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INTRODUCTION
This is the Rest in Playlist for Friday, April 7, 2023, featuring artists who passed in the week prior, from March 25th through March 31st. The Grim Reaper’s been busy this week, collecting blues, funk, rock, electronic, and country artists; international musicians from Italy, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Romania, Ethiopia, Japan, and the Dominican Republic; and bringing home our Headliner, Sweet Charles Sherrell. But first, let’s start the Rest in Playlist with our Opening Act.
Opening Act:
[27 Mar 2023] Howie Kane, 81, American pop singer (Jay and the Americans).
Howard G. Kirschenbaum was born in 1941, but he became Howie Kane when he joined the pop vocal group, Jay & The Americans back in 1960. After lead singer Jay Traynor was replaced by Jay Black, they hit #3 on the charts with this track, “Come a Little Bit Closer.”
Jay & The Americans – Come A Little Bit Closer
Headliner:
[29 Mar 2023] Sweet Charles Sherrell, 80, American bassist (James Brown).
Our Headliner this week was destined to be funky. Born in 1943, he grew up playing drums with Jimi Hendrix and Billy Cox. He learned guitar from Curtis Mayfield. He switched to bass and began playing in Aretha Franklin’s backup group. He’s Sweet Charles Sherrell, best known for his fifteen years playing bass for James Brown as a member of the J.B.’s before Bootsy Collins. Here’s Sherrell on the Godfather’s iconic “Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud.”
James Brown – Say It Loud, I’m Black And I’m Proud
Main Stage:
[29 Mar 2023] Brian Gillis, 47, American singer (LFO).
Now we open up the Main Stage, where the Pete Best Award goes to our next performer, Brian Gillis. He was a singer in a late-90s group called Lyte Funkie Ones that just couldn’t get off the ground. Dissatisfied, he left the group to pursue a solo career. Meanwhile, the group replaced him, shortened their name to LFO, and recorded a double-platinum debut album with his vocals still on the record, based on the strength of this #3 1999 single, “Summer Girls.”
LFO – Summer Girls
[27 Mar 2023] Peggy Scott-Adams, 74, American blues and R&B singer.
Our next performer is a blues singer born in 1948 who had early success touring with Ben E. King as a duet act with Jo Jo Benson. After hitting the Top 40 three times in ’68 and ’69, she retired to lounge singing for 27 years before returning to the studio to record her debut solo album. Here’s Peggy Scott-Adams with her song “Bill,” which became a top blues and urban contemporary hit.
Peggy Scott-Adams – Bill
[26 Mar 2023] Ray Pillow, 85, American country singer (“I’ll Take the Dog“).
Well known for his performances on The Grand Ole Opry, our next artist Ray Pillow made the country charts eighteen times in his lengthy career. Born in 1937, his album Presenting Ray Pillow debuted in 1965 and he recorded new material up until his retirement in 2018. Here’s his best-known hit, his duet with Jean Shepard, “I’ll Take the Dog.”
Jean Shepherd; Ray Pillow – I’ll Take The Dog
[30 Mar 2023] Ray Shulman, 73, English musician (Gentle Giant) and record producer (Reading, Writing and Arithmetic, Life’s Too Good).
Ray Shulman, born 1949, along with his brothers Derek and Phil, co-founded the British band Simon Dupree and the Big Sound in 1966, which later evolved into the progressive rock band Gentle Giant. While his virtuosity on bass was obvious, he was a multi-instrumentalist who covered violin, recorder, trumpet, acoustic and electric guitar parts as well. Here’s “The Advent of Panurge” from 1972.
Gentle Giant – The Advent of Panurge
Festival Stage:
[30 Mar 2023] Alfio Cantarella [it], 81, Italian drummer (Equipe 84).
Hitting the Festival Stage from Italy are the band Equipe 84, founded by our next artist, drummer Alfio Cantarella. They scored a number of hits on the Italian charts in the late 1960s, often with covers of other popular tunes reworked with Italian lyrics, like this song, “Sei Gia Di Un Altro,” which may sound familiar to any Beach Boys fans in the audience.
Equipe 84 – Sei Giá Di Un Altro
[28 Mar 2023] Sanath Nandasiri, 81, Sri Lankan singer, musician and composer.
Our next artist is Sanath Nandasiri of Sri Lanka. Born in 1942, he first performed on radio at age 13 in 1955. Ten years later, he began his career as a playback singer, appearing in dozens of Sri Lankan films from 1967 to 2000. He also spent many decades at university as a music educator. He was honored by the Sri Lankan president in 2018 for his lifetime of work. This is “Desa Nilipul.”
Sanath Nandasiri – Desa Nilipul
[25 Mar 2023] Juca Chaves, 84, Brazilian singer and comedian, respiratory failure.
Closing this set on the Festival Stage is Juca Chavez, born in 1938 of Austrian Jewish immigrants to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He became an irreverent critic of Brazilian military rule and had to live in exile in Portugal and Italy due to his satirical recordings. This is “Take Me Back To Piaui.”
Juca Chaves – Take Me Back to Piaui
In the News:
[30 Mar 2023] Mark Russell, 90, American political satirist and comedian, prostate cancer.
In the News this week we mark the passing of Mark Russell, an American political satirist who, thanks to our First Amendment, didn’t have to live in exile. Instead, you may have seen him in the late 20th century on PBS television, hosting his one-man political musical comedy specials. Here’s a clip from a set in 1998, as Russell seeks anything — anything! — to discuss other than Bill Clinton’s sexual exploits that were dominating the news.
Mark Russell – Jerry Falwell and the Teletubbies
More Festival Stage:
[28 Mar 2023] Ryuichi Sakamoto, 71, Japanese musician (Yellow Magic Orchestra), composer (The Last Emperor), and actor (Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence), Oscar winner (1988), rectal cancer.
To Japan we go with electronic music pioneer Ryuichi Sakamoto of Yellow Magic Orchestra. He’s also composed countless film scores, winning an Oscar, a BAFTA, a Grammy, and two Golden Globe Awards. He was also an Actor in the film, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence. This is a track from the 1978 Yellow Magic Orchestra debut album, Thousand Knives, called “Technopolis.”
Yellow Magic Orchestra – Technopolis
[26 Mar 2023] Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou, 99, Ethiopian nun, pianist and composer.
Our oldest performer on the Rest in Playlist was born in 1923 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou was a singer, pianist, and nun who composed over 150 works for piano, organ, opera, and chamber ensembles. Here she is with “Homesickness,” which was featured in a 2019 advertisement for Amazon Echo.
Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou – Homesickness
[26 Mar 2023] Care Failure, 36, Canadian singer (Die Mannequin).
Closing out the Festival Stage is our youngest performer this week, 36-year-old Care Failure, founder of the Canadian alt-rock band well-named for the Rest in Playlist, Die Mannequin. She formed the group in 2006 and went on to open for Buckcherry, Guns N’ Roses, Marilyn Manson, and Sum 41 on various Canadian tours. This is Die Mannequin from 2008 with “Do It or Die.”
Die Mannequin – Do It Or Die
Encore:
[29 Mar 2023] Sweet Charles Sherrell, 80, American bassist (James Brown).
For the final encore, we return to our Headliner, bassist Sweet Charles Sherrell. He contributed the bottom end on albums by Lyn Collins, Maceo Parker, and Al Green. He also recorded his own solo material. But he’ll always be remembered for his time with The Godfather of Soul and the J.B.’s. Here he is on another #1 R&B hit for James Brown, “Mother Popcorn.”
James Brown – Mother Popcorn
Closing
And that’s the Rest in Playlist for Friday, April 7th, 2023, featuring artists who passed the week before. Join us here next week for a tribute to the artists who have passed this week. For Rest in Playlist, I’m “Radical” Russ Belville reminding you to seize the day, it may be your last.
