Rolling Obituary Thread 2023

Given the age of everyone, I've been preparing myself mentally for this morbid pop culture deluge, but it doesn't make it any easier.

Saxophonist Carlos Garnett, who played on Miles Davis' On the Corner (and one track each on Big Fun and Get Up With It) and Pharoah Sanders' Live at the East and Black Unity, and also made a bunch of albums on his own and with drummer Norman Connors. Not super well known, but if you're into soulful/spiritual early 70s funk/fusion, check his catalog out.

A podcast with Spot guesting.

https://www.thevinylguide.com/episodes/ep196-spot-producer-engineer-witness-music-history

This is the Tom I choose to remember. So young & full of dreams. He wanted to be DeNiro. I said, but why? You’re already Richard Burton. In many ways, he was. pic.twitter.com/hPDk1YsJ6O

— Dana Delany (@DanaDelany) March 4, 2023

Robert Haimer aka Artie Barnes of the weird pop duo Barnes and Barnes. they're only gonna be remembered for their one bizarre novelty hit but I always thought they were the godfather of stuff like Ween and TMBG (at least, the *early* versions of those bands). lots of great songs in their catalogue. also the only time the actual artist himself commented on my music blog (it was something like "thanks for the nice words, but you're about as accurate as Wikipedia").

Nashville session dude Michael Rhodes

https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/michael-rhodes-dead-1235279997/

Disability rights activist Judy Heumann.

Gary Rossington, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Last Original Member, Dead at 71

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/gary-rossington-lynyrd-skynyrd-dead-1209960/

rip gary, u were gr8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKbkArYyics

call me the breeze rules mostly bc of gary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsIqEq9OFxE

xps re: Judy Heumann - really inspirational figure for how to effect change when you’re operating from a position of very little power and leverage. Highly recommend the film Crip Camp which covers some of her work and is close to my heart working in summer camp for people with disabilities. RIP.

Georgina Beyer, a trailblazing New Zealand politician who in 1999 became the world’s first openly transgender member of Parliament, has died https://t.co/K53N1lcUFD

— TIME (@TIME) March 6, 2023

https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/03/04/lou-stovall-artist-printmaker-dead/

Lou Stovall at 86. DC artist, printmaker , poet who worked with Sam Gilliam and also w/ jazz musician/ artist. Lloyd McNeil. With McNeil he made civil rights posters & jazz show posters in late 60s and 1970s that were very creative . The Phillips museum in DC did a retrospective on him last year

RIP Lou Stovall.
I hadn't realized until recently that Lloyd McNeill passed away a couple of years ago. Lloyd was my drawing teacher at Rutgers. He turned me on to Eric Dolphy - they shared the same flute teacher at a certain point - and I enjoyed chatting with him about the creative process.

(A couple months late on this) master lap steel player Freddie Roulette.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/01/05/blues-guitarist-freddie-roulette-steel-guitar-dead/
https://dekedickerson.com/musings/rip-freddie-roulette/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX06XkUhkbs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8NTPNeBIgI

during our november west coast tour, bob stirner and i stopped in to subway guitars in berkeley to poke around a bit and visit with Fatdawg - if you love guitars at all, you should know about this place, period. so, after we'd been there for an hour or so, this slight gentleman walked in and ambled to the back and disappeared up the stairs...fatdawg wouldn't say who he was, but i eventually asked him - "was that freddie roulette?" he seemed surprised that i was even aware of him, but when he came back in some time later, he brought his gig bag, a small pedalboard, and a crappy little amp and proceeded to blow the top of my head off. this is just a sample of the 20 minutes or so that he played for us, standing there in the store, that afternoon. just an unbelievable guy.

ET thanks for that. I barely know the diff b/w lap and pedal and steel, but I like the sound of em. I enjoyed the hell out of hearing AND seeing how he did that.

RIP Mr. Roulette.

ps oh man that obit, whoa. first solo album '73, second '97. dementia, thefts, fire. RIP

https://deadline.com/2023/03/bert-i-gordon-dead-monster-movie-director-obit-1235283317/

Bert I. Gordon, genre film schlockteur, 100.

https://www.bertigordon.com/index_files/image325.jpg

^one more for pictures of people who seem to have figured out how to live

RIP Mr. B.I.G.

Olivia author and general set/costume designer and illustrator Ian Falconer:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/08/books/ian-falconer-dead.html

Topol

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/mar/09/chaim-topol-dead-fiddler-on-the-roof-actor-dies-death-aged-87

:(

rip hans zarkov

he knew it was one of the prime numbers of the zenith series

oh man was literally reading something that referred to him yesterday and was surprised he was still alive. rpi zarkov. that bit where he's recounting how he defeated Ming's mindwipe by remembering the beatles is all-time.

Mystic Meg!

https://news.sky.com/story/mystic-meg-one-of-britains-most-famous-astrologers-dies-aged-80-12829359

An icon who lived several lives

She also wrote erotic stories and worked as a journalist at the now-defunct News of the World magazine.
…

Her horoscopes and clairvoyant messages captured the imagination of the public and she received huge amounts of correspondence - particularly from angry Manchester United fans who were angry Mystic Meg predicted their team would lose to Everton in the FA Cup final in 1995.

as posted elsewhere "the s*n's most honest journalist"

chaim topol, 87. rip tevye

one of the greats

kinda boggles my mind that he was only 36 in Fiddler - he def seemed much older but also styled that way so a+ acting lol

RIP. Wasn't he in TORN CURTAIN as well?

the scene in Flash Gordon where Dr. Zarkov's memories are erased really disturbed me as a kid

Robert Blake Dies: Actor In ‘Baretta’ And ‘In Cold Blood’ Was 89, Beat Real-Life Murder Rap

https://deadline.com/2023/03/robert-blake-dead-actor-in-baretta-in-cold-blood-was-89-beat-real-life-murder-rap-1235284339/

People you thought were already...

He’s in the grave RIGHT NOW

He was in Our Gang??

~mind blown~

He was in Treasure of the Sierra Madre??

WTF

He's the kid that sells Bogart the lottery ticket.

People you thought were already...

^^^^ on this. Thought he died a couple years ago

yeah me too

wondering if he's really dead, or if he's in my house right now

Robin Lumley of Brand X.

https://officialbrandx.com/

Jerry Samuels aka Napoleon XIV

https://bestclassicbands.com/jerry-samuels-obituary-napoleon-xiv-3-10-23/

They took him away.

Lewis Largent, Influential MTV ‘120 Minutes’ VJ and KROQ DJ, Dies at 58.

Happened Feb 20, but I haven't seen it until now.

https://variety.com/2023/music/news/lewis-largent-mtv-120-minutes-kroq-dead-dies-1235549497/

many xposts can i just say i hate that headline re Blake “beat a real-life murder rap”

RIP Bonnie who he totally didnt murder bc he “left his gun in the restaurant”
(hold for laughs)

many such Roberts out there murdering

longtime minnesota vikings coach bud grant, 95