Musicians We Lost In 2024

Musicians We Lost In 2024
Gone but Not Forgotten

By Debbie Brautman

Dickey Betts passed away on April 18 at age 80. The legendary co-founding guitarist of the Allman Brothers Band was born in West Palm Beach as Forrest Richard Betts and left home at age 16 to join a circus and play in the band. By 1969, he had co-founded the famed southern rock/jam band The Allman Brothers in Jacksonville, with Duane Allman, Gregg Allman, Berry Oakley. Butch Trucks and Jaimoe. They captured the rock world’s attention and Betts wrote their biggest hit, “Ramblin’ Man.” He also wrote “Jessica,” “Blue Sky,” and “Southbound.” When Duane Allman died two years later in a motorcycle accident and Oakley a year later also in a motorcycle accident, it was Betts that stepped up to carry on. With Duane’s younger brother, Gregg, they were able to keep the band going. Betts took them in a more country direction and led them to great success. Dickey Betts’ son, named Duane, is a dead ringer for Dickey and is also a guitarist who’s a damn good singer-songwriter.

Kris Kristofferson, country singer/songwriter and actor died in his home in Hawaii on September 28 at the age of 88. He was a pioneering figure in the outlaw country movement of the 1970’s, which was a more raw and introspective style than the smooth Nashville sound. He was also a member of the supergroup The Highwaymen. He certainly made his mark on the world, even though one of his biggest hits was made famous by Janis Joplin – “Me and Bobby McGee.” Johnny Cash took Kristofferson’s “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” and had a #1 hit with it in 1970. “Help Me Make it Through the Night” was another of his hits and he was a three-time Grammy Award winner. Kristofferson also had a successful career in movies, starring in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973), A Star Is Born (1976), Heaven’s Gate (1980), and many others. Kristofferson took the stage for the last time in April, 2023 as part of Willie Nelson’s 90th birthday celebration.

Melanie Safka, flower power folk singer/songwriter, known simply as Melanie, passed away January 23. She was famous for her hits “Brand New Key’ and “Lay Down (Candles in the Rain).” Another popular song of hers is “What Have They Done to My Song Ma,” which has also been covered by other artists that changed the title to “Look What They’ve Done To My Song Ma.” She wrote a simply beautiful song named “Beautiful People,” and did a killer cover of The Stones’ “Ruby Tuesday.” Melanie was very popular in the late 60’s and early 70’s and was one of nine women that played at Woodstock. She was in the studio working on her 32nd album Second Hand Smoke with her son Beau Jarred when she sadly passed away at age 76.

Eric Carmen, the singer/leader of the 70’s power pop rock band The Raspberries (“Go All The Way”) and also a successful solo artist (“All By Myself”) passed away on March 14. For anyone that was around in the 70’s, “Go All The Way” was everywhere and such a great, yet controversial song for 1972. It was banned by the BBC in England. His inspiration for the song was from the Rolling Stones’ “Let’s Spend The Night Together.” After the Raspberries broke up, he hit it big as a solo artist in 1975 with a #2 Billboard hit, “All By Myself,” and in the late 80’s with the hits “Hungry Eyes” and “Make Me Lose Control.” His wife, Amy Carmen, wrote, “It brought him great joy to know, that for decades his music touched so many and will be his lasting legacy.” In addition to Carmen scoring a hit performing “Hungry Eyes” for the Dirty Dancing soundtrack, Carmen co-wrote “Almost Paradise” for the Footloose Soundtrack, which was performed by Mike Reno of Loverboy and Ann Wilson of Heart. In 1997, Celine Dion had a #4 hit with her cover of his song “All By Myself.” The Raspberries influenced many, including Bruce Springsteen, Max Weinberg (Springsteen), Tom Petty, Paul Stanley, (KISS) and Axl Rose (Guns N’ Roses.) Carmen also played with Ringo Starr’s All Starr Band’s 30th Anniversary Tour.

Other notable music losses:
Steve Albini, 5/7/24 – Producer/Engineer for Nirvana, Pixies and PJ Harvey
Joe Chambers, 8/15/24 – Founding member/guitarist of The Chamber Brothers, best known for their eleven-minute 1968 psychedelic soul hit, “Time Has Come Today”
James Chance, 6/18/24 – Singer/Sax/Keyboardist of the “no wave” movement, James White and The Blacks, Teenage Jesus and The Jerks
Duane Eddy, 4/30/24 – Twangy early rock guitar pioneer with hits “Rebel Rouser” and “Peter Gunn”
Joe Egan, 7/6/24 – Co-Founder (With Getty Rafferty) of the Scottish rock band Stealer’s Wheel with their unforgettable hit, “Stuck In The Middle With You.” If you are unfamiliar, check them out. Such a great band
Herbie Flowers, 9/5/24 – Session Bassist for David Bowie, Lou Reed, Elton John, Harry Nilsson, and three of The Beatles
Kinky Friedman, 6/27/24 – Singer/Songwriter, humorist and sometime politician who with his band, the Texas Jewboys, developed an ardent following among alt-country music fans with songs like” They Ain’t Making Jews Like Jesus Anymore”
Francoise Hardy, 6/11/ 24 – French singer/songwriter who was one of the best selling singers in French history and is regarded as an important and influential figure in music and fashion
Steve Harley, 3/17/24 – Frontman of the U.K. band Cockney Rebel, famous for their 1975 #1 UK hit “Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)”
Tito Jackson, 9/15/24 – Founding member of The Jackson Five and Michael Jackson’s older brother
Toby Keith, 2/5/24 – Country singer known for his breakthrough single, “How Do You Like Me Now?!” and his hit “Beer For My Horses”
Greg Kihn, 8/13/24 – San Francisco power pop rocker best known for the 80’s hits “The Breakup Song (They Don’t Write ‘Em”) and “Jeopardy”
Spider John Koerner, 5/19/24 – American blues singer/songwriter artist who was an important mentor to Bob Dylan
Wayne Kramer, 2/2/24 – famed lead guitarist of the late 60’s/early 70’s explosive Detroit rock band MC5 died of pancreatic cancer at age 75. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in October for the 2024’s Musical Excellence Award
John Mayall, 7/22/24 – British blues pioneer who has been called “the godfather of British Blues”
Sergio Mendes, 9/5/24 – One of the most internationally successful Brazilian artists of all time
Mojo Nixon, 2/7/24 – Neill Kirby McMillan Jr., known professionally as Mojo Nixon is a roots rocker who blended rockabilly with punk rock and specialized in novelty songs like “Elvis Is Everywhere”
Liam Payne, 10/16/24 – Former One Direction member, only 31 years old, tragically fell from a balcony to his death in Argentina amidst drugs and alcohol evidence
Mike Pinder, 4/24/24 – English keyboardist and Moody Blues founding member
Jack Ponti, 10/7/24 – producer and songwriter who worked with Bon Jovi and Alice Cooper and co-wrote the song “Shot Through The Heart” for Bon Jovi
George Ed Powell, 3/30/24 – Founding guitarist/vocalist of country rock band Pure Prairie League
Jack Russell, 8/15/24 – Frontman of 80’s rock band Great White, who had a big hit with Ian Hunter’s “Once Bitten, Twice Shy”
David Sanborn, 5/12/24 – Alto sax player of jazz, pop and R & B – It has been said that he “put the saxophone back into Rock ‘n Roll”
David Soul, 1/4/24 – Co-star of the 70’s cop tv show Starsky & Hutch and singer of the #1 hit, “Don’t Give Up On Us”
J.D. Souther, 9/17/24 – Singer songwriter who wrote for The Eagles – “Best Of My Love,” “Heartache Tonight,” and “New Kid In Town”
Karl Wallinger, 3/10/24 – Welsh multi-instrumentalist and songwriter who is best known for leading his band World Party, with the hit “Ship of Fools” and also for being in the band The Waterboys
Mary Weiss, 1/19/24 – Lead singer of 60’s girl group The Shangri-Las with the hits “Leader of the Pack” and “Remember (Walking in the Sand)”

On a local sad note: Longtime Hollywood resident, Jeff Lee, owner of Resurrection Drums (aka Rez drums) passed away September 22 after a lengthy illness, at the age of 65. He was a drum teacher and manager before becoming the owner in 1997 and was a well-loved South Florida icon. Former Joel DaSilva Band drummer, Austen Erblat, worked at Rez drums from 2011-2017. Erblat said,” He was a kind and thoughtful person. He was a pillar of the community. He always put his students, his customers, his employees and the entire community down here before himself.” Lee was a fixture at the monthly downtown Hollywood ArtWalk and during special music events at the ArtsPark at Young circle, often providing drums and technical support for touring bands booked in the amphitheater.