Clockwise from upper left: Art Neville, Ric Ocasek, Peter Tork, the Captain & Tennille, Eddie Money, Leon Redbone, and Ginger Baker
I guess this has officially become a tradition and once
again, I find myself preparing one of these.
We lost 37 in 2019, which isn’t bad.
In deciding who to include, I’ve followed the same formula as the past
few years. Again, these are the ones
that I know about and I may very well have missed someone. The second factor is that I must know about
them musically. I either know the
person, their song(s) or their band.
They are not listed here unless I am familiar with at least one of those
three things. At the end of the day, I kind
of hate to say this, but I stick to the ones that I have music for in my
library.
We lost Peter Tork of the Monkees on
February 21. Stephen Stills had
originally auditioned for the part on the Monkees but didn’t make the cut. He suggested his friend Peter for the role
and Tork eventually landed the part. He
became the lovable buffoon to millions of fans.
He was 77 years old when he slipped away peacefully and succumbed to cancer.
"There are no words right now...heartbroken over
the loss of my Monkee brother, Peter Tork."
Micky Dolenz
Hal Blaine was not a household name, but you all
know his drumming from many popular hits through the decades. He was a part of a loose conglomeration of session
musicians in the L.A. area known as the “Wrecking Crew.” In fact, Blaine gave them that nickname. He was never a member of any band nor do I
expect you to know his name, but he drummed on hundreds of top 40 hits that you
probably know. A list of just a few
artists he drummed for would include:
The Beach Boys
The Byrds
Frank Sinatra
Dean Martin
Johnny Rivers
Simon & Garfunkel
Neil Diamond
John Denver
Barbra Streisand
Captain & Tennille
The Carpenters
The 5th Dimension
And many more.
At 90, he is the oldest on our list, having been born in
1929. He was a generation older than
many of the rock stars he worked with.
He was presented a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 2018.
Scott Walker was a child actor on TV and on
Broadway. He became something of a teen
idol but after he grew up, he was a founding member of the Walker Brothers. Who can forget that amazing voice on their big
hit, The Sun Ain’t Going to Shine (Anymore), which went to number 13 in 1966?
He was 76 years old when he passed away on March 22.
J.R. Cobb was 75 when he passed on May 4. He was a member of the Classics IV and
wrote all of their hits, including Spooky and Stormy. He went on to become a member of the Atlanta
Rhythm Section and continue to write hits including Do It or Die and
Champagne Jam. He also worked as
a studio musician and wrote hits for many other artists.
Leon Redbone had one of the most distinctive voices
in the music industry. Although he was
very elusive about his origins, we do know that he was from Cyprus and of
Armenian descent. While his music
covered many genres, his biggest love was Tin Pan Ally Jazz. He was 69 years old.
We lost another session drummer on June 22. Jerry Carrigan drummed for so many
Country and Rock artists that a list couldn’t begin to do justice but would
include Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Johnny Paycheck and Kenny Rogers. He was also a record producer.
Art Neville passed on July 22 at the age of 81. He was a founding member of the funk band,
the Meters and had a long career as a session musician, songwriter, and performer with several groups, including the Neville Brothers. In the studio, he recorded keyboards for the
likes of Paul McCartney, Robert Palmer, Dr. John and Patti LaBelle (keyboards
for Lady Marmalade). I had the privilege
of seeing him perform over 25 years ago, the only one on the list that I have
heard live.
Larry Taylor was the bassist for Canned Heat. He was also a session bassist for acts like
the Monkees and Jerry Lee Lewis. He was
the younger brother of Mel Taylor, drummer for the Ventures. Larry was 77 when he shuffled off the mortal
coil on August 19.
Daryl Dragon was the “Captain” half of the Captain
& Tennille. They had many top 40
hits in the ‘70s including Love Will Keep Us Together. And love did keep them together through 39
years of marriage. Despite some
differences and a divorce near the end, Toni Tennille was holding his hand when
he took his last breath on August 27. He
was a Beach Boy for a number of years, and it was Mike Love who gave him the nickname of “Captain.”
Robert Hunter made my list despite never being a
member of a significant band, nor ever recording a song that you have heard. He made the list because he wrote the words to
so many hits, especially for the Grateful Dead.
He wrote the words to so many of their big hits and the hits of other artists. You may not know Robert Hunter but I’m sure
you sing along with his lyrics often. We
said goodbye to Robert on September 23.
And where do I begin to discuss drummer, Ginger Baker? He was the drummer for Cream, Blind
Faith and Ginger Baker’s Air Force, to name but a few. He would eventually move to Africa where he studied
and recorded the native music there. He
was an active drummer until a couple of years before his death this past
October 6 at 80 years of age.
Here is the complete
list of those we lost in 2019…
Eric Haydock, (died Jan. 5) bassist for the Hollies
(1943-2019)
Clydie King, (died Jan. 7) Singer (1943-2019)
Lorna Doom, (a.k.a. Teresa Ryan) (died Jan 16)
bassist for the Germs (1958-2019)
Paul Whaley, (died Jan. 28) drummer for Blue
Cheer (1947-2019)
James Ingram, (died Jan. 29) singer/songwriter,
Grammy Winner (1952-2019)
Harvey Scales, (died Feb. 11) lead singer Harvey
Scales & the Seven Sounds (1940-2019)
Gus Backus, (died Feb. 21) singer with the Del-Vikings
(1937-2019)
Peter Tork, (died Feb. 21) guitarist for the Monkees
(1942-2019)
Mark Hollis, (Feb. 25) lead singer for Talk
Talk (1955-2019)
Frankie Smith, (Died Mar. 8) singer/songwriter
(1983-2019)
Hal Blaine, (died Mar. 11) drummer for the
Wrecking Crew (1929-2019)
Danny Kustow, (died Mar. 11) guitarist for the Tom
Robinson Band (1955-2019)
David White, (died Mar. 16) singer/songwriter with
Danny and the Juniors (1939-2019)
Scott Walker, (died Mar. 22) singer/songwriter for
the Walker Brothers (1943-2019)
Paul Raymond, (died April 13) keyboardist/guitarist for Plastic Penny, Chicken
Shack, Savoy Brown, UFO and the Michael Schenker Group
(1945-2019)
Boon Gould, (died
April 30) guitarist for Level 42 (1955-2019)
J. R. Cobb, (died
May 4) guitarist/songwriter with the Classics IV and the Atlanta
Rhythm Section (1944-2019)
Huelyn Duvall, (died
May 15) singer/guitarist who worked with many including Eddie Cochran, Johnny
Horton, Bobby Darin, Dale Hawkins, and the Champs
(1939-2019)
Leon Redbone, (died
May 30) singer/songwriter/guitarist (1949-2019)
Dr. John, (died June 6)
singer/songwriter (1941-2019)
Jerry Carrigan, (died June 22) session drummer for many artists including Elvis
Presley, Kenny Rogers, Waylon Jennings, Tony Joe White
and many more (1943-2019)
Gary Duncan, (died
June 29) guitarist/singer with the Brogues and the Quicksilver
Messenger Service (1946-2019)
Russell Smith, (died
July 12) singer/songwriter with the Amazing Rhythm Aces (1949-2019)
Art Neville, (died
July 22) singer/keyboardist for the Neville Brothers (1937-2019)
Ian Gibbons, (died Aug.
1) keyboardist for the Kinks (1952-2019)
Larry Taylor, (died Aug.
19) bassist for Canned Heat (1942-2019)
Daryl “Captain” Dragon, (died Aug. 27) keyboardist for the Captain & Tennille
(1942-2019)
Eddie Money, (died
Sep. 13) singer/songwriter (1949-2019)
Ric Ocasek, (died
Sep. 15) singer/songwriter for the Cars (1944-2019)
Robert Hunter, (died Sep.
23) Lyricist for the Grateful Dead and many others (1941-2019)
Ginger Baker, (died
Oct. 6) drummer for Cream, Ginger Baker’s Air Force, Blind
Faith and others (1939-2019)
Larry Junstrom, (died Oct. 6) bassist for Lynyrd Skynyrd and .38
Special (1949-2019)
Steve Cash, (died
Oct.14) vocals and harmonica for the Ozark Mountain Daredevils
(1946-2019)
Paul Barrere, (died
Oct. 26) vocalist/guitarist for Little Feat (1948-2019)
Jackie Moore, (died
Nov. 8) singer (1946-2019)
Iain Sutherland, (died Nov.25) singer/frontman for the Sutherland
Brothers (1948-2019)
Roy Loney, (died
Dec. 13) guitarist for the Flamin’ Groovies (1946-2019)
Please join me on Sunday, January 5th, from 7:00 to 9:15
PM (note the extra 15 minutes) at a Woman’s Touch as we pay a final tribute to those
we lost in 2019, and wish them a fond, Hail and Farewell.
"If
there's a rock and roll heaven, well you know they've got a hell of a
band."
The
Righteous Brothers, 1973
