From Tommy Nuhulu on Fb, 10/06/15: The sun has set on yet another great friend to Denver’s music and art community. Still trying to process the sudden and painful loss of our beloved Gary Lee Bomar. (Gary Lee’s Motor Club & Grub, 176 South Broadway in Denver).
We need pics of Gary for the memorial slideshow! Please email pics to: frankguerraproductions@gmail.com
http://www.garyleesmotorclubandgrub.com/#!
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J.D. Kelly Moves On Up the Heavenly Highway
From Annette Ca on Oct. 5, 2015: Our music brother J.D. Kelly Downey passed away today. He had cancer. Please say a prayer for him and his family. He will be missed.
Eef Guitar: Our dear J.D. Kelly left us earlier this afternoon. Keep on swinging with the angels, buddy, I will miss you dearly. RIP
Christopher McGihon: The Dude deserves a Delta Blues Museum brick with his name in it… May flights of Angels sing you to your rest, JD. We’ll miss ya, Mon
Chris Daniels: Too sad for words… He was a big, brilliant, beautiful, soulful musician, and a true entertainer. Sending love to his family and loved ones. Big hugs. CD
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AMERICAN POP AND COUNTRY SINGER BILLY JOE ROYAL DIES
Born in Valdosta, Georgia on April 3, 1942, to Clarence Royal and Mary Sue Smith, and raised in Marietta, Georgia, Royal became a local star at the Bamboo Ranch in Savannah in the 1950s and 1960s. He is best known for the 1965 US Top 10 pop hit “Down in the Boondocks”, which, along with the singles “I Knew You When” (Top 20, 1965) and “Hush” (1967), were written and produced by Joe South. Another South composition, “Yo-Yo,” just missed the top 40 in Canada and charted poorly in the U.S. when Royal released it in 1967, but a later remake by The Osmonds was a much greater success. His 1969 single, “Cherry Hill Park”, peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100. In the 1970s his recording of “Heart’s Desire” gained popularity among Northern soul enthusiasts and was regularly played in Northern soul nightclubs.
During the 1980s, Royal had a successful comeback with several Top 10 country hits, including “Tell It Like It Is”, “Burned Like a Rocket”, and “I’ll Pin a Note on Your Pillow”.
Royal’s career experienced a second major period during the 2000s due to regular airplay on “oldies” radio stations. His music was further exposed to younger generations through a movement known as The Beat Army, an online music forum based on Facebook which is operated by author and music producer Paul Collins. Royal continued to tour regularly, performing concerts at casinos, music festivals and clubs in Canada, the United States, Japan and throughout Europe. His set lists include a mixture of songs representing multiple genres from the 1960s to the present.
Royal played Robert Ally in the indie Western film Billy the Kid (2013), co-starring country singer Cody McCarver.
Royal died in his sleep on October 6, 2015 in Morehead City, North Carolina.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Joe_Royal
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Other Notable Musicians’ Deaths…
October 2015
7: Gail Zappa, 70, American businesswoman, wife of Frank Zappa.
6: Kevin “Moochie” Corcoran, 66, American actor and producer (Old Yeller, Pete’s Dragon, Sons of Anarchy), colorectal cancer [put this in here ‘cause Moochie was one of my favorite childhood actors]; Smokey Johnson, 78, American drummer; Stasys Povilaitis, 68, Lithuanian singer and poet.; Billy Joe Royal, 73, American pop and country singer (“Down in the Boondocks”, “Cherry Hill Park”, “Burned Like a Rocket”).
4: Dave Pike, 77, American jazz musician.
3: Al Abrams, 74, American press officer and publicist (Motown Records); Christopher Tambling, 50-51, British composer and choirmaster, cancer.
2: Willie Akins, 76, American jazz saxophonist; Coleridge Goode, 100, Jamaican-born British jazz bassist.
1: Usnija Redžepova, 69, Macedonian singer, lung cancer.
September 2015
30: Donald Seawell, 103, American theater producer and newspaper publisher (Mr. Seawell brought a lot of shows and musicals to Denver).
29: Benjamin Hutto, 67, American organist, choirmaster and academic; Jean Ter-Merguerian, 79, French violinist; Phil Woods, 83, American saxophonist (“Just the Way You Are”), emphysema.