Nick Curran & Some recent Rock and Roll pioneer deaths

Nick Curran was not a Rock and Roll pioneer, in fact he was only 35 when he dies of cancer on October 6. But he did play with the original spirit and style. Besides his solo work he managed to also do some scorching guitar work with Ronnie Dawson, Kim Lenz and the Fabulous Thunderbirds.

NICK CURRAN ~ "TRAIN KEPT A ROLLIN";


KIM LENZ ~ "ZOMBIE FOR YOUR LOVE":


Another great guitarist, Mikey Baker, 1950's & 60' Rock & Roll and R&B guitarist and singer, both solo for the Savoy, King, Atlantic, Vik, MGM and RCA-Victor Record labels and with Sylvia Robinson as Mikey & Sylvia. He also played with The Drifters, Ray Charles, Ivory Joe Hunter, Ruth Brown, Big Joe Turner, Louis Jordan, Champion Jack Dupree and Coleman Hawkins. He also played in touring band for Alan Freed's "Rock n' Roll Dance Party" with Big Al Sears, Freddie Mitchell and Sam "The Man" Taylor. Baker was hugely influential on blues and rockabilly guitarists in the 1960's in Britain and Europe where he toured extensively, later moving to France. ~ 87

MICKEY BAKER ~ "SPINNIN' ROCK BOOGIE";


MICKEY BAKER ~ "WHISTLE STOP";


MICKEY BAKER & COLEMAN HAWKINS;


Jon Lord ~ Keyboardist for 1960's and 1970's Hard Rock heavy weights Deep Purple ("Smoke on the Water", "Space Truckin'", "Hush") ~ 71
DEEP PURPLE ~ "SMOKE ON THE WATER";


Larry Reinhardt ~ American rock guitarist with 1960's Proto Heavy Metal Band Iron Butterfly ~ 63 ~ also Lee Dorman Iron Butterfly bassist ~ 70


Johnny Perez ~ Drummer for 1960's Texas garage band The Sir Douglas Quintet ("She's about a mover" ~ 69
THE SIR DOUGLAS QUINTET ~ "SHE'S ABOUT A MOVER";


BB Cunningham ~ Singer/Keyboardist with 1960's Garage Band The Hombres ("Let it out (Let it all hang out))" and Jerry Lee Lewis ~ 70

Eddie Bertrand ~ Guitarist w/ 1960's Surf band The Bel Airs ("Mr Moto")
THE BEL AIRS ~ "MR. MOTO";


Big Jim Sullivan ~ British session guitarist from the 1960's on. Played with; Dave Berry's 1964 hit "The Crying Game", Alexis Korner's and Blues Incorporated's, P.J. Proby's 1964 hit "Hold Me", Billy Fury, Frank Ifield, Adam Faith, Frankie Vaughan, Helen Shapiro, Freddie and the Dreamers, Cilla Black, Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey, Dusty Springfield, Georgie Fame, Bobby Darin, Little Richard, Dell Shannon, The Walker Brothers, Donovan, David Bowie, Engelbert Humperdinck, Benny Hill, The New Seekers, Thunderclap Newman, Long John Baldry, Marmalade, Small Faces, The Tremeloes. He was also the resident guitarist at TV shows "Top of the Pops" and "Ready Steady Go!" ~ 71
DAVE BERRY ~ "THE CRYING GAME";


BILLY FURY ~ "NOTHING SHAKING BUT THE LEAVES ON THE TREES";


THE WALKER BROS ~ "BABY YOU DON'T HAVE TO TELL ME" & "THE SUN AIN'T GONNA SHINE ANYMORE";


Bill Dees ~ Guitarist and songwriter with Rot Orbison in their original band "The Five Bops", co-wrote "Pretty Woman" and "It's Over", worked on the Orbison movie "The Fastest Gun Alive". Also worked with Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Skeeter Davis, Glen Campbell, Billy Joe Royal, Frank Ifield, Mark Dinning and Gene Pitney ~ 73

ROY ORBISON ~ "OH, PRETTY WOMAN";


ROY ORBISON ~ "IT'S OVER";


Eddie "Guitar" Burns ~ Detroit blues musician from the 1950's on who recorded with Chess, Checker, Red Bird and Delmark Records ~ 84

JIMMY McCRACKLIN; 1950's California R&B pianist/singer with hits like "The Walk" on Chess Records ~ 91
JIMMY MCCRACKLIN & RY COODER ~ "THE WALK";


Maurice Davis ~ 71 ~ American trumpeter (The Funk Brothers)
Bob Babbitt ~ 74 ~ American bass guitarist (The Funk Brothers)

~ The Funk Brothers were of course the house band for Motown Records. Babbitt was not the main bassist for Motown though, that was the legendary James Jamerson.

SMOKEY ROBINSON & THE MIRACLES ~ "GOING TO A GO-GO";


Bill Tillman, 65, American saxophonist (Blood, Sweat & Tears),
BLOOD SWEAT AND TEARS ~ "AND WHEN I DIE";


James "Sugar Boy" Crawford ~ New Orleans R&B songwriter. Wrote "Iko Iko" hit by The Dixie Cups ~ 77
THE DIXIE CUPS ~ "IKO IKO";


Cleve Duncan ~ Singer with 1950's Doo-Wop group the Penguins ("Earth Angel" & "Pledge of Love") and The Viceroys and The Radiants as well as backup singer w/ Frank Zappa ~ 77
THE PENGUINS ~ "EARTH ANGEL";


Vincent Carrella ~ Singer with Doo Wop group Randy & The Radiants did the original version of "Denise" later covered by Blondie as "Denis"

Inez Andrews ~ Singer with 1950's Gospel Group The Caravans ~ 83

THE CARAVANS WITH REV JAMES CLEVELAND;


Fontella Bass ~ Gospel, R&B and Jazz singer from the 1960's & 1970's with hits on Chess like "Rescue Me", "You'll Never Know", "I Can't Rest", later recorded with The Art Ensemble of Chicago" ~ 72

FONTELLA BASS ~ "RESCUE ME";


Marva Whitney; Singer with James Brown's band, as well as solo, known as "Soul Sister"

MARVA WHITNEY ~ "IT'S MY THING";


Major Harris ~ Singer w/R&B Vocal Group The Delfonics ("Didn't I blow you mind this time" & "La La La Means I Love You") ~ 65
THE DELFONICS ~ "DIDN'T I BLOW YOUR MIND THIS TIME";


Dave Brubeck ~ Jazz Pianist who introduced new poly-rhythms to jazz from the Mid-East and was one of the leaders of the West Coast Cool Jazz sound of the late 1950's and early 1960's with sax players Paul Desmond and Gerry Mulligan and trumpet player Chet Baker. ~ 91

DAVE BRUBECK ~ "TAKE 5";


DAVE BRUBECK ~ "TAKE THE A-TRAIN";


Ted Curson ~ American Jazz trumpet player w/Charles Mingus ~ 77
CHARLES MINGUS SEXTET ~ "TAKE THE A TRAIN";


John Tchicai ~ Black Danish born Jazz Sax Free Jazz Sax Player, w/Albert Ayler, John Coltrane and Archie Shepp ~ 72
ALBERT AYLER ~ "ANGELS";


Frode Thingnæs ~ Norwegian Jazz Trombonist, composer and Jazz Pioneer who recorded the first jazz album in Norway ~ 72

Pete La Roca ~ American Jazz drummer w/ John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Marian McPartland, Art Farmer, Freddie Hubbard, Mose Allison and Chic Corea as well as with his own bands. Retired and became a lawyer, later suing after one of his solo albums was released under Corea's name instead of his own. ~ 74

David S. Ware ~ Free Jazz sax player w/Cecil Taylor and later with his own Quartet ~ 62
DAVID WARE ~ "CRYSTAL PALACE";


Jose Curbelo ~ Cuban-born American Big Band Jazz musician and manager from 1939 to the 1970's, played with Xavier Cugat and Titi Puente ~ 95

Terry Callier ~ Jazz/Folk singer guitarist from the 1960's on. Also songwriter for 1960's psyche band H.P. Lovecraft and R&R band The Dells ~ 67

HP LOVECRAFT ~ "THE WHITE SHIP";


Scott McKenzie ~ American singer ("San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)") and songwriter ("Kokomo" covered by The Beach Boys) ~ 73
SCOTT MCKENZIE ~ "SAN FRANSISCO";


Mike Auldridge ~ Dobro player with Bluegrass The Seldom Scene from the 1960's on. Previously played with Cliff Waldron's Band, later played with Emmy Lou Harris and Lyle Lovett ~ 73

THE SELDOM SCENE ~ "LAY DOWN SALLY";


Doc Watson. A blind Folk & Old Time Country singer & guitarist from the 1950's on. Father of guitarist Merle Watson;

Doc Watson ~ "Deep River blues";


Martin Fay ~ Fiddler & Bones player with Irish Folk Band The Chieftains ~ 76
THE CHIEFTAINS & VAN MORRISON ~ "STAR OF THE COUNTRY";




Rollin Sullivan ~ Country singer with 1940's & 50's Country duo Lonzo & Oscar ~ 93

LONZO & OSCAR ~ "MOVIN' ON";


Kitty Wells ~ Country singer from the 1940's to the 1960's (It wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", "I can't stop loving you") ~ 92
KITTY WELLS ~ "IT WASN'T GOD WHO MADE HONKY TONK ANGELS";


Louis Nunely ~ Singer with 1950's & 60' vocal group The Anita Kerr Singers (who sang backups for Brenda Lee, Perry Como, Pat Boone, Rosemary Clooney, Bobby Vinton, Roy Orbison, Willie Nelson, Floyd Cramer, Al Hirt, Ann-Margret, Red Foley, Jim Reeves, Eddy Arnold, Faron Young, Chet Atkins, Rod McKuen, and Webb Pierce. In 1999 he joined the current gospel version of The Jordanaires ~ 81

RED FOLEY & THE ANITA KERR SINGERS w/ SPEEDY HAWORTH ~ "HEARTS OF STONE";


THE ANITA KERR SINGERS (W/MARTY ROBBINS INTRO) ~ "SOMEBODY STOLE MY GAL";

The really long notes

In my earlier post I talked about some great really short songs, mostly punk. These are the obvious logical extension of punk's "less is more" philosophy which came as a result of the excesses of the psychedelic era, like long sprawling solos, rock operas, and endless Grateful Dead concerts that went on for days. I am down with that in theory. But you have to admit there were some really cool, really long songs of the psychedelic era. Before prog rock had to ruin everything.

The evolution of rock from the Jump Blues, Swing, R&B, Rockabilly, Doo-Wop, Honky-Tonk, Girl Group, Skiffle, Mersey Beat, Surf, Frat Rock, Folk Rock, Garage days of rock's first decade to the Psychedelic excess of the late 1960's was actually perfectly logical in retrospect. The first generation of Rock was based around the limitations of the jukebox single, tightly constructed dance songs or ballads that could fit onto a two and half to four minute single. AM radio simply followed that model. However by the late sixties the single had been taken over as the main focus of Rock by the long playing album which meant that artists were no longer faced with the time limitations of the 45 single. Jazz musicians had already been exploring this new freedom with the likes of John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Cecil Taylor and Ornette Coleman abandoning structured, song oriented swing in favour of long jam oriented suites with extended solos that could take up the entire side of an album. Many Rock musicians were fully aware of these developments and were eager to engage in some of the same freedoms.

This brings us to the other change in rock in it's second generation aside from the technical development of the LP, and that is the fact that both the artists and audience had now grown up listening to Rock and Roll and were not just high school kids and working class youth but now included middle class, educated and cultured youth who would never have been caught dead listening to Rock and Roll in the 1950's. It's often forgotten that in Rock's first decade few university students took it seriously and instead listened to either jazz, folk or pop vocals. However by the late sixties there were a whole generation of youth who had grown up with Rock and Roll as well as being exposed to jazz and classical music as well as poetry and high literature and art. For these musicians the freedom of being able to explore these ideas in the context of Rock and Roll was perfectly logical. Others had also developed ideals of virtuoso musicianship that opened the way for extended jazzy solos and instrumentals. Add in to this the influence of psychedelic drugs, pot and/or heroin as well in place of the liquor and pills of the 1950's as an added ingredient. The new medium of FM radio, looking for a way to differentiate itself from AM radio's top 40 formats eagerly embraced these new approaches.

Later this sort of experimentation would lead to sprawling, wretched excess of course. And hopelessly wrongheaded ideas like rock operas and classical rock fusions. Which would in turn lead to an inevitable back to basics reactions like punk, new wave, glam, pub rock and revivals of rockabilly and garage.

But as necessary as these reactions were, that doesn't mean that some of the early extended explorations of the psychedelic era should just be dismissed as bloated hippie crap. Some of the classic examples still stand as solid rock songs in their own right. Some are really just basic garage or R&B songs stretched out with long solos, (ie Iron Butterfly, CCR, Chambers Bros, Black Sabbath, Ten Years After, The Velvet Underground's "Sister Ray") while others are jazz influenced jams (Paul Butterfield, Jefferson Airplane, Pink Floyd, Pharaoh Sanders crossover epic) and then there are conceptual art pieces like The Velvet's "Heroin" or Arlo Guthrie's comedy jam.

The Top 20 over 7 minutes long (I figure they are so long that a Top 40 would go on forever);

1. The Chambers Brothers ~ "Time has come today";




2. Credence Clearwater Revival ~ "I heard it through the grapevine";




3. Paul Butterfield Blues Band ~ "East/West";




4. The Velvet Underground ~ "Heroin";




5. The Chambers Brothers ~ "Love peace and happiness";




6. Iron Butterfly ~ "In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida";




7. Credence Clearwater Revival ~ "Suzie Q";




8. Led Zeppelin ~ "Stairway to Heaven";




9. The Temptations ~ "Papa was a rolling stone";




10. The Doors ~ "The End";




11. Pink Floyd ~ "Interstellar Overdrive";




12. Black Sabbath ~ "Warning";




13. The Velvet Underground ~ "Sister Ray";




14. The Paul Butterfield Blues Band ~ "Work Song";




15. The MC5 ~ "Starship";




16. Vanilla Fudge ~ "You keep me hanging on";




17. Ten Years After ~ "Going home";




18. Quicksilver Messenger Service ~ "Who do you love";




19. Pharaoh Sanders; ~ "The creator has a master plan";



20. Tangerine Dream ~ "Journey through a burning brain" (a remix, couldn't find a embeddable copy of the original;



21. Arlo Guthrie ~ "Alice's Restaurant massacree";