Les Paul (June 1915-August 2009)

Les Paul...guitarist extraordinaire, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, pioneer in the development of the solid body electric guitar and multitrack recording...died today at the age of 94.

Here he plays "Birth of the Blues" with Chet Atkins.

Michael Jackson

The king is dead (in case you somehow hadn’t heard) and I think he would be pleased by the outpouring of coverage and consumption that has followed in the wake of his passing. Michael Jackson, by his own admission, just wanted to be loved…albeit loved on his own sometimes eccentric terms…and the breathless (and all too often lurid) media coverage, the lionization by fans (both those who stuck by the self-anointed “king of pop” through thick and thin and those who fell by the wayside along the way), and the booming sales of his music would have doubtlessly pleased him to no end.

In much of the world…and especially here in America…we regard our celebrities as royalty (something that proves a double edged sword for those put up on the pedestals) and no one reveled…and reviled…that status more than Michael Jackson.

His life was magical, strange, amazing, sad, imaginative, delusional, and, yes, thrilling…his death is something of a circus. But that’s par for the course and, again, I don’t think that he would see this as a bad thing.

The king is dead…and when all is said and done…when the circus has left town and the stranger aspects of his rollercoaster life have receded into the background…we’ll be left with the magic he strove so hard to present…with the astonishing dancing, with the quirky but entertaining videos and little films, with the often wondrous music. And when all is said and done, that’s cool with me.

Man in the Mirror

Michael Jackson's life was Michael Jackson's life but whatever one thought about as his eccentricities the man could sing and dance his butt off. Rest in peace.

Danny Federici 1950-2008

Danny Federici, the stalwart keyboard player in Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, died Thursday night of melanoma. He was 58.

Below is a video of the band playing "Blood Brothers" in the studio.

Elvis

This week marks the 30th anniversary of the day that Elvis Presley died (and I think it’s time that everyone just accepted the fact that he is indeed singing in the choir eternal in whatever you think Heaven is and let him rest in peace.)

And yes I remember where I was when I first heard the news (fresh out of college, I was toiling away in the administrative bowels of Max Factor & Co. and the ladies in the accounting department were buzzing about it. At first I thought it was just a silly rumor but, of course, it turned out to be true.)

My first exposure to Elvis was through those (mostly) dreadful movies he made (thanks a bunch, Colonel Parker) so I didn’t really get the “king of rock and roll” thing when I was boy. But I came to understand it better as I got older and got exposed to the music not cranked out for those movies.

However strange the man’s life might have gotten in his latter days, Elvis could flat out sing and work a crowd like no one’s business. From the plaintive balladry of “Are You Lonesome Tonight” to the potent soul of “Suspicious Minds” to the rock and roll joy of “Burning Love” (see live video below), Presley was in a class all his own when he was on his game.

30 years…it seems amazing that it’s been that long…but, of course, thanks to the music and the impersonators and, most importantly, the memories of everyone who ever enjoyed his music or loved him, Elvis is never going to be truly gone.

Katharine Hepburn

Today would have been the Great Kate’s 100^th birthday. Meryl Streep, Denzel Washington, or Jack Nicholson notwithstanding, they don’t make movie stars like Ms. Hepburn anymore (yeah, I know that’s a cliché but that doesn’t make it any less true.)

She was a shimmering, ever-engaging presence in her movies…from her Academy Award winning turns (Morning Glory, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, The Lion in Winter, and On Golden Pond) to her delightful comic turns (Bringing Up Baby, The Philadelphia Story, Adam’s Rib) to effortlessly holding on her own onscreen with great actors (Spencer Tracy, Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, Peter O’Toole, John Wayne, Henry Fonda)…and an plain-spoken, irascible, and unapologetic embracer of the concept of living her life on her own terms.

Happy Birthday, Kate.

Kurt Vonnegut 1922-2007

The amazing, avuncular writer of Slaughterhouse-Five, Breakfast of Champions, and Cat's Cradle has died at the age of 84.

Johnny Hart 1931-2007

Johnny Hart, the old school cartoonist who created the strip B.C. in 1958 and co-created (with Brant Parker) The Wizard of Id in 1964, died Saturday of a stroke (reportedly at his drawing board.) Both strips are highlighted with their gently acerbic humor and world views (respectively using prehistoric and medieval characters to poke fun at modern times.) Hart was 76.

Both strips will continue to be produced and published despite Hart's death (Hart has been getting help from his family on the strips for years and an extensive archive of computer images exists.)

James Brown

James Brown
May 3, 1933 - December 25, 2006

James Brown was, by most accounts, no saint…he was a prickly, vain soul, a stern taskmaster, a difficult person to be married to, and someone who ran afoul of the law more than a few times…but, all that said, he was an innovator, a teacher, a tireless entertainer willing to give it all to his awed, wholly appreciative audience.

He was indeed the Hardest Working Man in Show Business…the undeniable Godfather of Soul…and when the lights came up and his crack band slipped into a tight groove and the man in the cape and the pompadour strode gracefully onto the stage you knew what time it was…it was Star Time.

Richard Pryor

December 1940 - December 2005
Rest in Peace