A whole lotta dyin' went on in 2007, and in the music world, the biggest death (literally) was the end of Luciano Pavarotti. The saddest death was probably Brad Delp of the group Boston, who left behind a suicide note declaring he was a "lonely soul." Other suicides were U-Nee and opera star Jerry Hadley. While ill singers Lee Hazlewood and George Melly had a lot of time to prepare for death, the usual number of rappers got a bullet without ever getting to Number One. Many musicians gamely stayed in the game as long as possible despite health setbacks, including Michael Brecker, Fred Chichin of Les Rita Mitsuoko and Don Ho.
Restricting this memorial to a pair of Rapidshare limited-size downloads and the magic number 45, a few of your favorites may not be heard here, but at least they can be seen in the next paragraph. Unlisteds whose number came up this year, and un-persons as far as being included in the downloads go:
Lydia Mendoza (career stretching back to the 30's), Damien Morris (vocalist for death metal band The Red Shore), death metal drummers Bud Mills and Witold Kieltyka, Marvin Smith (half of The Checkmates), jazz sax player Frank Morgan, jazz saz player Cecil Payne, blues guitarist Philadelphia Jerry Ricks, conga drummer Carlos Valdes, Erich Von Schmidt (obscure folkie and Dylan influence, who spent the last 3 decades of his life working as a respected artist), Casey Calvert (guitarist in Hawthorne Heights), opera singers Andrew Foldi and Frank Guarrera, Alice Coltrane, classical flute player Masakuzu Yoshizawa, reggae star Lucky Dube, rapper "Big Moe" Moore, Pete Kleinow (of the Flying Buritto Brothers), Miyoshi Umecki (who recorded an album of standards as well as a single with Red Buttons), jazz drummers Max Roach and Bob Rosengarden, and Zayda Pena (of Zayda y los Culpables). She was shot in the heart a few days after being hospitalized for a gunshot wound to the neck...her death sparking publicity about the world of drug trafficking and Mexican border violence, and the music chronicling this dangerous lifestyle.
Three singers who played it for laughs are now silent. Jim Nesbitt was the country singer best known for his "Running Bare" parody and Alice Ghostley recorded some novelty songs in her cabaret days, and was in the musicals "Grease" and "Cinderella." Lastly, a lovely lady I had the good fortune to speak with, the legendary Ruth Wallis. Perhaps Ruth will get a write-up of her own on this blog eventually. Her sexy comedy songs now seem very tame, but in her hot heyday, they were literally banned. Unlike so many singers in that genre, Ruth had real talent and lilt...and could've done well with any kind of song, risque or not.
The heavenly stars on the first download:
LA TRAVIATA (Beverly Sills)
MORE THAN A FEELING (Brad Delp; Boston)
IF EVER I WOULD LEAVE YOU (Robert Goulet)
MUCH TOO YOUNG TO DIE (Merv Griffin)
SPOOKY, SPOOKY (Walker Edmiston as Dracula, with Linda Strangis)
O HOLY NIGHT (Luciano Pavarotti)
TIL I WALTZ AGAIN WITH YOU (Teresa Brewer)
BUT NOT FOR ME (Yvonne DeCarlo)
CHILDREN OF THE SUN (Billy Thorpe)
COME AND GET IT, HONEY (Nellie Lutcher)
I CAN SING A RAINBOW (Billy Henderson of The Spinners)
IN THE NIGHT (Dakota Staton)
YOU'VE LOST THAT LOVING FEELING (Barbara McNair)
ALL THE BLUES ALL THE TIME (Ike Turner)
SWAMP GIRL (Frankie Laine)
NOW (Kitty Carlisle)
GRAND HOTEL (Jerry Hadley)
GIGUE by Bach (Mstislav Rostropovich)
ELECTRIC CHAIR (George Melly)
UNCHAINED MELODY (Les Baxter for lyricist Hy Zaret)
SHOCK THE MONKEY (Don Ho)
MONSTER SLASH (Bobby "Boris" Pickett)
FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE (Vonda Shepard for lyricist Ron Miller)
I HEAR DEAD PEOPLE PART ONE November 2011 update...the Rapidshare link died, but it's back via the BOX!
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