Posts Tagged R.I.P.
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June 19, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
R.I.P. Janet Malcom
Janet Malcolm has died. She was 86. I only ever wrote about Janet Malcolm as part of a university essay – that is where I met her work. I’m so pleased to have met with it, the best of her work stays with me forever. She wrote several books – many of them great, two […]Archive
June 18, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
R.I.P. Fane Flaws
Fane Flaws has died. Sad news indeed, a creative giant – a force – one of New Zealand’s greatest ever multi-discipline artists has left the studio. Fane was a musician, visual artist, filmmaker, creator of music videos and co-author of books. He was a prolific multimedia experimenter – and he created some of the greatest […]Archive
May 22, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
R.I.P. Roger Hawkins
Roger Hawkins has died. The legendary session drummer was 75. A member of The Swampers, a supergroup of session stalwarts, the backbone of the Muscle Shoals rhythm section, Hawkins was one of most tasteful, dependable players – no ego in dominance, all empathy for the tune. Even if you don’t recognise the name you have […]Archive
May 20, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
R.I.P. Paul Mooney
Paul Mooney has died, just a few months shy of his 80th birthday. The comedian, writer and firebrand was a fearless critic of race and racism – and had one of the most important roles in the development of comedy: He wrote for Richard Pryor. Mooney, a comic in his own right, creator of characters […]Archive
April 29, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Sweetman Podcast # 255: Matthew Pender on Prince
Welcome back for another week and another new guest, this is episode 254 of Sweetman Podcast with support from our sponsors – T Leaf T and Yeastie Boys and thanks to you readers and listeners. Now – as you probably know, as well as the usual platforms (this site, soundcloud, iTunes/Apple) you can get to […]Archive
April 21, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
R.I.P. Jim Steinman
Jim Steinman has died. He was 73. He is best known for his collaboration with Meat Loaf, he is the writer of the albums Bat Out of Hell and Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell. In total he wrote four albums for Meat Loaf, and there were certainly hits on 1981’s Dead Ringer […]Archive
March 26, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
R.I.P. Larry McMurtry
The author and screenwriter Larry McMurtry has died. He was 84. McMurtry is best known for his sprawling old west novel, Lonesome Dove. Released in 1985, it won the Pulitzer Prize and was adapted into a multi Emmy-award winning TV mini-series in 1989 – and remains much loved to this day. McMurtry’s other great novels […]Archive
March 8, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Leon Lee Dorsey: Thank You Mr. Mabern
Leon Lee Dorsey Thank You Mr. Mabern Jazz Avenue 1 Harold Mabern, one of the great post-bop pianists, played soulful Memphis-blues and R’n’B-drenched jazz piano. He died, aged 83, in late 2019. There are over a dozen albums you can hear with him leading a band and he was a sideman on records by the […]Archive
February 24, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
R.I.P. Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Lawrence Ferlinghetti has died. He was 101, a month off turning 102 in fact. What a life. The poet and publisher would have been important had he never written a word himself – he was a founder and co-owner of the legendary San Francisco bookstore and imprint City Lights and as a publisher he was […]Archive
February 13, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
R.I.P. Milford Graves
Milford Graves, one of the pioneering free-jazz drummers, has died. He was 79. One of the players to free the drum kit from its primary time-keeping role, Graves played the trap set like it was a set of percussion instruments, disparate, like he was a percussionist. He would sometimes hold two sticks in each hand […]Archive
February 12, 2021 by Simon Sweetman