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INTRODUCTION
This is the Rest in Playlist for Friday, May 3rd, 2024, featuring recording artists from around the world who passed away recently.
Our headliner this week takes back to the era of James Dean, leather jackets, and drive-ins—rock and roll guitar legend Duane Eddy. For the second week in a row, a pioneer in prog rock keyboards joins us from England, and then a British glam rocker and American alt rocker hit the Main Stage. We’ve got American bluegrass and folk in the Country Bunker, followed by the debut of our newest stage, Le Cabaret, for music from the French-speaking countries. We’ve got some traditional Scottish music in the British Invasion, then some tuba and clarinet in the Amphitheater. We’ll close things up with some American punk and metal in the Mosh Pit.
Get ready to expand your musical horizons on this global jam session from the great beyond. Let’s kick things off with our Opening Act.
Opening Act:
[01 May 2024] Richard Tandy, 76, English Hall of Fame musician (Electric Light Orchestra, The Move).
Last week our Headliner was The Moody Blues’ Mike Pinder. This week, our Opening Act is another pioneer of the Mellotron and Moog synthesizer, Hall of Fame keyboardist Richard Tandy of Electric Light Orchestra, who died on May 1st at home in England. Additionally, Tandy worked with Jeff Lynne to co-arrange the lush strings that were such a part of the ELO sound. Here’s Tandy on the ELO classic, “Mr. Blue Sky.”
Electric Light Orchestra – Mr. Blue Sky
Headliner:
[30 Apr 2024] Duane Eddy, 86, American Hall of Fame guitarist (“Rebel-‘Rouser“, “Because They’re Young“, “Peter Gunn“), cancer.
In that era of rock’n’roll cool birthed by Elvis Presley that ran until the Beatles hit the US, there was a signature twangy guitar sound that was mastered by our headliner, Hall of Famer Duane Eddy, who joined the gig eternal on April 30th. His music fame led to an acting career in a few films and television shows. Here’s his breakthrough hit from 1958, the #6 all-time classic, “Rebel Rouser.”
Duane Eddy – Rebel Rouser
Main Stage:
[26 Apr 2024] Robin George, 68, British guitarist, singer and producer.
Robin Charles George Sidebotham, known simply as Robin George, was a British rock guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer who left us on April 26th. While much of his career was spent in production and songwriting for acts like Robert Plant, Glenn Hughes, and Phil Lynnot, he also had his own modest hit in the UK in 1985 with this track that just made the US Mainstream Rock Chart called “Heartline.”
Robin George – Heartline
[18 Apr 2024] Steve Kille, American musician (Dead Meadow).
From the hard psychedelic rock genre called stoner rock we feature Washington D.C.’s Dead Meadow, a band formed in 1998 that includes our next artist, Steve Kille, on bass and sitar. Their singer, Jason Simon, is the nephew of the creator of HBO’s The Wire, and their music has been heard on two episodes of the TV series. Kille met his maker on April 18th. This is Dead Meadow with “What Needs Must Be.”
Dead Meadow – What Needs Must Be
Country Bunker:
[26 Apr 2024] Frank Wakefield, 89, American mandolin player.
On April 26th, we said goodbye to Franklin Delano Roosevelt Wakefield, or just Frank Wakefield, who brings us some bluegrass to the Country Bunker. By age 8, Frank was playing harmonica, guitar, and bass. By 17, he’d switched to mandolin and landed a gig on radio with his brother Ralph. In addition to playing with bluegrass greats like Red Allen, Ralph Stanley, and Ricky Skaggs, he’s also played with the New York Philharmonic and opened for The Grateful Dead. Here he is with Del McCoury on “Play it Pretty, Me.”
Frank Wakefield, Del McCoury – Play It Pretty, Me
[21 Apr 2024] Alex Hassilev, 91, American musician (The Limeliters) and actor (The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming).
Next up, who’s more country than a Russian born in France? That would be Alex Hassilev, the 5-string banjo player for The Limeliters, who passed away on April 21st. The Limeliters did quite well during the folk revival of the early 1960s, and then as the decade waned, Hassilev took on some acting jobs in movies and TV. The Limeliters returned to the stage in the 70s and Hassilev continued to perform with them until 2006. Here they are with “Poor Wayfaring Stranger.”
The Limeliters – Poor Wayfaring Stranger
Le Cabaret:
[27 Apr 2024] Jean-Pierre Ferland, 89, Canadian singer-songwriter.
Bon jour and welcome to our newest stage, Le Cabaret, where we take a listen to music from the French speaking areas of the world. This week, it’s a pair of Quebecois, starting with Jean-Perre Ferland, who joined the choir invisible on April 24th. Ferland is a member of the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame with over 450 songs and 30 albums to his credit. Here he is singing “Mon Frère.”
Jean-Pierre Ferland – Mon Frère
[31 Mar 2024] Guylaine Guy, 94, Canadian singer and painter.
Next up we have a veteran of the Montreal cabarets of the 1950s, Quebec’s Guylaine Guy, who departed on March 31st. From 1950 to 1963, she performed and toured all around the world and made numerous television appearances. Then she left music to pursue painting, which she enjoyed until her passing at the age of 94, our oldest female performer this week. Here is Guylaine Guy singing “Mon ami Paris.”
Guylaine Guy – Mon ami Paris
British Invasion:
[23 Apr 2024] Fergie MacDonald, 86, Scottish accordionist.
For our double dose from the United Kingdom this week we head north to Scotland, where accordionist Fergie MacDonald has left us on April 23rd. MacDonald is considered to be the man who popularized the West Highland style of traditional Scottish dance music and is a member of the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame. Here he is performing “The Shinty Referee.”
Fergie MacDonald – The Shinty Referee
[03 Apr 2024] Joe Aitken, 79, Scottish bothy ballad singer, cancer.
Up next, another member of the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame, Joe Aitken, who made his way to the Pearly Gates on April 3rd. Aitken specialized in bothy ballad singing, which is a traditional form of laborer’s music meant to pass the time while working. Here’s a perfect example called “The Lisping Leghorn,” which, I’ll warn you, does contain some politically incorrect lyrics.
Joe Aitken – The Lisping Leghorn
Amphitheater:
[01 May 2024] Richard Maloof, 84, American tuba player (Lawrence Welk Orchestra).
This week I think we welcome our first tuba player to the Reaper’s Rotation. Richard Maloof played tuba and bass for the Lawrence Welk Orchestra on television from 1967 to 1982. He was a veteran of the US Army band and also had played with Les Brown’s Band of Renown. He also spent years teaching music at the LA Musician’s Institute. Maloof passed away on May 1st. Here he is performing with Lawrence Welk on “The Baby Elephant Walk.”
Lawrence Welk – Baby Elephant Walk
[05 Apr 2024] Phil Nimmons, 100, Canadian jazz clarinetist.
The Reaper always gives a tip of the scythe to anybody who escapes his clutches for a century. This week, we welcome 100-year-old Canadian clarinetist Phil Nimmons to the Amphitheater. He began his career on Canadian radio in 1948 and played all the way until his death, over 75 years on his instrument. He’s also the first winner of the jazz album of the year at Canada’s Juno Awards. This is Phil Nimmons performing “Islands.”
Phil Nimmons – Islands
Mosh Pit:
[02 May 2024] Gary Floyd, 71, American singer (Dicks, Sister Double Happiness).
Joining us now we have Gary Floyd, singer for the 80s punk band Dicks, who died on May 2nd. With one of the few openly gay singers in punk scene, Dicks were pioneers in addressing homophobia and sexual identity in their lyrics, and along with their Marxist and anti-police attitude, they were quite controversial. The band was active from 1980 to 1986, only to reunite in 2004. Here’s a little Jimi Hendrix cover from Dicks, this is “Purple Haze.”
Dicks – Purple Haze
[19 Apr 2024] Eddie Sutton, 59, American singer (Leeway), lung cancer.
Closing the show, we have a crossover thrash band that was a huge part of the New York punk scene at CBGB. Leeway, while they never found commercial success, was considered one of the most influential and experimental bands of the early 90s. Their frontman was Eddie Sutton, who passed away on April 19th. Here is Leeway with “Mark of the Squealer.
Leeway – Mark Of The Squealer
Encore:
[30 Apr 2024] Duane Eddy, 86, American Hall of Fame guitarist (“Rebel-‘Rouser“, “Because They’re Young“, “Peter Gunn“), cancer.
Let’s bring back Duane Eddy, who was performing all the way into his 80s before reaching our ethereal stage. Eddy’s career took a bit of a dip in the 60s and 70s before he came back in the mid-80s, thanks to a collaboration with electronic musicians Art of Noise. They remade this classic track the was the theme to a hit television show. You may have even heard it covered in The Blues Brothers movie. Here’s the original from 1960, Duane Eddy with the “Peter Gunn Theme.”
Duane Eddy – Peter Gunn Theme
Closing:
And that’s the Rest in Playlist for Friday, May 3rd, 2024. Join us here next week as we chronicle the latest musicians, singers, and songwriters to join the Great Gig in the Sky. Catch up on every year of Rest in Playlist back to 2016 on Spotify and RadicalRuss.com. For Rest in Playlist, I’m “Radical” Russ Belville reminding you to seize the day, it may be your last.
