Posts Tagged R.I.P.
Archive
February 23, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
R.I.P. Mark Lanegan
Mark Lanegan has died. He was just 57. He was so often referred to as ‘a survivor’. A wild teen – alcohol and drugs – and then music was both his salvation and a further promulgation of the maddening haze. He ran with Kurt Cobain and Layne Staley, later he was a good chum of […]Archive
February 18, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
R.I.P. P.J. O’Rourke
P.J. O’Rourke has died. He was a week off turning 75. He was one of my favourite writers, a towering influence, of huge importance to me in my teen years and early 20s. He was at the sophisticated end of Frat-Boy humour (Modern Manners, The Bachelor Home Companion) and of course he went far beyond […]Archive
February 1, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
R.I.P. Sam Lay
Sam Lay has died. He was 86. The blue drumming great played on dozens of important sides for Chess Records and in recent years was a living legend of the Alligator Records stable, one of the last links back to the classic, vital blues masters. Lay played with Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. And recorded […]Archive
January 6, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
R.I.P. Peter Bogdanovich
Peter Bogdanovich has died. He was 82. The acclaimed film director, writer and actor burst onto the scene in the early 1970s with his adaptation of the Larry McMurtry novel, The Last Picture Show. A film school classic, this introduced the world to Cybill Shepherd (it also starred Jeff Bridges, Cloris Leachman and Ellen Burstyn […]Archive
January 2, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
R.I.P. Joan Didion
Just ahead of Christmas it was very sad to hear of the passing of Joan Didion. She lived a long and extraordinary life and wrote so beautifully, so dutifully also. She was a chronicler of times, putting art into journalism, putting her life down on the page alongside all she captured. She’s been one of […]Archive
November 21, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Tom Petty’s Music: My Introduction
Damn the Torpedoes was my introduction – and I still think it’s pretty close to being a perfect rock record. It’s also just seeped in nostalgia for me, not just for the actual music but for cassette tapes. And what an intro to the music of Tom Petty. Overall, the catalogue is strong. Most of the […]Archive
November 5, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
R.I.P. Pat Martino
Pat Martino has died. He was 77. The talented jazz guitarist climbed the mountain – twice. His story of fighting for his talent is as important as the music he made. I first heard Martino in the second phase of his career, I was blown away by his talent, his touch, his feel – the […]Archive
October 18, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
R.I.P. Ronnie Tutt
Ronnie Tutt has died. He was 83. Best known as Elvis Presley’s drummer in the last decade of The King’s life – a member of the TCB Band – Tutt also played regularly with Neil Diamond and recorded, or toured, with the likes of the Carpenters, Roy Orbison, Stevie Nicks and many more.Archive
September 30, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
R.I.P. Lonnie Smith
Lonnie Smith has died. He was 79. He referred to himself as “Dr.” Lonnie Smith. No one questioned it. We all liked his medicine. Lonnie Smith arrived on the back of a wave of Hammond organists – Jimmy Smith and Brother Jack McDuff his obvious forebears. Smith would release solo albums and collaborate with many […]Archive
September 15, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
R.I.P. Norm Macdonald
Norm Macdonald had died. He was 61. He was diagnosed with cancer nearly a decade ago. He kept it quiet – telling only a few close friends. He wanted privacy. He wanted the comedy to continue when and as it did. He wanted that untainted. Norm Macdonald was a comedy genius, a comedian’s comedian – […]Archive
September 11, 2021 by Simon Sweetman