Obituaries
Buddy Harman, 79, Busy Nashville Drummer, Is Dead
Mr. Harman’s rhythmic signature can be heard on thousands of recordings by the likes of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline and Simon and Garfunkel.
Categories: Obituaries
Donald Erb, Composer of Early Electronic Music, Dies at 81
Mr. Erb, a distinguished professor emeritus of composition at the Cleveland Institute of Music, was prominent on the avant-garde scene of the 1960s and ’70s.
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Jerry Wexler, 91; influential music producer coined 'rhythm and blues'
The Atlantic Records producer helped Aretha Franklin to stardom and worked with Bob Dylan and other leading artists.
Jerry Wexler, the influential Atlantic Records producer who coined the term "rhythm and blues" before helping shape that sound into one of the most powerful musical forces of the 1950s and '60s, died Friday morning at his home in Sarasota, Fla. He was 91.
Jerry Wexler, the influential Atlantic Records producer who coined the term "rhythm and blues" before helping shape that sound into one of the most powerful musical forces of the 1950s and '60s, died Friday morning at his home in Sarasota, Fla. He was 91.
Categories: Obituaries
Bertrand Castelli, Bon Vivant and an Early Producer of ‘Hair,’ Dies at 78
Mr. Castelli was a painter, a screenwriter, a balletomane and a choreographer as well as a producer.
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Isaac Hayes, 65, a Creator of ’70s Soul Style, Dies
Mr. Hayes’s strutting funk arrangements in songs like “Theme From ‘Shaft’ ” defined the glories and the excesses of soul music.
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Isaac Hayes dies
Isaac Hayes, the musician, composer and producer whose innovative sound changed the shape of pop music and whose shaved head, bejeweled outfits and regal demeanor embodied African American masculinity in the 1970s, has died. He was 65.
Categories: Obituaries
Lou Teicher, of Ferrante & Teicher, Popular Piano Duo of ’60s, Dies at 83
Mr. Teicher’s florid and sentimental versions of movie themes and love songs made the duo gods of easy listening and earned them wide popularity.
Categories: Obituaries
Annette Nahinu, owner of Oahu’s last classic tiki bar, passes away
Annette Nahinu, owner of La Mariana, the last traditional tiki bar left on Oahu, passed away July 19 of natural causes. She was 96.
Nahinu owned the bar for 53 years and lived in the apartment above it. She had tried to sell the bar in 2006, due to her failing heath, but no deal was ever closed on the $3 million dollar property.
The bar remains open, but its ultimate fate is unknown.
Categories: Obituaries
Johnny Griffin, 80, Jazz Saxophonist, Dies
Mr. Griffin was a jazz tenor-saxophonist from Chicago whose speed, control and harmonic acuity made him one of the most talented musicians of his generation.
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Larry Harmon, longtime Bozo the Clown, dead at 83 (AP)
AP - Larry Harmon wasn't the original Bozo the Clown, but he was the real one. Harmon, who portrayed the wing-haired clown for more than half a century, died Thursday of congestive heart failure, said his publicist, Jerry Digney. He was 83.
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George Carlin, 71, Irreverent Standup Comedian, Is Dead
Mr. Carlin was hailed for his poignant observations on the absurdities of everyday life in routines like “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television.”
Categories: Obituaries
Bill Finegan, Arranger and Big-Band Leader, Dies at 91
Mr. Finegan arranged hits for Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey and then formed a big band with Eddie Sauter that was famed for skill, daring and very, very odd instruments.
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Ellas McDaniel 1928-2008
Ellas McDaniel 1928-2008 @ Boogie Woogie Flu
Also over there check out Moe Diddley
Categories: Obituaries
David Gahr, Photographer of Musicians, Dies at 85
Mr. Gahr turned his back on a promising career as a scholar and landed among the pre-eminent photographers of American folk, blues, jazz and rock musicians.
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Earle Hagen, Who Composed Noted TV Tunes, Dies at 88
Mr. Hagen was a onetime big-band trombonist who wrote some of the most famous theme songs in television history.
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Dick Martin, the Laid-Back Half of the ‘Laugh-In’ Duo, Is Dead at 86
With his partner, Dan Rowan, Mr. Martin turned a midseason replacement slot at NBC in 1968 into a hit that redefined what could be done on television.
Categories: Obituaries
Wilfrid Mellers, 94, Musicologist and Critic, Is Dead
Mr. Mellers, an English musicologist, composer, critic and teacher, published more than 20 books on subjects ranging from classical composers to the music of the Beatles and Bob Dylan.
Categories: Obituaries