Any Major Dude With Half A Heart

2013 is almost over, and all kinds of media feature roll-calls of the year”s notable deaths in their annual round-ups. Regular readers will know that this blog has a monthly round-up of recent music deaths; I think it might be the most comprehensive such list on the Internet. The list for December will run next week.

As last year, here are the most notable deaths in the past year, in my subjective opinion, sorted by category in leagues of five or ten. Here is hoping nobody worthy of inclusion dies before the year is out (two names that will appear next week are already included here.

The average age of our notable deads this year is 75,8 — so much for “I hope I die before I get old”.

Sorry, no music this time; instead we will have pictures.

ROCK/POP
Lou Reed, 71, rock legend, on October 27
JJ Cale, 74, singer-songwriter, on July 26
Reg Presley, 71, singer of The Troggs, on February 4
Ray Manzarek, 74, keyboardist of The Doors, on May 20
Alvin Lee, 68, British guitarist and leader of Ten Years After, on March 6

Trevor Bolder, 62, British bassist (David Bowie, Uriah Heep), on May 21
Kevin Ayers, 68, English psychedelic rock musician (Soft Machine), on February 18
Allen Lanier, 67, keyboardist and guitarist with Blue Öyster Cult, on August 14
Philip Chevron, 56, singer-songwriter and guitarist of The Pogues, on October 8
Bernie Nolan, 52, lead singer of Irish pop group The Nolans, on July 4

SOUL/FUNK
Richard Street, 70, singer with The Temptations (1971-93), on February 27
Damon Harris, 62, singer with The Temptations (1971-75), on February 18
Bobby Smith, 76, singer with The Spinners, on March 16
Cecil Womack, 65, soul singer and songwriter, on February 1
Cleotha Staples, 77, member of The Staples Singers, on February 21

Marvin Junior, 77, lead singer of soul band The Dells, on May 29
Clarence Burke Jr, 62, singer, songwriter and guitarist with the Five Stairsteps, on May 25
Bobby Rogers, 73, songwriter and member of The Miracles, on March 3
Leroy “˜Sugarfoot” Bonner, 70, singer of funk legends Ohio Players, on January 26
Oliver Cheatham, 65, soul/funk singer, on November 29

COUNTRY/FOLK
George Jones, 81, country legend, on April 26
Richie Havens, 72, American folk singer and guitarist, on April 22
Ray Price, 87, country singer, on December 16
Tompall Glaser, 79, country singer and songwriter, on August 13
Slim Whitman, 90, country singer-songwriter, on June 19

JAZZ
Donald Byrd, 80, jazz trumpeter, founder of jazz-funk band The Blackbyrds, on February 4
George Duke, 67, jazz fusion keyboardist, on August 5
Chico Hamilton, 92, jazz drummer and bandleader, on November 25
Marian McPartland, 95, British jazz pianist and composer, on August 20
Kenny Ball, 82, English jazz trumpeter, on March 7

BLUES
Bobby “˜Blue” Bland, 83, American blues and soul singer, on June 23
Bobby Parker, 76, blues-rock guitarist and singer, on November 1
Chick Willis, 79, blues singer, on December 7
Jimmy Dawkins, 76, blues singer and guitarist, on April 10
Magic Slim, 75, blues singer and guitarist, on February 21

WORLD
Georges Moustaki, 79, French singer-songwriter, on May 23
Mandawuy Yunupingu, 56, singer and guitarist of Australian band Yothu Yindi, on June 2
Oscar Castro-Neves, 73, Brazilian bossa nova pioneer, on September 27
Bebo Valdés, 94, Cuban pianist, bandleader, composer; father of Chucho Valdés, on March 22
Chiwoniso Maraire, 37, Zimbabwean Mbira singer, on July 24

MOM”S FAVOURITES
Patti Page, 85, pop singer, on January 1
Eydie Gormé, 84, easy listening and jazz singer, on August 10
Patty Andrews, 94, last surviving member of The Andrews Sisters, on January 30
Ginger Dinning, 89, last surviving member of vocal trio The Dinning Sisters, on October 14
Annette Funicello, 70, actress (The Mickey Mouse Club) and singer, on April 8

PIONEERS
Marshall Lytle, 79, bassplayer of Bill Haley & His Comets, on May 25
Gordon Stoker, 88, tenor of Elvis” backing vocalists The Jordanaires, on March 27
Hardrock Gunter, 88, country and rockabilly musician, on March 15
Tony Sheridan, 72, English singer, early collaborator with The Beatles, on February 16
Cornelius “˜Nini” Harp, lead singer of doo wop band The Marcels, on June 5

SESSION MUSICIANS
Ollie Mitchell, 86, trumpeter, member of Tijuana Brass and studio collective The Wrecking Crew, on May 10
Derek Watkins, 68, British trumpeter, on March 22
Roland Janes, 80, rockabilly guitarist and record producer on Sun, on October 18
Ricky Lawson, 59, session drummer and co-founder of fusion band Yellow Jackets, on December 23
Paul Tanner, 95, trombonist and last surviving member of the Glenn Miller Orchestra, on February 5

PRODUCERS
Bobby Martin, 83, soul pianist, arranger and producer, on September 6
Phil Ramone, 72, record producer, on March 30
Vincent Montana, 85, percussionist, bandleader, arranger and composer, on April 13
Jack Clement, 82, producer, songwriter and singer, on August 8
Andy Johns, 61, British record producer and engineer, on April 7

SINGER-SONGWRITERS/COMPOSERS
George “˜Shadow” Morton, 72, songwriter and record producer, on February 14
Deke Richards, 68, Motown songwriter, on March 24
George Jackson, 77, soul singer-songwriter, on April 14
Diane Lampert, 89, country songwriter, on February 22

MOVERS & SHAKERS
Mack Emerman, 89, owner of Criteria Studios, on May 21
Sid Bernstein, 95, American music producer and promoter, on August 21
Maxine Powell, 98, Motown charm school teacher, on October 14
Storm Thorgerson, 69, English LP cover designer, on April 18
Claude Nobs, 76, Swiss founder of the Montreux Jazz Festival, on January 10

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