Any Major Dude With Half A Heart

After last month’s relative quiet time, the Reaper returned with a vengeance, killing off the old and a young star who had just enjoyed a massive summer hit, and cutting a swathe through late 1960s/early 1970s soul.

Not brought up that way

The obituaries have covered all there’s to know about Doris Day, though the emphasis was mostly on her acting career, and correctly so. The casual reader might have thought that Day’s music output, especially the ubiquitous Que Sera Sera, owed to her film career. But before she was a movie star, Doris Day was an accomplished jazz singer, starting her career as a teenager in 1939, and scoring a few big hits in 1945, including the original version of Sentimental Journey with Les Baxter’s Orchestra, which features here.

The Mod Squadder

Famous mostly as a TV actress on The Mod Squad and later Twin Peaks, or as a model, or as the wife of Quincy Jones and mother of actress Rashieda Jones, Peggy Lipton also recorded a bunch of Lou Adler-produced songs, including one album. One of these songs, the gorgeous but largely unknown Red Clay Country Line from 1969, featured on the Any Major Jimmy Webb Vol. 2 mix. Three of Lipton’s singles reached the lower ends of the US charts, with one of them, the Laura Nyro-written Stoney End, later being covered by Barbra Streisand. Lipton is, oddly, credited as a co-writer of Frank Sinatra’s 1984 song L.A. Is My Lady, which was produced by then-husband Quincy Jones.

The bass singer

In 2012 the 60-year-long career of The Dells came to an end when founder members Marvin Junior and Chuck Barksdale retired due to illness. The former died the following year; bass singer Barksdale left us in May. The Dells were one of the groups that made the transition from doo wop to soul, having scored a classic in 1957 with Oh What A Night (most recently featured in the Any Major Music From The Sopranos Vol. 1 mix), and becoming a soul fixture in the late 1960s and early ’70s.

The Ageless Singer

1980s TV viewers may be familiar with the voice of Leon Redbone from the theme of the sitcom Mr. Belvedere. Championed by Bob Dylan, the Cyprus-born singer with roots in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem had his own anachronistic style, singing old classics – Tin Pan Alley, blues, ragtime – at a time when the world sought disco, rock or punk. Known for his bushy moustache, hat and sunglasses, Redbone was cagey about his private life, to the point of denying to know how old he was (he was 69 when he died). Redbone released his final album in 2016.

Look at him!

With the death of bass singer Willie Ford, only one member of the classic early-’70s line-up of soul group The Dramatics survives in founder member Larry Demps. Ford joined the band as a 20-year-old after it had recorded initial success in 1970 (after the Algiers Motel incident), having previously sung with The Capitols, albeit after their solitary hit, Cool Jerk. With The Dramatics Ford scored a soul classic with 1972’s Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get (he does the famous “Look at me”). He stayed with The Dramatics for the duration of their career, including a stint when, due to the band splitting in two, it had to go by the name A Dramatic Experience. In the end, The Dramatics were again two entities, one led by Ford and the other by L.J. Reynolds (who had joined the band in 1973). In 1993, The Dramatics, who once sang of sweet love and social justice, assisted Snoop Dogg in his misogynist rapey anthem Doggy Dogg World.

The Mad Lad

On the same day as Ford, another soul singer joined the heavenly chorus in John Gary Williams, the lead singer of The Mad Lads whose high tenor gave that vocal group its sweet sound. The Tennessee group had some success on Stax in the mid-1960s, but their efforts at reaching stardom were halted when Williams and co-member William Brown were drafted into the army in 1966. After his release from the army, Williams was reinstalled as lead singer, scoring a couple more hits before The Mad Lads disbanded in 1973. Williams embarked on a solo career which produced good songs but little success before reforming The Mad Lads, releasing a final album in 1990.

Tony Soprano Drive-time

Heading the Any Major Sopranos mix mentioned earlier was, of course, the theme track, Woke Up This Morning by Scottish acid house band Alabama 3, which accompanied us as Tony Soprano drive from New York to Newark. Jake Black, co-writer and co-leader of the group, died in May. A3 (as they had be called in the US at the threat of court action by country act Alabama) wrote the song as a feminist anthem about a woman who shot dead her abusive husband. Black saw a paradox in the track being used to score a TV show about the mafia: “It’s totally ironic that we, who disapprove of anything villains do, should be picked for the theme song of a show that shows the human side of villains,” he said in an interview.

Summer Hit Tragedy

Just a few months ago, Gabriel Diniz had a huge summer hits in Brazil with Jenifer, achieving the big breakthrough after releasing three albums, On May 26, the 28-year-old died in a plane crash.

From Punk to Bench

Few career paths led from punk to the judge’s chair, but so it was with Susan Beschta, who with her art-pink band Erasers were a fixture on New York’s CBGB scene in the 1970s. The band attracted great reviews for their live shows but won no recording contract. They ended up recording only three songs. After the band split in 1981, Beschta tried her hand at a solo career, which didn’t take off. A feminist and social activist, she turned to the world of law as a means of making a difference. After doing nine years of legal work for Catholic Charities in New York and then for an immigration firm, she joined the US Department of Homeland Security, with a special brief on immigration. In November she was sworn in as a judge, before the cancer that eventually killed her returned.

President of Ska

Long before he became the right-wing Jamaican premier through the 1980s, Edward Seaga (or CIAga, as the Reagan ally was called by his opponents) was a producer of ska records, many of which he released on his own label, WIRL. As such, the future political leader was influential in spreading ska music.

John Starling, 79, bluegrass musician with The Seldom Scene, on May 2
The Seldom Scene – Wait A Minute (2014, on vocals)

Juan Vicente Torrealba, 102, Venezuelan harpist and folk-composer, on May 2
Los Torrealberos – Los Garceros (1954)

Susan Beschta, 67, punk pioneer and judge, on May 2
Erasers – Funny (1970s)

Patrick Gibson, 57, Australian musician and radio producer, on May 3
Ya Ya Choral – Waiting Time (1982)

Mose ‘Fan Fan’ Se Sengo, 73, Congolese Soukous pioneer, on May 3
Mose Fanfan – Papa Lolo (2004)

R. Cobb, 75, songwriter and guitarist with Classics IV, Atlanta Rhythm Section, on May 4
The Classics IV – Stormy (1969, also as co-writer)
Atlanta Rhythm Section – Do It Or Die (1979, also as co-writer)

Pekka Airaksinen, 73, Finnish avant-garde composer and musician, on May 6

Chris Holmes, 73, keyboardist of English psychedelic rock band Timebox, in May
Timebox – Don’t Make Promises (1967)

Fritz Novotny, 78, Austrian jazz saxophonist and composer, on May 7

Luther Jennings, 86, gospel singer with The Jackson Southernaires, on May 8
The Jackson Southernaires – Can’t Make It By Myself (1978, also as co-writer)

Preston Epps, 88, percussionist, on May 9
Preston Epps – Bongo Rock (1959)

Lee Hale, 96, songwriter and director/producer of dance-troupe The Golddiggers, on May 10

Peggy Lipton, 72, actress, model and singer, on May 11
Peggy Lipton – Stoney End (1968)
Peggy Lipton – Lu (1970)

Glenn Martin, 86, country songwriter, on May 12
Merle Haggard – It’s Not Love (But It’s Not Bad) (1972, as co-writer)
Millie Jackson – If You’re Not Back In Love By Monday (1978, as co-writer)

Doris Day, 97, singer and actress, on May 13
Les Brown with his Orchestra – Sentimental Journey (1945, on vocals)
Doris Day – Again (1949)
Doris Day – Move Over Darling (1963)

Mari Griffith, 79, Welsh folk singer, author and radio presenter, on May 13
Mari Griffith – Dona, Dona (1968)

Mike Wilhelm, 77, guitarist, songwriter with The Charlatans, Flamin’ Groovies, on May 14
The Charlatans – The Shadow Knows (1966)
Flamin’ Groovies – Move It (1978)

Leon Rausch, 91, country & western singer, on May 14
Leon Raush – Brand New World (1967)

Chuck Barksdale, 84, bass vocalist in soul band The Dells, on May 15
The Dells – Q-Bop She-Bop (1957)
The Dells – Please Don’t Change Me Now (1968)
The Dells – If You Go Away (1971)

Leola Jiles, 77, soul singer, on May 16
The Apollas – Just Can Get Enough Of You (1965)
Leola Jiles – Keep It Coming (1967)

Sol Yaged, 96, jazz clarinetist, on May 16
Phil Napoleon – Bonaparte’s Retreat (1950, on clarinet)

Mick Micheyl, 97, French singer and artist, on May 16
Mick Micheyl – Un gamin Paris (1961)

Eric Moore, 67, singer and bassist of hard rock band The Godz, on May 17
The Godz – Gotta Keep A Runnin’ (1978)

Geneviéve Waite, 71, South African actress and singer; mother of Bijou Philips, on May 18
Geneviéve Waite – Femme Fatale (1974)

Melvin Edmonds, 65, R&B singer, brother of Babyface, on May 18
After 7 – Ready Or Not (1989)

Nilda Fernández, 61, Spanish-born chanson singer, on May 19
Nilda Fernández – Yo le decía (1992)

Jake Black, 59, singer of Scottish house act Alabama 3, on May 21
Alabama 3 – Woke Up This Morning (Acoustic) (1997)
Alabama 3 – Sad Eyed Lady Of The Low Life (2000)

Gabriel Diniz, 28, Brazilian singer, in plane crash on May 27
Gabriel Diniz – Jenifer (2018)

Edward Seaga, 89, ska producer and Jamaican prime minister, on May 28
Laurel Aitken – Stars Were Made (1961)

Willie Ford, 68, singer with soul band The Dramatics, on May 28
The Dramatics – Watcha See Is Watcha Get (1972)
The Dramatics – Hey You! Get Off My Mountain (1973)
The Dramatics – You’re The Best Thing In My Life (1980)

John Gary Williams, 73, lead singer of soul group The Mad Lads, on May 28
The Mad Lads – Patch My Heart (1966)
The Mad Lads – So Nice (1969)
John Gary Williams – The Whole Damn World Is Going Crazy (1973)

Tony Glover, 79, blues harmonica player, on May 29
Koerner, Ray & Glover – Down To Louisiana (1963)

Jeff Walls, guitarist of pop group Guadalcanal Diary, on May 29
Guadalcanal Diary – Trail Of Tears (1984)

Leon Redbone, 69, singer-songwriter and actor, on May 30
Leon Redbone – Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now) (1978)
Leon Redbone – Theme Of Mr. Belvedere (1985)
Leon Redbone – Save Your Sorrow (2014)

Roky Erickson, 71, rock singer-songwriter, on May 31
13th Floor Elevators – You’re Gonna Miss Me (1966)

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