The Music's Over

but the songs live on forever

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About & Contact

mewithrecord

Thanks for visiting!

Back in February of 2008, I had heard that the great Buddy Miles had passed away, so I started searching the various so-called celebrity death sites to see what I could find out. To my astonishment, there were no mentions at any of these places.  And then just two days later, Mike Smith the amazing lead singer of the Dave Clark Five passed away. Again, no mention in the celebrity death blog-o-sphere. I felt I had to right this injustice.  The name of this site is taken from the Doors’ classic song “When The Music’s Over.”

So, in honor of Buddy Miles and Mike Smith, I present you, THE MUSIC’S OVER. A place to honor those who have made us sing, dance, reflect, laugh and cry.

Please let me know if I’m missing anyone

Click here to email me.

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What you’ll find on this site:  Dead Rock Stars. Dead Musicians.  Dead Country Singers.  Rock Stars who committed suicide.  Rock star Final resting places.  Dead Punk Bands.  Murdered Rock Stars.  Dead Jazz Musicians.  Drug Addicts.  Junkies.  Rock Stars Who Overdosed.  Manslaughter.  Rappers Who Were Murdered.  Gunned Down.  Rock Star Grave Sites.   Jazz Heroin. Dead Punk Rock.  Murdered Punk.  Junkie Rock Stars.  Rock and Roll Heaven.  Rock ‘n Roll Heaven.  Rock Stars On Drugs.  Rapper On Drugs.   Rock ‘n Roll Groupies.  Rock and Roll Grave Yard. Murdered Musicians.  Heavy Metal. Glam. Disco.

44 Responses to “About & Contact”

  1. rekx said

    What a great blog and a great tribute to all of these performers. Your efforts will someday be greatly rewarded! Keep it up.

  2. Linda said

    Dear Musicsover,

    I think this blog is a great idea! Too many musicians are gone — and almost forgotten. It’s so sad b/c they’ve added so much to this world through their music.

    You don’t have a Country category (yet), so I thought I’d post here about a great book I just read about Faron Young. It’s called Live Fast, Love Hard: The Faron Young Story and it gave me a whole new appreciation for his music. What a life he led!

    I’m hoping you will read this book and do a post on Faron — another great musician many don’t remember.

    Thanks again for starting this blog.

    Linda

  3. themusicsover said

    Thanks for your kind words, Linda. I leave “On This Date” posts on the anniversaries of the artist’s death, so in the case of Faron Young, his will come on December 10th. And for so called “current” artists, I pay tribute to them as soon as I hear of their passing. Feel free to email me with any tips or other omissions.
    Thanks for reading and please tell your friends!
    Vince

    • esther said

      Came across your site when searching about my friend Matt Mugridge. I’m wondering how you got your info for the story (which was great). Thanks, Esther

  4. zelada said

    Wow! Great idea and what hard work! There’s a lot of research involved in this. I mean, two months and already so many great artists. I like the way “heart attack” and “heavy metal” appear next to each other in the tag cloud!

    Congrats!

  5. Townbeet said

    Wow, what an interesting website.
    Thanks for the comment about mine on scvtalk.

    All the best

  6. Just ran across your blog while searching Buck Owens info. I’ll keep checking in.

  7. GW said

    Zelada (#4) took the words right out of my mouth. Keep goin’!

  8. Great Site – especially love that you include industry figures and not just obvious rock stars

  9. Csarolyn said

    Happy Anniversary.

  10. SAMathies said

    Hey Man,

    Don’t know how I got here!!Right on,Dig the videos.

    Sam
    Mpls.MN

  11. Biggs said

    Like your site! I have been in the Industry 25 years, The last 20 with the same artist. I enjoyed your Southern Rock page, Worked with several of the guys on it. Great job!

  12. So glad to have discovered your site, although the deaths this week of lesley duncan, ron lundy, charlie gillett, and alex chilton seem too much to bear. keep up your good work.

  13. thanks for the blog great info …and very entertaing

  14. PAUL RAYBOLD said

    Hey Vince,

    I can’t imagine the time and work you must put in to get your site to be as informative as it is. I log in every single day, and every day I read about another significant person in the music business that I didn’t know about the day before. Thanks for all you’ve taught us and never let the music be over.

    Paul

  15. Great site keep up the good work.

  16. T Taylor said

    Hello … Roger (King Of The Road) Miller Jan 2 1936 / Oct 25 1992 Lung Cancer
    Just Thought I’d share some info
    I Enjoy Your Site Very Much.. Taylor

  17. Bob Parkins said

    Finest kind. Delighted to have run into this labor of love. You’re about to take up residence here in the Great White North, Ottawa division.

  18. Su said

    Your site is fantastic . . . I have spent many an hour browsing through the various categories. I do hope that you do not think me cheeky but I have today seen in the news a couple of recent deaths that you may wish to add to your Rest in Peace section
    Billy Taylor b.July 24 1921 d.December 28 2010 the jazz pianist and composer (I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free) and
    Bobby Farrell b.October 6 1949 d.December 30 2010 the male ‘singer’ from Bony M in the 70’s dico boom who was found in his hotel room in St Petersburg earlier today
    Take care and I will keep dropping in

  19. Amy said

    Just wanted to let you know that your site ROCKS!! Have you ever considered also archiving musicians by cause of death? Some colleagues and I were discussing this very subject and I showed them your site. We would be interested to see who has succumbed to the ravages of HIV/AIDS among other illnesses. Just curious…

    Keep up the good work. It is unbelievable how many artists, etc. you have. Best site on the web yet!!

    A.

    • themusicsover.com said

      Thanks for your nice words, Amy! Glad you enjoy the site. I’ve thought about categorizing by cause of death, but at this point it would take me forever to go back and edit each post accordingly – plus I’m not sure how respectful to the deceased and their families that would be. That is very important to me!

      You CAN enter any term in the search field at the top left, so you can find them that way. Keep in mind, I don’t always include the cause of death because either it’s not published, or again – to be respectful if I think family might be sensitive (drug use, etc).

      Hope you keep coming back to visit – and I appreciate you telling your friends!
      Vince

  20. Alice Sorkowitz said

    question for Mr. Shearing:

    I have been studying the piano, playing Debussy and also George Shearing at the same time.
    Do you think you were influenced by Debussy. Your lovely chords are very like Debussy to me.
    I plan to give a Debussy/Shearing recital.

    I would appreciate an answer.
    Thank you so much.
    alice sorkowitz
    Israel

  21. Tom Buccieri said

    Heard of your site from a No Depression post. Good work. I appreciate the hard work you’ve done collecting and providing all this interesting information. Here are a couple deserving of mention which are missing: Mickey Newbury, who died in Sept’02 and Hank Garland, who died in Dec’04.

    • Tom Buccieri said

      Hi Vince, I’ve thought of a few more worthies to include on your site. Not certain of dates, so I will not include them.
      George McCorkle, rhythm guitarist and songwriter w/ Marshall Tucker Band. Wrote “Searchin for a Rainbow.
      Walter Hyatt, singer/songwriter. Uncle Walt’s Band. Killed in Valujet crash in Everglades, 1995
      Champ Hood, singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist. Uncle Walt’s Band.
      James Luther Dickinson/Jim Dickinson. singer/songwriter/producer. Father of the Dickinson brothers of North Mississippi AllStars. Producer of BigStar and many others.
      Hope this helps. Keep up the good work.

  22. I’m astonished that I’ve only just found your invaluable site. Sorry it had to happen by hearing of Barbara Orbison’s death, but so good of you to include her. All power to you. I’m going to follow you on twitter now too. (If you’re interested, mine is @1michaelgray1 – but thank you anyway

  23. Long Live the Music said

    You mentioned that you created this site because you noticed that the deaths of some lesser known celebrities went virtually unnoticed on the web for several days or weeks, and you wanted to do something to change that. I can certainly verify that you are faithfully sticking to that goal!!! I found your site through your post on Andrea True (who died about a month ago)- I thought her life story was quite fascinating and I was reading about her on the web when I came across your post. Here’s one thing I found astonishing: I noticed that you posted about her death before noon on the day she died (November 7th). Yet, elsewhere on the web, many people were commenting about how her death was not publicized or acknowledged by news etc. until weeks afterwards. From that I can say that you seem to be doing an incredible job of making sure the deaths of (lesser known) musicians receive some mention on the web, and in an incredibly timely manner as well! And it’s not just about Andrea True in particular- it seems that you diligently post about almost every celebrity death on the exact day. If I may ask: how do you do it?!?!?! How is it that you are able to post so quickly, without fail?

    Anyway, in general, I just want to let you know how great I think your site is, especially given the work it must take to put it together. It may not be immediately apparent to someone browsing the site, but the time and effort required to maintain this site must be truly unbelievable.

    • themusicsover said

      Thank you for your kind words, but I must confess that I’m not THAT good! I actually back date my posts so that they appear on the anniversaries of the deceased’s passing as time goes on. Yes, in some cases I find out on the day they pass away, but in most it’s not until the news breaks a day or so later. And yes, it does take me a lot of time to maintain the site! Thanks for noticing. Plus I have a “real” job and home life to attend to 🙂
      Glad you found the site!
      Vince

  24. Simon Poyser said

    Sir, thank you for the tribute to my father in law Cliff Portwood who passed away last week. To set the record straight he did not die from lung cancer, could you please amend your record. Thanks for this, he did pass away from a lung disease but it wasn’t cancer. I wish your readers all the best, regards, /
    Simon Poyser.

  25. Tom Buccieri said

    Hi Vince, learned last week of the recent death of Joe Thompson, one of the last of the black string band fiddle players. He inspired and collaborated with Carolina Chocolate Drops.

    Tom Buccieri

  26. Wendy Sommers said

    Bobby Durango, the bluesy soulful voice of The Rock City Angels left us yesterday 🙁

  27. hot_water said

    Eric White passed june 4 . played bass in the Kentucky Cols. and Swampwater backing Linda Ronstadt..

  28. Mike Ock said

    Hey there!

    I’d like to request that you blog about music related deaths before they happen! It would not only really be cool, but will also benefit those musicians that do not want to die when you say they are going to die. Obviously heart attacks or strokes will be harder to avoid, but maybe it will keep them from getting on a plane that is going to crash!

    Keep up the amazing work!

    Mike O

  29. What a great idea for a blog – music creators and swingers don’t always get the recognition that they deserve!
    I run a vinyl records site (http://www.vinylstall.com), and was wondering if you would be interested in me writing a guest blog on finding great records by the likes of Buddy Miles and Mike Smith?

  30. R.I.P.

  31. Check out my long-time friends web site chronicling and honoring musicians that live on through their music. So this is what you do Vince!

  32. When I'm looking for information on musicians that have made the Transition, I look here first. May I suggest Gene Harris, jazz pianist of great note (to me).

  33. Bobby C said

    RIP Bobby Parker – August 31, 1937 to November 1, 2013.

    It is with sadness that we say goodbye to East Coast bluesman Bobby Parker, whose slick uptown style of singing and guitar was both brilliant and unique. Though not a well known name in music, he had periods of high profile through his early singles, to his Black Top Records period in the 90s, to his recent run of high profile performances at major blues festivals. Here is his Wikipedia bio:

    Born in Lafayette, Louisiana, but raised in Los Angeles, California, Parker first aspired to a career in entertainment at a young age. By the 1950s, Parker had started working on electric guitar with several blues and R&B bands of the time, with his first stint being with Otis Williams and the Charms. Over the next few years, he also played lead guitar with Bo Diddley (including an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show), toured with Paul Williams, Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, LaVern Baker, Clyde McPhatter, and the Everly Brothers. In the waning years of the decade, he also toured with Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and Little Richard. His first single was recorded in 1958, while he was working primarily with Williams’ band, and was titled “Blues Get Off My Shoulder”. During that same year, he also performed frequently at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.

    By the early 1960s, Parker had settled into living in the Washington D.C. area, and played at blues clubs there after having left Williams’ band. He recorded the single “Watch Your Step” in 1961, a regional hit that was later covered by the Spencer Davis Group, Dr. Feelgood and Santana. The song was also the inspiration for The Beatles 1964 hit single “I Feel Fine”. George Harrison said that Lennon’s riff was influenced by the riff in “Watch Your Step” which was covered by the Beatles in concerts during 1961 and 1962. On January 1, 2012, Parker’s “Watch Your Step” sound recording became Public Domain in Europe, due to the 50 year copyright law limit in the E.U.

    Due to the success of the song, both in the United States and overseas, he toured the UK in 1968 and recorded his next hit, “It’s Hard to be Fair”. Jimmy Page was a fan of Parker’s and wanted to sign up Parker with Swan Song Records. Page offered an advance of US $2000 to fund the recording of a demo tape, but Parker never completed the recording, and an opportunity for Parker to be exposed to an international audience was lost.

    For the next two decades, Parker played almost exclusively in the D.C. area. By the 1990s, Parker started to record again for a broader audience. He recorded his first official album, Bent Out of Shape, for the Black Top Records label in 1993, with a follow-up in 1995, Shine Me Up. In 1993, he also was the headliner for the Jersey Shore Jazz and Blues Festival. Parker continued to perform as a regular act at Madam’s Organ Blues Bar in Washington.
    Bobby Parker died on November 1, 2013, at the age of 76.

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