Photo: Jim Bessman | By Roy Trakin, Yahoo Entertainment | Jim Bessman, a music journalist whose work appeared in Billboard for more than a quarter-century, as well as in Cashbox and Variety, died Tuesday morning at age 68 in New York City. The cause of death was an aneurysm.
Beyond the byline, Bessman may be best known within the writing community for his 30-year friendship with Bob Merlis, former Warner Bros. Records publicity head, who annually threw a Bessman Bash at his L.A. home, flying Bessman in from New York for the occasion. Among the many who showed up to pay tribute to Jim over the years were Jonathan Richman, David Mamet, Phil Spector, ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, Rosanne Cash and Carlene Carter.
Born in Milwaukee, Wis., on July 19, 1952, Bessman grew up in Madison, dropping out of high school to write for the local alternative weekly in the ‘70s and early ‘80s, and serving as a stringer for Variety at the time.
Bessman moved to New York in the early ‘80s, where he worked for Cashbox, then Billboard, writing a songwriting and music publishing column after being hired by the trade’s most legendary editor, the late Timothy White. As a freelancer, he wrote for Spin, Country Rhythms and started his own website blog, CenterlineNews.com.
Jim was beloved in the industry, with close friends including Sandra Bernhardt, Tony Bennett, Kris Kristofferson (for whom he once served as an impromptu security guard), Ledesi, Lisa Loeb, Nick Ashford, Valerie Simpson, the Ramones and Nancy Sinatra, who once praised Bessman at a backstage meeting “for doing so much for our family.”
Bessman also covered the Songwriters Hall of Fame induction ceremony for the organization’s in-house publication. Among his other writing credits were two books (“The Ramones — An American Band” and “John Mellencamp — The Concert at Walter Reed”) and the liner notes for 80 CDs.
At the time of his death, he was in a rehab facility, learning how to walk again after becoming afflicted with sacroiliitis. . .
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Read more here:
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/jim-bessman-music-journalist-billboard-192426261.html
Photo: Jim Bessman
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Other Notable Musicians’ Deaths…
Again, the number of deaths from COVID is astounding. Please get vaccinated. Truly may save your life or the lives of those you love.
June 2021
23: David Edwards, 56, Welsh musician (Datblygu) and writer; Wojciech Karolak, 82, Polish musician; Shulamit Livnat, 91, Israeli singer.
22: *Jim Bessman, 68, American music journalist; Winsford Devine, 77, Trinidadian songwriter; Mzilikazi Khumalo, 89, South African composer; Parassala B. Ponnammal, 96, Indian Carnatic musician; Ad van ‘t Veer, 80, Dutch music director and music group founder (Xenakis Ensemble).
21: Nobuo Hara, 94, Japanese jazz saxophonist, pneumonia; Mamady Keïta, 70, Guinean drummer.
20: Jeanne Lamon, 71, American-Canadian violinist and conductor; Gianna Rolandi, 68, American operatic soprano.
19: Tapu Mishra, 36, Indian Ollywood playback singer (Mate Ta Love Helare, Dream Girl, Love Dot Com), complications from COVID-19.
18: Laíla, 78, Brazilian carnival director (Beija-Flor) and music teacher, COVID-19; Mestre Mug, 70, Brazilian carnival drum director (Unidos de Vila Isabel); S. Ramesan Nair, 73, Indian poet and lyricist, COVID-19; Takeshi Terauchi, 82, Japanese rock guitarist and actor (Ereki no Wakadaisho), pneumonia.
17: Fane Flaws, 70, New Zealand musician, songwriter, and artist (Blerta, The Crocodiles, The Spats); Giacomo Zani, 89, Italian conductor and musicologist, traffic collision.
16: Novica Zdravkovic, 73, Serbian folk musician, prostate cancer.