The Band of Heaven

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I'm surprised that no one mentioned Glenn Frey, founding member, guitarist, singer and songwriter for the Eagles. He will be missed.

[Lalaith]

He will be. I do like the Eagles.

[eborr]

I went through an Eagles phase, although it was quite short lived, but ..................

in this week where a whole generation seems to be flying away, driving the down beat behind the pearly choir will be Dale Griffin, generally known as Buffin the drummer from Mott the Hoople, probably most famous for the original rendition of "All the Young Dudes". Buffin parting was not unexpected as he had been suffering for 9 years from early onset dementia - in fact very early onset - he was only 67 when he died.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

We've lost yet another one, Paul Kantner, one of the co-founders of the Jefferson Airplane.

[Impenitent]

Our generation has reached the era of goodbyes

(Not referring to the young whippersnappers amongst us)

[eborr]

It's a whole golden generation, will we ever see their like again -

I was thinking about this in it's socio-economic context, and certainly the avenues that were open to people like Bowie, and Alan Rickman, are closed now, unless they embrace the vileness that is reality "celebrity" culture, but if they did that they wouldn't be - what they ultimately became, we at best will have the Coldplays and cu-Cumberbatches - not in themselves bad, but limited by experience. In other words scions of the artistic establishment who well at best produces facsimile's of themselves

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I'm not sure why you would single out Benedict Cumberbatch, given the incredible range of work he has already one in film, stage and television, and his refreshingly nonflashy personal life (despite his over-the-top fans). I agree with your general point but I see him as the exception, not the rule.

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[Alatar]

There are plenty of stellar actors and musicians out there. The fact that people choose manufactured celebrity over talent does not mean that the talent has gone away. And yes, even in the face of the absurd commercialisation of celebrity, the cream still rises to the top. That's why for every Pop Idol winner, we have an Ed Sheeran or an Adele, and for every Corrie star we have a Cumberbatch.

[Frelga]

And it has always been true. It just takes time to become apparent. The mark of greatness is that it continues to shine decades after its contemporary flavor of the year is forgotten.

It's sad to see the idols of one's young years go, but that does mean some of the younger idols won't have the same staying power.

[Jude]

Did you mean to say "does not mean"?

[Frelga]

Yeah, that.

[Jude]

Boolean logic - the bane of the developer's existence...

[eborr]

I will probably upset everybody now, my point about Cumberbatch is that his is of the acting establishment, a child of a trabadour and a product of Harrow. As for Sheeran and Adele I consider them both light weights, products and not shapers of their times. Not saying this to offend, its just what I feel. Which to some extent was supported by an obit I read of Kantner yesterday, where much was made of his insistencevin doing things differently.

[eborr]

To add my selection of Coldplay and Cumberbatch was made because I believe both of them to be substantial artists, but from the establishment

[Voronwë the Faithful]

A very heartfelt memorial from fellow Airplane founder (and one of my favorite musicians in the world), Jorma Kaukonen:

We knew yesterday that Paul had suffered a grievous heart attack and probably wasn’t going to make it. We all hoped for better news, but it just wasn’t to be.

Paul and I were old friends. Bob Kinzie introduced me to him when I was in Santa Clara in ‘62. Our commonality was always the music and whatever it took to make it happen. We all played the same little dusty, smoky rooms… struggled to be heard over the hiss of espresso machines… and loved every moment of it. When Paul enticed me into joining what would become Jefferson Airplane, we rehearsed relentlessly. When we went on the road in the beginning we couch surfed together. No one could afford hotels. We shared food… we shared cars… we had one heart.

The Airplane was an amazing aggregate of personalities and talent. That we could all coexist in the same room was amazing. That we could function together and make the lasting art that we did was nothing short of a miracle. In my opinion Paul was the catalyst that made the alchemy happen. He held our feet to the flame. He could be argumentative and contentious… he could be loving and kind… his dedication to the Airplane’s destiny as he saw it was undeniable. Over the years he and I occasionally butted heads over things that seem trivial today. I was so pleased last year when he accepted my dinner invitation when I was in San Francisco and indeed we rediscovered our friendship.

After all those journeys together in the beginning… the different paths our lives took as we got older and all the water under the bridge made us all one in a way that no one who wasn’t there could ever understand. We shared water from the same well. In Heinlein parlance, we were indeed water brothers. We were all on fire in a fiery time. Time may have dimmed the flame but the fire in the sky that was so easy to see in youth, is still discernible from the grey castle if you know where to look. I will try to keep my eyes open.

Friends are always good… you can’t have too many of them. That said, the old ones share that wondrous gift of knowing you when you were young. You can’t buy that.

I will miss your presence on this plane…

Ride free to the end of the earth my old friend… I will not forget you!

http://jormakaukonen.com/cracksinthefinish/?p=5324

[Voronwë the Faithful]

And yet another giant of the music world has left this place. Maurice White, founder of Earth Wind and Fire, and until he forced to stop touring in 1994 due to Parkinson's, the bands main songwriter, record producer, and co-lead singer. He also worked with a huge range of other artists funk, soul, jazz and pop artists. He was a huge talent and had a major influence on the music industry as a whole. Although he has been ailing for a while, he will be missed.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

From Sir Paul McCarthy:

I’m so sad to hear the news of the passing of dear George Martin. I have so many wonderful memories of this great man that will be with me forever. He was a true gentleman and like a second father to me. He guided the career of The Beatles with such skill and good humour that he became a true friend to me and my family. If anyone earned the title of the fifth Beatle it was George. From the day that he gave The Beatles our first recording contract, to the last time I saw him, he was the most generous, intelligent and musical person I’ve ever had the pleasure to know.

It’s hard to choose favourite memories of my time with George, there are so many but one that comes to mind was the time I brought the song 'Yesterday’ to a recording session and the guys in the band suggested that I sang it solo and accompany myself on guitar. After I had done this George Martin said to me, "Paul I have an idea of putting a string quartet on the record". I said, “Oh no George, we are a rock and roll band and I don’t think it’s a good idea”. With the gentle bedside manner of a great producer he said to me, "Let us try it and if it doesn’t work we won’t use it and we’ll go with your solo version". I agreed to this and went round to his house the next day to work on the arrangement.

He took my chords that I showed him and spread the notes out across the piano, putting the cello in the low octave and the first violin in a high octave and gave me my first lesson in how strings were voiced for a quartet. When we recorded the string quartet at Abbey Road, it was so thrilling to know his idea was so correct that I went round telling people about it for weeks. His idea obviously worked because the song subsequently became one of the most recorded songs ever with versions by Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye and thousands more.

This is just one of the many memories I have of George who went on to help me with arrangements on 'Eleanor Rigby', 'Live and Let Die' and many other songs of mine.

I am proud to have known such a fine gentleman with such a keen sense of humour, who had the ability to poke fun at himself. Even when he was Knighted by the Queen there was never the slightest trace of snobbery about him.

My family and I, to whom he was a dear friend, will miss him greatly and send our love to his wife Judy and their kids Giles and Lucy, and the grandkids.

The world has lost a truly great man who left an indelible mark on my soul and the history of British music.

God bless you George and all who sail in you!

Paul

[Impenitent]

in the same radio news broadcast was the announcement of the death of John English. Won't mean anything to those beyond the Australian music industry, but a blow to those who grew up in the 70s and 80s in Oz.
A strong deep baritone with immense flexibility, for me he always defined Judas Iscariot in Jesus Christ Superstar.

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[eborr]

On keyboard and kitchen knives - Keith Emerson

Lake and Palmer just does not have the same ring to it.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I was just coming here to post about Keith Emerson.