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Thursday, Dec 17 2015, 6AM
American songwriter, Ervin Drake, passed away at the age of 95 this year. He wrote this song for Bob Shane and The Kingston Trio in 1961 and it was later made famous by Frank Sinatra in 1966
This song was also written by Ervin Drake and has been recorded in over 10 languages and by over 100 artists
Iconic soul and R&B singer, Ben E King passed away in April, he was responsible for singing and co composing this song
Percy Sledge also passed away this past April, he is best known for this song that reached #1 on the Billboard chart in 1966! He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005
American Trumpeter, Clark Terry, passed this year and has played with many amazing jazz acts like Count Basie and Duke Ellington and mentored others like Quincy Jones, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Wynton Marsalis, and Pat Metheny
Frankie Ford died just a couple of months ago and released several singles during the late 50's that hit Billboard's Hot 100
Lesley Gore was only 16 when she recorded this song! Gore died earlier this year in Manhattan from lung cancer
Just one of many singles from Gore, she also went on to composing songs with her brother for the film, Fame, which she was nominated for an Academy Award! She also hosted an LGBT oriented show during the mid 2000's!
Jack Ely of Portland band, The Kingsmen, died earlier this year and is most famous for singing this version of Louie Louie!
George Romansic is one of the most influential people, especially in the Northwest, that you have never heard of. Here's an article on him and his life www.seattleweekly.com
Steve Mackay passed away in October and is best known for playing tenor saxophone on this album by The Stooges!
The Violent Femmes often played with a live horn section titled the Horns of Dilemna which featured Steve Mackay on saxophone for many of the years!
We lost one of the all time greats this year, Allen Toussaint passed away a couple months ago and was an extremely influential musician, songwriter and producer
Allen Touissaint produced and played piano on this album!
Allen Toussaint's career was revitalized after Hurricane Katrina when he was forced to relocate to New York. This was recorded in 2006, just a year after Katrina.
Cory Wells, one of the three lead singers of Three Dog Night and Jimmy Greenspoon, the keyboardist of Three Dog Night both passed away earlier this year
Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots passed away just a couple weeks ago. Don't be afraid to call and get help for you or somebody you know, addiction can be a terrible thing, here is the number and website for the substance abuse national helpline www.samhsa.gov
Leonard Nimoy passed away this year and is sampled on this song
Here's the Leonard Nimoy Bilbo Baggins video www.youtube.com
Stephen R Johnson passed away this year and was responsible for directing the music video for this song, the most played video on MTV
Carey Lander, Pianist and singer for Camera Obscura passed away from cancer in October
Louis Johnson, the bassist on 3/4 of Thriller died at the age of 60 in May
Louis Johnson was a session bassist, but is best known for playing bass in the band, The Brothers Johnson! Louis Johnson passed away this past May
B.B. King recorded this song in 1952 and it became his first hit! The legendary guitarist passed away in May at the age of 89
Legendary blues guitarist B.B. King died earlier this year at the age of 89. He played relentlessly until the day he died
Singer and bassist of Cream, Jack Bruce, died in October. Bruce was awarded the eighth best bassist of all time by Rolling Stone readers
Jack Bruce, singer and bassist of supergroup, Cream, died a couple of months ago
Gavin Clark passed away in February and worked with UNKLE in past years. A collection of unfinished songs was released a couple of months ago that features guests like Warren Ellis and Ludovico Einaudi
Darius Minwalla, drummer for the Posies, died unexpectedly at the age of 39, here's the Stranger article on it www.thestranger.com
The Posies drummer, and loved local personality, Darius Minwalla passed away earlier this year
Cynthia Robinson, trumpeter and vocalist for Sly and the Family Stone, passed away just a few weeks ago
Eagles of Death Metal just announced their rescheduled European tour pitchfork.com They were also recently interviewed by Vice in a very emotional video www.vice.com
Scott Weiland, lead singer of Stone Temple Pilots, passed away just two weeks ago
Chris Squire, founding member and bassist of Yes passed away in June, he was the only member to be on all 21 Yes albums. Here's the video that John is talking about www.youtube.com
Drummer for Crosby, Stills & Nash on the debut album and the followup with Neil Young, Deja Vu, Dallas Taylor passed away in January
Ronnie Gilbert, one of the members of The Weavers, died in June at the age of 88
Ornette Coleman, one of the originators of free jazz, died at the age of 85 earlier this year
Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor, drummer of Motorhead, died a month ago at the age of 61
