Rolling Obituary Thread 2022

Man and his brother just passed away too.

Composer George Crumb, 92

https://pitchfork.com/news/george-crumb-prolific-avant-garde-composer-dies-at-92/

Oh no! RIP George.

Noooooo

So very very dear to me

Heard Ancient Voices of Children in a music appreciation class in college. Loved him since. I just bought but I haven’t listened to the new Marcantonio Barone CD. Going to do that now.

it’s really great, not a huge departure from Makrokosmos I and II but a potent enchantment

Bamber Gascoigne, 87

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/feb/08/bamber-gascoigne-former-university-challenge-quizmaster-dies-at-87

Almost posted him the unexpectedly still alive thread the other week. RIP BG.

Tony "Strat" Thomas of P-Funk.

Don't think we mentioned Mark Levine yet.
https://www.wbgo.org/music/2022-01-31/mark-levine-a-versatile-artist-and-influential-teacher-in-jazz-and-latin-music-is-dead-at-83

Douglas Trumbull, who did more for a generation's idea of film SF than probably anybody else. And beyond, through his lasting influence.

https://variety.com/2022/film/news/douglas-trumbull-dead-visual-effects-1235174814/

Monumental loss but the legacy is forever now.

Oh man, that's a biggie. An unsung hero whose work is deservedly adored but whose name is probably unknown to most.

what a legend. RIP

Trumbull was so instrumental to so much and so many, revered by his peers, that it was probably the best, proudest kind of fame.

Oh wow. RIP.

I saw him introduce a print of Brainstorm at MOMI a few years back. He was lively and engaging, and laser-focused on the issues of film projection quality and (his longtime obsession) the possibilities of high-frame-rate cinema. Somehow he managed to complain about the proportions of MOMI's room/screen without it coming off as a faux pas. I saw 2001 for the first time a short time later, in a 70mm print on an IMAX screen, and his big final effects sequence made the case for grand projection all by itself.

Did Trevor Pinch get a mention at the end of last year? Don't think so.
https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2021/12/pioneering-professor-trevor-pinch-dies-69

seeing posts suggesting Betty Davis passed away, not yet confirmed

confirmed by Rolling Stone

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/betty-davis-dead-obit-1297372/

Oh fuck. RIP Betty.

RIP Betty :(

awww RIP

RIP

I remember the first time I heard anything from her right around when she was first being reissued, and thinking it was the hardest, funkiest music I'd ever heard.

Ian McDonald, founder member of both King Crimson and, er, Foreigner

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/ian-mcdonald-king-crimson-foreigner-dead/

...and saxes on "Bang A Gong"!

!

wow didnt know that! RIP

I know soul & blues singer Syl Johnson and his blues guitar playing brother Jimmy Johnson's deaths within a week of each other were mentioned on the 6th , but here's a nice article on them by author Aaron Cohen

https://chicagoreader.com/music/a-tribute-to-syl-and-jimmy-johnson/

Sadly seeing several folks post on Facebook now that Memphis drummer Howard Grimes has passed away. He played on Stax and Hi records including efforts by Al Green and Ann Peebles. He released a book about his life last year.

Ivan Reitman

https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-news/ivan-reitman-dead-obit-1299688/

pj o’rourke

I'm afraid it's true. Our panelist and my dear friend PJ O'Rourke has passed away. More later.

— Peter Sagal (@petersagal) February 15, 2022

vile man. I remember reading a line of his that read something like "how can a country that smells so much of crap have so much food poverty" and never read another line of his since.

Pretty repellent worldview, but I remember laughing uncontrollably at his writing in the 90s. Probably my love of snark coupled with political naïveté.

He was pretty good with the pithy quip

I don't recall anyone else mentioning Beryl Vertue, who moved from working with The Goons and Hancock into TV production, so I will.

https://www.theguardian.com/global/2022/feb/13/beryl-vertue-obituary

PJ O'Rourke might have been vile but but I also remember laughing uncontrollably at his writing in the mid to late 80s. He was oddly popular with the commies of that era.

yeah (aside from HST) his Rolling Stone stuff was probably my first real exposure to political essay writing of any kind

He understood that evil could be funny

Funny when he started and devolved into contrarian right-wing shtick iirc. But I haven't knowingly read O'Rourke in decades, so I have no idea if he had anything interesting to say this century.

Veteran singer and composer Bappi Lahiri passed away, CritiCare Hospital in Mumbai has confirmed

(File pic) pic.twitter.com/HYVnMrhbrb

— ANI (@ANI) February 16, 2022

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/jack-smethurst-star-hit-70s-23122573

Jack Smethurst, best known for the 100% non-controversial 70s sitcom Love Thy Neighbour.

Manchester Evening News tellin' it like it is.

he is best known for portraying bigoted working class fool Eddie Booth in the hit 1970s comedy series Love Thy Neighbour.

That description lifted from comedy.co.uk

https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/news/6724/jack-smethurst-rip/

Sad to hear that Gail Halvorsen has died at the age of 101. The US pilot, known as the 'Candy Bomber', brought sweets to German children during the Berlin Airlift in 1948-49.

https://www.rbb24.de/panorama/beitrag/2022/02/rosinen-bomber-gail-halvorsen-stirbt-101-jahren-candy-berlin-luftbruecke.html

Dallas Good of The Sadies.

Had Thanksgiving with him (and the rest of the band) years ago, really enjoyed their company and music.

Just got word of Dallas Good of the Sadies passing. He was a beautiful guy and naturally gifted musician. Opened every conversation laughing, a warm, unpretentious soul. Everybody who knew him feels like they lost a brother. Requiescat.
🎈

— steve albini (@electricalWSOP) February 18, 2022

Drummer Sandy Nelson, on the 14th.

RIP SANDY NELSON.
Story by Deke Dickerson.
I'm a couple days late on this, but sad to report that legendary drummer Sandy Nelson passed away on Valentine's Day at the age of 83. (Just a couple days after Memphis' Howard Grimes passed--a rough week for drummers!). Sandy Nelson was part of the first wave of 1950s Hollywood session musicians--in addition to many of the hits he played on (uncredited), Sandy Nelson also had two big hits under his own name: "Teen Beat" in 1959 and "Let There Be Drums" in 1961. ...

Oh yeah, saw Deke post about that. RIP.