Died On This Date (February 20, 2011) Terry Clements / Guitarist For Gordon Lightfoot

Terry Clements
July 22, 1947 – February 20, 2011

Terry Clements is perhaps best remembered as the longtime guitarist for folk legend, Gordon Lightfoot.  He joined up with Lightfoot in 1970 and continued to play with him for some 40 years.   Clements was just five years old when he picked up the guitar, and over the years his playing would be influenced by the likes of Doc Watson, Ricky Skaggs, and Dick Dale.  After high school, he served in the US Navy for a couple of years and then returned to his music career, first playing with Golden Sunflower while working as a session player for Lou Adler, and later joining forces with Lightfoot with whom he stayed until the final years of his life.  Terry Clements was 63 when he died on February 20, 2011.  The cause was attributed to a stroke he had recently suffered.

Thanks to Su, Erica, and Lisa for the assist.



Died On This Date (September 8, 2010) Irwin Sibler / Editor Of Sing Out! Magazine

Irwin Sibler
October 17, 1925 – September 8, 2010

Irwin Sibler was a music journalist and longtime editor of Sing Out! magazine.  Co-founded by Sibler in 1950, the quarterly publication is one of the most respected folk music magazines in the world.  Sibler acted as editor from its inception until 1967.  The magazine and Sibler’s pieces were largely responsible for the folk revival of the ’50s and ’60s.  After leaving the magazine, Sibler became more politically outspoken, becoming an editor and movie critic for the radical weekly, The Guardian.  He also launched Paredon Records where he released albums that spoke for the radical liberation movement of the ’70s.  Irwin Sibler was 85 when he passed away on September 8, 2010.

Died On This Date (September 7, 1925) John Work Jr. / Music Folklorist

John Wesley Work, Jr.
August 6, 1871 or 1873 – September 7, 1925

John Wesley Work Jr. was an educator, musicologist, and is recognized as the first African-American collector of folk music.  Work formed choral groups while attending Fisk University during the late 1800s and went on to study at Harvard at teach.  By the turn of the century, he was collecting and later publishing slave songs and spirituals.  One of those was “Go Tell It On The Mountain” which has become a Gospel standard that some believe he may have co-written.  He later formed his own publishing company, Work Brothers and Hart, and was the director of the Fisk Jubilee Singers.  Work’s son John Wesley Work III was a respected song collector and composer as well.   John Wesley Work Jr. passed away on September 7, 1925.



Died On This Date (August 26, 1981) Lee Hays / The Weavers

Lee Hays
March 14, 1914 – August 26, 1981

Photo by Robert C. Malone
Photo by Robert C. Malone

No doubt effected by the lynchings he witnessed as a child, Lee Hays grew up to become a voice of the people, first as a union activist and later as a folk singer who co-founded the Weavers in 1948.  With the Weavers, Hays co-wrote such classic folk songs as “If I Had A Hammer,” “Wimoweh” and “Kisses Sweeter Than Wine.”  Because of his connections with radical groups during his days as an activist, the group was targeted as “communist sympathizers” during the McCarthy era.  In 1950, they were blacklisted, and when brought before the House Committee Of Un-American Activities, Hays pleaded the 5th when questioned about his perceived connections with communism.  No longer able to perform publicly, the Weavers disbanded in 1952.  Hays performed and recorded periodically over the years, most notably on children’s albums as part of Alan Arkin’s the Baby Sitters.  The Weavers reunited in later years for special concert events.  Lee Hays died of heart disease attributed to diabetes on August 26, 1981.  He was 67.  Thankfully, Morgana Kennedy and her team at Vanguard keep finding new ways to celebrate the wonderful music of Lee Hays and the Weavers.

What You Should Own

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Best of the Vanguard Years - The Weavers

Died On This Date (August 18, 2010) Kenny Edwards / Guitarist In Linda Rondstadt’s Stone Poneys

Kenny Edwards
February 10, 1946 – August 18, 2010

With Linda Ronstadt

Kenny Edwards was a folk-rock singer-songwriter and guitarist who is best remembered as a founding member of the Stone Poneys along with Linda Ronstadt and Bob Kimmel.  Formed in 1965, the group helped pave the way for the popular “Laurel Canyon” sound of ’70s country rock.  Their 1967 album Evergreen, Volume 2 included the hit single, “Different Drum,” which helped set up Ronstadt’s wildly successful solo career.  Even though the group’s recording career lasted just 15 months, they remarkably, released three full albums.  After the Stone Poneys parted ways, Edwards formed the moderately successful Bryndle, then went solo, and collaborated with the likes of Karla Bonoff, Warren Zevon, Stevie Nicks, Brian Wilson, and Don Henley.  In 1974, Edwards and Ronstadt again joined forces to release one of her most popular albums, Heart Like A Wheel.  They continued to work together for many more years.  Kenny Edwards passed away on August 18, 2010.  He was 64 and had been battling prostate cancer.

What You Should Own

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Evergreen, Vol.2 - The Stone Poneys