I’ll talk later about my momentary “disappearance”. But, for now, let’s take a serious moment to remember some special people, okay?
First: the folk music world — in fact, anybody who loved the simple-but-soultouching sounds of that genre — is grieving tonight upon hearing that Mary Travers, the blonde beauty who belted out some of the most powerful protest songs of the Sixties with her partners, Paul Stookey and Peter Yarrow, died Wednesday evening of leukemia at age 72.
The Louisville, Kentucky native was considered both the soul and verve of Peter, Paul and Mary, whose songs like Puff, The Magic Dragon, If I Had A Hammer, Blowin’ In The Wind and Leaving On A Jet Plane, became legend. Their take-off of rock music, I Dig Rock and Roll Music (in which they mimic Donovan, Mamas and Papas and even The Beatles) was hilarious, and scored a “direct hit” against censorship.
Though they broke up and reunited many times before, their last performance was just four months ago in Brunswick, New Jersey. In hearing of her death, Peter Yarrow said, “…I do know there will always be a hole in my heart, a place where she will always exist that will never be filled by any other person. However painful her passing is, I am forever grateful for Mary and her place in my life.”
However, Paul Stookey (who was very close to Travers) said, “I am deadened and heartsick beyond words to consider a life without Mary Travers and honored beyond my wildest dreams to have shared her spirit and her career.”
We’re all honored, Paul … and she’ll be missed. But, now, her spirit is blowin’ in the wind …
And one of the most prolific and professional session drummers on planet Earth passed away of stomach cancer on Monday. Now, many statesiders haven’t heard of Bobby Graham, but, as anyone in the UK can tell you, he provided the backbeat of many songs that came out of the British Invasion.
In fact, it’s said that, all told, he played on 15,000 songs, including Dusty Springfield’s “I Only Want To Be With You,” Petula Clark’s “Downtown” and Them’s original “Gloria.” He was 69.
He also provided the solid beat on the Kink’s “You Really Got Me” and “All Day And All Of The Night” (who can forget that dynamic drum bridge?) as well as on some of Herman’s Hermits’ hits.
But he was also drummer on the recordings of the Dave Clark Five (though Dave did play the drums during their live gigs). While, as you’ve read in earlier post, Ron Ryan was responsible for the DC5’s “Tottenham sound”, Graham provided the backbeat to it!
Legend has it that he was also asked to replace Pete Best in the Beatles before Ringo Starr but turned them down.
A dynamic personality as well as drummer, Bobby is going to be seriously missed by his mates and fans around the world … including this balding bird!
VERY SHORT TAKES:
Yes, as with everyone else who ever watched his movies or followed this lanky Texan, I’m very saddened by the death of Patrick Swayze. His devotion to his family, his lovely wife Lisa, his fans and his profession were traits that aren’t often seen these days.
Kanye?? The Prez?? Well, on the one hand, West has gotta start a heavy diet of humble pie. Look … he isn’t as great as he thinks he is (how many others are just as good and top stars as well??), he’ll undoubtedly “fade out” as most hip-hop stars do (check the stats: they’re the quickest to lose their fame, and the field’s wayyy too crowded) and he’s a flesh-and-blood mortal who, with his egoic attitude and choice of genres, has put himself in a very dangerous position!
The President?? Well, lemme ask ya: Does President Obama have the same rights as the rest of us? Though he’s leader of the country, doesn’t he have the right to an opinion? Besides, he was right when he called Kanye a “jackass”. The guys who broke this remark (which was supposed to be off-the-record) on (of all things!) Twitter rather than telling their bosses first should be terminated from their jobs (hey … they broke business etiquette as well as a number of in-house rules at ABC).
I’VE BEEN LATE BECAUSE business has really begun to pick up over here at Rock Central, both with The Fore promos, extra articles up the yingyang, business reviews, the sites … and, of course, regular things like research, cleaning, errands, etc. But stay tuned: I’ve found a way to expedite these things and get more time to keep up yer fave rock blog!
So I’ll be back in less than 24 with more! Until then, I’ll …
see ya on the flip side …