A few months ago, in the August In Memoriam, I mentioned that John Tinniswood from England was the world’s oldest man. On November 25, he relinquished that crown at the age of 112. Brazilian João Marinho Neto is now the world’s (certified) oldest living man. Born on October 5, 1912, he is also 112 years old. He was of retirement age when disco and punk hit!
This was a particularly heavy month for bona fide jazz legends, as well as for behind-the-scenes people who contributed to a ridiculous number of pop classics, especially of the 1960s.
An occasional conundrum concerns reports of musicians who have died, but whose death I cannot verify. If I can’t confirm a death, I usually omit it. A strange case is that of 1970s Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Austin Roberts (Rocky; Something’s Wrong With Me), whose death on November 1 was reported in a local newspaper, the Williamson Herald, with a full obit and even reference to a memorial service. I saw the link on the Number One In Heaven Facebook group, but it has been reported nowhere else. On Wikipedia and All Music, Roberts is still alive and kicking. Still, with this caveat in mind, I include him among November’s dead and their music.
The Master
Everything that needs to be said about the man, has been said. There’s no need for me to reheat the obits. A friend said that Quincy Jones was 20th century music. Quincy was not the only one who can be thus defined, but the guy arranged/produced for Frank Sinatra and Michael Jackson, both in their prime. He was a master of pop, funk, soul, jazz and soundtrack production. He was a superb jazz musician and composer. Masters of the craft regarded Jones as the master. An absolute giant has fallen.
The Trombonist
In the early 1960s, trombonist George Bohanon (sometimes Bohannon) recorded jazz under his own name and as a member of the Chico Hamilton Quintet, but also did a lot of session work. Almost naturally, given that he was from Detroit, he played on many Motown records, including Mary Well’s hit My Guy and Martha & The Vandellas’ Nowhere To Run and Dancing In The Street, and backed the label’s acts on stage.
He played on live albums by several Motown acts, including by The Temptations (with whom Bohanon would record again in the 1970s), Marvin Gaye (ditto), Stevie Wonder (ditto), and the Four Tops. He was on stage as well with acts like Carole King, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Whitney Houston and Gladys Knight & The Pips (also on their version of I Will Survive, which appeared on the Gladys Knight Sings Covers mix)
In the 1970 and ‘80s, he appeared on most Earth, Wind & Fire albums. Bohannon recorded with countless other acts, including Sarah Vaughn, Herbie Mann, Rita Coolidge, Carole King (including on Corazon, which featured on Any Major Hits From 1973 Vol. 1), James Taylor, Ry Cooder, Billy Preston, Barry White, The Gap Band, Everly Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, Patrice Rushen, The Blackbyrds, Boz Scaggs, Wayne Henderson, Maria Muldaur, Melba Moore, Nancy Wilson, Glen Campbell, Anne Murray, Gabor Szabo, Nat Adderley, Alice Coltrane, Blue Mitchell, Sonny Rollins, Albert King, Stanley Clarke, Ramsey Lewis, Herb Alpert, Letta Mbulu, Melissa Manchester, Pharoah Sanders, B.B. King, Rick James, Norman Connors, The Whispers, Natalie Cole — and that was just in the 1970s and only selected names.
And, somehow inevitable, he played with Atlanta-born funk drummer and namesake Hamilton Bohannon, who died in 2020.
George Bohanon also played trombone on Quincy Jones’ 1975 jazz fusion album Mellow Madness, and, to pull strings together, on the 1977 version of Killer Joe by Benny Golson, who died in September and had written the song, which was a hit for Quincy Jones in 1969. Bohanon also played on Quincy’s The Color Purple soundtrack, and on Diana Ross’ Lady Sings The Blues soundtrack, which Golson arranged.
The Drumming Legend
One of the great jazz drummers has joined the big band in the sky, four months shy from reaching the age of 100. In his career that began in 1942 and lasted till 2011, Roy Haynes became a pioneering figure in the development of modern jazz drumming, performing with some of the greatest artists in jazz, including Sarah Vaughan, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Milt Jackson, Nat Adderley, Sonny Rollins, Art Farmer, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Stan Getz, Dave Brubeck, Roland Kirk, Jimmy Witherspoon, Mary Lou Williams, Chick Correa, Pharoah Sanders, Alice Coltrane and many others.
What distinguished Haynes, a self-taught drummer, was his ability to cohesively combine various drumming techniques, creating his own unique sound, which raised him above being a mere timekeeper at a time when most drummers were just that. His distinctive snare drum sound earned him the nickname “Snap Crackle” in the 1950s.
Apart from performing with jazz greats, Haynes was also an influential bandleader. In 2012 Haynes received he Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award. His influence extended beyond jazz. Great rock drummers like Charlie Watts and Jim Keltner were disciples. In 2006, he topped Modern Drummer magazine’s readers’ poll — at the age of 83!
And if that isn’t cool enough, there’s this: in 2008, Haynes did the voice of the DJ for the classic jazz radio station on the video game Grand Theft Auto IV.
The Singing Lawyer
As the sister of Mama Cass Elliot and the daughter of a Broadway musical director, Leah Kunkel (née Cohen) grew up with music. Her career began as a backing vocalist for folk-rock acts like Jackson Browne, on whose 1972 track From Silver Lake she sang the counter melody. She went on to back the likes of James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Arlo Guthrie, Carly Simon, Art Garfunkel, Stephen Bishop, Dan Hill, Randy Edelman, Graham Nash and Jimmy Webb.
In 1978 Kunkel released her self-titled debut album, a fine soft-rock effort which included the minor hit Step Right Up. Only one further solo album followed, 1980’s I Run With Trouble.
After a single album with the Coyote Sisters, Kunkel changed paths and became a lawyer and an adjunct professor at Western New England School of Law. She kept on performing, and released another album with the Coyote Sisters in 2001.
The 007 Hit Guitarist
Everybody will know English session guitarist Vic Flick’s most famous riff. It gives urgency to the James Bond theme. Flick — whose name sounds like that of the enforcer of a subterranean Bond villain — went on to play on many other Bond movie scores.
Flick played for some of the biggest names in 1960s British pop. He played, often alongside Jimmy Page and drummer Bobby Graham, on — deep breath now! — Adam Faith’s What Do You Want and Poor Me (and basically all Faith hits), Helen Shapiro’s You Don’t Know and Don’t Treat Me Like A Child, Petula Clark’s Downtown and I Know A Place, John Barry’s Zapata, Dusty Springfield’s I Only Want To Be With You, Lulu’s Shout, The Bachelors’ No Arms Can Ever Hold You, Shirley Bassey’s I (Who Have Nothing) and Goldfinger and Big Spender and Diamonds Are Forever, Cliff Richard’s Theme For A Dream, Peter & Gordon’s A World Without Love, The Honeycombs’ Have I The Right?, Sandie Shaw’s Always Something There To Remind Me and Puppet On A String, Cilla Black’s You’re My World and Step Inside Love and My Love and Alfie, The Walker Brothers’ The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore and Make It Easy On Yourself, Los Bravos’ Black Is Black, Chris Andrews’ Yesterday’s Man, Tom Jones’ It’s Not Unusual and What’s New Pussycat and Green Green Grass of Home and Delilah, Engelbert Humperdinck’s Release Me and The Last Waltz, The Bee Gees’ Spicks & Specks, Serge Gainsbourg’s Initials B.B. and Je T’Aime…Moi Non Plus, Herman’s Hermits’ No Milk Today and There’s A Kind Of Hush and Silhouettes, B.J. Thomas’ Hooked On A Feeling and Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head, Scott Walker’s Joanna, and many more.
In the 1970s, Flick did guitar duty on hits like Dana’s All Kinds Of Everything and lt’s Gonna Be A Cold Cold Christmas, Tom Jones’ She’s A Lady, Tony Christie’s I Did What I Did For Maria and Is This The Way To Amarillo, Gilbert O’Sullivan’s Alone Again (Naturally), Brotherhood of Man’s Save Your Kisses For Me, Lena Martel’s One Day At A Time, Typically Tropical’s Barbados, and Rita Coolidge’s All Time High, among others.
As part of the George Martin Orchestra, he played the solo guitar on Ringo’s Theme (This Boy) in the A Hard Day’s Night film. Later, he was composer and music arranger on the scores for Merchant Ivory films such as Autobiography Of A Princess (1975), The Europeans (1979), Quartet (1981) and Heat And Dust (1983).
The Hit Producer
His name might mean little to most people, but Shel Talmy, who has died at 87, shaped 1960s rock with some landmark production, especially for The Kinks and The Who. Born in Chicago, he moved to England in 1962 and smuggled himself onto Decca’s books as a producer. Using techniques he had learnt in LA but still unknown in the UK, he helped revolutionise record production in Britain’s growing pop scene.
After producing the hit Charmaine for Irish band The Bachelors (on which the aforementioned Vic Flick played guitar), Talmy was given the job of producing a raw young band, The Kinks. He was in charge of producing the proto-punk anthem You Really Got Me, and many subsequent Kinks hits, including All Day And All Of The Night, Dedicated Follower Of Fashion, Well Respected Man, Sunny Afternoon, and Waterloo Sunset, as well as Dave Davies’ great Death Of Clown.
Talmy also produced The Who’s trifecta of breakthrough hits in 1965: I Can’t Explain, Anyway Anyhow Anywhere, and — most importantly — my Generation.
For Manfred Mann he produced the sublime Ha! Ha! Said The Clown and Semi-Detached Suburban Mr. James; for the Amen Corner (If Paradise Is) Half As Nice; for Chad & Jeremy A Summer Song and Willow Weep For Me, and for The Easybeats Friday On My Mind (which featured in the In Memoriam for September 2024 in relation to Dick Diamonde, who played bass on the track). Talmy also produced acts like The Small Faces, The Creation, Cat Stevens, Pentangle, Roy Harper, and a young David Bowie.
And had his boss Dick Rowe signed his most notorious rejects, who knows, Talmy might have been put in charge of producing The Beatles…
The Bee Gees Drummers
The day after Talmy passed, Amen Corner drummer Dennis Bryon died at 75. The Welsh drummer had a string of hits with that group, which he left in 1972. But his glory days were yet to come as the drummer of disco-era Bee Gees, drumming on hits like Jive Talkin’, You Should Be Dancing, Staying Alive, Night Fever, How Deep Is Your Love, Tragedy, Love You Inside and Out, Too Much Heaven, and so on.
In that capacity, he is the only drummer other than Ringo Starr to have had five songs simultaneously in the Billboard Top 10.
Four days after Byron, another former Bee Gees drummer, Colin Petersen, died at 78. The former child actor was a fully-fledged member of the group, then a five-some, from 1967-69. The Australian was fired by Barry and Maurice (guitarist Vince Melouney and Robin Gibb had already left by then) and was replaced by Terry Cox of folk-rock group Pentangle (who had been produced by the above-mentioned Shel Talmy).
Peterson drummed on Bee Gees songs such as Massachusetts, New York Mining Disaster 1941, To Love Somebody, World, And The Sun Will Shine, I Started A Joke, Words, Melody Fair, Marley Purt Drive, First Of May and many others.
The Jazz Influencer
The great jazz big band in the sky gained several members this month who on earth helped shaped the genre. Saxophonist Lou Donaldson, who has died at 98, influenced two jazz sub-genre, first be bop and then soul jazz.
Donaldson was also pivotal figure in the hard bop movement, with his 1958 album Blues Walk, a classic of the subgenre. Soul jazz blended traditional jazz with elements of blues, R&B and soul. His 1960s albums, such as Alligator Bogaloo, Midnight Creeper and Hot Dog, became foundational records in soul jazz, with their funky grooves.
Donaldson, like all jazz legends, collaborated with some of the genre’s greatest figures, including Milt Jackson, Thelonious Monk, Art Blakey, Horace Silver and Grant Green. Much like Roy Haynes, Donaldson had one of the longest careers in modern jazz history, from the early 1940s into the 2000s.
But he always said his highlight was the legendary Bluebird gig in New York City on February 21, 1954 — the one with that famous introduction — with Art Blakey, Horace Silver, Clifford Brown and Curly Russell which was caught on three volumes of landmark LPs.
The Prog Pioneer
A founder member of prog-rock pioneers King Crimson Peter Sinfield, who has died at 80, was the band’s lyricist, synth player and co-producer, from 1968 until his departure in 1972, when he was told by Robert Fripp to leave. It was Sinfield had come up with the band’s name, and even oversaw the creation of some of their covers.
After leaving King Crimson, Sinfield continued producing, including Roxy Music’s Virginia Plain, but made his mark for writing lyrics for hits like Greg Lake’s I Believe In Father Christmas and C’est La Vie (and many ELP tracks), Herb Alpert’s Angelina, Bucks Fuzz’s The Land Of Make Believe and I Hear Talk, Leo Sayer’s Have You Ever Been In Love, TKA’s X-Ray Vision, 5 Star’s Rain Or Shine, Cher’s Heart Of Stone, and Céline Dion’s Think Twice, among others.
Nice little bit of trivia: Up until the age of eight, Sinfield was raised by his mother’s German housekeeper Maria Wallenda, a high-wire walker from the circus act The Flying Wallendas.
The Piaf Chansoneer
If all you ever do in your life is to write a melody as timelessly exquisite as that of Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien, you are a legend. A singer and songwriter of chanson, Charles Dumont wrote for many acts, including Dalida and Jacques Brel, but he is best remembered for his compositions for Edith Piaf, in the last years of her life.
The story goes that Piaf had rejected several of Dumont’s songs, and had a low opinion of him and his lyricist, the much older Michel Vaucaire. With the help of Piaf’s housekeeper, the two secured an impromptu audience with the legendary singer, on October 24, 1960. Piaf let them wait for an hour and was generally rude and dismissive. Impatiently, she told them that they had exactly one song to present to her.
Dumont sat down at the piano, and sang Vaucaire’s lyrics of no regrets. After he finished, a long silence followed. “Will you sing it again?” Piaf asked sharply. Dumont complied, but when he was halfway through, Piaf interrupted him. “Formidable!” she exclaimed. “Formidable! This is the song I’ve been waiting for.” Thus the song became Piaf’s biggest hit.
The Heavy Metal Monk
Your typical image of a Franciscan priest might involve a lot of preaching and perhaps talking to birds. Heavy metal music isn’t the first thing that comes to mind, but so it was with Cesare Bonizzi, known in Italy as Frate Cesare. He became a Franciscan in 1969 but didn’t transition from religious chanting to popular music until the late 1980s, when he started to perform in public.
Frate Cesare’s career really took off in his late fifties under the moniker Fratello Metallo, when he set Christian themes to rock and heavy metal music on albums such as 2003’s Metal Monk, Brother Metal in 2005, and especially 2009’s Misteri. In 2008, he performed in full Franciscan habit at Gods of Metal, Italy’s premier metal festival.
Unlike many of his colleagues in the metal genre, Frate Cesare didn’t hate his mommy and the whole world, but advocated love and peace. St Francis of Assisi probably would have approved.
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.
George Austin, 79, country-pop singer-songwriter, reportedly on Nov. 1
Austin Roberts – Something’s Wrong With Me (1972)
Quincy Jones, 91, jazz, soul, funk and pop musician, producer, arranger, composer, on Nov. 3
Quincy Jones – Stockholm Sweetnin’ (1957)
Quincy Jones feat. Ray Charles – In The Heat Of The Night (1967)
Quincy Jones – Ironside (Theme from ‘Ironside’) (1971)
Quincy Jones – The Secret Garden (1989)
Agnaldo Rayol, 86, Brazilian singer and actor, on Nov. 4
Tyka Nelson, 64, soul singer, Prince’s sister, on Nov. 4
Tyka Nelson – Royal Blue (1988)
Renato Serio, 78, Italian film, pop and disco composer, conductor and arranger, on Nov. 4
Gianni Morandi & Amii Stewart – Grazie perché (1983, as arranger)
Johnny Madsen, 73, Danish singer, on Nov. 4
Lucien Francœur, 76, singer of Canadian garage rock band Aut’Chose, on Nov. 5
Aut’Chose – Sexe-fiction (1975, also as co-writer)
Roy Cansdale, 80, British jazz musician, on Nov. 7
George Bohannon, 87, jazz, soul and pop trombonist, on Nov. 8
Marvin Gaye & Kim Weston – What Good Am I Without You (1964, on trombone)
Deniece Williams – Free (1976, on trombone)
Bobby Bland – Here We Go Again (1982, on trombone)
George Bohanon – Keep Hope Alive (1990)
Lou Donaldson, 98, jazz alto saxophonist, on Nov. 9
Art Blakey Quintet – Split Kick (1959, on alto sax)
Lou Donaldson – Blues Walk (1958)
Lou Donaldson – It’s Your Thing (1969)
Ella Jenkins, 100, folk singer-songwriter, on Nov. 9
Ella Jenkins – Wake Up, Little Sparrow (1963)
Pepe Justicia, 64, Spanish flamenco guitarist, on Nov. 10
Papa Noël Nedule, 83, Congolese soukous guitarist (TPOK Jazz), on Nov. 11
Papa Noel – Bel Ami (1984)
Roy Haynes, 99, legendary jazz drummer and bandleader, on Nov. 12
Sarah Vaughan – If I Knew Then What I Know Now (1957, on drums)
Roy Haynes with Phineas Newborn & Paul Chambers – Sugar Ray (1958, on drums)
Ray Charles – One Mint Julep (1961, on drums, arr. by Quincy Jones)
Roy Haynes Quartet – Snap Crackle (1962)
Johnny Duhan, 74, Irish folk singer-songwriter, drowned on Nov. 12
Johnny Duhan – The Voyage (2005, also as writer)
Edgard Brito, 50, keyboardist of Brazilian folk-metal group Tuatha de Danann, on Nov. 13
Shel Talmy, 87, American record producer, on Nov. 13
The Kinks – You Really Got Me (1964, as producer)
Manfred Mann – Ha! Ha! Said The Clown (1967, as producer)
Amen Corner – (If Paradise Was) Half As Nice (1969, as producer, see below)
Agnes Buen Garnås, 78, Norwegian folk singer on Nov. 13
Dennis Bryon, 75, Welsh drummer with Amen Corner, Bee Gees, on Nov. 14
Amen Corner – (If Paradise Was) Half As Nice (1969, as member)
Bee Gees – Jive Talkin’ (1975, on drums)
Vic Flick, 87, English session guitarist, on Nov. 14
Dusty Springfield – I Only Want To Be With You (1963, on guitar)
George Martin Orchestra – Ringo’s Theme (This Boy) (1964, on lead guitar)
Herman’s Hermits – Silhouettes (1965, on lead guitar)
Vic Flick – Juke Box Asylum (1975)
Peter Sinfield, 80, synth player of King Crimson, lyricist, producer, on Nov. 14
King Crimson – Lady Of The Dancing Water (1970, as lyricist, as co-producer)
Roxy Music – Virginia Plain (1973, as producer and lyricist)
Five Star – Rain Or Shine (1986, as lyricist)
Tommy Alverson, 74, country singer-songwriter, on Nov. 14
Tommy Alverson – Upside Down (2007)
Frank Robson, 78, English-born Finnish singer, on Nov. 16
Gerry Weil, 85, Austrian-born Venezuelan jazz musician, on Nov. 16
Vladimir Lyovkin, 57, singer with Russian boy band Na Na, on Nov. 17
Charles Dumont, 95, French singer and songwriter, on Nov. 18
Edith Piaf – Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien (1960, as composer)
Charles Dumont & Edith Piaf – Les amants (1962)
Barbra Streisand – Le Mur (1966, as composer)
Colin Petersen, 78, Australian drummer (Bee Gees 1967-69), on Nov. 18
Bee Gees – To Love Somebody (1967, as member)
Bee Gees – Melody Fair (1967, as member)
Saul Kane, 55, English DJ, musician and producer, announced Nov. 18
Bjørn Müller, 64, singer of Norwegian rock band Backstreet Girls, on Nov. 18
Backstreet Girls – Awright Awright Awright (1990, also as co-writer)
Paulo Alexandre, 93, Portuguese singer, on Nov. 18
Jordi Bonell, 66, Spanish jazz guitarist, on Nov. 18
Diva Gray, 72, soul and backing singer, on Nov. 19
Sister Sledge – He’s The Greatest Dancer (1978, as backing vocalist)
Change feat. Diva Gray – Hold Tight (1981)
Reggie ‘Saafir’ Gibson, 54, rapper and producer, on Nov. 19
Frate Cesare ‘Fratello Metallo’ Bonizzi, 78, Italian Catholic priest and rock singer, on Nov. 19
Fratello Metallo – Amore metallic (2009)
Mike Pinera, 76, ex-guitarist of Iron Butterfly and songwriter, on Nov. 20
Blues Image – Ride Captain Ride (1970, as member and co-writer)
Andy Paley, 72, half of power pop duo Paley Brothers, producer, composer, on Nov. 20
The Paley Brothers – Come Out And Play (1978)
Willy Quiroga, 84, member of Argentine rock band Vox Dei, on Nov. 21
Harry Williams, 80, percussionist, last survivor of soul group Bloodstone, on Nov. 22
Bloodstone – Everybody Needs Love (1973)
Bloodstone – Go On And Cry (1982)
Toni Price, 63, country-blues singer, on Nov. 22
Earl Holliman, 96, actor and singer, on Nov. 25
Earl Holliman – There’ll Be No Teardrops Tonight (1963)
Leah Kunkel, 76, folk-rock singer, on Oct. 26
Jackson Browne – From Silver Lake (1972, counter-melody vocals)
Leah Kunkel – Step Right Up (1979)
Anders Widmark, 61, Swedish jazz musician and composer, on Nov. 26
Bob Bryar, 44, drummer of alt.rock band My Chemical Romance, discovered Nov. 26
My Chemical Romance – Welcome To The Black Parade (2006)
Leonor González Mina, 90, Colombian singer and actress, on Nov. 27
Leonor González – Yo Me Llamo Cumbia (1973)
Artt Frank, 91, jazz drummer, on Nov. 27
Lía Crucet, 72, Argentine singer, model and actress, on Nov. 28
Will Cullen Hart, 53, member of psychedelic rock band Olivia Tremor Control, on Nov. 29
The Olivia Tremor Control – Hideaway (2004)
Bert De Coninck, 75, Belgian singer and guitarist, on Nov. 29
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As every year, I’ve picked one track from each mix of the year, beneath which you’ll find the link to the relevant post — a good way of catching up with mixes you might have mixed, or to remind you of mixes you liked. The text above and list below is included as a PDF, fir easy reference.
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