Tommy Smothers, Musician & Comedian, Half of the Smothers Brothers, Dies // Other Notable Musicians’ Deaths

Thomas Bolyn Smothers III (February 2, 1937 – December 26, 2023) was an American comedian, actor, composer, and musician, widely known as half of the musical comedy duo the Smothers Brothers, alongside his younger brother Dick.

Smothers and John Lennon played acoustic guitar during the live recording of Lennon’s 1969 song “Give Peace a Chance”.

Tommy was born on February 2, 1937, at the Fort Jay army post hospital on Governors Island in New York City, the son of Ruth (née Remick), a homemaker; and Major Thomas B. Smothers, a U.S. army officer who died a POW of the Japanese in April 1945. After moving to California, he graduated from Redondo Union High School in Redondo Beach. He was a competitive unicyclist, and a state champion gymnast on the parallel bars. Smothers later attended San Jose State University, then known as San Jose State College. At SJSC, Smothers participated both in gymnastics and pole vault for the track team.

The Smothers Brothers initially wanted to be folk musicians. Tom did not feel that he was good enough to be a professional musician, but he was funny enough to do comedy. The two began adding comedy bits to their act.

It was a series of performances when we started out as a duet in Aspen. I did all the introductions. I’d just make up stuff for every song. And Dickie said, “Why don’t you try repeating some of that stuff?” I said, “I don’t know.” I didn’t know that you could repeat the stuff. And I started repeating it and Dickie would say, “That’s wrong.” And pretty soon he’d say, “That’s wrong, you’re stupid.” It sort of became an argument.

Tom’s first foray into the medium of television was as a regular on The Steve Allen Show in 1961. He followed that role with a single episode of Burke’s Law.

The Smothers Brothers next appeared on the CBS sitcom The Smothers Brothers Show from 1965 to 1966. Tom felt that the show did not play to the brothers’ strengths and wanted creative control over their next venture.

The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and aftermath
Tom Smothers negotiated creative control over their next CBS show, a variety show entitled The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1967. The documentary Smothered describes how the brothers (particularly Tom) fought CBS censors to sneak in references to religion, recreational drugs, sex, and the Vietnam War. Tom Smothers is widely quoted as having said: “The only valid censorship of ideas is the right of people not to listen.” The brothers’ political stances led to their show’s demise, with David Steinberg later claiming “The most innovative variety show on television shut down because of political pressure.” During the same years, Tom recorded mainstream songs, such as “Can’t Help Falling in Love with You.” Tom later stated, “When the Smothers Brothers came on the air we had no political point of view or social consciousness, it just evolved as the show was on the air.”

Rock and Roll, “Give Peace a Chance”
Smothers introduced some musical acts at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. As he became more politically active, he befriended similarly inclined celebrities like John Lennon.

In 1969, Smothers and Lennon played acoustic guitars on Lennon’s recording of his single “Give Peace a Chance” (Smothers’ name was also mentioned in the song). The song was written and performed during Lennon’s and Yoko Ono’s ‘Bed-In’ honeymoon on June 1, 1969, in Room 1742 at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Smothers can be seen in the hotel room in the 1988 documentary film Imagine: John Lennon.
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Go here to read more about Mr. Smothers:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Smothers

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OTHER NOTABLE MUSICIANS’ DEATHS

If you are thinking of committing suicide, please think of how much it will hurt your family and friends. Warning Signs of Suicide – National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 and 888-628-9454 for Spanish. Learn the signs of someone who may be contemplating suicide.

If you want to know more about any of the musicians we lost, please check them out at http://www.wikipedia.com

Please note the losses of marvelous American music people not noted elsewhere: Jeffrey Foskett, Travis Dopp, Roger McMurrin, Pete Lucas, Manny Martínez, Amp Fiddler, Jim Ladd, Bram Inscore, Laura Lynch, John Cutler, Ron Nelson, Alice Parker, Willie Ruff, David Freeman, Michael Gibbons Jr., Frank Kaderabek, Tommy Talton, Maurice Hines, Les McCann, and Sandra Reaves-Phillips.

January 2024
2: Chris Karrer, 76, German guitarist and composer.

December 2023
11: Jeffrey Foskett, 67, American singer, songwriter, and producer (The Beach Boys), thyroid cancer; Essra Mohawk, 75, American singer-songwriter (“Primordial Lovers”, “Change of Heart”); John “Rambo” Stevens, 66, English music producer and manager, aortic dissection; Zahara, 36, South African singer (“Phendula”, “Loliwe”), liver disease.

12: Jakob Margido Esp, 80, Norwegian drag queen and singer; Richard Gaddes, 81, English arts administrator (Santa Fe Opera, Opera Theater of St. Louis); Ole Paus, 76, Norwegian singer (“Innerst i sjelen”, “Mitt lille land”) and songwriter.

13: Travis Dopp, American guitarist (Small Brown Bike), cancer; Roger McMurrin, 84, American conductor and pastor.

14: Pedro Henrique, 30, Brazilian gospel singer, heart attack; Giorgos Tolios, 58, Greek drummer (Trypes).

15: Waldomiro Bariani Ortêncio, 100, Brazilian writer, folklorist and composer; Anup Ghoshal, 78, Indian playback singer and film composer (Sagina Mahato); Steve Halliwell, 77, English actor (Emmerdale, Coronation Street) and singer (The Woolpackers); Bob Johnson, 79, British guitarist, singer and songwriter (Steeleye Span); Guy Marchand, 86, French actor (Coup de Torchon, Family Business, My New Partner II), musician and singer; Eduardo Walczak, 94, Argentine tango violinist.

16: Óscar Agudelo, 91, Colombian musician, complications from Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases; Colin Burgess, 77, Australian rock drummer (The Masters Apprentices, AC/DC); Pete Lucas, 73, British singer and guitarist (Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich, The Troggs); Carlos Lyra, 90, Brazilian singer and composer (“Maria Ninguém”); Manny Martínez, 69, American drummer (The Misfits); Tim Norell, 68, Swedish musician and songwriter (Norell Oson Bard), cancer.

17: Amp Fiddler, 65, American musician (Enchantment, Parliament, Funkadelic), composer, and record producer; Jim Ladd, 75, American disc jockey (KMET, KLOS, Sirius XM), radio producer and writer, heart attack; Mike Maxfield, 79, English songwriter and guitarist (The Dakotas).

18: Pilarín Bueno, 79, Spanish Aragonese jota singer; Ronnie Caryl, 70, English guitarist (Flaming Youth, Phil Collins); M. Daud Kilau, 85, Malaysian singer; Susanna Parigi, 62, Italian singer-songwriter and pianist; Lewis Pragasam, 66, Malaysian jazz fusion drummer, heart attack.

19: Gunther Emmerlich, 79, German operatic bass and show presenter; Russell Hunter, 76, British drummer (Pink Fairies, The Deviants); Bram Inscore, 41, American musician (Electrocute), songwriter (“Youth”, “Don’t Give Up on Me”) and producer, suicide; Philippe Oyhamburu, 102, French dancer, choreographer and musician.

20: Eric Moyo, 41, Zimbabwean gospel singer, brain bleed; Torben Ulrich, 95, Danish tennis player, writer and musician.

21: Lenka Hlávková, 49, Czech musicologist, music historian and academic, shot.

22: Sajid Khan, 71, Indian actor and singer; Laura Lynch, 65, American musician (Dixie Chicks), traffic collision; Heike Matthiesen, 59, German classical guitarist, cancer.

23: Murad Kajlayev, 92, Russian composer and conductor, People’s Artist of the USSR (1981); Lisandro Meza, 86, Colombian singer and accordionist, complications from a stroke; Michael Radulescu, 80, Romanian-German composer.

24: John Cutler, 76, American audio engineer (Grateful Dead) and record producer (In the Dark); Vasilis Karras, 70, Greek laïko singer, complications from cancer and COVID-19; Ron Nelson, 94, American composer; Alice Parker, 98, American composer, arranger, and choral conductor; Willie Ruff, 92, American jazz musician and educator.

25: David Freeman, 84, American record producer (County Records), Alzheimer’s disease; Thanh Ði?n, 56, Vietnamese guitarist.

26: Tony Oxley, 85, English free improvising drummer, co-founder of Incus Records; Tom Smothers, 86, American comedian, musician (Smothers Brothers) and actor (Get to Know Your Rabbit, Serial), lung cancer.

27: Michael Gibbons Jr., American guitarist (Leeway).

28: Francis Dhomont, 97, French composer; Frank Kaderabek, 94, American trumpeter; Pedro Suárez-Vértiz, 54, Peruvian singer-songwriter (Arena Hash), heart attack; Tommy Talton, 74, American guitarist (We the People, Cowboy).

29: Hermann Baumann, 89, German horn player; Maurice Hines, 80, American dancer, singer and actor (The Cotton Club); Les McCann, 88, American jazz pianist, pneumonia; Sandra Reaves-Phillips, 79, American actress (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Round Midnight, Lean on Me), writer, and singer.

30: Klee Benally, 48, American musician (Blackfire) and activist; Bhavani Shankar, 66–67, Indian pakhawaj drum player.

31: Shmulik Bilu, 71, Israeli musician (Milk and Honey); O. S. Thyagarajan, 76, Indian Carnatic musician.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaths_in_2023

Photo: Smothers Brothers (Tommy on the left) | From their Facebook page