The Celebrity Obituary Thread

Was I a bit rough on Chas ?
He doesn't even rate a mention in any of the major {or tons of the minor} Beatle biographies or books. To be fair though, he does have an entry in the legendary Bill Harry's Beatles encyclopedia which records that he played 4 times at the suggestion of Pete Best. But by that point, Paul McCartney was eyeing up the bass role, after George refused it, and it was unlikely that John was going to step aside on the guitar. Gene Clark, he wasn't !
 
Eric Gulliksen, known to all locally (New England) as Snake, has passed away. A member of the 60s band "Orpheus," who toured with such bands as the Who in the 60s, Snake was a role model to aspiring musicians, often playing 4+ open mics a week with his inimitable mix of classic (really classic, like 1930s) tunes delivered in a thoughtful, deeply unhurried style. His explanations sometimes ran longer than the songs, and you felt smarter after listening. He was an evangelist for authentic music, a dedicated antifascist, and a warm, welcoming person. I met him at an open mic I was running in 2014 after I played the Orpheus song 'Can't Find the Time' He had signed up for the open mic while I did my opening songs, and came up to the stage and introduced himself as 'the bass player for that band'.

 
mjbphotos said:
Eric Gulliksen, known to all locally (New England) as Snake, has passed away. A member of the 60s band "Orpheus," who toured with such bands as the Who in the 60s, Snake was a role model to aspiring musicians, often playing 4+ open mics a week with his inimitable mix of classic (really classic, like 1930s) tunes delivered in a thoughtful, deeply unhurried style. His explanations sometimes ran longer than the songs, and you felt smarter after listening. He was an evangelist for authentic music, a dedicated antifascist, and a warm, welcoming person. I met him at an open mic I was running in 2014 after I played the Orpheus song 'Can't Find the Time' He had signed up for the open mic while I did my opening songs, and came up to the stage and introduced himself as 'the bass player for that band'.

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That's too bad - RIP Eric. This is one of those songs that had that airy, laid-back California sound which anchors that era. Even though this song didn't make it way up the charts, I recall hearing it frequently on the radio.
 
mjbphotos said:
A member of the 60s band "Orpheus,"
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Whenever I see the word "Orpheus," I think of Jon Lord. That's one of the names Deep Purple were considering before they settled on the name of Ritchie Blackmore's Grandma's favourite song.
 
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Oh, and Cynthia Weil died too. She helped write some truly memorable songs. She was writing right up until near the end of the 90s. And she wrote books too. I'm seriously impressed that she and Barry Mann were married for close to 62 years. They were married before I was born !
 
I thought Cynthia Weil's lyrics on "Shades of grey" encapsulate, perfectly, the changing times in which they were written and explain so much of what we see in most levels of discourse between various parties {and I don't mean political ones, necessarily} today.
Cynthia was an astute woman that had her observational finger on the button as a "youngster."
 
Sinead O'Connor. The poor thing is finally at peace.

I loved her. Saw every tour from the first throughout the 90s. The last time I saw her, she was a shell of her former self.

May she forever RIP.
 
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