Obituaries

Who knows who cares for me, c’est la vie

Posted on by brucehhackett

It was the fall of 1970 when my favorite radio station started playing a beautifully spooky song about some sort of brave knight who had “white horses and ladies by the score, all dressed in satin and waiting by the door.”

maxresdefault-8Most people went nuts for the mind-blowing ending, which featured the then-new Moog synthesizer swooping all over the place.  But me, I was mesmerized by the singer, whose precise British voice reminded me of John Lennon in his “White  Album” period.

The song was “Lucky Man,” and the band was a new British progressive rock trio who — in the tradition of American folkies Crosby, Stills and Nash — wenhqdefault-2t by their last names as well:  Emerson, Lake & Palmer.  And that rich voice that so appealed to me belonged to the group’s bassist/guitarist Greg Lake, who last week became yet another in a long line of rock music heroes to pass away in 2016.

Back in March, we received the sad, then shocking news that keyboard maestro Keith Emerson had died of a self-inflicted gunshot to the head.  Now Lake is gone at age 69 after a four-year battle with cancer.  Drummer Carl Palmer, the last surviving member, must be looking over his shoulder these days. Read More

I’ve been so many places in my life and time

Posted on by brucehhackett

In the early ’50s, when Claude Russell Bridges was growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he learned about gospel music not by going to church, but by listening to it on the radio.   He soaked up blues, folk, country and R&B the same way, and learned how to play all of it on the piano — the music of Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, you name it.  Because Tulsa was in a dry county, there were no restrictions preventing him playing in clubs there at only 14.  By age 16, he set his sights on Los Angeles, borrowed a fake ID from his friend Leon and adopted his name, and finagled his way into bars, n7bf905016c8375dd0619008b0dc9a8f1ight clubs and recording studios, where music industry people began to take notice.

Leon Russell was on his way.

By 1970-1972, he seemed to be everywhere, appearing with and/or producing records by the likes of George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker, Rita Coolidge, Badfinger and more.  His gospel-flavored piano, unusual vocal stylings and significant songwriting contributions made him a force to reckon with, influencing generations of musicians (particularly keyboard players) from Elton John to Bruce Hornsby.

Now, sadly, Russell is gone, dead at 74 from complications following a heart attack and surgeries.  He joins a disproportionately large group of ’60s-’70s rock heroes who have passed away in 2016. Read More