In Memoriam...

At the end of last year, CNN labeled 2016 as “the year the music died”.  As is their wont, they got it wrong.  CNN’s “year that music died” began the last week of 2015, when cancer claimed Lemmy Kilmister on December 28^th, 4 days after turning 70 and 17 days after his final show in Berlin.  No doubt that 2016 took its toll on the music.  Natural causes claimed all of these musicians except two [Keith Emerson and Prince].  Father Time began to take musicians in bunches from the time my favorite music was made [and these are just the ones I feel like mentioning]:

David Bowie - Jan. 10, 2016

Glenn Frey [The Eagles] - Jan. 18, 2016

Paul Kantner and Signe Anderson [Jefferson Airplane] - Jan. 28, 2016

Maurice White [Earth, Wind & Fire] - Feb. 4, 2016

Keith Emerson [Emerson, Lake & Palmer] - March 11, 2016

Merle Haggard - April 6, 2016

Prince - April 21, 2016

Guy Clark - May 17, 2016

Ralph Stanley - June 23, 2016

Bernie Worrell [Parliament-Funkadelic, Talking Heads] - June 24, 2016

Scotty Moore - June 28, 2016

Stanley "Buckwheat" Dural Jr - Sept. 24, 2016

Leonard Cohen - Nov. 7, 2016

Leon Russell - Nov. 13, 2016

Greg Lake [King Crimson, Emerson, Lake & Palmer] - Dec. 7, 2016

George Michael – Dec. 25, 2016

2016 was only the beginning.  More music “died” in 2017.  This year we said goodbye to two men who were there at the beginning of “rock & roll” – Chuck Berry and Fats Domino.  Natural causes claimed the “gentle giant” of country music, Don Williams.  Alzheimer’s claimed a legend, Glen Campbell.  Cancer took John Wetton, Grant Hart, Walter Becker, and Gregg Allman.  Depression reared its ugly head and prompted three musicians to take their own lives – Butch Trucks, Chris Cornell, and Chester Bennington.  A heart attack took Tom Petty from us, only one week after his final show at the Hollywood Bowl.  We didn’t see that one coming.  We’re still in a state of shock.  Wildflowers, Echo, Mojo, Hypnotic Eye and the two Mudcrutch albums have been in heavy rotation since that awful day.  Again, this list is not all-inclusive:

Butch Trucks [Allman Brothers Band] – Jan. 24, 2017

John Wetton – Jan. 31, 2017

Chuck Berry – March 18, 2017

J. Geils – Apr. 11, 2017
Col. Bruce Hampton [Ret.] - May 1, 2017

Chris Cornell – May 17, 2017

Gregg Allman – May 27, 2017

Chester Bennington – July 20, 2017

Glen Campbell – Aug. 8, 2017

Walter Becker – Sept. 3, 2017

Don Williams – Sept. 8, 2017

Troy Gentry – Sept. 8, 2017

Grant Hart [Hüsker Dü] – Sept. 13, 2017
Johnny Sandlin - Sept. 18, 2017

Tom Petty – Oct. 2, 2017

Gord Downie [Tragically Hip] – Oct. 8, 2017

Fats Domino – Oct. 25, 2017

Chuck Mosley [Faith No More] – Nov. 9, 2017

Malcolm Young – Nov. 18, 2017

Mel Tillis - Nov. 19, 2017

Pat DiNizio [The Smithereens] – Dec. 12, 2017

While I was caring for my wife as she was recovering from breast cancer, I discovered the industrial music of the German band Einstürzende Neubauten, and found Rammstein with all of their gratuitous pyrotechnic excess.  I reacquainted myself with the music of Alice Cooper, Steely Dan and the Smithereens.  My appreciation for the music of Jason Isbell [and his wife, Amanda Shires] grew by leaps and bounds.  My love for Tom Petty’s music was always there.

At the end of a calendar year, I look back and write a few words about the new music that I liked.  Usually I have a list.  This year I single out one album.  That album is Gregg Allman’s swan song, Southern Blood.  As Gregg Allman is my favorite singer, those who read these pages will not find this as a big surprise.  Released 3 ½ months after he died, Brother Gregg made his finest album in 44 years, and finally scored his first #1 [Billboard’s Americana Album chart].  What a shame he didn’t live to see it.

I wish that 2018 will see a smaller death toll among musicians that I enjoy, but seeing as how many are in their 60s and 70s I don’t see that happening.  Father Time is undefeated.