Any Major Dude With Half A Heart

As I trawl the corners of the interwebs for the monthly music deaths, I sometimes come across the passing of other interesting people which I might otherwise have missed. One of them is the death at 95 of Ms Ann Turner Cook on June 3. She was an author, but that wasn’t her best claim to fame: she was and still is the infant on the branding of Gerber range of baby foods, having modelled for it in 1928 without knowing much about it. Her identity was revealed only 50 years later, in 1978. A teacher before she became a crime novelist, Ann had four children — I like to think they were all fed Gerber products.

The Duo’s Half
The man who put the Seals in Seals & Croft has departed. Jim Seals, who died at 79, was half of a duo that followed in the folk-rock stream of Crosby, Stills & Nash and the soft rock of Poco, but also adding influences from other genres, especially soul. Seals and Darrell “Dash” Crofts were more than harmonising singer-songwriters; both were multi-instrumentalists, with Seals playing guitar, saxophone and fiddle, and Crofts (still going at 83) drums, mandolin and keyboards. The pair had a string of hits, though their best moment might have been when the Isley Brothers turned Seals & Crofts’ 1972 hit Summer Breeze into a stone-cold soul classic, driven by a blazing guitar solo.

The duo split, having been dropped by Warner Bros., in 1980, reuniting briefly twice, in 1991 and 2014. After1980, Seals retired from music and moved with his family to Costa Rica, where he became a coffee farmer.

The Hair Man
The Hippie culture found its expression on stage in the musical Hair. First staged in October 1967 — the Autumn of Love — work on its script began already in 1964, when even hip men were still sensibly coiffured. Hair was written by Gerome Ragni and James Rado, with the latter principally the lyricist. Rado left us in June at the age of 90. Ragni, his friend since they met while acting on an Off-Broadway stage in 1964, died in 1991.

A drama graduate, James Radomski spent two years in the US Navy, then did post-grad work at the Catholic University of America in DC. He studied acting under Lee Strasberg, recorded his own songs with his band James Alexander and the Argyles, staged his first Broadway production in 1963, and played Richard the Lionheart in the original Broadway production of The Lion in Winter. All that before Hair made its debut.

Rado’s post-Hair work included the much-adapted anti-war musical The Rainbow Rainbeam Radio Roadshow, or just Rainbow.

The Theme Singer
Her 1989 song Falling served as the theme of Twin Peaks, though stripped of her vocals. With Julee Cruise’s ethereal vocals, it went on to become a hit. She also had a role in the cult series, as a bar singer, in the pilot episode and the one in which the killer is revealed.

A frequent collaborator with film composer Angelo Badalamenti — who with Twin Peaks director David Lynch wrote Falling — Cruise had her first big break in 1985 with Mysteries Of Love, which featured in another Lynch project, Blue Velvet.

Cruise released four albums between 1990 and 2011, but collaborated widely, acted on stage, and toured with the B-52’s in the 1990s as replacement for Cindy Williams. And it was a B-52’s song, Roam, that was playing when she gently died by suicide on June 9, at the age of 65.

The Disco Man
As a songwriter, producer and arranger, Patrick Adams enjoyed success in soul, disco and dance music. In the ’70s and ’80s, he wrote for or arranged or produced for soul acts like Black Ivory, Candi Staton (including her hit When You Wake Up Tomorrow), Eddie Kendricks, Jimmy Ruffin, The Main Ingredient, Ben E. King, Melba Moore, The Salsoul Orchestra, Ray Charles, Sharon Brown, Skipworth & Turner, and many others.

In disco, he wrote and produced Musique’s horticultural classic In The Bush, and co-wrote Inner City Express’ Dance And Shake Your Tambourine. He also worked with the Gary Toms Empire and Herbie Mann in his disco phase.

In 1991, his song Touch Me, which he co-wrote in 1984 for Fonda Rae, was a global hit for British singer Cathy Dennis. In 1997, his Keep On Jumpin’, originally a hit for Musique, became a big dance hit for Todd Terry feat. Martha Wash & Jocelyn Brown (the latter having been a member of Musique).

Adams also engineered for acts like Keith Sweat, Eric B. & Rakim, Heavy D. & The Boyz, Salt ‘N’ Pepa, and a young R. Kelly.

The Harmonica Man
You will have heard Tommy Morgan’s harmonica many times, if not on record then in films or on TV. Morgan died at 89 three days after the 80^th birthday of Brian Wilson, for whom he played on the Pet Sounds album and on Good Vibrations.

Morgan’s harmonica can be heard in the themes of Sanford and Son (Quincy Jones’ The Streetbeater) and Rockford Files, and on countless scores, including the Grammy-winning one of the mini-series Roots. It is estimated that he played on 600 film scores, from Giant in 1955 via Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Rosemary’s Baby in the ’60s, Blazing Saddles in the ’70s, The Color Purple and The Right Stuff in ’80s, to Dances With Wolves and The Shawshank Redemption in the ’90s, and Lincoln and Monsters Inc. in the new millennium.

Morgan played his first session as a 17-year-old in 1950, for the Andrews Sisters. Apart from Good Vibrations, he played on hits such as the Carpenters’ Rainy Days And Mondays, The Hollies’ He Ain’t Heavy He’s My Brother, Neil Diamond’s Beautiful Noise, The Bangles’ Eternal Flame, Linda Ronstadt’s Skylark, and on records by the likes of The Monkees, Roy Orbison, The Bee Gees, Merle Haggard, Randy Newman, Mac Davies, Carly Simon, Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond, Olivia Newton-John, Dolly Parton, James Taylor, Michael Jackson. He was a backing musician on the Elvis ’68 comeback special, and if you hear any harmonica on those Phil Spector Wall of Sound productions, they are most likely Morgan’s.

The Hair Bassist
As far as I can determine, bassist Alec John Such is the first member of Bon Jovi to pass on. Such was a member of the classic line up from 1983 to 1994, which means he played on such hits as Livin’ On A Prayer, You Give Love A Bad Name, Wanted Dead or Alive, Bad Medicine, Born To Be My Baby, I’ll Be There For You, Lay Your Hands On Me, Living In Sin, Bed Of Roses, and Always.

The Hitmaker
Almost 16 years after his death was falsely reported, songwriter Paul Vance departed for good. Vance was the co-writer and often producer of hits such as Perry Como’s Catch A Falling Star, Brian Hyland’s Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini (which Vance was inspired to write by his daughter, who was too shy to wear a bikini, itsy bitsy or otherwise), Johnny Mathis’ What Will Mary Say, The Cuff Link’s Tracy,  Clint Holmes’ Playground In My Mind, and David Geddes’ Run Joey Run (which featured Vance’s bikini-shy daughter Paula on the female vocals).

The Soul Multitasker
Multiple Grammy-winner Bernard Belle, brother of soul singer Regina, was a pioneer of New Jack Swing in the 1990s, in collaboration with Terry Lewis. He co-wrote and/or produced for acts like Michael Jackson (including Remember The Time), Hi-Five (including I Like the Way [The Kissing Game]), Whitney Houston, Bobby Brown, Patti LaBelle, Glenn Jones, Aaron Hall, Jaheim, Keith Sweat, Al B. Sure, and, of course, his sister.

After becoming a born-again Christian, he worked in gospel music, with acts like Shirley Caesar, Yolanda Adams, Mary Mary, Kirk Franklin, Blackstreet, and BeBe & CeCe Winans.As always, this post is reproduced in illustrated PDF format in the package, which also includes my personal playlist of the featured tracks. PW in comments.

Paul Vance, 92, songwriter and producer, on May 29
Perry Como – Catch A Falling Star (1957, as co-writer)
The Detergents – Leader Of The Laundromat (1964, as co-writer)
Paul Vance – Dommage, Dommage (Too Bad, Too Bad) (1966, also as co-writer)

Kelly Joe Phelps, 62, blues musician, on May 31
Kelly Joe Phelps – Lead Me On (1994)

Dave Smith, 72, synth pioneer, inventor of Midi, on May 31

Deborah McCrary, 67, singer with gospel band The McCrary Sisters, on June 1
The McCrary Sisters – Skin Deep (2013)

Leroy Williams, 85, jazz drummer, on June 1

Hal Bynum, 87, country songwriter and singer, on June 2
Kenny Rogers – Lucille (1977, as co-writer)
Hal Bynum – Last Summer (1998)

El Noba, 25, Argentine cumbia singer, in traffic accident on June 3

Grachan Moncur III, 85, jazz trombonist, on June 3
Grachan Moncur III – Thandiwa (1965)

Trouble, 34, rapper, shot on June 5

Alec John Such, 70, bassist of Bon Jovi, on June 5
Bon Jovi – Runaway (1984)
Bon Jovi – Bad Medicine (1988)
Bon Jovi – Bed Of Roses (1992)

Mikhail Vladimirov, 55, guitarist of Russian rock bands Mify, Chizh & Co, on June 6

Jim Seals, 79, half of soft-rock duo Seals & Crofts and songwriter, on June 6
Seals & Crofts – We May Never Pass This Way (Again) (1973, also as co-writer)
The Isley Brothers – Summer Breeze (1973, as co-writer)
Seals & Crofts feat. Carolyn Willis – Get Closer (1976, also as co-writer)

Eric Riebling, 59, bassist of rock band The Affordable Floors, on June 8
The Affordable Floors – The Red Room (1988)

Wolfgang Reisinger, 66, Austrian jazz percussionist, on June 8

Julee Cruise, 65, singer and musician, on June 9
Julee Cruise – Falling (1989)
Julee Cruise – In My Other World (1993)

Dario Parisini, 55, Italian guitarist and composer, on June 9

Commander Tom, German DJ and producer, on June 9
Commander Tom – Attention (2004)

FBG Cash, 31, rapper, shot on June 10

Amb. Osayomore Joseph, 69, Nigerian high-life pioneer, on June 11
Osayomore Joseph – Idami (2022)

Dawit Nega, 34, Ethiopian singer and musician, on June 12

Gabe Baltazar, 92, jazz alto saxophonist, on June 12
Anne Richards & The Stan Kenton Orchestra – It’s a Wonderful World (1961, on alto sax)

Joel Whitburn, 82, music historian, on June 14

Big Rude Jake, 57, Canadian musician, on June 16
Big Rude Jake – Swing Baby! (1996)

Ken Williams, 72, soul singer, songwriter, producer, on June 17
Peaches & Herb – The Ten Commandments Of Love (1968, a co-producer)
The Main Ingredient – Everybody Plays The Fool (1973, as co-writer)

Gian Pietro Felisatti, 72, Italian producer and songwriter, on June 18

Brett Tuggle, 70, rock keyboardist and songwriter, on June 19
David Lee Roth – Just Like Paradise (1987, as co-writer and on keyboards)

Jim Schwall, 79, member of blues group Siegel–Schwall Band, on June 19
Siegel-Schwall Band – You Don’t Love Me (1967)

Dennis Cahill, 68, guitarist of US/Irish folk group The Gloaming, on June 20
The Gloaming – Casadh an tSúgáin (2016)

James Rado, 90, playwright and composer (Hair), on June 21
Ronald Dyson & Company – Aquarius (1967)
Petula Clark – Good Morning Starshine (1970)

Artie Kane, 93, film score composer, on June 21

Edgar O. de Haas, 92, jazz bassist, on June 22
Peter, Paul & Mary – Polly Von (1963)

Patrick Adams, 72, disco & R&B producer, arranger and composer, on June 22
Black Ivory – Can’t You See (1976, as arranger)
Musique – In The Bush (1978, as writer and producer)
Cathy Dennis – Touch Me (All Night Long) (1991, as co-writer)

Paulo Diniz, 82, Brazilian singer, on June 22
Paulo Diniz – Pingos de amor (1971)

Massimo Morante, 69, guitarist of Italian prog-rock band Goblin, on June 23
Goblin – Chi (1976)

Tommy Morgan, 89, harmonicist and session musician, on June 23
Tommy Morgan – Off Shore (1958)
The Hollies – He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother (1969, on harmonica)
Quincy Jones – The Streetbeater (1973, on harmonica)
James Taylor – Caroline I See You (2002, on harmonica)

Bernard Belle, 57, soul producer and songwriter, on June 23
Michael Jackson – Remember The Time (1992, as co-writer)
Glenn Jones – Call Me (1992, as co-writer and producer)

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