

I saw him play live in Flagstaff back in 1992. He was really good and will be missed. :(

[KLL]

Wow... I'm just shocked.....

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1499093/20050328/crowded_house.jhtml?headlines=true

Crowded House Drummer Paul Hester Found Dead In Australia
03.28.2005 7:31 AM EST

Authorities rule out foul play, say founding member of band committed suicide.

Australian police made a grim discovery on Saturday, when the body of 46-year-old Paul Hester, who formed the popular rock group Crowded House with singer Neil Finn and bass player Nick Seymour in 1985, was found in Elsternwick Park near the drummer's Melbourne home, according to Australian daily newspaper The Age. Hester, who'd also played drums with Finn in New Zealand's Split Enz, was reported missing Friday night after he failed to return from walking his two dogs, police told The Age.

Investigators have been able to rule out foul play, saying instead that Hester took his own life. Authorities claim he "attempted suicide" and eventually died from strangulation. Hester was beyond help by the time ambulance personnel arrived at the scene. Metropolitan Ambulance Service spokeswoman Liraje Memishi could not confirm various news reports suggesting Hester's body was found hanging from a tree.

Speaking from London, where he's currently on tour, Neil Finn said he was devastated by the death. "I have lost one of my best mates," he told Australian paper The Daily Telegraph.

After leaving Crowded House in 1994, Hester became a familiar voice and face on Australian radio and televisions shows and opened a tea house in Elwood Beach. Musically, he has collaborated with Richard Pleasance, Deborah Conway (in the group Ultrasound) and Penny Flanagan, and wrote songs with old Deckchairs Overboard cohort John Clifforth. Hester hosted a music show on Australia's ABC network, and had a recurring role as Paul the Cook on the children's program "The Wiggles."

— Chris Harris

[Gizmo Williams]

Wow... I'm just shocked.....

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1499093/20050328/crowded_house.jhtml?headlines=true


I'll second that. It is rare a drummer adds entertainment value to a live show....but Paul Hester was incredibly entertaining. Crowded House shows were great for the music...but the banter/antics between the three of them really added to the shows.

[Mulli]

I hope someone questioned the Wiggles.

[KLL]

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/7249977/johnniejohnson?pageid=rs.NewsArchive&pageregion=mainRegion

Johnnie Johnson Dies

Pianist was inspiration for Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode"


Rock & roll pioneer Johnnie Johnson died yesterday of natural causes at eighty years old. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee collaborated with Chuck Berry for nearly thirty years, and was the inspiration for Berry's seminal 1958 hit "Johnny B. Goode."

In 1953, the rock and blues pianist invited the young Berry to join his band, the Sir John Trio. Berry quickly took over, and the band soon produced such Fifties classics as "Maybellene," "Roll Over Beethoven" and "Sweet Little Sixteen." The two parted ways in 1973 and then reunited in 1986 for Berry's sixtieth birthday performance in St. Louis, documented in Taylor Hackford's Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll.

In the early Nineties, Johnson recorded two solo records for Elektra's American Explorer series. And in 2001, Richards inducted Johnson into the Hall of Fame.

"It was so much fun to play with Johnnie," said Bo Diddley, with whom Johnson played his final show. "The world has lost a great man and a great musician."

West Virginia native Johnson is survived by his wife Frances and ten children.


ALEX MAR
(Posted Apr 22, 2005)

May my deepest thoughts and prayers go to his family... His legacy in music will never cease......

[KLL]

May I express my deepest condolences to his family...RIP... What a true legend he was, but his legacy and importance will never cease....

http://music.yahoo.com/read/news/19222606

French Music Producer Eddie Barclay Dies

05/13/2005 6:34 PM, AP

Eddie Barclay, a flamboyant French music producer whose stable of singers included Jacques Brel and Charles Aznavour and who worked for years with Quincy Jones, has died. He was 84.

Barclay died overnight Thursday at the Ambroise Pare hospital in Paris, the Barclay organization said Friday. He had been in the hospital since April 29 and suffered from urinary and pulmonary infections in recent weeks.

Born in 1921 in Paris, Barclay started his production house in the 1950s and marketed artists from the U.S. company Mercury. After selling 1 1/2 million copies of The Platters' "Only You," Barclay's label rose to become France's top music production company at the time.

He was famous for wearing white and holding exclusive parties in Saint-Tropez where guests also wore white.

"After the death of Eddie Barclay, there's no more showbusiness, there's only business left," the French singer Carlos, a close friend, told RTL radio.

Barclay started his career as a jazz pianist before setting himself up as a music producer and changing his name from Edouard Ruault.

Jones, who composed and arranged two of Barclay's albums — Et Voila in 1957 and Twilight Time in 1960 — said a close friend and mentor "has left the room, but he will never, ever leave my heart."

In a statement, Jones said Barclay hired him at the age of 24 to be musical director of Barclay Records, "introducing me to a life that I never dreamed of."

Brel, the poet-singer from Belgium who died in 1978, started a long relationship with Barclay in 1962, and recorded hits such as "Le Plat Pays," ("The Flat Country") and "Les Bigotes" ("The Holier-than-thous") on his label.

Aznavour, who met Barclay more than 60 years ago, said he had lost a close friend.

"He came looking for me late but he gave me the freedom to do what I wanted," he told France Info radio. "He taught himself about music, he had music in his heart and his head."

[KLL]

http://music.yahoo.com/read/news/19302685

May his spirit and legacy never cease....

Bluegrass Singer Jimmy Martin Dies at 77

05/14/2005 5:08 PM, AP


Jimmy Martin, a pioneering bluegrass singer and guitarist who performed with the Blue Grass Boys and many other performers, died Saturday. He was 77.

Martin died in a Nashville hospice, more than a year after he was diagnosed with bladder cancer, said his son, Lee Martin.

"He loved bluegrass music, country music. Bill Monroe was his idol and someone he patterned himself after musically," Lee Martin said, referring to bluegrass legend Bill Monroe, head of the Blue Grass Boys.

After performing as lead vocalist for the Blue Grass Boys periodically through 1955, Martin formed his own band, the Sunny Mountain Boys, and recorded with Decca records for 18 years.

"In his heyday, he could take an audience of any size and have them eating out of his hand," said Sunny Mountain Boy member Bill Emerson. "He'd just smoke those people, and they'd be waiting in line for him when he got offstage."

Martin recorded several bluegrass standards, including "Rock Hearts," "Sophronie," "Hold Watcha Got," "Widow Maker" and "The Sunny Side of the Mountain."

Martin was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Association's Hall of Honor in 1995. His life was also the subject of an independent documentary film, "King of Bluegrass: The Life and Times of Jimmy Martin," which was released in 2003.

"Jimmy's strong, high vocal range pushed (Bill) Monroe's tenor up into the sky, helping shape what has become known as the 'high lonesome sound,'" wrote George Goehl in the liner notes to "Don't Cry To Me," a compilation that accompanied the documentary.

According to the film's Web site, Martin was fired at the age of 21 for singing on the job at a factory in Morristown. He then went to see the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville and talked his way backstage, where he persuaded Monroe to sing a couple of songs with him.

In the late 1950s and 1960s, Martin performed on both the "Louisiana Hayride" and "WWVA Wheeling Jamboree," which were well-known country music shows. He also made guest appearances on Nashville's Grand Ole Opry, but never became a regular cast member, which was his childhood dream.

Martin collaborated with many other artists throughout his career, including the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. His voice was the first heard on the Dirt Band's "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" album in 1972, and his appearances on subsequent albums brought his feisty spirit to audiences that might never have attended a bluegrass festival.

"Jimmy's temperature is higher than the rest of ours," Dirt Band member Jeff Hanna said in a 2002 interview. "He's a wild man in the best sense of the term, and he's the only one who brought the fire of rockabilly music to bluegrass."

Martin performed until his later years, usually from April until October. He also served as a mentor to many musicians, including J.D. Crowe and Paul Williams.

___

On the Net:

http://www.kingofbluegrass.com/

[KLL]

Oh lord... allow me to express my deepest condolences to his family... I loved their music throughout high school..especially "Runaway Train" and "Misery"...
RIP....

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/7405247/soulasylum?pageid=rs.Home&pageregion=single1

http://i.realone.com/assets/rn/img/4/4/2/5/7405244.jpg

Soul Asylum's Mueller Dead
Founding bassist of Minneapolis rockers loses year-long battle with cancer

Soul Asylum bassist Karl Mueller, 41, died Friday at his home in Minneapolis after suffering from throat cancer. Mueller had been battling cancer since May of 2004.

A Minneapolis benefit in his honor last October brought the long-estranged songwriting principles of Husker Du back together, and featured Twin Cities stalwarts such as Paul Westerberg, the Gear Daddies, Golden Smog and, with Mueller's cancer temporarily in remission, Soul Asylum.

Mueller was a founding member of Soul Asylum and played in the group for over twenty years, along with singer/guitarists Dan Murphy and Dave Pirner. Formed in 1984, Soul Asylum evolved from Loud Fast Rules, which had begun in 1981 and included Meuller, Murphy and Pirner. After nearly a decade of much critical acclaim and little cash, Soul Asylum broke through in 1992 with Grave Dancers Union, a multiplatinum smash largely on the strength of single "Runaway Train."

Prior to Mueller's death, Soul Asylum had completed an album of new material, their first since 1998's Candy from a Stranger. "We don't know where or when we're going to put this out," said Pirner in 2001 of self-produced sessions in New Orleans and Minneapolis. "The stuff that's finished is kind of a typical smattering of styles. Some of it is loud, fast and aggressive, and some of it is really introspective and sounds like I was born in a barn."

The creative hiatus came partly because the same wave that helped break Soul Asylum had receded. "It's sort of sad to say, but you could see the whole grunge rock band thing getting totally oversaturated and people were looking for something new," Pirner told Rolling Stone in 2001. "We needed to reassess how far we've gone and how much further we're going to go and which way we want to go and what we do right and what we do wrong. It was kind of time to take inventory."

Mueller is survived by his wife Mary Beth and his mother Mary. A memorial service for Mueller will be held Wednesday at the Lakewood Cemetery Chapel in Minneapolis.


COLIN DEVENISH
(Posted Jun 20, 2005)

[Beaver]

Sad news. Grave Dancers Union and Let Your Dim Light Shine were great back to back albums. I shall crank them up while I pack tomorrow.

[KLL]

Certainly one of the true icons in the history music promotions.... May I express my deepest condolences to his family.... RIP Chet...

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/7424954/janisjoplin?pageid=rs.NewsArchive&pageregion=mainRegion

Promoter Chet Helms Dies
Sixties San Francisco scene-maker was sixty-two

Chet Helms, San Francisco rock promoter, manager and key figure in 1967's Summer of Love, died Saturday of complications from a stroke suffered earlier in the week. He was sixty-two.

Born in Santa Maria, California, Helms was the oldest of three boys. After his father died when Helms was nine, the family moved to Texas. Helms remained in Texas for the next decade, enrolling in and dropping out of the University of Texas before moving to San Francisco in 1962. His beginnings as a music promoter were modest, as Helms served as a host of jam sessions in his Haight-Ashbury district home. Big Brother and the Holding Company was one of the groups that played, and while serving as their manager, Helms dramatically altered the course of the band by recruiting an old college acquaintance by the name of Janis Joplin to be their singer.

Helms was an early partner of legendary promoter Bill Graham, with the two putting on several shows at the Fillmore before parting ways. Graham continued to promote shows at the Fillmore, while Helms and his Family Dog production company moved to the Avalon Ballroom, with the Grateful Dead a mainstay, and everyone from the Doors to Bo Diddley passing through.

Country Joe and the Fish honed their chops underneath the Avalon's psychedelic light shows, and the band's guitarist Barry Melton credits Helms with fostering the kind of nurturing environment that helped bands progress. "There was an ethic unique to the time and place of San Francisco in the Sixties, an extraordinary ethic of tolerance and acceptance," he says. "Chet was the living embodiment of that tolerance and acceptance and openness that made it all happen. That element was very much a reflection of who he was."

After the scene dissipated, Helms took a hiatus from concert promotion in 1970, returning to the business off and on in 1978. In 1980 he began running Atelier Dore, an art gallery in San Francisco, and became passionate about digital photography in recent years.

"He was so tough that it's a surprise," says his widow Judy Davis. "This last year he was having a lot of problems with hepatitis C, and by the time he had his stroke he was weakened. He had a beautiful death. There were about ten people around the bed."

Helms is survived by his wife, a stepdaughter and three grandchildren.


COLIN DEVENISH
(Posted Jun 27, 2005)

[O]

By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY, AP Music Writer
10 minutes ago



NEW YORK - Grammy winner Luther Vandross, whose deep, lush voice on such hits as "Here and Now" and "Any Love" sold more than 25 million albums while providing the romantic backdrop for millions of couples worldwide, died Friday. He was 54.

ADVERTISEMENT

Vandross died at the John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Edison, N.J., said hospital spokesman Rob Cavanaugh. He did not release the cause of death.

Since suffering a stroke in his Manhattan home on April 16, 2003, the R&B crooner stopped making public appearances — but amazingly managed to continue his recording career. In 2004, he captured four Grammys as a sentimental favorite, including best song for the bittersweet "Dance With My Father

[KLL]

By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY, AP Music Writer
10 minutes ago



NEW YORK - Grammy winner Luther Vandross, whose deep, lush voice on such hits as "Here and Now" and "Any Love" sold more than 25 million albums while providing the romantic backdrop for millions of couples worldwide, died Friday. He was 54.

ADVERTISEMENT

Vandross died at the John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Edison, N.J., said hospital spokesman Rob Cavanaugh. He did not release the cause of death.

Since suffering a stroke in his Manhattan home on April 16, 2003, the R&B crooner stopped making public appearances — but amazingly managed to continue his recording career. In 2004, he captured four Grammys as a sentimental favorite, including best song for the bittersweet "Dance With My Father


What? I'm just shocked..... Lord... I was thinking of him earlier today.... Lord... dont know what to say, but.... I would like to express my deepest condolences and may he RIP.... He was a legend over the past few decades and his legacy will never be forgotten....

[WizardOfAz]

Sad news. Sounds like he never fully recovered from the stroke.

His music will live on.

[bankybruce]

He had been sick on oand off for years, he had cancer a few year back too, that is why he lost so much wieght for a while, I will remember his crazy lady that came in to my store when I will worked for a record store many years back, she told me how she met him the night before and just died, she needed to replace the cd's that he signed, that was good times.

[WizardOfAz]

Motown lost a musical pillar Friday.

Renaldo (Obie) Benson, who for more than half a century provided the bass vocal foundation to the Four Tops' lush harmonies, died Friday morning at Harper Hospital in Detroit. He had turned 69 on June 14.

Benson had been battling a sudden onset of medical problems. Last month, he suffered a heart attack after the amputation of a leg because of circulation problems. He was subsequently diagnosed with lung cancer, and began intense, stage-four chemotherapy last week.

Abdul (Duke) Fakir and Levi Stubbs remain the two surviving members of the Four Tops, founded in 1954 on Detroit's northeast side and heralded as one of the longest-running acts in the history of American popular music. Vocalist Lawrence Payton, Benson's closest boyhood friend, died in 1997.

Benson "enjoyed every moment of his life," Fakir said through a publicist Friday. "He put a smile on everyone's face, including my own."

The outgoing Benson, who played a key role in directing the Four Tops' concert choreography, was known as a reliable source of comic relief within the group, which was a veteran ensemble by the time it signed to Motown Records in 1963. The quartet's statistics on the Billboard pop charts remain formidable: 24 hits in the top 40, seven in the top 10, and two No. 1s.

Many of the songs Benson recorded with his group mates remain radio staples, including "Reach Out I'll Be There," "Standing in the Shadows of Love" and "Bernadette."

Benson rarely slowed down during his tenure with the Tops, who celebrated their 50th anniversary with a bash at the Detroit Opera House last summer. Even as he hit his 60s, he continued to spend more than a third of each year on the road, performing Four Tops shows across the world.

His last significant performance came on April 8, when the group played "Late Show With David Letterman."

As his condition worsened in recent weeks, Benson was replaced onstage by Payton's son, Roquel Payton.

Benson is survived by two daughters, Eboni Benson and Tobi Benson, and an ex-wife with whom he remained close, Valaida Benson.

Funeral arrangements are not yet available.

http://www.freep.com/news/latestnews/pm4867_20050701.htm

[phillycard]

I will miss him tremendously. A fantastic singer and a seemingly genuine person. It's a sad day in music. :(

[KLL]

Wow.. doesnt it always come in 3s?

I mean... Chet Helms died late last wk, then of course Luther Vandross, and now Obie Benson.....

I loved the Four Tops.. Obviously it's in my blood to do so, but they had so many good hits... "Reach Out", "Bernadette", "Baby I Need Your Loving", "Aint No Woman Like The I Got", "Standing In The Shadows of Love", "I Can't Help Myself" and "Shake Me, Wake Me" are just to name a few of my faves by them.... They had such longevity to...even outlasted the original Temptations and Supremes...

He certainly will be missed..RIP......

[KLL]

http://music.yahoo.com/read/news/21475029

Singer 'Big' Al Downing Dead at Age 65

07/05/2005 8:54 PM, AP

"Big" Al Downing, a singer-songwriter and pianist who had success in country, rockabilly, rhythm and blues, rock 'n' roll and even disco, has died after suffering from leukemia. He was 65.

Downing, of Leicester, Mass., was hospitalized last week and died Monday in Massachusetts, his publicist Martha Moore said Tuesday.

He was one of the few successful black country artists.

Born in Centralia, Okla., Downing grew up listening to country music and learned to play piano at a young age.

He began his career as a keyboard player in rockabilly singer Wanda Jackson's band, performing on Jackson's biggest hit, "Let's Have a Party."

As a solo artist, he and his band the Chartbusters charted two rock songs in 1964. A soul duet with Little Esther Phillips made the charts in 1963, and a disco record charted in 1975, according to the Country Music Association's Encyclopedia of Country Music.

Downing returned to his country roots in the late 1970s and had moderate hits with "Mr. Jones" and "Touch Me (I'll Be Your Fool Once More)."

Downing, a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, performed "Mr. Jones" on the Grand Ole Opry in May.

Over the years, his songs were recorded by Fats Domino, Bobby Blue Bland, Tom Jones and Webb Wilder.

Downing is survived by his wife of 27 years, Beverly, and four stepsons.

Funeral services will be Saturday in Spencer, Mass.

[KLL]

http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/2005/07/04/1116884-ap.html

Jazz bassist Pierre Michelot dies

PARIS (AP) - Jazz bassist Pierre Michelot, who recorded with Miles Davis and arranged music for Chet Baker, has died, a fellow musician said Monday. He was 77.

The bass player, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, died in Paris on Sunday, said pianist Rene Urtreger, a member of Michelot's longtime jazz trio, HUM.

Michelot played with Davis on one of the great soundtracks of the 1950s, for Louis Malle's classic thriller Ascenseur pour L'Echafaud (Elevator to the Gallows). He recorded with artists including Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Kenny Clarke and Django Reinhardt, and he arranged music for Baker's 1955-56 Barclay sessions in Paris.

Michelot was considered Europe's best jazz bassist in the second half of the 1950s, Urtreger said.

"He had a magnificent natural sound, clear, deep and true," Urtreger said. "It was a dream to play with him."

Originally trained in classical piano, Michelot learned bass as a teenager, then performed for American troops stationed in France after the end of the Second World War. He was highly sought-after for concerts by American musicians in Paris in the postwar years.

Michelot had a role in French director Bertrand Tavernier's 1986 film Round Midnight, about a musician on the skids in 1950s Paris.

[KLL]

http://www.chartattack.com/damn/2005/07/0606.cfm

Jay-Z's Nephew Dies In A Car Accident
Wednesday July 06, 2005 @ 03:00 PM
By: ChartAttack.com Staff

Jay Z

Jay-Z has lost his nephew — whom he referred to as his best friend and son — in a car accident.

AllHipHop.com reports Colleek D. Luckie, 18, was in the passenger seat of his Chrysler 300 when it drifted across the centreline of a Pennsylvania highway and collided head-on with a tractor-trailer. The car, driven by a friend of Luckie's, then struck a telephone pole and continued through a field for another 300 feet or so. Luckie was killed, despite wearing a seat belt. The driver sustained minor injuries and was treated at a hospital.

Jay-Z gave the car, worth about $43,400 Canadian, to Luckie as a graduation gift. The rapper often wrote about his sister's children in his songs, most notably in "Anything" ("Dear nephews, I’m writing this with no pen or a pad/And I’m signing it, ya uncle, ya best friend, and ya dad/Don't look back if you fall and you’re feeling bad/I’m right there from your cut to when you peelin' the scab") and "Heart Of The City (Ain't No Love)," which sees the rapper refusing to get into a fight because, "I got nephews to look after."

In other hip-hop news, Louisiana-based artist Beelow has been shot in the head and is now recovering in hospital.

He got into an argument in front of a store on Monday when he was accused of selling bootlegged CDs and DVDs. "An argument ensued between two men and one placed the gun to his head and shot him twice," a police officer said and added that members of Beelow's entourage returned fire.

Beelow is expected to recover and police are exploring several leads in the meantime. The assailant could reportedly be linked to another local rapper who recently signed a record deal. An anonymous source told AllHipHop.com that numerous figures associated with the Louisiana bootlegging scene have also been hospitalized following a meeting from a few months ago between record store owners, rappers and various members of council.

—Angela Kozak

[KLL]

http://www.411mania.com/music/news/article.php?news_id=8230
Founding Member Of Parliament-Funkadelic Passes Away
Posted By Michael Melchor on 07.07.05

Ray Davis dead at age 65

Ray Davis, a founding member of Parliament/Funkadelic, died from respiratory complications at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J. He was 65.

Davis provided bass vocals on songs such as "Give Up The Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucka)," "One Nation Under a Groove" and "Flashlight" - all major hits for the band that also included George Clinton, and Bootsy Collins.

411 Music gives its condolences to the family and friends of Ray Davis.


Credit to: Billboard.com

Send Feedback to Michael Melchor | E-Mail This To Your Friend!

[KLL]

http://www.nme.com/news/112993.htm

FINN BROTHERS SPEAK ABOUT HESTER

NEIL and TIM FINN have paid tribute to ex-CROWDED HOUSE drummer PAUL HESTER during the FINN BROTHERS’ first show in Australia since the death of their former bandmate.

As previously reported on NME.COM, Hester’s body was discovered in Melbourne earlier this year.

Speaking to the crowd (July 12) at the first of four shows the Finn Brothers are due to perform at the Sydney Opera House over the next week, frontman Neil Finn became emotional as the band returned for the first of two encores, saying; “I’ve been thinking about Paul Hester all night… I really miss him,” before asking the crowd to join in on a semi-acoustic rendition of Crowded House hit ‘Four Seasons In One Day’ and saying “I thought you might want to sing a song with me for him.”

The band are currently on tour with Mercury Rev throughout Australia and New Zealand to coincide with the Splendour In The Grass Festival, which takes place next week in Byron Bay on the New South Wales coast.

The Finn Brothers shows kick off several weeks of sideshows for bands including Queens Of The Stone Age, Futureheads, Bloc Party, Interpol and Ryan Adams, who are all set to play the festival at Belongil Fields on July 23 and 24.

[O]

Blues Legend Long John Baldry Dies

07/22/2005 7:02 PM, AP


Long John Baldry, the British blues legend who helped launch the careers of such rock greats as Rod Stewart and the Rolling Stones, has died, his agent and friends said. He was 64.

Baldry was admitted to a Vancouver hospital with respiratory problems in April and died of a chest infection Thursday, agent Frank Garcia said on the musician's Web site.

"The music world has lost an absolute legend," said close friend Anya Wilson, a Toronto music publicist who worked with Baldry in the 1970s.

"They've lost one of the first and most powerful white blues singers — an innovator, an entrepreneur of new music and one of the most wonderful people you could hope to meet."

Baldry, nicknamed Long John because of his 6-foot-7 height, was born in East Maddon, England, but became a Canadian citizen in 1981.

Credited as one of the main forces in British blues, rock and pop music in the 1960s, he first hit the top of the U.K. singles charts in 1967 with "Let the Heartaches Begin."

One of his most memorable hits was "Don't Try to Lay No Boogie-Woogie on the King of Rock and Roll" was co-produced by Stewart and Elton John.

Although Baldry released over 40 albums — that included the songs "You've Lost That Loving Feeling," "Come and Get Your Love" and "A Thrill's a Thrill" — singing was considered his forte.

He was perhaps best known for nurturing the nascent talent of a host of musicians who are now worldwide superstars.

Baldry's early 1960s stage act featured the likes of Stewart, Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts, Jimmy Paige and Ginger Baker.



RIP

[Brian in Mesa]

Buena Vista front man dies at 78
By Michael Connellan
August 8, 2005

The Cuban singer Ibrahim Ferrer, the front man of The Buena Vista Social Club, has died at 78. He fell ill on Wednesday after a month-long European tour and died on Saturday of multiple organ failure in Havana.

"He completed his tour with great bravery," his wife, Caridad Diaz said. "We are deeply affected by his death."

A legend of the Cuban music scene in the 1950s and 1960s, Ferrer fell into obscurity and poverty. He was shining shoes when the American guitarist Ry Cooder found him. Ferrer said: "An angel came and picked me up. He said, 'Chico, come and do this record'."

The Buena Vista Social Club was formed, and the 1997 album of the same name was a worldwide hit, selling more than four million copies. The album won a Grammy, the highest musical accolade in America, in 1998.

A solo career followed for Ferrer, granting him riches, world tours, and a further Grammy nomination in 2004. But, as a Cuban, he was refused US entry to attend the award ceremony.

[KLL]

I regret posting this... He was definitely both a gifted song-writer and musician... Him and his contributions will be missed:

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/8857123/?pageid=rs.Home&pageregion=single1

Chris Whitley Dies
Eclectic singer-songwriter succumbs to lung cancer at forty-five

Chris Whitley, who skirted the edges of alternative rock in the 1990s while creating his own spectral brand of American music, died November 20th of complications from lung cancer. He was forty-five.

Whitley's career spanned a wide range of styles, from pop, grunge and jazz to avant-garde noise; over the years he worked with producers Daniel Lanois and Craig Street, Dave Matthews, members of Medeski, Martin and Wood, and DJ Logic. He is best known, however, for carving a personalized, often brooding take on country blues, marked by his mastery of the slide steel guitar and other stringed instruments.

After honing his style as a busker on the streets of New York, the Houston native spent much of the 1980s in Belgium, fronting a pop group known as A Noh Rodeo. Returning to America, Whitley shifted his focus to the atmospheric sound of the National steel guitar. He recorded his major label debut, Living With the Law, for Columbia Records in 1991. Sonically crafted by producer Malcolm Burn and propelled by the radio success of the song "Big Sky Country," the album received glowing reviews and heralded the arrival of a prodigious new talent.

But Whitley sidestepped the attention, taking four years to release a follow-up, reportedly in part due to a stint in rehab. When he did return, his music was once again wildly transformed. Din of Ecstasy, featuring Whitley on electric guitar, was a churning nod to Jimi Hendrix, downtown noise and grunge's then-ubiquitous presence.

A second hard-rock album, Terra Incognita, was followed by another sharp switchback, 1998's Dirt Floor, a solo effort recorded in a single day in a Vermont log cabin. By this point it was apparent that Whitley wasn't especially interested in mainstream success. In 2002, Sony issued a single-disc selection of his time with the label's subsidiaries, Long Way Around: An Anthology 1991-2001.

In 2000, Whitley released Perfect Day, a sublime collection of cover songs by Willie Dixon, Lou Reed, Bob Dylan and others produced by Craig Street (Cassandra Wilson). The past five years saw a flurry of projects, including 2001's experimental Rocket House, recorded for Dave Matthews' ATO Records, as well as a temporary relocation to Dresden, Germany. Whitley's most recent recording, Soft Dangerous Shores, came out in July of this year on the Messenger label; another album, Reiter In, is set for release in December.


JAMES SULLIVAN
(Posted Nov 22, 2005)

[Pariah]

Wow. I didn't know he was sick.

I have his first album ("Living with the Law," I think). Great stuff. Didn't listen to anything after that, though.

RIP

[Brian in Mesa]

RIP.

Here's the official website, which appears to be run by his family: Chris Whitley (http://www.chriswhitley.com/index.php)

[O]

Fri Nov 25, 6:56 PM ET



LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Musician Link Wray, best-known for his 1958 instrumental single "Rumble," died of unspecified causes November 5 in Copenhagen. He was 76.




In a career that spanned six decades, Wray made his mark with a piercing guitar sound that paved the way for punk and heavy metal. He is credited with inventing the power chord and pioneering distortion by deliberately punching holes in his amplifier.

"Rumble" peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100. His 1959 hit, "Raw-Hide," which he performed with his band, the Wraymen, hit No. 23.

In the late 1970s, Wray became known to a new generation of fans playing alongside rockabilly artist Robert Gordon. His music has appeared in such movies as "Pulp Fiction," "Independence Day" and "Desperado." Wray is said to have inspired Pete Townshend, Bruce Springsteen, "Little" Steven Van Zandt and other well-known artists.

In 2002, Wray was named one of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time by Guitar World magazine. He gave his last performance in Los Angeles in July. He is survived by his wife and son.

Reuters/Billboard

[starbucks]

alot of death lately. :-(

[Brian in Mesa]

Singer Lou Rawls dies of lung cancer
Jan 6, 2006
By Arthur Spiegelman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Silken-voiced crooner Lou Rawls, whose career covered almost every form of black American music from gospel and blues to R&B, soul and jazz, died on Friday at age 72 after a battle with lung cancer, his spokesman said.

The pioneering crossover artist with silky voice and a four-octave range was known for such signature hits as "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine," "Lady Love" and "Love is a Hurtin' Thing." His 1960s "talking the song" style on some recordings was called pre-rap by critics.

He once said, "I've gone the full spectrum -- from gospel to blues to jazz to soul to pop and the public has accepted what I have done through it all. I think it means I have been doing something right at the right time."

Even Frank Sinatra was big fan and once said Rawls had "the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game."

Rawls died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, spokesman Paul Shefrin said. He quoted the singer's family as saying he was 72 years old but some reference books place his age at 70.

Rawls won three Grammy awards and 13 nominations in a career that lasted more than 40 years.

He made more than 60 albums, acted in 18 movies, including "Blues Brothers 2000" and "Leaving Las Vegas," and appeared in 16 television series, starting with a small role in "77 Sunset Strip."

Rawls received many honors during his lifetime including having a street named after him in Chicago.

Ill for more than a year with lung cancer that spread to his brain, Rawls recently filmed public service announcements for Hurricane Katrina relief. His last public performances were a series of three concerts he gave in San Diego in mid-November, Shefrin said.

In an interview last month with the Arizona Republic, Rawls was optimistic despite his cancer.

"Don't count me out, brother," he said. "There's been many people who have been diagnosed with this kind of thing and they're still jumpin' and pumpin'."

VERSATILE VOCALIST

Neil Portnow, president of the Recording Academy, called Rawls one of the world's most versatile vocalists with "one of the most recognizable voices anywhere."

Rawls was born in Chicago's South Side and was raised by his grandmother, who insisted he sing in the choir at her Baptist church.

As a teenager he sang with several gospel groups and after a stint in the Army as a paratrooper, he joined the Pilgrim Travelers with Sam Cooke, a soul singer to whom he was often compared.

During one tour in the late 1950s, he was involved in a crash where he was pronounced dead but was actually in a coma that lasted for 5 1/2 months.

It took him more than a year to recuperate. When he recovered he switched to secular music, providing back-up on some of Cooke's seminal recordings and releasing a jazz album of his own called "Stormy Monday" in 1962.

His first full-fledged R&B album "Soulin"' in 1966 contained his first hit "Love Is a Hurtin' Thing."

In 1971, Rawls hit the Top 20 again with "Natural Man," a song whose theme was black pride.

Also in 1971, the readers of the jazz magazine Downbeat named him their favorite male vocalist, topping Sinatra, who was the usual winner.

Although he never went to college, Rawls became a major fund-raiser for the United Negro College Fund. He recalled that a woman once came up to him and said, "Thank you, you made my grandson the first college grad in our family."

[Brian in Mesa]

Barry Cowsill Found Dead
Fri Jan 06, 2006

Barry Cowsill, as one grieving family member put it, is "safe."

The months-long search for the missing musician, who achieved teen idol status in the late 1960s as a member of the Partridge Family-inspiring pop act the Cowsills, ended Wednesday with a call from morgue officials in New Orleans.

"Barry Steven Cowsill is no longer with us," his brother Richard Cowsill wrote in announcing the news Wednesday night on Cowsill.com. "We truly [know] that he is already in the arms of our mother Barbara. He is safe."

Cowsill's skeletal remains were found in a face down position under a wharf in storm-ravaged New Orleans on Dec. 28, another brother, Bob Cowsill, said Friday.

A total of 1,100 bodies have been recovered in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina swamped the city on Aug. 29, the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals announced Wednesday.

It was not known how or when Cowsill died, Bob Cowsill said, adding that the skeletal remains suggest to the family that he perished in the immediate aftermath of Katrina.

Cowsill, who'd moved to New Orleans only months before Katrina, was last definitively heard from in a voice message left on his sister Susan's cell phone, and retrieved shortly after the hurricane hit. In it, he said he'd seen looting, and asked for help.

"I don't know how he reacted to the situation he got himself in," Bob Cowsill said. "Of all of us, he was probably the least mentally equipped to handle [it]."

Cowsill, who would have turned 51 on Sept. 14, was due to fly to Los Angeles on Aug. 29 to check himself into rehab for alcohol abuse. Bob Cowsill said he'd worked hard to convince his younger brother to agree to the flight--and the treatment plan.

"He was so close to getting it together, and, gee whiz, this dumb hurricane just got in the way," Bob Cowsill said. "It's just amazing to me."

Barry and Bob Cowsill weren't just brothers; they were bandmates, too. At the height of their career, the Cowsills consisted of siblings Barry, Bob, Billy, John, Paul, Susan and their mother Barbara. Barry Cowsill was the bassist. The group's harmonizing hits included "Hair" and "The Rain, the Park and Other Things."

The Cowsills served as fodder for the 1970-74 sitcom The Partridge Family, about a six-member family band--three brothers, two sisters, one mom.

Barbara Cowsill died in 1985.

With Barry Cowsill's death confirmed, and the four-month-long mystery surrounding his whereabouts solved, Bob Cowsill said the coping process begins anew.

"It's awful again because you're dealing with fact," Bob Cowsill said. "As long as you didn't hear, you could create other scenarios that were possible also."

[phillycard]

Singer Lou Rawls dies of lung cancer
Jan 6, 2006
By Arthur Spiegelman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Silken-voiced crooner Lou Rawls, whose career covered almost every form of black American music from gospel and blues to R&B, soul and jazz, died on Friday at age 72 after a battle with lung cancer, his spokesman said.

The pioneering crossover artist with silky voice and a four-octave range was known for such signature hits as "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine," "Lady Love" and "Love is a Hurtin' Thing." His 1960s "talking the song" style on some recordings was called pre-rap by critics.

He once said, "I've gone the full spectrum -- from gospel to blues to jazz to soul to pop and the public has accepted what I have done through it all. I think it means I have been doing something right at the right time."

Even Frank Sinatra was big fan and once said Rawls had "the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game."

Rawls died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, spokesman Paul Shefrin said. He quoted the singer's family as saying he was 72 years old but some reference books place his age at 70.

Rawls won three Grammy awards and 13 nominations in a career that lasted more than 40 years.

He made more than 60 albums, acted in 18 movies, including "Blues Brothers 2000" and "Leaving Las Vegas," and appeared in 16 television series, starting with a small role in "77 Sunset Strip."

Rawls received many honors during his lifetime including having a street named after him in Chicago.

Ill for more than a year with lung cancer that spread to his brain, Rawls recently filmed public service announcements for Hurricane Katrina relief. His last public performances were a series of three concerts he gave in San Diego in mid-November, Shefrin said.

In an interview last month with the Arizona Republic, Rawls was optimistic despite his cancer.

"Don't count me out, brother," he said. "There's been many people who have been diagnosed with this kind of thing and they're still jumpin' and pumpin'."

VERSATILE VOCALIST

Neil Portnow, president of the Recording Academy, called Rawls one of the world's most versatile vocalists with "one of the most recognizable voices anywhere."

Rawls was born in Chicago's South Side and was raised by his grandmother, who insisted he sing in the choir at her Baptist church.

As a teenager he sang with several gospel groups and after a stint in the Army as a paratrooper, he joined the Pilgrim Travelers with Sam Cooke, a soul singer to whom he was often compared.

During one tour in the late 1950s, he was involved in a crash where he was pronounced dead but was actually in a coma that lasted for 5 1/2 months.

It took him more than a year to recuperate. When he recovered he switched to secular music, providing back-up on some of Cooke's seminal recordings and releasing a jazz album of his own called "Stormy Monday" in 1962.

His first full-fledged R&B album "Soulin"' in 1966 contained his first hit "Love Is a Hurtin' Thing."

In 1971, Rawls hit the Top 20 again with "Natural Man," a song whose theme was black pride.

Also in 1971, the readers of the jazz magazine Downbeat named him their favorite male vocalist, topping Sinatra, who was the usual winner.

Although he never went to college, Rawls became a major fund-raiser for the United Negro College Fund. He recalled that a woman once came up to him and said, "Thank you, you made my grandson the first college grad in our family."

RIP to groovy Lou. He was my grandmother's favorite singer.

[KLL]

Lord, it's agonizing to think about the legendary R&B/Soul singers to pass-away over the past year or so.... Luther Vandross, Barry White, and now Lou Rawls... I definitely must express my deepest condolences....

I've been a fan of Rawls since I can remember.... I'll never forget hearing "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine" (at around the tender age of 2 when my mother would play some compiliation record on a regular basis) and I fell in love w/his music since.... He definitely will be missed.....

[O]

Dead of a heart attack at 64.

[Yuma]

Geez. All the good soul singers are going down! :eek:

[phillycard]

Geez. All the good soul singers are going down! :eek:

Yuma, you ain't neva lied bro! Me and my cousin always drink a shot when one of the greats go down. I swear it seemed like every other week in 05'. Plus I hear Issac Hayes isn't doing well. :(

[KLL]

Yuma, you ain't neva lied bro! Me and my cousin always drink a shot when one of the greats go down. I swear it seemed like every other week in 05'. Plus I hear Issac Hayes isn't doing well. :(

Yeah... Luther Vandross, Lou Rawls, and now Wilson Pickett.....

It will forever be "the Midnight Hour" (which is one of the best songs of our generation)....Pickett's legacy will never cease.......

[phillycard]

Yeah... Luther Vandross, Lou Rawls, and now Wilson Pickett.....

It will forever be "the Midnight Hour" (which is one of the best songs of our generation)....Pickett's legacy will never cease.......


KLL, what a great song! I agree completely!

[KLL]

KLL, what a great song! I agree completely!

Yeah... "Mustang Sally", "Funky Broadway", "Land of 1000 Dances", etc were such legendary songs... he just performed those with solid execution.. You always knew it was a Wilson Pickett song because of his distinct voice which was an instrument in itself....

He's (his music/soul will never die) the singer that always puts one in a better mood once you listened to him.. in fact...adds some sense of urgency.....

Lord... we're constantly losing these extremely gifted/dignified musicians, but yet no one at the present time is ascending to those heights of greatness... However, I shouldnt reflect on that since I dont want to detract anything whatsoever away from the loss of Wilson Pickett....