Saturday, May 11, 2013

Catching up on music deaths

As ever there have been quite a few music deaths over the last couple of weeks while I have been away in the States.
One who we might have seen, if he had been well and still alive, was country singer George Jones,
who died aged 81 a couple of days before he was scheduled to do a show in Huntsville, Alabama, where we were close to at the time. Born in 1931, George recorded a number of rockabilly numbers under the name of Thumper Jones but by the early sixties he had moved into country music, where he achieved huge success with tracks such as Tender years, She Thinks I Still Care and Love Bug. He duetted with several female stars, including Melba Montgomery and, most significantly Tammy Wynette, who he married. Hits in the seventies included A Good Year For The Roses, The Grand Tour, I Always Get Lucky Eith You and If Dinking Won't Kill me (Her Memory Will).
Artie 'Blues Boy' White is another singer to have passed on, aged 76. Born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, he began in gospel before moving to blues and having success with Jewel in the 1980s. In later years he suffered from Parkinson's Disease, as was obvious when he appeared at Castor with Travis Haddix in 2006 (see photo).
Another death is that of Richie Havens, aged 72,
a guitarist who didn't quite fit in to any genre, with elements of folk, soul and blues. Possibly best known for his appearance at Woodstock in 1969 I saw him at the New Orleans Jazz Fest in 2007 ( see photo).
A couple more deaths to report: gospel singer George Beverley Shea, who was 104 no less, and Deanna Durbin, perhaps better known as an actress, who was 91.

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