Death list for 2019

As is customary at this time of year. The Vinyl Word salutes those musicians who have died during the year. It's a lengthy list which may well get longer still by the end of the month. In fact, Kenny Lynch, the first singer to cover a Beatles song ('Misery'), has now passed on. So too has the Human Juke Box, rockabilly singer Sleepy LaBeef who died on Boxing Day (pictured below), who I saw several times. Also Maurice Newton of the Fidelities, who I saw at the Long Island Doowop weekend in 2016. Norman Tanega, who recorded 'Walking My Cat Named Dog', died on December 29. And now, on December 30, yet another: Neil Innes of the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band and the Rutles. Thanks for the music and the enjoyment over the years. RIP to them all.

Billy Adams - Kentucky rockabilly singer; Ginger Baker - Cream drummer and extrovert; Chuck

Pat Brown

Barksdale - member of the Dells; Paul Barrere - Little Feat guitarist; Dave Bartholomew - New Orleans band leader, songwriter and trumpet player (aged 100); Pedro Bell - artist who designed Funkadelic album covers; Jake Black - member of the Alabama 3; Hal Blaine - drummer with the Wrecking Crew; Harold Bradley - Nashville based guitarist and producer; Asa Brebner - member of the Modern Lovers; Glen Brown - Jamaican reggae singer and producer; Maxine Brown - member of country group The Browns; Pat Brown - Jackson-based soul/blues singer; Irving  Burgie - American composer of Caribbean music; Jerry Carrigan - Nashville drummer; Jimmy Cavallo - early R & B saxman and singer; George Chambers - member of the Chambers Brothers; Leah Chase - New Orleans chef and owner of Dooky Chase restaurant; Jay Chevalier - Louisiana rockabilly singer and 'Official State Troubadour'; Earl Thomas Conley - country singer/songwriter; Herb Cox - lead singer of the Cleftones; Larry Cunningham - member of the Floaters; Dick Dale - 'King of the Surf Guitar'; Doris Day - Hollywood actress and successful singer; Daryl Dragon - 'Captain' of Captain and Tennille; Gary Duncan - guitarist with Quicksilver Messenger Service; Huelyn Duvall - Texas rockabilly singer; Ethel Ennis - American jazz singer; Preston Epps - hit making bongo player; Roky Erickson - leader of 13th Floor Elevators; Peter Fonda - Hollywood actor star of 'Easy Rider'; Dean Ford - singer with Marmalade; Willie Ford - member of the Dramatics; Fred Foster - record producer and founder of Monument Records; Robert Freeman - photographer for Beatles album covers; Donnie Fritts - songwriter and Kris Kristofferson sideman; Ian Gibbons - former Kinks keyboardist; Joao Gilberto - Brazilian bossa nova singer and guitarist; Chuck Glaser - member of country group the Glaser Brothers; Tony Glover - blues harmonica player; Rudy Grayzell - rockabilly singer; Bonnie Guitar - fifties country/pop singer and co-founder of Dolton Record; Kent 'Boogaloo' Harris - R and B songwriter and producer; 

Kent Harris

Eric Haydock - bassist with the Hollies; Al Hazan - pianist on B Bumble's 'Nut Rocker'; Mark Hollis - lead singer with Talk Talk; Robert Hunter - Grateful Dead singer/songwriter; Johnny Hutchinson - drummer with the Big Three; James Ingram - soul singer and songwriter; Neil Innes - Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band and Rutles member; Linda Jansen - original lead singer of the Angels; Luther Jennings - member of the Southern Jacksonaires gospel group; Jimmy Johnson - session guitarist at Muscle Shoals; Lou Johnson - soul singer of Bacharach/David songs; Larry Junstrom - Lynryd Skynyrd bassist; Pat Kelly - Jamaican rocksteady and reggae singer; Clydie King - soul singer and background singer with Bob Dylan and others; Sleepy LaBeef - rockabilly singer known as the Human Juke Box; Jerry Lawson - lead singer of the Persuasions; Michel Legrand - French composer and pianist; Margaret Lewis - Shreveport based country and rockabilly singer; Roy Loney - founder member of the Flamin' Groovies; Kenny Lynch - British songwriter and pop singer of the sixties; Barrie Masters - frontman of Eddie & the Hot Rods; Eddie Money - American singer/songwriter; Jackie Moore - 'Precious' soul singer; Jerry Naylor - Crickets lead singer post Buddy Holly; Art Neville - New Orleans R and B legend; Maurice Newton - singer with the doowop group the Fidelities; Ric Ocasek - lead singer of the Cars; Andre Previn - pianist, composer and conductor; Ranking Roger (Roger Charlery) member of The Beat two tone band; Leon Rausch - singer with Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys; Paul Raymond - keyboardist with Plastic Penny and Chicken Shack; Mac Rebennack (Dr John) - New Orleans musician and R and B singer/songwriter; Leon Redbone - jazz and blues singer/songwriter; Les Reed - English songwriter and musician;  Dick Richards - drummer with Bill Haley's Comets; Ray Santos - Latin musician and arranger; Harvey Scales - R and B and soul singer; 

Harvey Scales

Jack Scott - Canadian/American rockabilly and country singer; Jackie Shane - transgender R and B and soul singer; Papa Don Shroeder - DJ and soul record producer; Paul 'Lil Buck' Sinegal - Louisiana blues and zydeco musician; Jah Stitch - reggae toaster and DJ; Norma Tanega - sixties folk singer;  Eddie Taylor Jr - Chicago bluesman; Larry Taylor - Canned Heat bass player; Joe Terry - member of Danny and the Juniors; Peter Tork - keyboardist and bass player with the Monkees; Nick Tosches - music journalist and biographer of Jerry Lee Lewis; Scott Walker - Walker Brothers member and solo singer; Wee Willie Walker - Goldwax soul singer and Porretta favourite; Beverly 'Guitar' Watkins - blues guitarist who played the Rhythm Riot; David White- singer and songwriter with Danny and the Juniors; Andre Williams - American R and B musician; John Gary Williams - soul singer with the Mad Lads; Paul Williams - singer with Zoot Money and Juicy Lucy; Allee Willis - songwriter of funk and movies; Larry Willis - jazz pianist and composer; Mac Wiseman - bluegrass singer and guitarist; Reggie Young - lead guitarist with the Memphis Boys backing group (pictured below).

Reggie Young

Sleepy LaBeef

Maurice Newton of the Fidelities.