NYS Music 202​0

Tag: Obituary

  • Greenwich-born Country Singer Hal Ketchum Dies at 67

    The late, great Hal Ketchum passed away at 67 years of age Monday night. A social media post from his wife explained his passing was due to complications from dementia. The world certainly feels a little smaller now.

    Born April 9, 1953 in Greenwich, New York, Hal Ketchum went on to be a widely-loved, yet under-the-radar country singer of his day. Leaving New York at 17, finding home in Texas and finally residing his later life in Nashville, respectively.

    Hal Ketchum
    Hal Ketchum – The Egg

    After his 1988 debut, Threadbare Alibis, under Watermelon Records, Ketchum would release his mots notable hits “Small Town Saturday Night” and “I Know Where Love Lives” off of Billboard #2, Past the Point of Rescue. The album reached Gold status as well as “Small Town Saturday Night,” which peaked #2 on the US Country charts. The talent went on to earn acclaim on nearly 20 Billboard mentions.

    Growing up traveling, on long open roads with a pile of country cassettes, Hal Ketchum grabs hold of your heartstrings early on, a lost art, of country breeze strumming onward. He embodies that stand-up, “tough as nails, hard as steel,” southern gent, that’s utterly sentimental. Hal Ketchum is country. Despite not living his life in the limelight when compared to other hits of his day, Hal hit the sweet spot balancing a hearty career, family and now, heartfelt-fanbase.

    Read more Hal Ketchum at NYS Music

    Andrea Ketchum, Hal’s wife, revealed he had been (officially) diagnosed with Alzheimer’s back in 2019. Accounts of him already battling the disease had stringing for “for some time now.”

    Don’t worry Andrea, it surely will. Especially on the angelic vibrato of “gold,” as Ketchum’s voice touches our hearts and his guitar fades up into heaven. God bless, long live country and we send the most beloved prayers to The Ketchum Family, and friends.

    May his music live on forever in your hearts and bring you peace.

    Andrea Ketchum
    Seven Day Music Marathon Day 5: Hal Ketchum At The Egg, May 8, 2015

    This was soft country at its finest, but at times the tempo picked up to a good foot tapping and head bobbing and that was the only workout the audience was getting tonight. “Small Town Saturday Night” was one of these songs, a pure American song through and through, full of twang and Mellencamp lyrics and guitar.

    [The comedian bantered] “What am I, a jukebox?” Hal shook his head and an audience member said “Play what you want!” with a bit of applause in favor. “Chickadee” was dedicated to his five grandchildren, and “Mama Knows the Highway” was played despite not being practiced, but came off perfect. Hal said afterwards, “Good country music will never steer you wrong.”

  • Celebrated Cuban Percussionist Cándido Camero Dies at 99

    Cuban percussionist Cándido Camero passed away on Nov. 7, 2020. Camero was 99 years old and was a well known, and loved, pioneer of Afro-Cuban jazz genre. He was an innovator in conga drumming. 

    Cándido Camero died peacefully at his home in New York on Saturday morning according to Camero’s grandson, Julian, told NPR member station WBGO of the sad news. Despite his age Cándido Camero played music up until the very end. 

    Cándido Camero
    Cándido Camero performs with Paquito D’Rivera at Flushing Town Hall (November 2019)

    He was born in San Antonio de los Baños, near Havana, in Cuba on April, 22 1921. His parents were Caridad Guerra and Cándido Camero. He moved to New York in 1946 and was “already a well-known musician in Havana as a percussionist and also for playing the Cuban tres, a folkloric guitar. He spent eight years playing at the famed Tropicana nightclub, backing the biggest Cuban stars of the day and counted the young Mongo Santamaría among his bandmates” according to NPR’s article. 

    Throughout the years Cándido Camero became a well known and extraordinary pioneer of the Latin Jazz genre and played with the best of the best throughout the years. Some of the big names he performed with include Charlie Parker, Tony Bennett, Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente, and Machito. He is known for being one of the first percussionists to play multiple congas at the same time, with each conga tuned to a different pitch, enabling him to play not only rhythm but melodies. 

    His biggest mainstream track came in 1979 with his disco recordings for Salsoul. He recorded several albums for the audiophile label Chesky Records. One of these records included Inolvidable, with Graciela, which earned him a nomination at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards. He was still playing and performing live up until the end. Back in Sept. of 2019 he joined Flushing Town Hall to celebrate their season’s launch with a performance from Canadian Afro-Cuban artists Jane Bunnett & Maqueque. He then returned in November to perform with the Gathering of the Masters alongside fellow greats Paquito D’Rivera, Joanne Brackeen, Jimmy Owens, Jimmy Cobb, and Reggie Workman. 

    Cándido Camero will be greatly missed from the music community. We mourn his loss and send our condolences to his family and friends.

  • American Singer-Songwriter Charlie Daniels Dies at 83

    Charlie Daniels, legendary American singer-songwriter, died at the age of 83 on July 6 after suffering a hemorrhagic stroke. He was a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and wrote the hit, “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.”

    Charlie Daniels
     Charlie Daniels in concert at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, California. Photo by Dwight McCann.

    Daniels was born on October 28, 1936, in Wilmington, North Carolina. He had a musical background with his father William Carlton Daniels who played fiddle and guitar. Daniels quickly learned both instruments while in school before forming his own group the Jaguars, in the late 1950s.

    Daniels started writing his own music after forming Jaguars and ended up writing “It Hurts Me,” which was a collaboration with Joy Byers that ended up being a Top 40 hit for the B-side of Elvis Presley’s album Kissin’ Cousins in 1964. After Jaguars broke up Daniels moved to Nashville in 1967 and teamed up with producer Bob Johnston. Daniels became a well known and successful session musician. He worked on albums like Bob Dylan’s “Nashville Skyline” and Leonard Cohen’s “Songs of Love and Hate.”

    Daniels then recorded his first album under his name in 1970. The solo album was titled “Charlie Daniels” and didn’t make much of a splash. He then signed with Kama Sutra label and recorded “Uneasy Rider” before he ended up landing with Epic Records in 1975. Having two dozen hits on the country charts and four then crossed over on to the pop charts including “The Devil” and “In America” Daniels was a house hold name. The hit song, “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” was written and released on the Charlie Daniels Band’s album Million Mile Reflections in 1979.

    Danial received the Pioneer Award by the Academy of Country Music in 1998. He than received the BMI Icon Award at the 53rd annual Country Music Awards in 2005. He joined the Grand Ole Opry in 2008 and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2016.

    Daniels will be greatly missed from the music community. We mourn his loss and send our condolences to his family and friends. 

  • Rock Legend Little Richard Dies at 87

    Rock and R&B legend Little Richard died on May 9th, 2020 at the age of 87. The legend sold more than 30 million records worldwide and was widely recognized as the “architect of rock ‘n’ roll.” Pastor Bill Minson, a close friend of Little Richard’s, told The Associated Press that Little Richard died Saturday morning. The rock icon’s agent Dick Allen later confirmed he was suffering from bone cancer.

    Richard Wayne Penniman, more commonly known as Little Richard, was born in Macon, Georgia. He grew up during the Great Depression and was one of 12 children. As a child he didn’t conform to typical gender expression norms and suffered a small deformity where his right leg was shorter than his left, making him a bit of an outcast.

    He had multiple successful hits including “Tutti Frutti” which made it into the Top 40 and “Lucille,” “Keep A Knockin’,” “Long Tall Sally” and “Good Golly Miss Molly” which were all foundations of rock music according to the New York Times.

    Little Richard was one of the original inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which opened in 1986, alongside Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Sam Cooke and others. Little Richard is known for saying, “I am the architect of rock ‘n’ roll! I am the originator!” during the 1988 Grammy Awards due in part to being a founding member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

    He announced his retirement from live performing back in August of 2002 but still could be seen performing the occasional show or on commercials like his appearance in a 2006 commercial for GEICO insurance.

    Little Richard is known for being an influence on many musicians and  claimed he paved the way for Elvis, provided Mick Jagger with his stage moves and conducted vocal lessons for McCartney according to the New York Times. Bruno Mars is known for saying Little Richard was a big influence for him.

    We mourn his loss and send our condolences to his family and friends.

  • RIP Neil Peart, a Drummer’s Drummer

    Neil Peart, the pioneering drummer and primary lyricist for Canadian progressive rock icons Rush died Tuesday, January 7 following a nearly three-year-long battle with brain cancer. He was 67 years old.

    The influential drummer joined Rush, replacing John Rutsy, in 1974 for the band’s second album Fly By Night and immediately changed the musical direction of the band with his Ayn Rand and SciFi-inspired lyrics and technical drumming skills.

    Neil Peart

    Peart was an unassuming and deeply private man with an extraordinary talent for drumming, the man who inspired legions of air-drummers throughout the world. He rarely did interviews, leaving those duties for bandmates Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, where he spoke most directly was through his lyrics.

    Drawing from science fiction, fantasy and the works of Ayn Rand (which he would later renounce), Peart wrote lyrics that could be fantastical, could be direct but they made the listener think.

    The 1982 single “Subdivisions” spoke directly to a generation of young disaffected high schoolers, addressing the loneliness and separation of one trying to fit in.

    Subdivisions

    In the high school halls

    In the shopping malls

    Conform or be cast out

    Subdivisions

    In the basement bars

    In the backs of cars

    Be cool or be cast out

    Rush – “Subdivisions” (1982)

    Those lyrics spoke directly to this writer trying to find his way around the halls of Staley Junior High School. It let the disaffected know they weren’t alone in their feelings. And it struck home.

    A truly lasting memory associated with Rush is from the winter following the release of the band’s breakthrough 1981 album Moving Pictures. This album was inescapable that year but nowhere more than at the outdoor hockey rink at Franklyn’s Field in my hometown.

    My friends and I made the short trek to the park every day, sticks over tiny shoulders, skates dangling behind us. We knew we were in the right place once we heard the lone tinny speaker attached to a light pole overlooking the rink cranking “Limelight,” “Tom Sawyer,” “YYZ.” This was my first real exposure to Rush and the most lasting memory I have of the band. The songs were technical, yet accessible. And the drums. I’d never paid much attention to individual instrumentation as a 12-year-old finding his way in the music world. Peart demanded your attention. And he did just that, for 40 years. A virtuoso in a band of virtuosos.

    Neil Peart

    Peart retired completely from drumming following Rush’s final tour in 2015. The demand put on his body over years of constant performing left Peart unsure of his ability to maintain his precision. The demands of the profession lost out over the desire to spend more time with his family and with his other writing and producing projects.

    He leaves behind his wife Carrie Nuttal and a daughter, Olivia along with a legacy few humans can claim.

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