After last month’s carnage, October was a bit quieter. Not very quiet — this thing still took ages to put together — but where September made me want to stop doing this series altogether, October was more tolerable.
I’m still considering the future of the In Memoriams, which has been a huge drain on my time for the past 14 years for virtually no return (in fact, this whole site is costing me a lot of money in hosting fees, with no income generated).
Doing fewer tribute write-ups would be an option to save me a few hours, but I can’t see myself not doing those. Less music — choosing appropriate songs can take a lot of time — might cut down on things a bit, but not so much as to make a big difference… So I’m having a dilemma: carry on as is and lose a lot of time, or stop doing this monthly series and lose a feature nobody else does quite as this. Or find some kind of miraculous compromise. I really don’t know.
The Sweet Inspiration
She became best-known as the mother of Whitney, but Cissy Houston was a great singer in her own right, even if her biggest successes were as a backing singer. Much of the backing singing was as part of the soul and gospel trio The Sweet Inspirations, which Houston co-founded in 1963.
The Sweet Inspirations worked with many great acts, such as Aretha Franklin (on all the great late-’60s albums; Aretha’s Ain’t No Way was effectively a duet with Cissy), Houston’s niece Dionne Warwick, Van Morrison (including on Brown Eyed Girl), Dusty Springfield (on Dusty In Memphis), the Jimi Hendrix Experience (Burning Of The Midnight Lamp), Wilson Picket, and famously backing Elvis Presley on the Vegas stage in 1969. The group also released records of their own.
After the Elvis gig, Cissy left the group to concentrate on her family. She still released records, mostly of gospel material, but she also recorded soul records, such as the sort-of original of Midnight Train To Georgia (it was her version that changed the Midnight Plane To Houston to a train going to Georgia; full story at The Originals – Soul Vol. 1) and a beautiful cover of When Something’s Wrong With My Baby (on Covered With Soul Vol. 18).
Houston also continued to do session work, for acts like Aretha, Paul Simon (Mother And Child Reunion), Herbie Mann, Donny Hathaway, Roberta Flack, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Zulema, John Prine (Sweet Revenge, featured just recently on Any Major Backing Singers), Margie Joseph, Linda Ronstadt, Millie Jackson, Don McLean, Judy Collins, Yusef Lateef, Peabo Bryson, Chaka Khan, Lou Rawls, Luther Vandross (Never Too Much, and on almost every Luther album thereafter), J. Geils Band, Neville Brothers, Joe Cocker, Teddy Pendergrass, Bette Midler (From A Distance), and, of course, her own daughter, with whom she also dueted on a cover of I Know Him So Well.
Cissy, a cousin of the great opera singer Leontyne Price, spoke freely about her grief following Whitney’s death in 2012. The death of granddaughter Bobbi-Jo must have been unbearable for her.
The Dead Deadhead
A co-founder of the Grateful Dead, Phil Lesh inspired many bass players with his distinctive style. He played his bass with his fingers rather than a pick (imagine the callouses!), and drew from different genres —jazz, bluegrass and classical elements — to create, and often improvise, a melodic sound. Rolling Stone, in one of their usually debatable lists, in 2020 ranked him the 11th greatest bass player ever.
As a writer, Lesh contributed to some of the band’s best-known songs, such as Truckin’, St Stephen, Uncle John’s Band, and Box Of Rain. On the latter, the opener of the landmark 1970 album American Beauty, he took the lead vocals. Mostly, however, he did the high tenor in the band’s harmonies, until his voice was permanently damaged in the mid-1970s. Thereafter he’d occasionally sing baritone.
After he left the band following Jerry Garcia’s death in 1997, he founded new projects, such as Phil Lesh & Friends, with whom he recorded and performed live. Later he joined former bandmate Bob Weir in a group called Furthur.
For nine years, from 2012, he ran a music venue/restaurant called Terrapin Crossroads — the name recalls the Dead’s song and album Terrapin Station — in San Rafael, California. Unlike the song that inspired the name, the bar eventually came to an end, in 2021 following the pandemic.
Lesh suffered from a lot of poor health, needing a liver transplant in 1998. In 2006 he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and in 2015 with bladder cancer. He still appeared on stage with his family, right up until shortly before his death at 84.
The Boy Band Singer
I must confess, I wouldn’t know a One Direction song if it mugged me in the streets. And, in fairness, I don’t think I ever was the group’s target market. So I was only vaguely aware of Liam Payne, who has died in tragic circumstances at the age of 31.
It would appear that Payne’s struggles in life, and even his death, were linked to the impact of fame on mental health, which some obviously handle better than others.
Rolling Stone remembered Payne for his “humour, his boyish energy, his songwriting brilliance, and the open-hearted joy he took in music, [and] the way he could light up an entire stadium with his smile”.
The Activist
Louis Armstrong thought she was “a gasser” (a good thing, in 1950s slang), Bob Dylan in the 1960s thought he was more important than he was, and to Bonnie Raitt she was the big role model. Barbara Dane, who has died at 97, made her mark in jazz, blues and folk, with the occasional foray into R&B. Time magazine opined of Dane: “The voice is pure, rich … rare as a 20-carat diamond.” Even Ebony magazine extolled the “startlingly blonde [with] that powerful dusky alto voice”.
In the 1950s, Dane made her mark as a jazz singer, but in the 1960s she became a hero in the folk movement, a scene that gave expression to her political and social activism. Dane a vocal advocate for civil and labour rights, the anti-war movements, and international human rights, especially in Latin America, where the US government was propping up right-wing dictatorships.
Dane never became mainstream, in part probably due to her politics. But also by her own design. In 1970 she explained: “I was too stubborn to hire one of the greed-head managers, probably because I’m a woman who likes to speak for herself. I always made my own deals and contracts, and after figuring out the economics of it, I was free to choose when and where I worked, able to spend lots more time with my three children and doing political work, and even brought home more money in the end, by not going for the ‘bigtime.’ I did make some really nice records, because I was able to choose and work with wonderfully gifted musicians.”
The First Maiden
Some Iron Maiden fans are divided in their views of the band’s better lead singer. Before Bruce Dickinson and the big commercial breakthrough, there was Paul Di’Anno, who has died at 66. Those who prefer the original singer seem to like Di’Anno’s punk vibes in the band’s metal sound on their self-titled 1980 debut album and Killers in 1981.
Di’Anno, whose real name was Paul Andrews, was dismissed from the band in 1981 as they were looking for a different vocal direction. After leaving Iron Maiden, he formed the band Battlezone and later released several solo albums.
The Song Subject
As a singer and songwriter, Libby Titus had some success, with her song Love Has No Pride having been recorded by Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt and Daryl Braithwaite (for a Top 5 hit in Australia) before she even got around to it. She also wrote with others, including Burt Bacharach, and for movies, and appeared in a couple of films herself, including 1986’s Heartburn, as a nightclub singer. Titus collaborated widely, especially with Carly Simon and Dr John.
Titus had a long relationship in the 1970s with The Band’s Levin Helm, which produced their daughter Amy, also a musician. She later married Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen.
Fagen wrote a song, The Great Pagoda of Funn, about his delight of being married to Titus, for his 2008 album Morph The Cat. In 1976, Carly Simon recorded a song titled Libby, on which Titus sang backing vocals, and Dr John’s 1983 instrumental Pretty Libby was inspired by her. Singer-songwriter Wendy Waldman 1978 song Long Hot Summer Nights was about her friendship with Titus.
The Crooner
Among easy listening singers in the 1960s, Jack Jones was one of the smoothest, hitting his heights with a pop song, the unbelievably sexist Bacharach/David song Wives And Lovers. Most of his material was dominated by orchestral strings or big band arrangements. Occasionally he’d become radical and venture into bossa nova (his version of As Time Goes By suggests that this was not invariably a brilliant idea). His superb vocals managed to render even the cheesiest material attractive, or at least tolerable.
But Jones’ most famous work has a discofied arrangement: the theme of the popular 1980s TV series Love Boat.
The Musical Singer
The already sparse ranks of surviving thespians from the Golden Age of Hollywood got a little thinner with the death at 93 of musical actress Mitzi Gaynor.
Gaynor was probably best-known fir her leading role in the 1958 musical South Pacific, and she also appeared in movies such as We’re Not Married!, There’s No Business Like Show Business, The Birds And The Bees, and The Joker Is Wild (leading opposite Frank Sinatra). Although a fine singer, she released only two albums of her own.
But Gaynor was a regular presence on American TV for decades. Most famously, she appeared in between the two sets played by The Beatles on their debut on the Ed Sullivan Show. She later recalled that the Fab Four borrowed her hair dryer, and then asked for her autograph.
The Hit Writer
Just over two years after his songwriting partner Alan Blaikley died, Ken Howard followed him at the age of 84 on September 24 (but announced only in October).
The British pair wrote Have I The Right? for The Honeycombs and The Legend Of Xanadu for Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich (both UK #1s), Me And My Life for The Tremeloes, and Manana for the Bay City Rollers. For Dave Dee and his friends, they wrote a whole string of other Top 10 hits from 1966-68: Hold Tight, Hideaway, Save Me, Okay!, Zabadak, and Last Night In Soho.
They were also the first British composers to write for Elvis Presley, including his hit I’ve Lost You.
The Fireman Rapper
In a world of thumping beats and aggressive posturing, New York rapper KA, known to his mom as Kaseem Ryan, was his own man. His delivery was understated and he eschewed obtrusive beats as a distraction from his words. Pitchfork called him the “Quiet Sage of Underground Rap”. KA, who has died at the young age of 52, released nine albums of his own, all self-produced, and two collaborative efforts.
But, and here’s the kicker, music wasn’t his main job. The rapper was also a Brooklyn-based fire captain, and as a firefighter he reportedly was among the first responders at 9/11.
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.
Ken Howard, 84, English hit songwriter and TV director, on Sept. 24
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich – Last Night In Soho (1968, as co-writer)
The Tremeloes – Me And My Life (1970, as co-writer)
Bay City Rollers – Mañana (1972, as co-writer)
Fritz Escovão, 81, guitarist, singer of Brazilian samba rock band Trio Mocotó, on Oct. 1
Trio Mocotó – Pensando Nela (1977)
Ken Tobias, 79, Canadian soft rock singer-songwriter, on Oct. 2
Ken Tobias – Stay Awhile (1978, also as writer)
Arbogaste Mbella Ntone, 82, Cameroonian singer, on Oct. 2
Jerry Miller, singer of soul-ska group The Untouchables, on Oct. 3
The Untouchables – The General (1983)
Terje Bjørklund, 79, Norwegian jazz pianist and composer, on Oct. 3
Jack Colwell, 34, Australian singer-songwriter, on Oct. 3
Jack Colwell – Don’t Cry Those Tears (2020, also as writer)
Takeshi Inomata, 88, Japanese jazz drummer and bandleader, on Oct. 4
Nell Smith, 17, Canadian singer with The Flaming Lips, in car accident on Oct. 5
Johnny Neel, 70, blues-rock musician, singer and songwriter, on Oct. 6
Johnny Neel & The Last Word – What Am I (1994)
Matthew Long, 29, singer-guitarist of UK blues-rock band Catfish, announced Oct. 7
Catfish – Archangel (2019, also as writer)
Jack Ponti, 66, rock songwriter and producer, on Oct. 7
Alice Cooper – Hey Stoopid (1991, as co-writer)
Cissy Houston, 91, soul and gospel singer, on Oct. 7
Sweet Inspirations – You Really Didn’t Mean It (1968, also as writer)
Cissy Houston – I’ll Be There (1970)
Herbie Mann feat. Cissy Houston – Cajun Moon (1976)
Whitney & Cissy Houston – I Know Him So Well (1987)
Hans van Hemert, 79, Dutch producer and songwriter, on Oct. 7
Mouth & McNeal – Hello-A (1972, as writer and producer)
Michel Boyibanda, 84, member of Congolese band TPOK Jazz, on Oct. 9
Franco & OK Jazz – Zando Ya Tipo Tipo (1974, as member)
El Taiger, 37, Cuban reggaeton singer, shot on Oct. 10
Kaseem ‘KA’ Ryan, 52, rapper and producer, on Oct. 12
KA – Nothing Is (2013)
KA – Grapes Of Wrath (2016)
Jackmaster, 38, Scottish DJ and label founder, on Oct. 12
Libby Titus, 77, singer-songwriter, on Oct. 13
Carly Simon – Libby (1976, as subject and on backing vocals)
Libby Titus – Love Has No Pride (1977, also as co-writer)
Ollie Olsen, 66, Australian rock musician and experimental composer, on Oct. 15
Max Q – Way Of The World (1989, as member, writer and co-producer)
Liam Payne, 31, singer with One Direction and songwriter, fall on Oct. 16
One Direction – Better Than Words (2013, on lead vocals and as co-writer)
One Direction – Story Of My Life (2013, on lead vocals and as co-writer)
Alan Mansfield, 72, New Zealand musician, songwriter and producer, on Oct. 16
Inger Lorre, 61, singer of alt.rock band Nymphs and songwriter, on Oct. 16
Nymphs – Imitating Angels (1991, also as writer)
Mitzi Gaynor, 93, musical actress and singer, on Oct. 17
Mitzi Gaynor – I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair (1958)
Mitzi Gaynor – Do What You Do (1959)
Barbara Dane, 97, jazz & folk singer, producer, label founder, activist, on Oct. 20
Barbara Dane – A Hundred Years From Today (1959)
Barbara Dane – I’m On My Way (1960)
Barbara Dane & The Chambers Brothers – It Isn’t Nice (1966)
Mimi Hines, 91, Canadian actress and jazz singer, on Oct. 21
Mimi Hines – Love Conquers All (1966)
Paul Di’Anno, 66, first singer of Iron Maiden, on Oct. 21
Iron Maiden – Running Free (1980, also as co-writer)
Claire Daly, 66, jazz and rick baritone saxophonist, composer, on Oct. 22
Claire Daly – I’ve Got the World On A String (1999)
Jack Jones, 86, singer and actor, on Oct. 23
Jack Jones – People Will Say We’re In Love (1966)
Jack Jones – What Now My Love (1970)
Jack Jones – Love Boat (1979)
Marco Paulo, 79, Portuguese singer and TV presenter, on Oct. 24
DJ Clark Kent, 58, Panamanian-US DJ, hip hop producer, on Oct. 24
Mariah Carey – Loverboy (2001, as co-producer)
Hans Rotmo, 76, Norwegian folk-rock singer-songwriter, on Oct. 24
Phil Lesh, 84, Bassist of the Grateful Dead and songwriter, on Oct. 25
Grateful Dead – St. Stephen (1969, also as co-writer)
Grateful Dead – Box Of Rain (1970, also on lead vocals and as co-writer)
Grateful Dead – Unbroken Chain (1974, also on lead vocals and as co-writer)
Phil Lesh & Friends – Night Of A Thousand Stars (2001, also as co-writer)
Manuel ‘Guajiro’ Mirabal, 91, Cuban trumpeter (Buena Vista Social Club), on Oct. 28
Buena Vista Social Club – Chan Chan (1997, on trumpet)
Nadia Cattouse, 99, Belize-born British folk singer, songwriter, actress, on Oct. 29
Nadia Cattouse – B.C. People (1970, also as writer)
Richard Andrew, 58, Australian rock drummer, on Oct. 30
Underground Lovers – I Was Right (1992, as member on drums)
Candy Devine, 85, Australian radio broadcaster and singer, announced Oct. 31
GET IT!
Previous In Memoriams
Keep up to date with dead pop stars on Facebook
This list comprises the 20 (well, 21) albums I’d rate as my favourites of that year’s release (note: I’m not claiming they were the best albums of 1984). Some evade the severest scrutiny because my attachment to them as an 18-year-old provides for an emotional bond that exceed critical faculties. That is true of the albums by Alison Moyet, Patrice Rushen and Heaven 17 — all good albums with a few excellent songs on them, but also a lot of stuff that has not stood the test of the intervening 40 years.
Recent Comments