Interesting Winter So Far and Adios Toby!!

January started off fine, then we had several 5 inch snowfalls and then a big 13-incher.  Unfortunately, I had problems getting the old snowblower (it's about 22 years old) started until the 13-incher, then it really had a hard time coping with all of it.  I did get some of the driveway finished before a really nice neighbor came over and finished it.  Of course, there was also those three days below zero the entire day.

Now, February has been a beaut so far.  Finally, all that snow has melted and the last several days its been 40s and even 50s today.  I was able to open up the house and get some fresh air in it.  Plus, I even had peanuts in the shell our OD (On Deck).  Not too many things finer that peanuts in the shell.

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So sorry to lose one of my all-time favorite country music stars, Toby Keith.  I have most of his CDs and even one on my Ultimate Jukebox.  Who cannot help but sing along with him on "I Love This Bar" and "Red Solo Cup."  And, of course that "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" pretty well sums up my feeling about 9/11.

I didn't find out about his death until Tuesday afternoon at Sunnyside Tavern in Johnsburg.  Someone put on a bunch of his songs and we gave him a rousing sendoff.

Sorry 'Bout That Dixie Chicks or Dixies or Whatever You're Calling Yourselves Now.  --RoadDog

Music Deaths in 2022: Eihard, Anderson, Gracie and Jett

SHIRLEY EIHARD, 67

**  Died 15 December 2022

Singer / songwriter

RICK ANDERSON, 75

**  Died 16 December 2022

Bass player with the Tubes.  "She's a Beauty"  (#10-1983)

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CHARLIE GRACIE, 86

**  Died 17 December 2022

Singer / guitar player (rock and roll)  "Butterfly"  (#1-1957).  If you're old enough, you will remember this song.

HARVEY JETT, 73

**  Died 21 December 2022

Guitarist and founding member of Black Oak Arkansas.  "Jim Dandy"  (#25-1974)

--RoadDog

Music Deaths in 2022: Christie McVie of Fleetwood Mac

CHRISTIE McVIE, 79

Died 30 November 2022

Keyboard player / vocalist with Fleetwood Mac.

Wrote and sang lead on "Say You Love Me"  (#11-1976), "Go Your Own Way"  (#10-1977), "Don't Stop"  (#3-1977)  and "You Make Loving Fun"  (#9-1977).

In the 1970s it was hard to turn on the radio and not hear a Fleetwood Mac song and she was the cement that kept the group together.

Music Deaths in 2022: Cipriano, Cara, Barnes, Simmonds

** GENE CIPRIANO, 94

Died 12 November 2022

Saxophone player, prolific session musician with the Wrecking Crew.

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**  IRENE CARA, 63

Died 25 November 2022

Singer / actress, known for hit songs "Flashdance, What a Feeling" and "Fame."

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**  J. J. BARNES, 89

Died 10 December 2022

Singer (rhythm & blues / soul).

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**  KIM SIMMONDS, 75

Died 13 December 2022

Vocalist / guitar player with blues rock band Savoy Brown

Music Deaths: Gordon, Cafferty, Levine and Kalb

**  ROBERT GORDON, 76

Died 18 October 2022

Singer (rockabilly)

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**  DAN CAFFERTY, 76

Died 8 November 2022

Singer with rock band Nazareth.  Had the big hit "Love Hurts" (#8-1976)

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**  KEITH LEVINE, 65

Died 11 November 2022

Guitar player, founding member of The Clash and Public Image Ltd.  

"Rock the Casbah"  (#8-1983)

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**  DANNY KALB, 80

Died 19 November 2022

Guitarist / vocalist with the Blues Project.

Music Deaths: Jeff Cook of Alabama

JEFF COOK, 73

Died 7 November 2022

Guitarist / fiddle player with country rock band Alabama.

A country supergroup that had 46 Top 40s between 1977 and 1994, including 32 #1s on the Country Charts.  

Some of their hits:

"Tennessee River"  (#1 1980)

"Mountain Music"  (#1-1982)

"Dixieland Delight)  (#1- 1983.

They even had five Top 40s on the Pop Charts.

Got their start at the Bowery in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, playing for tips.

Music Deaths in 2022: Jerry Lee Lewis

JERRY LEE LEWIS, 87

Died 28 October 2022

Singer / piano player (rock and roll / country)

One of the original rock and rollers, called "The Killer."  Cousin to country singer Mickey Gilley and TV evangelist Jimmy Swaggart.

"Whole Lot Of Shakin' Going On"  (#3-1957)

"Great Balls of Fire"  (2-1958)

"Breathless"  (#7-1958)

Music Deaths in 2022: Loretta Lynn

LORETTA LYNN, 90

Died 4 October.  Singer / songwriter (country).  "The Coal Miner's Daughter."  Had huge country career.  Between 1960 and 1993 had 63 Top 100 country singles.  Included in that were 11 No. 1s and 39 Top Tens.

Also sang with country star Conway Twitty and had five additional #1s and 13 more Top Tens.

Sang a lot of women songs like ""You Ain't Woman Enough", "Your Squaw Is On the Warpath", "One's on the Way" and "The Pill."

Music Deaths in 2022: Lewis, Post, Coolio, Miller and Kerr

RAMSEY LEWIS, 87

Died 12 September.  Pianist /composer (jazz / jazz funk).

JIM POST, 82

Died 14 September.  Had a #10 hit in 1968 "Reach Out in the Darkness" as a member of Friend and Lover.

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COOLIO, 59

Died 28 September.  Rapper / singer who had the 1995 hit "Gangsta's Paradise."  

JODI MILLER, 80

Died 6 October.  Singer / country.  Had a big hit at #5 Country and #12 Pop in 1965 with "Queen of the House" an answer to Roger Miller's "King of the Road."  From 1965 to 1979 had 27 Top 100s in country and 5 Top Tens.

ANITA KERR, 94

Died 10 October.  Songer / arranger / composer.  Founder of Anita Kerr singers.

Music Deaths in 2022: Allison, Foxx, John, Zeb and Till

I take these from the Hope I Die Before I Get Old site.

**  JERRY ALLISON, 82

Died 22 August.  Drummer with Buddy Holly and the Cricketts.  Want to talk about a Rock and Roll Pioneer!!

**  INEZZ FOXX, 84

Died 25 August.  Singer, worked in pop / soul duo with her brother Charlie Foxx.

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**  MABLE JOHN, 91

Died 25 August.  Vocalist (blues / gospel).  Worked with Ray Charles.

**  DRUMMIE ZEB, 62 

Died 2 September.  Drummer / vocalist with reggae band Aswad.

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**  JOHN TILL, 76

Died 4 September.  Guitarist and member of Janis Joplin's band.

Music Deaths in 2022: Musey, Dozier, Newton-John and Pitman

DAVID MUSEY, 73

Died 6 August 2022.  Multi-instrumentalist player with Firefall and the Marshall Tucker Band.

LAMONT DOZIER,  81

Died 8 August 2022.  Singer and member of the Motown writing team of Holland-Dozier-Holland team that brought us all that classic Motown music.

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OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN, 73

Died 8 August 2022.  Singer (pop), actress, notably for the 1978 musical film "Grease", co-starring John Travolta.  What can I say about her?  She was my second crush after Linda Ronstadt.

BILL PITMAN, 102

Died 11 August 2022.  Guitarist / session musician who played on many celebrated songs in the 1950s and 1960s.   Member of the Wrecking Crew.  Played on Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" and Phil Spector's Wall of Sound.

Music Deaths in 2022: Jim Sohns of The Shadows of Knight 'Gloria'

JIM SOHNS, 75

Died 29 July 2022

Lead vocalist with the Chicagoland band The Shadows of Knight who had a hit song with "Gloria."

The four original members attendd Prospect High School in Mt. Prospect, Illinois, near where I attended  school at Palatine High School.  Became the house band at The Cellar in Arlington Heights, Illinois.

Recorded "Gloria" which had originally been done by British band Them which featured Van Morrison.  It received big airplay on Chicago's two main pop stations, WLS and WCFL and went national, climbing to #10  in 1966.  It was followed up with "Oh Yeah"  (#39-1966).

We saw Jim Sohns at the Taste of Antioch back a few years ago which was his first performance after a stroke that he had.

Music Deaths in 2022: Norman, Hart, Gooden and Durham

**  MONTY NORMAN, 94

Died 11 July 2022   Composer / singer, best known for writing the James Bond Theme.

**  WILLIAM "POOGIE" HART, 77

Died 14 July 2022   Singer with vocal group Delfonics.  Sang on group's big hits "La-La Means I Love You"  (#4-1968) and "Didn't I Blow Your Mind This Time"  (#10-1970)

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**  SAM GOODEN, 87

Died 4 August 2022  Singer (soul), original member of the Impressions.  Jerry Butler and Curtis Mayfield were members of this group.  Had 17 Top 40 songs 1958 to 1974, including "It's Alright" (#4-1963) and "Amen"  (#7-1965).

**  JUDITH DURHAM, 79

Died 5 August 2022   Lead singer with folk group The Seekers.  "I'll Never Find Another You"  (#4-1965), "A World of Our Own"  (#19-1965) and "Georgy Girl"  (#2-1967).

Music Deaths in 2022: Tuggle, Morgan, Charlton and Wade

**  BRETT TUGGLE, 70

Died 19 June 2022  Keyboardist, played with David Lee Roth and Fleetwood Mac.

**  TOMMY MORGAN, 89   

Died 23 June 2022    Harmonica player / prolific session musician (popular music / film / television)  Played harmonica on "Good Vibrations"-- Beach Boys, "Rainy Days and Mondays"--  Carpenters and "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" by Hollies.

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**  MANNY CHARLTON, 80

Died 5 July 22   Guitarist with rock band Nazareth.  Played on big hits like "Love Hurts."

**  ADAM WADE, 87

Died 7 July 2022  Singer / actor  "Take Good Care of Her"  (#7-1961), ""The Writing on the Wall" (#5-1961) and "As If I Didn't Know"  (#10-1961)

Music Deaths in 2022: Jim Seals of Seals & Crofts

JIM SEALS, 80 

Died 6 June 2022

Singer / guitar player with soft rock duo Seals & Crofts who wrote the song "Summer Breeze."

."Summer Breeze"  (#6-1972)

"Hummmingbird"  (#20-1973)

"Diamond Girl"  (#6-1973)

"We May Never Pass This Way Again"  (#21-1973)

"I'll Play For You"  (#18-1975)

"Get Closer"  (#6-1976)

Music Deaths: Broughton, Hawkins, Such and Cruise

I am running way behind of music deaths from last year, so will be listing many of these with very little extra information.

STEVE BROUGHTON, 72

Died 29 May 1922.  Drummer with the Edgar Broughton Band.

RONNIE HAWKINS, 87

Died 29 May 2022.  Singer (rock and roll).  Had the big hit "Mary Lou."  Assembled the group later known as "The Band."

ALEC JOHN SUCH, 70

Died 5 June 1922.  Bass player 1983-194 with Bon Jovi.  This was the period of time the band had most of their big hits.

JULEE CRUISE, 65

Died 9 June 2022.  Singer.

Donovan's, a Presentation and Death of Crosby

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18

Met Kevin and Kelly at Donovan's.  CW had that great "Soup Nazi" episode on Seinfeld.  For Liz and myself to call a person making soup a "Soup Nazi" is a high compliment.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 19

I made a presentation on "The Continuing Saga of the USS Montgomery" at McHenry County College.  Afterwards, I went to Half-Times in Johnsburg.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 20

Sorry to hear of David Crosby's death yesterday.  Bob Stroud came on to do a live Ten at Ten on him.  One of my favorite performers both with the Byrds, CSN, CSNY and with Graham Nash.  A crazy but talented man.  I figure if he can live as long as he did, there is hope for all of us.

These are the songs Stroud played today:

TURN, TURN, TURN--  Byrds

WOODEN SHIPS--  CSN

ALMOST CUT MY HAIR--  CSNY

CARRY ME--  Crosby & Nash

EIGHT MILES HIGH--  Byrds

SHADOW CAPTAIN--  CSN

GUINNEVERE--  CSN

DEJA VU--  CSNY

TO THE LAST WHALE/WIND ON THE WATER--  Crosby & Nash

LONG TIME GONE--  CSN

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "Nowhere Is There Warmth To Be Found."  Answer below.  --RoadDog

"Eight Miles High"

Music Deaths 2022: Bob Neuwirth, Andy Fletcher and Alan White

BOB NEUWIRTH, 82

Died  18 May 2022

Folk singer/ songwriter.  Was road manager and associate of Bob Dylan and co-wrote Janis Joplins hit "Mercedes Benz."

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ANDY FLETCHER, 60

Died 26 May 2022

Keyboard player and founding member of Depeche Mode.  "Enjoy the Silence"  (#8-1990) and "Personal Jesus"  (#28-1990)

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ALAN WHITE , 72

Died 26 May 2022

Drummer with Yes and former member of the Plastic Ono Band.  Played drums on "Instant Karma" and "Imagine."  Joined Yes in 1972 and remained with them until his death.  Drummer on "Owner of a Lonely Heart" (#1-1984).

Music Deaths 2022: Mickey Gilley and Vangelis

MICKEY GILLEY, 86

Died 7 May 2022

Singer (country/pop)  Became very popular after the movie "Urban Cowboy" was released.  Had pop hit with "Stand By Me" (#22-1980).  he also had 16 #1s in country music, including "Room Full of Roses"  (1974), "Don't the Girls All Get Prettier at Closing Time" (1976), "Stand By Me" (1980) and "Talk To Me" (1983)

I had my boots, cowboy hat and western shirt, but never rode no bull.

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VANGELIS, 79

Died 17 May 2022

Keyboard player/ composer (electronic / ambient / film scores).  Had a #1 song "Chariots of Fire" in 1982 from the movie of the same name.

Music Deaths: Naomi Judd of the Judds

NAOMI JUDD, 76

Died 30 April 2022

Singer with the mother-daughter country group Judds.

Between 1983 and 1991 had an amazing run of success in country music, releasing six albums, winning five Grammy Awards and nine Country Music Association awards.

From 1984 to 1989 they had fourteen #1s including:

"Mama He's Crazy"

"Grandpa (Tell Me 'Bout the Good Old Days)"