R.I.P.s

[Low D]

And that's why Donald "Duck" Dunn's resume reads like a "who's who": The Blues Brothers, Muddy Waters, Freddie King, Albert King, Neil Young, Jerry Lee Lewis, Eric Clapton, Tom Petty, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, Guy Sebastian, Rod Stewart, Bob Dylan, Roy Buchanan and Arthur Conley, and (more importantly) just about everybody who recorded at Stax in the '60s. Oh yeah, and a little band called Booker T. & The MGs... He was the man. RIP.

Virtually every song recorded by Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, Albert King, Eddie Floyd, William Bell, Rufus Thomas and many others for Stax bears their [Booker T. & The MGs] distinct groove, with Dunn holding down the low end.

Dunn died in his sleep in Tokyo, after 2 sets at the Blue Note with lifelong best friend Steve Cropper and Eddie Floyd.

And i hadn't heard that Andrew Love, who played tenor saxophone with Dunn on those Stax classics, died on April 12.

[Mike from Boston]

Boston "Alternative" Radio Station WFNX (1983-2012)

Bought out by ClearChannel. Sign of the times... Luckily I have a copy of a 1986 WFNX interview with Shane and Jem prior to one of their first US shows.

[Doktor Avalanche]

Donna Summer:

TMZ reports that the Queen of Disco - Donna Summer - died this morning in Florida at age 63 following a battle with breast cancer.

Summer was a 5-time Grammy winner who shot to superstardom in the '70s with iconic hits including Last Dance, Hot Stuff and Bad Girls.

She is survived by her husband, three daughters, and four grandchildren.

[Low D]

The third great banjo player in as many months:

Doug Dillard, banjo player in The Dillards with his brother Rodney, passed away yesterday (May 17) at age 75.

The Dillards were also known as "The Darlings" on the Andy Griffith Show. Doug was one half of Dillard & Clark, with ex-Byrd frontman Gene Clark. The resume goes on, and with a recording history going back to 1958, his influence on modern country & bluegrass players was huge.

http://www.billboard.com/news/doug-dill ... 6552.story

[philipchevron]

The third great banjo player in as many months:

Doug Dillard, banjo player in The Dillards with his brother Rodney, passed away yesterday (May 17) at age 75.

The Dillards were also known as "The Darlings" on the Andy Griffith Show. Doug was one half of Dillard & Clark, with ex-Byrd frontman Gene Clark. The resume goes on, and with a recording history going back to 1958, his influence on modern country & bluegrass players was huge.

http://www.billboard.com/news/doug-dill ... 6552.story

Damn.

[DzM]

A dear and good friend of mine, Surrey Blackburn, died this morning.

Surrey was a young girl in England during World War II and documented her experiences for the benefit of her grandchildren.

She has been battling cancer for several years. Breast cancer that she thought she had recovered from recently reappeared and had traveled throughout her body. After her first round of chemo she had difficulty breathing. Her weakened state crippled her immune system and she was not able to fight off pneumonia. She succumbed to the pneumonia early this morning with friends and family around her.

Goodbye Surrey. You were a wonderful woman and I loved you like a sister. I'm grateful to have known you these last 25 years.

[Mike from Boston]

Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees dead of Cancer.

[Charles]

Between Robin Gibb ad Donna Summer, it's a bad/sad week for disco.

I choose to remember the Bee Gees more for their 60s albums....particularly their 1st album.

[Low D]

Between Robin Gibb ad Donna Summer, it's a bad/sad week for disco.

I choose to remember the Bee Gees more for their 60s albums....particularly their 1st album.

They wrote a lovely song about the Springhill Mine disaster back then. I admit to first hearing it on a Chumbawamba album.

But i would be lying if i didn't say my introduction to the Bee Gees was an 8-Track of "Saturday Night Fever" that we used to play endlessly on the player in my older brother's room!

[John McGovern]

Doug Dillard RIP,i only just found out about his passing.I was about to mention that Chris Ethridge ,original bass player in The Flying Burrito Brothers died around the same time as Levon Helm, don't know the exact date.Chris co- wrote several songs with Gram Parsons,most notable being Hot Burrito No.1 & 2.Its not been a great year for the early pioneers of Country-rock/Americana has it?

[U2taxbill]

Between Robin Gibb ad Donna Summer, it's a bad/sad week for disco.

I choose to remember the Bee Gees more for their 60s albums....particularly their 1st album.

They wrote a lovely song about the Springhill Mine disaster back then. I admit to first hearing it on a Chumbawamba album.

But i would be lying if i didn't say my introduction to the Bee Gees was an 8-Track of "Saturday Night Fever" that we used to play endlessly on the player in my older brother's room!

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j& ... dMv4jtgQ-w
I like this version by U2. Dubliners also do a great version/

[Charles]

Doc Watson - 89 - country/folk legend.

[Low D]

Damn I was always hoping id get to see him live some day. It'll be a sweet reunion with his son Merle (assuming there really is an afterlife, which I'm not sure I believe, but Doc seemed to).

[harunmushod]

Is there any way of getting hold of copies of, or otherwise watching, "O'Dea's yer man"? I'm trying to write a degree dissertation on Flann O'Brien's work. My email address is harun(dot)mushod(at)gmail(dot)com.

Sorry to hear of David Kelly's death. I particularly remember him from Fawlty Towers and Robin's Nest.

[philipchevron]

Is there any way of getting hold of copies of, or otherwise watching, "O'Dea's yer man"? I'm trying to write a degree dissertation on Flann O'Brien's work. My email address is harun(dot)mushod(at)gmail(dot)com.

Sorry to hear of David Kelly's death. I particularly remember him from Fawlty Towers and Robin's Nest.

My father, Philip B Ryan, when he was writing Jimmy O'Dea: The Pride of the Coombe - the only biography of the comic genius - found that RTE, as was its custom, had wiped most or all of the series - tape was so expensive in the 60s and 70s that only the News and Sports departments have maintained anything resembling an archive. In a curious set of priorities, both Entertainment and Drama fared badly. It's always worth checking with the RTE film Library but my recollection is the book covers the series as comprehensively as its ever going to be covered. Among other relevant subjects, Dad interviewed James Plunkett and David Kelly, as well as O'Dea's wife Ursula Doyle, and almost certainly saw some shooting scripts.

Out of print now almost 20 years (and Dad died 15 years ago today), both hardcover and paperback editions do turn up on Amazon. Failing that, try the better antiquarian bookellers in Dublin. I definitely see copies in there from time to time.

And good luck with the thesis.