Musical News - Chuck Berry

The terrible news just reached me that rock and roll legend Chuck Berry passed away on March 18, 2017 at the tender age of 90!

Charles Edward Anderson Berry was born in St. Louis, MO on October 18, 1926. He was interested in music at a young age, and first performed publicly in high school.

Berry had several hits throughout the 1950s and 1960s, such as Maybellene (1955), Roll Over Beethoven (1956), Johnny B. Goode (1958), and No Particular Place to Go (1964). He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame during its  inaugural year (1986). He received accolades for “having laid the groundwork for… a rock and roll sound”. He was one of the most influential musicians of the genre.

Mr. Berry received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1984, and is honored in several of Rolling Stones magazine’s greatest of all times lists.

Mr. Berry appeared in several movies about his style of music, and his music was featured in the 1994 movie Pulp Fiction. He is now gone, but his music will never be forgotten.

 

Chuck Berry [1926 – 2017]

© 03/18/2017
 

Musical News - Joni Sledge of Sister Sledge

Joni Sledge of the popular 1970s group Sister Sledge has died on March 10, 2017 at the age of 60. The cause of her death in Phoenix, AZ has not yet been announced.

Joni and her sisters Debbie, Kim and Kathy formed the group in 1971 in their hometown of Philadelphia, PA. They practiced their craft for several years before hooking up with Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of the group Chic. Nile and Bernard co-wrote and produced the 1979 Sister Sledge album We Are Family, which produced the singles The Greatest Dancer as well as We Are Family.

Although Kathy Sledge left the Sisters for a solo career in 1989, the remaining trio continued to perform until as recently as October 2016, including a performance at the White House in 2000, and for Pope Francis in 2015.

Sister Sledge is one of the defining acts of the 1970s, and they will never be forgotten.
 

Joni Sledge [1956 — 2017]

© 03/11/2017
 

Musical News - Walter "Junie" Morrison of Ohio Players and Parliament-Funkadelic

Producer, writer, keyboardist, and vocalist Walter “Junie” Morrison, part of the funk band Ohio Players in the early 1970s, was reported dead in February 2017 (exact date of death undetermined) at the age of 62. He began by playing piano in church in Dayton, OH at the age of 5.

Junie was a part of the Ohio Players, beginning when he graduated from high school, and was instrumental in putting together the Ohio Players albums Pain (1972), Pleasure (1972), and Ecstasy (1973). He primarily wrote and arranged the 1973 gold certified smash hit, Funky Worm.

In 1974, Junie left the Ohio Players to pursue solo projects.

In 1977, Junie joined P-Funk as musical director, where he made important contributions to the album One Nation Under a Groove, and especially to the single (Not Just) Knee Deep (1979). Junie produced some P-Funk material under the pseudonym J.S. Theracon. He produced other artists and contributed to P-Funk albums through the 1990s. As a part of Parliament-Funkadelic, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.
 

In 1980, Junie revived his solo career.

In 2016, Solange Knowles released a song entitled Junie (inspired by Junie Morrison), on her Grammy award winning album A Seat at the Table.
 

Walter “Junie” Morrison [1954 — 2017]
© 02/18/2017

Musical News - Al Jarreau

Soulful singer Alwin Lopez Jarreau has passed away today (February 12 2017) at the age of 76. Mr. Jarreau had been hospitalized recently and declared that he was retiring from the road, due to exhaustion. His cause of death is yet undetermined.

Mr. Jarreau was born on March 12, 1940 in Milwaukee, WI. He came from a musical family, and they performed together when he was a child. He went on to earn a master's degree in vocational rehabilitation and work a regular job, while singing nights with a band led by George Duke. He made music his primary career in 1968.

Al won seven Grammy Awards during his 50-year-plus career, in the categories of jazz, pop, and R&B. He was presented with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2001.

Al's most popular album was Breakin' Away (1981) which contained the single of that name, as well as We're in This Love Together. He also wrote and performed the title song Moonlighting for the 1980s television show. His vocals were included in several popular movies.

What I remember most about Al Jarreau is that my good friend from junior high school is crazy about him. Every time I hear his voice, I think of her. Just to be loved by you....
 

Al Jarreau [1940 – 2017]
© 02/12/2017

Musical News - George Michael of WHAM!

Here we go again!

George Michael of the 1980s duo Wham! has passed away on Christmas Day of apparent heart failure. He was only 53.

George was given the name Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou upon his birth on June 25, 1963 in London, of Greek and British descent.

George and  Andrew Ridgeley formed Wham! after meeting in high school, and some of their early hits were “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go”, “Everything She Wants”, and “Careless Whisper”.

Embarking on his solo career, George scored big with a duet with Aretha Franklin entitled “I Knew You Were Waiting” in 1987.

George’s solo “I Want Your Sex” (1987) was featured in “Beverly Hills Cop II”. The album “Faith” was also released in 1987, and was No. 1 on Billboard for 12 weeks. One of its most popular singles was “Father Figure”.

George thereafter experimented with musical styles, but did not again reach the same level of success in the U.S. as he had in the mid-1980s. During the course of his career, he won four MTV Video Music Awards, three American Music Awards, and two Grammy Awards.

So young, so soon.

 

George Michael [1963 - 2016]

© 12/25/2016

Musical News - Robert Evans of The Intruders

Greetings, Music Lovers!

Robert “Big Sonny” Edwards of the sensational 1960s and 1970s soul group The Intruders passed away on October 15, 2016 of a sudden heart attack. He was born on February 22, 1942 in Philadelphia, PA and died in his home town at the age of 74.

Big Sonny was one of the founding members of The Intruders, in 1960. The group signed with then-unknown songwriting / producing duo Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff in 1966, thus beginning a fruitful decade-long union. This union produced We'll Be (United) (1966), Together (1967), and (Love is Like A) Baseball Game (1968). Their 1968 song Cowboys to Girls (written by Gamble & Huff) was their only number 1 single on the R&B charts, but they enjoyed success in the form of 24 total hits.

 

The Intruders were said to be the foundation of The Sound of Philadelphia.

The original group disbanded in 1975, but there are several tribute groups still performing. I'll Always Love My Mama.... 🎶
 

 

Robert “Big Sonny” Edwards [1942 – 2016]

© 10/27/2016

Musical News - Bob Dylan Honored

Good news for a change!

It was announced today that folk musician Bob Dylan (legally Robert Allen Zimmerman ) won a Nobel Prize for literature for "having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition."

He has been described as “the voice of a generation” and “the greatest living poet” by those who know. He is the only American to win a Nobel Prize in 2016.

Whenever I hear Bob Dylan’s name mentioned, I think of the “Dylan/Dylan” contest in “Dangerous Minds,” (1995) starring Michelle Pfeiffer. “Mr. Tambourine Man” by Bob Dylan (1965) was prominently featured in the movie, as the students contemplated the meaning of the lyrics and interpreted the meaning of life.

Many of you may not remember Bob Dylan or even like his style of music, but his voice is still powerful, through the generations. I am just paying tribute to a living legend.

 

 

Bob Dylan [1941 – Present]
© 10/13/2016