Paul Williams
May 19, 1948 – March 27, 2013
Paul Williams was the founder of Crawdaddy!, considered by many to be America’s first national magazine devoted to rock music. Launched while he was in college in 1966, the magazine first consisted of mimeographed pages written entirely by Williams himself. Landing before by Rolling Stone and Creem, Crawdaddy called itself, “the first magazine to take rock and roll seriously,” making Williams a pioneer of rock journalism. He left the magazine in 1968, but took it back over in 1993. It ultimately closed shop in 2003. Through a time before the internet and MTV, the pages of a handful of magazines like Crawdaddy! was where music lovers went to learn the goings-on of their favorite rock bands and musicians. Throughout his career, Williams also penned more than 25 books including the widely acclaimed Bob Dylan: Performing Artist, a three book series. He was considered to be an expert on the works of Dylan, Neil Young, and Brian Wilson. In 1995, Williams suffered a severe brain injury during a bicycle mishap. It is believed that that injury lead to his dementia and ultimately his death on March 27, 2013. Paul Williams was 64 when he passed away.
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Known throughout the industry as “The Songwriter’s Best Friend,” John Braheny was a successful songcrafter as well as the author of to best selling manual, The Craft and Business of Songwriting. Braheny began his career during the late ’60s as a recording artist – his only album, Some Kind of Change came out in 1970. S0me may argue that this album was the birth of the Laurel Canyon country rock scene since its “December Dream” was later popularized by Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys. In 1971, Braheny co-founded the Los Angeles Songwriters Showcase which at one point or another showcased such future greats as Stevie Nicks, Dianne Warren, Janis Ian, and 
Kevin O’Hare was a respected Boston area music critic who also fancied himself a human encyclopedia when it came to music trivia. Although his writings appeared in dozens of periodicals across the US, he called The Republican home since 1982. Starting out as a sports writer, he later became a news writer, and eventually the paper’s senior music writer. His weekly column, “Playback,” included interviews of the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel and Paul McCartney who once marveled at how at ease O’Hare put him during his interview. Throughout his career, O’Hare critiqued over 7000 albums and nearly 2000 concerts. During the early ’80s, O’Hare played in the Cardiac Kids who built a sizable regional following. Kevin O’Hare was 55 when he passed away on August 4, 2012. Cause of death was not immediately released but he had been suffering from an undisclosed illness.
James McLaren was a beloved Welsh music journalist and most recently, assistant producer at BBC Wales. He also managed and edited the Welsh Music Foundation’s monthly newsletter, Sound Nation, where he enthusiastically covered the Welsh music scene. James McLaren was killed in an automobile accident on the M48 Motorway in Wales. He was 34.