David Breland on Fb, 01/18/16: I read the news today, oh boy…. Looks like we lost another with the passing of Sammy Mai. Sammy was the owner of Denver’s greatest rock bar, Bangles, in the 80s and early 90s. RIP Sammy, thank you for giving Denver a place that rivaled The Whiskey!
Sammy was born July 25, 1947, and passed Jan. 11th in Witchita, KS. Please say a prayer for our friend and his family.
Diane Robinson: RIP Sammy. Sammy was my ex-husband’s band’s booking agent many years ago. He owned AME in the late 70s and early to mid 80s. Most of the younger rock crew in Denver, the 40ish crowd, remember him as co-owner of popular Denver Rock club Bangles. He was a huge force in Denver music for many years.
Paul Raffa: Wow. Beware my friends – it’s coming our way – the grim reaper that is. RIP Sammy. I take back all the bad things and remember all the good. Like the time in Phoenix the club owner at 3 am after load out would not pay me because we played Journey in his club. Sammy reamed the guy!
A memorial service for Mr. Mai will be announced at a later date. Please go to the site and sign the Guest Book.
http://www.memorialsolutions.com/sitemaker/sites/BIGLOW1/memsol.cgi?user_id=1730769
Bigelow Funeral Directors of Wichita
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GLENN FREY, EAGLES’ GUITARIST, SONG WRITER, DIES AT 67
[This is certainly an obituary I never thought I would publish… BD] Glenn Frey, a founding member and guitarist of the Eagles, one of the most popular and commercially successful artists of the 1970s, has died. The band confirmed the news on Monday (Jan. 18) with a statement on its website.“Glenn fought a courageous battle for the past several weeks but, sadly, succumbed to complications from Rheumatoid Arthritis, Acute Ulcerative Colitis and Pneumonia,” read the statement. “Words can neither describe our sorrow, nor our love and respect for all that he has given to us, his family, the music community & millions of fans worldwide.”
Frey had been battling intestinal issues that caused the band to postpone its Kennedy Center Honors. A statement from the band said then the recurring problem would require “major surgery and a lengthy recovery period.”
Eagles drummer and vocalist Don Henley issued the following statement:
“He was like a brother to me; we were family, and like most families, there was some dysfunction. But, the bond we forged 45 years ago was never broken, even during the 14 years that the Eagles were dissolved. We were two young men who made the pilgrimage to Los Angeles with the same dream: to make our mark in the music industry — and with perseverance, a deep love of music, our alliance with other great musicians and our manager, Irving Azoff, we built something that has lasted longer than anyone could have dreamed. But, Glenn was the one who started it all. He was the spark plug, the man with the plan. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of popular music and a work ethic that wouldn’t quit. He was funny, bullheaded, mercurial, generous, deeply talented and driven. He loved is wife and kids more than anything. We are all in a state of shock, disbelief and profound sorrow. We brought our two-year ‘History of the Eagles Tour’ to a triumphant close at the end of July and now he is gone. I’m not sure I believe in fate, but I know that crossing paths with Glenn Lewis Frey in 1970 changed my life forever, and it eventually had an impact on the lives of millions of other
people all over the planet. It will be very strange going forward in a world without him in it. But, I will be grateful, every day, that he was in my life. Rest in peace, my brother. You did what you set out to do, and then some.”
Frey was born on Nov. 6, 1948 in Detroit and grew up in nearby Royal Oak. He grew up on both the Motown sounds and harder-edged rock of his hometown. He played in a succession of local bands in the city and first connected with Bob Seger when Frey’s band, the Mushrooms, convinced Seger to write a song for them. Frey can also be heard singing extremely loud backing vocals (particularly on the first chorus) on Seger’s first hit and Frey’s first recorded appearance, 1968’s “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man.”
But it wasn’t long before warmer climes called and Frey followed then-girlfriend Joan Silwin to Los Angeles. Her sister Alexandra was a member of Honey Ltd., a girl group associated with Nancy Sinatra producer Lee Hazelwood, and she introduced Frey to her friend John David Souther.
It was a portentous introduction. Before long the two were living as roommates in East L.A. with another aspiring songwriter named Jackson Browne. All three quickly became deeply involved in the burgeoning L.A. country-rock scene centered around the Troubadour nightclub that started with the Byrds, proliferated with Gram Parsons and the Flying Burrito Brothers and would, in softer form, dominate American airwaves for the bulk of the 1970s. But first. Frey and Souther would pay their dues as an unsuccessful duo, Longbranch Pennywhistle. The pair released a self-titled album on the short-lived indie Amos Records in 1969, but soon split up.
In 1971, fellow future country-rock superstar Linda Ronstadt was seeking a backing band and, on the advice of Souther, her boyfriend, hired Frey along with drummer Don Henley, ex-Poco bassist Randy Meisner and former Burritos guitarist Bernie Leadon. The band gelled so well that they broke off on their own after completing the tour and became one of the early artists signed to David Geffen’s then-new label, Asylum. The group was an instant success, riding on the back of its first single, “Take It Easy” — a song written almost entirely by Jackson Browne, with some lyrics added by Frey.
Via a long string of mid ’70s hits like “Peaceful Easy Feeling,” “Desperado,” “Tequila Sunrise,” “Best of My Love” (No. 1 March 1975) “Witchy Woman” the funkier “One of These Nights” (No. 1 August 1975) and the harder-edged “Already Gone” (many written by bandmembers in collaboration with Souther), the Eagles became the standard-bearers — and Asylum Records became the epicenter — of the California soft-rock explosion. Guitarist Don Felder filled out the band’s sound in 1974, and after Leadon left the following year, guitarist Joe Walsh joined – beefing up the band’s sound and lofting them to even greater heights with the 1976 “Hotel California” album, which spawned No. 1 singles with the title track and Frey’s “New Kid in Town,” possibly his defining song. Along with Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors, those albums defined the denim, drugs and decadence of the jet-setting late ’70s California rock scene.
But drugs, egos and success soon took their toll, and it was some three years before the Eagles released a follow-up album with The Long Run. Spurred by the Hot 100 No. 1 single “Heartache Tonight,” the album was a commercial success — and helped bring the music industry out of a post-disco sales tailspin — but the band succumbed to infighting and split in 1980.
Frey embarked on a successful solo career, enjoying a series of ’80s hits, the biggest of which were tied to soundtracks like Beverly Hills Cop (“The Heat Is On”) and Miami Vice (“You Belong to the City”).
But the Eagles’ solo hits began to dry up in the 1990s, and before long a reunion tour was masterminded by Irving Azoff, the group’s longtime manager. The tour’s title mocked the acrimony with which the group split up: “Hell Freezes Over.” The group continued to tour periodically — and lucratively — over the past two decades, releasing just scattered new material and focusing on solo works. In 2012, Frey released his first solo album since the 1990s, a collection of pop standards called After Hours.
While the Eagles were reviled as much as they were revered during their heyday, there’s no questioning the enduring quality of their hits or the freshness of their sound, particularly the keening harmonies of Henley, Frey and Meisner. But more lasting may be its success: For years the group’s 1976 collection Their Greatest Hits 1971-75 regularly swapped places with Michael Jackson’s Thriller as the top-selling album of all time — and has been certified a whopping 29 times platinum by the RIAA.
Discussing the superb 2013 History of the Eagles, Part 1 documentary with Billboard, Frey said: “You couldn’t have asked for a better script for a bunch of guys in their 20s trying to make it into the music business. We were young, we made mistakes, we still make mistakes. It’s the story of an American band, but it’s also the story of the songs we wrote and what those songs did to [people]. We’re here because everybody likes the songs.”
Billboard | January 18, 2016
GOSPEL SINGER JOE MOSCHEO OF THE IMPERIALS DIES AT 78
Jonny Barber on Fb, 01/12/16: Man alive, so many people are checking out it’s starting to feel like The Rapture… just got the news that Joe Moscheo of The Imperials passed on. To sing a few bars of “Peace in the Valley” with him at The Arcade Restaurant in Memphis was incredible, after all of the years of joy his music gave to me and millions of others!! (Jonny posted a photo on his Fb page with the notation: “For my non-Elvis fan friends, Joe is on the left”).
Gospel Music Hall of Famer and music executive Joe Moscheo — who sang with Elvis Presley as a member of gospel group The Imperials — died Monday [January 11th] at age 78.
Mr. Moscheo had been battling a degenerative neurological disease for several years and had been hospitalized after emergency surgery Dec. 30.
Mr. Moscheo’s career with The Imperials began in 1964 as a singer, keyboard player and arranger. The group first worked with Presley in the recording studio on several sessions in the mid-’60s. In 1969, Presley invited them to be his backup vocal group at his residency in Las Vegas. That gig lasted until 1971, and their association with “The King” forever changed Mr. Moscheo and his bandmates’ careers.
“There’s only about 50 of us that ever had the opportunity to perform with him onstage,” Mr. Moscheo told The Tennessean in 2007. “It’s an honor and such a memory that is uniquely (mine). It certainly has changed my life; I am grateful for it.”
His career had many more notable chapters after his time with Presley and The Imperials. In 1978 he joined BMI and served as vice president of special projects, staying with the company for 16 years. His career also included time as president/board member of the Gospel Music Association, the Board of Governors for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and the W.O. Smith/Nashville Community Music School.
Mr. Moscheo was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2007 and had previously been inducted as a member of The Imperials.
In 1998, Mr. Moscheo toured with “Elvis The Concert,” which combined live musicians with video of Presley. He also wrote the book “The Gospel Side of Elvis,” drawing on his time with the rock legend.
“I think (Presley) is the greatest gospel singer who ever lived because of the work he left behind. His Grammys are only for gospel,” he told The Tennessean in 2007. “I think he would have been a gospel singer at age 72. Rock ‘n’ roll would have probably passed him by, but he would still be singing ‘How Great Thou Art.’ ”
Funeral arrangements have not been announced. In lieu of flowers, Mr. Moscheo’s family requests that donations be made to the Music Health Alliance, the Opry Trust Fund, MusiCares and the Gospel Music Association Trust.
By Dave Paulson, dnpaulson@tennessean.com
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Other Notable Musicians’ Deaths…
January 2016:
18: Glenn Frey, 67, American singer-songwriter (“Lyin’ Eyes”, “New Kid in Town”, “Heartache Tonight”) and musician (Eagles), complications following intestinal surgery; Pablo Manavello, 65, Italian-born Venezuelan musician; Else Marie Pade, 91, Danish composer.
17: Blowfly, 76, American musician and producer, liver cancer; Mic Gillette, 64, American brass player (Tower of Power), heart attack; Dale Griffin, 67, British drummer (Mott the Hoople), Alzheimer’s disease; Carina Jaarnek, 53, Swedish singer and Dansband artist, cerebral haemorrhage; Ramblin’ Lou Schriver, 86, American musician and radio broadcaster, heart disease.
16: Hubert Giraud, 94, French songwriter; Gary Loizzo, 70, American singer (The American Breed), pancreatic cancer.
15: Pete Huttlinger, 54, American guitarist (John Denver, LeAnn Rimes), stroke.
14: René Angélil, 73, Canadian entertainment manager (Celine Dion), throat cancer; Franco Oppo (it), 80, Italian composer; Elisa Pegreffi, 93, Italian violinist (Quartetto Italiano).
13: Bern Herbolsheimer, 67, American composer, cancer.
12: Anti Marguste, 84, Estonian composer; Joe Moscheo, The Imperials, Elvis’ back-up singer.
[…] By Barb Dye […]