NYS Music 20​17

Category: Obituaries

  • Pat DiNizio, Smithereens Frontman, Dead at 62

    Pat DiNizio, founding member of New Jersey’s Smithereens, died Tuesday Dec. 12 according to a statement from his bandmates. He was 62. The cause of death was not disclosed.

    DiNizio’s death was announced on the band’s Facebook page Tuesday night.

    Formed in 1980 in Carteret, New Jersey, DiNizio, Jim Babjak, Dennis Diken and Mike Mesaros strung together a series of popular alternative songs in the late ’80s and early ’90s that included “A Girl Like You,” “Only a Memory,” “Behind the Wall of Sleep” and “Blood and Roses.” The band’s charged power pop sound was informed by the early British Invasion bands and the early rock of Buddy Holly. DiNizio’s smooth baritone vocals provided the signature sound of the band while his beatnik-style goatee and flipped up cap, a signature look.

    In addition to his work with the Smithereens, Pat DiNizio released several solo albums, produced an independent film, King Leisure and dabbled in politics, running for a U.S. Senate seat from New Jersey on the Reform Party ticket in 2000. He finished fourth in that race.

    Pat DiNizioDiNizio had recently suffered health issues from a series of falls that injured his back and neck. The most recent fall in September prompted the singer to reassure fans he was on the mend in a post to the band’s Facebook page,

    REPORTS OF MY DEMISE HAVE BEEN GREATLY EXAGGERATED! I SUFFERED A BAD FALL IN THE HOME THE OTHER DAY AND INJURED MYSELF, BUT TRUST ME, I’M NOT ON MY DEATHBED OR ANYWHERE NEAR IT:-I AM HURT, HOWEVER, RECEIVING GREAT MEDICAL CARE, BUT HAVE BEEN ORDERED BY MY PHYSICIANS TO TAKE SOME TIME OFF TO INSURE A COMPLETE AND HEALTHY RECOVERY, SO,,WE’VE GOT TO TAKE SOME TIM E OFF FROM THE ROAD SO THAT I CAN GET BETTER, WE’LL BE RESCHEDULING A FEW DATES SO THAT I CAN HEAL PROPERLY.

    The band mourned the loss of their bandmate Tuesday night, “Our journey with Pat was long, storied and a hell of a lot of fun. We grew up together. Little did we know that we wouldn’t grow old together.
    Goodbye Pat. Seems like yesterday.”

  • Fats Domino, Rock Pioneer, Dead at 89

    Fats Domino, whose boogie-woogie style of piano playing influenced generations of rock n’ roll musicians, died Tuesday in Louisiana. He was 89.

    Born Antoine Domino, Jr. in New Orleans in 1928, the pianist and singer was second only to Elvis Presley in sales during the early rock n’ roll era of the late ’50s and early ’60s.

    Domino’s string of hits included “Ain’t That a Shame,” “Blueberry Hill” and “Walking to New Orleans.” His New Orleans upbringing influenced his music, incorporating the rollicking piano style of Fats Waller and Professor Longhair.

    Domino’s influence has carried on through the works of the Beatles, Cheap Trick, Led Zeppelin and Randy Newman. While he is largely credited with being one of the fathers of rock n’ roll, Domino dismissed the notion, telling Rolling Stone, “it wasn’t anything but the same rhythm and blues I’d been playin’ down in New Orleans.”

    Domino’s relationship with his long time co-writer and producer Dave Bartholomew generated a string of hits as well as a style of production that influenced Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound. Bartholomew brought extra bass and drums into the studio to assure they could be heard above Domino’s piano. Bartholomew said of his late partner, “just like the cornerstone — you build a new church and you lay the cornerstone, and if the church burns down, the cornerstone is still there.”

    He was married in 1947 to Rosemary Hall and they had eight children, all with names that began with the letter A.

  • Gord Downie, Tragically Hip Frontman, Dead at 53

    Charismatic frontman and Canadian national treasure, Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip passed away Tuesday night at the age of 53.

    Tragically Hip Cancer Gord DownieDownie was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, in December 2015. It was discovered after he suffered a seizure.

    The diagnosis wasn’t publicly revealed until May of last year when the band also announced a final Tragically Hip tour. The Hip, with Downie (vocals), Rob Baker (guitar), Paul Langlois (guitar), Gord Sinclair (bass) and Johnny Fay (drums) embarked on a 15 show cross-Canada tour in 2016, culminating in a nationally-broadcast show in their hometown of Kingston, ON on Aug. 20.

    Gord Downie
    Gord Downie assessing the situation in Canandaigua.

    A statement issued on the band’s website spoke of the inevitability of Downie’s passing, “Gord knew this day was coming – his response was to spend this precious time as he always had – making music, making memories and expressing deep gratitude to his family and friends for a life well lived, often sealing it with a kiss…on the lips.” Downie made a point to kiss his bandmates on the lips at the end of each performance on the Man Machine Poem tour in 2016 to show his love for them. The full statement from the Downie family:

    Last night Gord quietly passed away with his beloved children and family close by.

    Gord knew this day was coming – his response was to spend this precious time as he always had – making music, making memories and expressing deep gratitude to his family and friends for a life well lived, often sealing it with a kiss… on the lips.

    Gord said he had lived many lives. As a musician, he lived “the life” for over 30 years, lucky to do most of it with his high school buddies. At home, he worked just as tirelessly at being a good father, son, brother, husband and friend. No one worked harder on every part of their life than Gord. No one.

    We would like to thank all the kind folks at KGH and Sunnybrook, Gord’s bandmates, management team, friends and fans. Thank you for all the help and support over the past two years.

    Thank you everyone for all the respect, admiration and love you have given Gord throughout the years – those tender offerings touched his heart and he takes them with him now as he walks among the stars.

    Love you forever Gord.

    The Downie Family

    Downie’s final days were spent championing indigenous causes, forming The Gord Downie and Chanie Wenjack Fund to support reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous people in Canada. Chanie Wenjack was a young indigenous boy who died while trying to escape one of Canada’s now defunct residential schools in 1966. Downie released a solo album entitled Secret Path, accompanied by a graphic novel, last October to bring light to Wenjack’s death and the impact of the residential schools on Canada’s indigenous people.

    As a result of his tireless work for the First Nations people, Downie was honored at a ceremony given by the Assembly of First Nations last December. National Chief Perry Bellegarde bestowed an eagle feather, a symbol of the creator, on Downie and gave him an honorary aboriginal name, Wicapi Omani, which means “man who walks among the stars.”

    Gordon Edgar Downie was born in Kingston, ON on Feb. 6, 1964. He attended the Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute, where he met his future bandmates. Davis Manning was an original member of the band as saxophonist. He was replaced by Langlois in 1986. The band inked a deal with MCA Records after an appearance at Toronto’s famed Horseshoe Tavern, releasing its self-titled EP in 1987. The follow-up Up to Here in 1989 produced four hit singles for the Hip in Canada, “Blow at High Dough,” “New Orleans is Sinking,” “38 Years Old” and “Boots or Hearts.”

    The band’s blues-based sound and poetic Canadiana lyrics endeared them to Canadians of all walks and perhaps kept the Hip from success in the U.S., aside from the border towns. Nonetheless, the Hip became Canadian rock royalty, garnering 16 Juno Awards (Canada’s equivalent of the Grammys), the Order of Canada, induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and a street naming in their hometown.

    Over the course of 30 years, 14 Tragically Hip albums, five solo efforts (with another set for release on Oct. 27) and many collaborations, Gord Downie was a champion of music, especially Canadian music. The Hip brought many Canadian artists with them on tour, including the Arkells, Rheostatics, the Sadies, Eric’s Trip, Spirit of the West, the Inbreds and Ron Sexsmith among others. Many of them have left fond remembrances. Max Kerman of the Arkells told CBC Radio’s “Q” podcast, “Gord taught me that it’s OK to dance.” The Toronto Globe and Mail tweeted, “Gord Downie, troubador of Canada, charmed and challenged a nation.”

    Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, visibly emotional, delivered a statement on Wednesday, describing Downie as one who “gave us goosebumps and made us proud to be Canadian.”

    But Downie was more than a musician. Downie was an activist. He was a performer. He was a poet. He was an actor. Gord Downie was a treasure. To gather an image of who Gord Downie was, the New York Times said it best, “The place of honor that Mr. Downie occupies in Canada’s national imagination has no parallel in the United States. Imagine Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and Michael Stipe combined into one sensitive, oblique poet-philosopher, and you’re getting close.”

    Farewell, Mr. Downie. “It was a pleasure doing business with you.”

  • Runnin’ Down a Dream: Remembering Tom Petty (1950-2017)

    Remembering Tom Petty as the venerable wizard of feel-good music, the kind we cranked with the windows down while driving at full speed can bring solace to this tragic loss. “I felt so good, like anything was possible / I hit cruise control, and rubbed my eyes.” His songs were perfect for beach parties, heartache, conflict, and respect. Petty’s songs gave us perspective, relating to us to say, “life will be all right: you will get through this; stand tall and be proud of yourself.”

    tom petty lockn

    Petty was a philosopher, a poet, a troubadour, and a comic. He had a keen sense of humor and did what was right for his fans, even if it meant going to battle against overbearing record company execs. He fought for the common cause and helped all musicians in his wake by keeping industry powers in check. He fought labels to keep cd costs down, including his own first record label, and he succeeded. Most early contracts were rigged against the artists, and musicians often had no choice but to sign their lives away in order to “make it big.” Now the battles are fought against Pandora and Rhapsody, but some of these streaming services are losing the fight as new services take over and fans rally behind artists who are continuing the fight Petty pioneered.

    Early in my formative years, I enjoyed watching my friends in Final Warning rehearse and perform Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ “Breakdown” countless times, while Adam Sandler gave us his best Tom Petty impersonation, complete with the twangy accent and rock moves. His basement was where I followed my first band, becoming the band’s light guy and roadie. Petty was the lovable rocker we all related to. He crafted songs that were simple, catchy, and about real life: powerful, inspiring, soothing, and enlightening. His fans felt like he was their best pal, and that he spoke to us through his music. Petty was one of the greatest artists, with the uncanny ability to reach our hearts and alter our minds. In his music was great wisdom and peacefulness, but also a sense of celebration, confidence, and courage.

    “Petty was a giant. Damn the Torpedoes is one of the greatest rock albums of all time, and certainly would have been the best album of the 80s, if it were released 3 months later.” (Peter Lavallee, lead guitarist of Final Warning) That was Petty’s third studio album, his most popular and highly-acclaimed, which was certified triple platinum in the US and reaching #2 on the U.S. charts. Every song on it was a masterpiece. Petty didn’t write fillers – he wrote every song to strongly stand on its own.

    “I first worked with the Tom Petty Camp at The Hangout Music Festival. I became friends with Josh, who looks out for the band and tour. I gave Tom and his wife a ride from the tour bus to the headliner dressing room compound and upon introducing myself with ‘Hi, I’m Tony’, Mr. Petty nasally replied ‘Hey, I’m Tom.’ Fare thee well, Tom Petty, and thank you for fueling our FM radio memories for all those decades with simplistic truth. You are loved and will be missed.” (Tony Hume, tour manager, artist relations, and operations for Bonnaroo, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, The Fox Theatre, Wanderlust, and All Good, among many others).+Remembering Tom Petty

    Petty was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002, and inducted his friend, the “Dark Horse” himself, George Harrison, in 2004. He had countless friends in the music industry, being likeable, approachable, and one of the hardest-working performers and songwriters of all times. Petty had more top 10 hits in Mainstream Rock than any other artist in the chart’s history, with 28 total top 10’s. Petty has been on the charts 48 times since the chart’s inception in 1981 (source: Billboard). Petty was competing against The Rolling Stones and The Who, and has scored top hits in 5 different decades, selling over 60 million albums worldwide.

    In his last year, Petty played 53 shows in 2017, and has performed over 1,000 shows in his lifetime. Petty has appeared and recorded with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Johnny Cash, Stevie Nicks, Roy Orbison, Steve Winwood, Lucinda Williams, and countless other music legends. One of Petty’s first guitar teachers was Don Felder of The Eagles, a fellow citizen of Gainesville, FL, where Petty was born on October 20, 1950. Early on, Petty was so impressed by The Beatles that after seeing them, he dropped out of school at 17 to play bass with his new band, The Epics. They soon evolved into Mudcrutch, who had 2 of the Heartbreakers, Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench, along with Tom Leadon on guitar and Randall Marsh on drums. They recently played a sold-out show at The 930 Club in DC on June 6, 2016, having been recently reformed in the summer of 2007. (Washington Post).

    Remembering Tom PettyPetty directly influenced Dave Grohl, who has covered ‘Breakdown’ 69 times. Petty influenced many other prominent artists, including Ryan Adams, Bon Jovi, and Taylor Swift, who wrote, “To me, Tom Petty represented a kind of songwriting I idolised: complex simplicity. His hits have defined rock radio since the Seventies, and he never stopped writing great music. It said so much in the lyrics, the concepts, the stories, the message, the nuances … but always brought you back to a hook that got stuck in everyone’s head. He motivated thousands of guitarists to learn to play just because they wanted to be able to play ‘Free Fallin”. Count me as one of them.” (NME Music).

    Because of his huge popularity, Petty played the largest festivals, including headlining acts at Bonnaroo in 2006, alongside The Allman Brothers Band, Stevie Nicks and the Black Crowes. Petty was enthusiastically greeted by his devoted fans, who chanted the words to every song with unity and pride. I had the great fortune to experience the power of this rock icon first opening for The Grateful dead in the mid to late 80s, a few other shows throughout the decades, then more recently at New Orleans Jazz Fest in 2012, and again at Lockn’ Festival in 2014. I covered that year for NYS Music, and was lucky to catch this shot as Tom looked right at me, with an elvish grin and a gleam in his eye.

    Thank you for your musical magic, may you rest in peace, Tom.

  • Tom Petty Dead at 66

    Tom Petty lived a life that was one of persistence and a never say die attitude. The same could be said of his death. On Monday, reports began circulating that Petty had been found unresponsive in his Malibu home due to cardiac arrest. He was transported to UCLA Medical Center, placed on life support then removed from life support due to no brain activity. Reports of his death began populating social media despite the fact that there was never any official indication that he was dead.

    tom petty deadLate in the day, news of his death was retracted. Petty had been taken off of life support but began breathing on his own. He was fighting death just as he had fought record labels throughout his career.

    Late Monday, Tony Dimitriades, Petty’s long time manager, confirmed the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s death, “We are devastated to announce the untimely death of our father, husband, brother, leader and friend Tom Petty,” Dimitriades said on behalf of the family.

    He died peacefully at 8:40 p.m. PST Monday surrounded by his family, bandmates and friends.

    Petty was a rare artist who transcended generations. Throughout the day Monday, tributes to Petty were posted on social media from fellow musicians and fans both young and old. His songs have been staples of FM radio since the late 1970s, beginning with the debut album Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers through the 1980s as a member of the supergroup the Traveling Wilburys with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne.

    Petty took pride in the fact that the band maintained an ability to attract young fans over the decades. He headlined both the 2006 and 2013 Bonnaroo Festivals and told Rolling Stone about the experience, “We’re one of those old, lucky bands: Young people come to see us. It makes a difference. There are people who have picked up on you fairly recently, or they’re just learning about you. It brings a different excitement into the crowd.”

    Recent years saw Petty reuniting his original Gainesville, FL band Mudcrutch as well as the Heartbreakers. Petty and the Heartbreakers just wrapped up a 40th anniversary tour last week at the Hollywood Bowl.

    Thomas Earl Petty was born in Gainesville on Oct. 21, 1950. His admiration of cowboys led him to take up the guitar. He once stated, “I always liked the idea of the guitar, because cowboys played the guitar.” This passion escalated when his uncle took the 10 year-old Petty to the set of a movie Elvis Presley was working on. It was this meeting that propelled him to make music his life passion.

    The band’s 1976 eponymous debut took time to gain traction in the U.S. Once it did, the single  “Breakdown” crept into the lower reaches of  the Billboard charts.

    Petty famously battled record labels early in his career. When MCA Records attempted to buy out his contract with ABC Records, Petty declared bankruptcy, claiming the contract signed with ABC was made under duress. Petty was able to renegotiate his contract and MCA resigned the band, releasing its third album Damn the Torpedos under its own imprint, Backstreet Records. Torpedos went on to sell over two million copies behind the strength of Petty classics as “Refugee” and “Don’t Do Me Like That.”

    Prior to the release the band’s next album Hard Promises, MCA wanted to cash in on Petty’s celebrity, introducing a new level of pricing for superstar LPs. The label planned to price the new release at $9.98. Petty relented, even threatening to name it The $8.98 LP. MCA eventually caved and released it at the $8.98 price. Hard Promises furthered Petty’s superstar status with the hit “The Waiting.”

    The mid-’80s had Petty and the Heartbreakers branching out. They performed at Live Aid in Philadelphia in 1985, collaborated with the Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart on the Alice in Wonderland themed video for “Don’t Come Around Here No More” and toured with  Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead.

    Petty joined Harrison’s Traveling Wilburys in 1988. This collaboration of rock royalty resulted in a triple platinum album and renewed success for Petty after a disappointing Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough) in 1987. He parlayed that success into Full Moon Fever, his first solo release, although accompanied by Lynne and the Heartbreakers in the studio.

    https://youtu.be/L8s9dmuAKvU

    In 1994 Petty began a working relationship with producer Rick Rubin for his second solo album Wildflowers. The album again sold in the millions, earning him a legion of new fans. Rubin then recruited Petty and the Heartbreakers to be Johnny Cash’s backing band for the landmark 1996 album Unchained, which earned a Grammy for Best Country Album of that year.

    The end of the Wildflowers tour also resulted in the end of his 22 year marriage to Jane Benyo. Petty moved from their home and fell into a heroin habit. He eventually cleaned up after entering detox and the resulting album, 1999’s Echo revealed a dark side of Petty that he has rarely visited since.

    In 2001, he married Dana York Epperson while beginning work on The Last DJ an indictment of the recording industry that he saw as having little regard for the art or artists it promoted. This period of Petty’s career didn’t generate radio hits, despite solid efforts both solo and with the Heartbreakers but he was still a successful touring act.

    In 2007 Petty reunited with his old bandmates in Mudcrutch (Tom Leadon and Randall Marsh along with Heartbreakers Benmont Tench and Mike Campbell) for a self-titled album and a brief tour. They released a second album, 2 in 2016 that was followed by a national tour.

    Petty and the Heartbreakers returned in 2014 with the band’s first ever number one album Hypnotic Eye. They had toured behind it in 2017, a tour that also celebrated the band’s 40th anniversary.
    Prior to the tour, Petty told Rolling Stone, “I’m thinking it may be the last trip around the country.” Sadly, it was.

    Petty is survived by his wife along with a brother, Bruce; his daughters, Adria and AnnaKim; his stepson, Dylan Petty; and one grandchild.

  • Hüsker Dü’s Grant Hart Dead at 56

    Grant Hart, drummer and one third of the highly influential St. Paul, MN band Hüsker Dü has succumbed to cancer at the age of 56, according to Variety. The announcement was made through an uncaptioned photo of Hart on Hüsker Dü’s Facebook page posted around 2 a.m. Thursday.

    https://www.facebook.com/huskerduofficial/posts/2065361240366226:0

    Hart met singer/guitarist Bob Mould and bassist Greg Norton in 1978 at the Cheapo Records where Hart worked. As Hart remarked in a July 2000 interview with The Onion, it wasn’t so much what the three had in common that brought Hüsker Dü together as a band, but their differences. Hart was a champion of the local scene while Mould was a fan of the punk being made on the East Coast and largely unavailable in the midwest.

    The band’s hardcore sound evolved into a more melodic style, earning them airplay on college radio stations around the country. Hüsker Dü’s first release, the single “Statues” was released in 1981 on the band’s own label Reflex Records. Hart’s songwriting contributions were a stark contrast to Mould’s more bitter lyrical style, offering ranging subjects in songs like “Diane” and “It’s Not Funny Anymore,” his contributions to the band’s EP Metal Circus.

    Minutemen and fIREHOSE bassist Mike Watt offered his condolences in a Facebook post early Thursday:

    https://www.facebook.com/wattfrompedro/posts/10155654920454666

    Hüsker Dü’s breakthrough came on the seminal double album Zen Arcade, released in 1984. That same year Watt’s Minutemen also released their high watermark Double Nickels on the Dime, both on Greg Ginn’s SST label. The two bands toured together often in the early years and formed a bond in the process.

    Hart was the subject of the 2013 documentary Every Everything: The Music, Life and Times of Grant Hart. The film gives a unique inside view of Hart the man and Hart the musician from his youth up to the recording of his final studio album The Argument, a concept album based on John Milton’s Paradise Lost.

    Hüsker Dü proved to be a huge influence on what would become the alternative scene of the early 1990s with bands such as the Pixies and Nirvana citing them as an influence. Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic once said,”What Nirvana did was nothing new; Hüsker Dü did it before us.” Dave Grohl of Nirvana and Foo Fighters has cited Hart as a huge early influence on his style of play.

    The band was one of the first of the early ’80s punk/hardcore scene to score a major label record deal, signing with Warner Brothers for 1986’s Candy Apple Grey. However, it wasn’t long before tensions between Mould and Hart would lead to the dissolution of the band on the tour for its final album together, the 1987 double album Warehouse: Songs and Stories.

    The acrimony continued until just recently when the two performed on stage together at a July show in Minneapolis that also included fellow Minnesotans Babes in Toyland and Soul Asylum. At the end of a set that saw Hart perform several both solo and Hüsker Dü works, Hart signed off simply, “We’ll see you a bit further down the trail.”

    Mould paid tribute to his bandmate in a Facebook post early Thursday, saying:

    We stopped working together in January 1988. We went on to solo careers, fronting our own bands, finding different ways to tell our individual stories. We stayed in contact over the next 29 years — sometimes peaceful, sometimes difficult, sometimes through go-betweens. For better or worse, that’s how it was, and occasionally that’s what it is when two people care deeply about everything they built together.

    The tragic news of Grant’s passing was not unexpected to me. My deepest condolences and thoughts to Grant’s family, friends, and fans around the world.

    Grant Hart was a gifted visual artist, a wonderful story teller, and a frighteningly talented musician. Everyone touched by his spirit will always remember.

    Godspeed, Grant. I miss you. Be with the angels.

    Just last week, it was announced that a new Hüsker Dü box set entitled Savage Young Dü will be released in November. The three-disc box includes 69 tracks recorded during the band’s pre-SST days from 1979-1983 including all of their 7″ singles, a remastered version of their second album Everything Falls Apart and an alternate recording of the debut, Land Speed Record. Also included in the set is a booklet chronicling the band’s early years.

    In a 2009 interview with the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Hart offered the following on his legacy:

    A long time ago, I started looking at my permanent record — the history of me after I’m gone. Even to speak of it reeks of egotism run wild. But I think when all is said and done, the work that I produced in this lifetime will more than repay the world for any inconvenience I’ve caused it.

    Hart is survived his wife Bridget and a son.

  • Walter Becker, Founding Member of Steely Dan, Dead at 67

    Walter Becker, bassist and guitarist for the highly successful rock duo Steely Dan died Sunday at the age of 67. His death was announced on his website with a simple diptych of Becker as a child and an adult with the caption, “walter becker feb. 20 1950 – sept. 03 2017.” No further details on the cause of death were provided.

    walter beckerBecker missed both July Steely Dan dates of the Classic West and Classic East shows due to a procedure, his performing partner Donald Fagen revealed in an August interview in Billboard. Fagen didn’t elaborate. The band also recently announced a fall tour with a scheduled stop at Shea’s Performing Arts Center in Buffalo Oct. 17.

    Becker was born in Queens and graduated from Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan in 1967. He met Donald Fagen while both were students at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York that same year. A quick friendship was formed when both realized similar interests in music and the beat poets. They performed in various local groups, including the Leather Canary, which included comedian Chevy Chase on drums.

    Upon Fagen’s graduation in 1969, the two moved to Brooklyn. Becker and Fagen became touring musicians for Jay and the Americans for a brief time before leaving due to a pay dispute. Their biggest success while still in New York was Barbra Streisand’s recording of their song “I Mean to Shine.” The duo recorded a series of demos and scored a soundtrack for an early Richard Pryor film before making tracks to Los Angeles.

    The move to Los Angeles proved fruitful for the eventual Steely Dan. It was here that they connected with ABC Records producer Gary Katz. Katz hired Becker and Fagen as staff songwriters for the label and would go on to produce all of Steely Dan’s 1970s output.

    It was in Los Angeles where the two musicians struck out on their own, recruiting guitarists Denny Dias and Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, drummer Jim Hodder and singer David Palmer to form Steely Dan. The name was chosen as a nod to beat writer William S. Burroughs. The “Steely Dan” was a sex toy mentioned in Burroughs’ Naked Lunch.

    What followed was one of the most unlikely string of successful albums put to tape. From Steely Dan’s debut,
    Can’t Buy a Thrill in 1972 through the 1977 pinnacle album Aja to 1980’s Gaucho, the band’s penchant for obscure references, dark humor, quirky time changes and studio perfection landed them in an unlikely spot on the Billboard charts time and again.

    The duo parted ways in 1981, with Becker taking his family to live in Maui, HI where he quit using drugs and, according to the Steely Dan Timeline, became “a gentleman avocado rancher and self styled critic of the contemporary scene.” During this time, Becker began producing in earnest as well as working with English pop band China Crisis.

    Despite the inactivity of Steely Dan, Becker and Fagen still managed to work together formally and informally during their hiatus. Becker sat in with Fagen’s New York Rock and Soul Revue in 1991, which led to his producing Fagen’s 1993 solo album, Kamikiriad. Fagen returned the favor, producing Becker’s 1994 solo outing 11 Tracks of Whack. These collaborations renewed the Steely Dan spark and led to the band’s first tour in 19 years.

    They continued to tour and in 2000 dropped an album of all new material, Two Against Nature that garnered Steely Dan four Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year. In 2001, Steely Dan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and was honored with an Honorary Doctor of Music degree from Berklee College of Music.

    Another Steely Dan album followed in 2003, with Becker making his vocal debut on the track “Slang of Ages” and the band continued touring through the mid 2010s, including a headlining spot at 2015’s Coachella Festival in Indio, CA.

    Becker’s work left an indelible mark on the music industry and musicians worldwide have been offering tribute to him since his death was announced. Josh Kroop, former manager for Connecticut jamband Kung Fu shared professionally shot video of the band’s The Royal Scam set from two years ago, featuring members of the Steely Dan band, Bernard Purdie on drums and Jon Herington on guitar.

    On Sunday, Fagen shared a note remembering his long-time friend and collaborator. The full text is below:

    Walter Becker was my friend, my writing partner and my bandmate since we met as students at Bard College in 1967. We started writing nutty little tunes on an upright piano in a small sitting room in the lobby of Ward Manor, a mouldering old mansion on the Hudson River that the college used as a dorm.

    We liked a lot of the same things: jazz (from the twenties through the mid-sixties), W.C. Fields, the Marx Brothers, science fiction, Nabokov, Kurt Vonnegut, Thomas Berger, and Robert Altman films come to mind. Also soul music and Chicago blues.

    Walter had a very rough childhood – I’ll spare you the details. Luckily, he was smart as a whip, an excellent guitarist and a great songwriter. He was cynical about human nature, including his own, and hysterically funny. Like a lot of kids from fractured families, he had the knack of creative mimicry, reading people’s hidden psychology and transforming what he saw into bubbly, incisive art. He used to write letters (never meant to be sent) in my wife Libby’s singular voice that made the three of us collapse with laughter.

    His habits got the best of him by the end of the seventies, and we lost touch for a while. In the eighties, when I was putting together the NY Rock and Soul Review with Libby, we hooked up again, revived the Steely Dan concept and developed another terrific band.

    I intend to keep the music we created together alive as long as I can with the Steely Dan band.

  • Glen Campbell, Country and Pop Crossover Pioneer, Dead at 81

    Glen Campbell, a country artist who successfully bridged the pop and country worlds in the late ’60s and early ’70s died from complications of Alzheimer’s disease Tuesday at the age of 81. Campbell’s Facebook page confirmed the death Tuesday afternoon.

    glen campbell
    Image: Getty Images

    Campbell was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2011 and was public about it as he embarked on a farewell tour backed by three of his children. What was supposed to have been a short five week tour, morphed into 151 shows, with his final show occurring in Napa, CA on Nov. 30, 2012. That tour was chronicled in the 2014 documentary, Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me.

    The film followed Campbell on that final tour and revealed the up close and personal experiences of a person suffering through the various stages of Alzheimer’s and its effects on loved ones. Campbell’s daughter, Ashley, who played keyboard and banjo on the tour, told The New York Times in 2014, “It was almost like a game of roulette. You’d have a great show and then a difficult show, and you’d start to wonder, ‘Oh no, is this getting towards the end?’”

    glen campbell
    Photo Credit: Henry Diltz

    Following that tour, Campbell retreated to Nashville where he received long-term care until his death. His final studio album Adios! was recorded following the farewell tour. He was accompanied by such artists as Vince Gill and Willie Nelson, covering songs from Nelson, Bob Dylan and Harry Nilsson, and his longtime collaborator Jimmy Webb. The album was released this past June.

    Campbell was the seventh of 12 kids, born to an Arkansas sharecropper on April 22, 1936. He began playing guitar at the age of four with a Sears and Roebuck guitar and was performing on local radio by age six. Campbell quit school, obsessed with Django Reinhardt at the age of 14 and moved in with his uncle, Dick Bills, who had a band in Albuquerque.

    A move to Los Angeles in 1960 at the age of 22 kick started a professional career that had Campbell performing with the infamous Wrecking Crew, a loose-knit group of LA studio musicians who became Phil Spector’s house band. The Wrecking Crew acted as the backing band for dozens of the most popular artists of the ’60s, including Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Bobby Darin, the Monkees, Merle Haggard, Elvis Presley, the Mamas and the Papas and the Beach Boys.

    According to Rolling Stone, “In 1963 alone, he appeared on 586 cuts and countless more throughout the decade, including the Byrds’ “Mr. Tambourine Man,” Elvis Presley’s “Viva Las Vegas,” Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried” and the Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling.”

    After sitting in on some Beach Boys sessions, Campbell became a touring member of the band, replacing Brian Wilson, who had suffered a nervous breakdown. Campbell toured with the band through 1965.

    His late ’60s collaborations with Jimmy Webb brought Campbell’s biggest success, with songs such as “Wichita Lineman,” “Where’s the Playground Susie,” “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” and “Galveston.” His popularity and status as a crossover artist took off in 1968 when he hosted a summer replacement show for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. The gig led to his own variety show, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, hosting such musical luminaries as Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, the Beatles, Neil Diamond and Linda Ronstadt on CBS. The show ran from 1969 through 1972.

    Webb wrote a heartfelt tribute to his “big brother” in a post to Facebook.

    Campbell’s career stumbled a bit in the early ’70s as problems due to alcohol and cocaine use created issues both personally and professionally. In 1975, he resurfaced with several of his most well-known songs topping both the country and pop charts. The Allen Toussaint-penned “Southern Nights” and his signature song, “Rhinestone Cowboy” both hit number one on the Billboard charts during this period.

    His later years were spent championing younger country artists such as Keith Urban and Alan Jackson and recording albums of gospel music. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005. The album Ghost on the Canvas was released in 2011 and featured collaborations from indie rock icons Paul Westerberg of the Replacements, who wrote the title track, Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan and Jakob Dylan of the Wallflowers.

    Campbell is survived by his fourth wife Kimberly, their three children, Cal, Shannon and Ashley, Debby (from his first wife, Diane Kirk), Kelli, Travis and Kane (from his second wife, Billie Jean Nunley) and Dillon (from his third wife, Sarah Barg.

    Webb eulogized, “Let the world note that a great American influence on pop music, the American Beatle, the secret link between so many artists and records that we can only marvel, has passed and cannot be replaced.”

  • Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington Commits Suicide At 41

    Music fans have lost another amazing artist that helped reshape the rock genre since coming on the scene in 1996. The music world is in shock with the news of Linkin Park frontman, Chester Bennington, committing suicide by hanging at his private home in the Palos Verdes Estates in California. He was only 41 years old.

    chester benningtonBennington had struggled with drugs and alcohol for years and had stated at one time that he once considered suicide because of abuse that occurred when he was a child by an older male.

    Coincidentally, Linkin Park released their new music video “Talking To Myself,” around 9 a.m., just minutes after Bennington’s body was found according to TMZ. It is also reported that Bennington committed suicide on what would have been Chris Cornell‘s 53rd birthday. Bennington wrote an open letter to Cornell after his passing from suicide by hanging in May. In that letter, Bennington stated that he couldn’t imagine the world without Cornell in it.

    Blabbermouth has compiled early tweets by shocked artist and TV personalities, including bandmate Mike Shinoda.

    Mike Shinoda tweeted: “Shocked and heartbroken, but it’s true. An official statement will come out as soon as we have one.” 

    TV host Jimmy Kimmel tweeted: “Bennington was one of the kindest people he has ever had on his show.”

    Lacuna Coil frontwoman Christina Scabbia posted: “Lost for words. Why why why.”

    Skillet’s John Cooper posted: “Absolutely no words. Speechless and so sad. I am such a fan.”

    Slipknot/Stone Sour singer Corey Taylor stated: “Jesus no.”

    Also in the report, the article touched on some past interviews Bennington has had. Bennington stated to The Guardian in 2011 about the abuse he went through as a child:

    When I was young, getting beaten up and pretty much raped was no fun. No one wants that to happen to you and honestly, I don’t remember when it started. I remember that stuff happening to me at that stage and even thinking about it now makes me want to cry. My God, no wonder I became a drug addict. No wonder I just went completely insane for a little while.

    Then in an interview with Metal Hammer last year, Bennington talk about his substance abuse problems. He stated:

    I was on 11 hits of acid a day. I dropped so much acid I’m surprised I can still speak! I’d smoke a bunch of crack, do a bit of meth and just sit there and freak out. Then I’d smoke opium to come down. I weighed 110 pounds. My mom said I looked like I stepped out of Auschwitz. So I used pot to get off drugs. 

    In 2006… I did some counseling with the guys and they really opened up and told me how they felt. I had no idea that I had been such a nightmare. I knew that I had a drinking problem, a drug problem and that parts of my personal life were crazy but I didn’t realize how much that was affecting the people around me until I got a good dose of ‘Here’s-what-you’re-really-like.’ It was a shock. They said that I was two people — Chester and then that fucking guy. I didn’t want to be that guy.

    In an interview with The Pulse of Radio he said:

    I lived on alcohol. It was either beer, or Jack and Coke, or Jack Daniel’s in a pint glass with ice. And then it got to the point where my wife said to me about seven months after we got together, she goes, ‘I don’t think there’s been a day since I’ve known you that you haven’t drank.’ And I was like, ‘What are you talking about? That’s crazy’ — as I’m drinking a Jack and Coke. That was where my life went.

    Besides Linkin Park, Chester Bennington has also fronted the bands Dead By Sunrise and Stone Temple Pilots. He also appeared in a few motion pictures including Crank, Crank (High Voltage), Saw 3D, and Artifact. He and his bandmates in Linkin Park have released seven studio albums and won two Grammy Awards. They have sold over 70 million albums worldwide.

    Bennington leaves behind his wife, Talinda Bentley, and six children, three with Bentley and three from a previous marriage.

    Please call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at (800) 273- 8255 if you feel you need help and someone to talk to.

  • Gregg Allman, Dead at 69

    Founding member of the Allman Brothers Band, Gregg Allman has passed at the age of 69, according to his official website. A statement on the site said the following:

    It is with deep sadness that we announce that Gregg Allman, a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band, passed away peacefully at his home in Savannah, Georgia.

    Gregg struggled with many health issues over the past several years. During that time, Gregg considered being on the road playing music with his brothers and solo band for his beloved fans, essential medicine for his soul. Playing music lifted him up and kept him going during the toughest of times.

    Gregg’s long time manager and close friend, Michael Lehman said, “I have lost a dear friend and the world has lost a brilliant pioneer in music. He was a kind and gentle soul with the best laugh I ever heard. His love for his family and bandmates was passionate as was the love he had for his extraordinary fans. Gregg was an incredible partner and an even better friend. We will all miss him.”

    Gregg is survived by his wife, Shannon Allman, his children, Devon, Elijah Blue, Delilah Island Kurtom and Layla Brooklyn Allman; 3 grandchildren, his niece, Galadrielle Allman, lifelong friend Chank Middleton, and a large extended family. The family will release a statement soon, but for now ask for privacy during this very difficult time.

    Rumors had swirled for weeks that Allman had entered hospice care, only to be debunked by Allman himself in a statement on Facebook

    gregg allmanAllman and his brother Duane, who died in a motorcycle accident in 1971, formed the Allman Brothers Band in 1969. The band quickly became an influential member of the burgeoning improv scene, performing at the now legendary Summer Jam show at the Watkins Glen race track on July 28, 1973, along with the Grateful Dead and the Band in 1973. The show, which received the Guinness Book of World Records honor of “Largest Audience at a Pop Festival,” drew upwards of 600,000 fans.

    The band’s breakthrough album, At Fillmore East, featuring extended versions of “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” and “Whipping Post,” put the Allmans on the musical map. Fillmore is, to this day, considered one of the best live albums ever produced.

    Allman began his career on guitar but his brother Duane’s talent on guitar eventually resulted in Allman settling as keyboardist for his namesake band, setting the stage for his near 50 year career in the recording industry.

    Allman married Cher in 1975. Together they had a son, Elijah Blue Allman. Allman was recording solo at this point and recorded an album with Cher, Two the Hard Way that was met with scorn from the press. The ensuing tour created friction between Cher fans and Allman fans, resulting in Cher cancelling the tour.

    In 1987, Allman reached a renaissance with his solo album I’m No Angel. The title track reached number one on the Billboard charts and signaled a resurgence for the musician.

    Allman’s chemical dependency, resulting in a 2010 liver transplant never truly weaned. He commented on it in an interview with Stuff Magazine in 2011:

    “my generation…we were all just such heavy drug takers. We didn’t know no different. We didn’t know no other way. It was what we did. And that’s going to come back and hit ya – and it got me. But I’ve been clean a while now, I quit it all – finally – 16 years ago, thank god.

    The Allman Brothers Band regularly performed an annual run of shows at the Beacon in New York, a run that concluded in 2014 after 238 sellouts. Allman had been scheduled to perform with ZZ Top on tour last year but pulled out due to health reasons. He had been working on his first solo album since the Allman Brothers’ retirement with producer Don Was.