Glen Campbell, R.I.P.

Entertainer Glen Campbell  has died  at age 81,  after a six-year battle with Alzheimer’s.   Like Ronald Reagan,  he went public with his health,  and allowed a documentary to feature his struggles.   He deserves kudos for that,  but he will probably be best remembered as a country singer with a voice so easy to listen to that people who didn’t like country music suddenly found themselves liking country music a whole lot.

Parts of his life were tumultuous,  and his behavior often less than stellar, but his fifth and last wife appears to have been one of the best choices he ever made.  He was known not merely for his smooth singing voice and a vocal style which moved easily from pop to country and back again,  but also for his ability as  a musician,  which put him high on everyone’s list.  He never learned to read  music,  but he had the ear and a phenomenal memory,  so he could listen to a piece once and then he had it.  You don’t get asked to fill in for an  ailing Beach  Boy unless you’re really,  really, good,  you know.,  and Campbell most certainly was.

I will play my Glen Campbell albums this weekend in his honor.

UPDATE:  Have a  bit more  of the man,  flaws and genius,  from people who knew him well.

 

 

29 years…

…of El Rushbo,  more commonly known as Rush Limbaugh.   So far he has 29 years of his nationally syndicated radio show under his belt,  and is now working on the 30th.   May hat is off to this  living legend,  both as an entertainer and as an astute political observer and acerbic wit,  powered by a ferocious intellect.   His brother David is also plenty smart and writes very well,  but without his brother’s flair for the dramatic.

Chuck Berry, R.I.P.

Legendary singer Chuck Berry  has died,  having spent many of his 90 years belting out hits he wrote and performed for his legion of fans.   Unsurprisingly,  he was among the  first group  of performers inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.

His 1958 hit  “Johnny B. Goode”  is the only rock and roll song included on the so-called  “Golden Record”  affixed to the Voyager spacecraft that was launched into space in 1977.

UPDATE:  Have some remembrances,  here.

 

Al Jarreau, R.I.P.

In case you don’t know,  Jarreau was  a noted jazz and rhythm and blues singer.   He gained more commercial appeal after writing and singing the lyrics for the hit 1980’s TV show “Moonlighting”,  but I enjoyed him primarily for his scat singing,  which done well is one of the finer points in jazz music.

 

 

Pete Fountain, R.I.P.

I was fortunate enough to hear the  jazz man  play his clarinet in his unique style live several times in New Orleans.   He was apparently as good-humored as a person as he was as a performer,  and he always appeared to be having a lot of fun doing what he loved.   The music in Heaven is even sweeter now…

A careless talent…

Dean Martin was a multi-talented performer,  but unlike his buddy Sinatra,  who conducted his career like a military operation,  Martin never chose to focus  on honing  his considerable gifts.   I was one of many people who enjoyed him as a singer,  yet was always frustrated by his habit of interrupting a song to crack a joke,  or change the lyrics,  or whatever other disruption his fertile brain produced.

Like the late actor James Garner,  Martin was so good he made it all look very easy,  and as someone who has enjoyed singing all my life,  though never at the professional level,  I know all too well that singing is hard,  and that singing well is quite difficult

 

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/05/15/just-how-good-a-singer-was-dean-martin.html

Patty Duke, R.I.P.

Actress Patty Duke has died.   She didn’t sustain the stardom she achieved by winning an Academy Award at age 16,  but she worked steadily over the years,  even having her own short-lived TV show.   Unlike so many child stars,  she didn’t implode,  and she deserves  credit for  bringing mental health issues to the fore.