We seem to be going through one of those phases where heaven's waiting room is filling up with the great and good from my record collection again... to the point that I'm having trouble keeping up. I hadn't even heard about Charlie Watts passing until Alyson brought it to my attention. Charlie was, of course, the cement that held the Stones together...
We also lost Nanci Griffith, a much loved and respected singer songwriter who was also very supportive of new talent throughout her career. She died at just 68, which is no age at all, and I must have heard the track below (live version, it just has to be) played about five times on the radio in the past couple of weeks. Rightly so, because it's powerfully evocative of times long gone...
Before that, we said goodbye to Dusty Hill, bassist and beardsmith of ZZ Top. Here he is taking lead vocals on a track they probably wouldn't play on the radio any more, more's the pity...
Another one I almost missed was Don Everly, who outlived his brother Phil by ten years, but finally said Bye Bye, Love last week. (No disrespect meant, but I can't have been the only one to pen that line.)
Finally... perhaps the least well known of the bunch... but still quite a blow for me, was the death of country songwriter Tom T. Hall. Most famous for writing the divine Harper Valley, PTA, Tom T. Hall was a true lyrical storyteller... to the point that he had a nice sideline going as a short story writer. Here he is doing what he did best...
Rest in peace, all you guys. Thanks for the songs.
To my eternal shame I'd never heard of Tom T. Hall until last week's Word in Your Ear with David Hepworth and Mark Ellen; Hepworth read out the lyrics of 'Homecoming' and, I won't lie to you, I was welling up. I will be seeking out his back catalogue, that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteGiants one and all. Like John, in recent days, I have been moved by the songs of these artists. This is especially true of Hall and the Everlys. The country show Swinging Doors on KEXP played a tribute to them the other day, and it was a deep dive that has me trying to fill some holes on my shelf that I ddn't know I had. As CC would say, rest easy, one and all.
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