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On That Note: Late musicians 2018

cyclones500

cyclones500

Well-Known Member
Jan 29, 2010
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basslakebeacon.com
Welcome back to On That Note, a weekly music series hosted by @MeanDean, @CycloneRulzzz and cyclones500. Hope everybody's Christmas was cheery.

As we did in 2017, the final segment of the year will focus on notable music artists who died in 2018. In addition to performers, you may include other contributors (e.g. record producers, songwriters, et. al.) if you believe it is worthy.

Handy links, for reference:
I’ll post a few from my list shortly. Before I do, we thank CF members who contributed to On That Note in ’18, and helped us keep the ball rolling. Post your 2018 tributes, and we’ll see you next year. :)
 
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One last one for the Screamin' Eagle of Soul...

Charles Edward Bradley (November 5, 1948 – September 23, 2018) was an American singer.[1] His performances and recording style were consistent with the revivalist approach of his main label Daptone Records, celebrating the feel of funk and soul music from the 1960s and 1970s.[2] One review said he "echoes the evocative delivery of Otis Redding".[3] Bradley was raised by his maternal grandmother in Gainesville, Florida, until the age of eight when his mother, who had abandoned him at eight months of age, took him to live with her in Brooklyn, New York.[5] In 1962, his sister took him to the Apollo Theater to see James Brown perform.[6] Bradley was so inspired by the performance that he began to practice mimicking Brown's style of singing and stage mannerisms at home.[7]

When he was fourteen, Bradley ran away from home to escape poor living conditions—his bedroom was in a basement with a sand floor—and lived on the streets during the day and slept nights in subway cars for two years[8]. Later, he enlisted in Job Corps which eventually led him to Bar Harbor, Maine to train as a chef.[citation needed] A co-worker told him he looked like James Brown and asked if he could sing; he was at first shy but then admitted that he could.[citation needed] He overcame his stage fright (when a crew member pushed him through the curtains onto the stage) and performed five or six times with a band. His bandmates were later drafted into the Vietnam War, and the act never re-formed.[9][not in citation given]

Bradley worked in Maine as a cook for ten years, and then decided to head west, hitchhiking across the country.[6] He lived in upstate New York, Seattle, Canada and Alaska before settling in California in 1977.[5][7] There, Bradley worked odd jobs and played small shows for 20 years.[6] He earned extra money doing James Brown performances, where he used such stage names as the Screaming Eagle of Soul, Black Velvet and even James Brown Jr. In 1994 he moved back to Brooklyn after receiving a call from his mother.[10]

In 1996, Bradley's mother called him and asked him to move back in with her in Brooklyn so she could get to know him.[5] It was there he began making a living moonlighting as a James Brown impersonator in local clubs under the name "Black Velvet."[11][12] During this time, Bradley experienced more difficulties, including almost dying in a hospital after having an allergic reaction to penicillin, and, in a separate episode, awaking at his mother's house to a commotion as police and ambulances were arriving to the scene of his brother's murder, just down the road from there.[5]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Bradley_(singer)



A friend and I went to a concert of his a few years ago. He made the whole crowd ugly cry. If a man ever had the right to sing the blues and soul, he was the one. Godspeed.
 
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Geoff Emerick

Sound engineer on a few albums a few of you might have heard of...

Revolver
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Abbey Road
Band on the Run

...and many of the other big-time acts of the late 1960s and 1970s.
 
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Richard Swift (1977-2018)

I never listened to his solo stuff, but he was producer and/or played for a lot of interesting bands, not limited to Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats, The Shins, the Black Keys, and one of my current favorites, Foxygen.

 
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BTW speaking of musicians that dies. Anyone see that Tsunami video that took out that pop band in Indonesia the other day? Unreal. Feel so bad for those people. I won't post the video but you can google it.
 
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Marty Balin (1942-Sept. 27, 2018)

Co-founder, singer, songwriter and musician in Jefferson Airplane; member of Jefferson Starship.

Notable songwriting/vocal credits

Volunteers (w/ Paul Kantner)




Miracles (Jefferson Starship) .... highest-charting U.S. song for Jeff-Ship.

(This is so mid-70s. In a good way)




Today (w/ Paul Kantner)

 
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One that got by my attention was the death of country star Dave Rowland in November, who fronted Dave & Sugar in the 70s and very early 80s. They had several big songs during that time, including "Knee Deep In Loving You."

 
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cyclones500 said:
Marty Balin (1942-Sept. 27, 2018)

Co-founder, singer, songwriter and musician in Jefferson Airplane; member of Jefferson Starship.

Notable songwriting/vocal credits

Volunteers (w/ Paul Kantner)




Miracles (Jefferson Starship) .... highest-charting U.S. song for Jeff-Ship.

(This is so mid-70s. In a good way)




Today (w/ Paul Kantner)

Click to expand...


Here is a live performance with Marty Balin singing:



You can see Grace Slick at the end, who I believe was possibly ill (something wrong with her vocal chords).

I got it at the blog post linked below, which includes links to his NYT obituary and comment about playing second fiddle to Grace Slick. There is a lot of info at the NYT (as there likely is for all obituaries for musicians).
https://althouse.blogspot.com/2018/09/her-neon-mouth-with-blinkers-off.html

Without re-reading everything, as I recall, Marty Balin was from a blue collar background, and his father was a founder and part owner of The Matrix in San Francisco -- where Jefferson Airplane and The Great Society (with Grace Slick) used to play. He started in folk music.

Someone could probably do an entire thread such as this on all the iterations of Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship in the 1960s and 1970s (when they achieved their greatest commercial success).
 
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