Musician

Died On This Date (March 25, 2011) Henrik Frykman / Bassist For Disfear

Henrik Frykman
DOB Unknown – March 25, 2011

Henrik Fryman is perhaps best remembered as the longtime bassist for Swedish punk/metal legends, Disfear.  In 1990, Fryman joined Anti-Bofars, and within a year, the band re-christened themselves as Disfear and went on to become one of the foundations of D-beat, a sub-genre of hardcore that borrowed heavily from both punk and British metal.  Over the next twenty years, Disfear released several albums on such labels as Relapse and Osmose while touring with such bands as GBH and Dirty Rotten Imbeciles.    On March 25, 2011, Henrik Fryman died following a long battle with cancer.

Thanks to Mike Woodford for the assist.

What You Should Own

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Live the Storm - Disfear

Died On This Date (March 24, 2011) Kevin Foley / Bassist For Bash & Pop

Kevin Foley
DOB Unknown – March 24, 2011

Kevin Foley, 3rd from left

Kevin Foley is perhaps best remembered as the bassist for Tommy Stinson’s post Replacements band, Bash & Pop.  Formed in 1992, the band released one moderately successful album, Friday Night Is Killing Me before disbanding in 1994.  The album is a must-have for core Replacements fans and those of the mid ’90s Minneapolis rock scene.  Bash & Pop also included Foley’s brother, Steve Foley who died suddenly in 2008.  Kevin Foley was 52 when he also died unexpectedly on March 24, 2011.  Although cause of death was not immediately released, it has been reported that family members believe a heart condition might have been to blame.

What You Should Own

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Friday Night Is Killing Me - Bash & Pop

Died On This Date (March 22, 2011) Frankie Sparcello / Bassist For Exhorder

Frankie Sparcello
DOB Unknown – March 22, 2011

Frankie Sparcello was the recent bassist for the re-formed New Orleans groove metal band, Exhorder.  Originally formed in 1985, Although pioneers of a sound that would later include the likes of Machine Head, White Zombie, and Pantera, Exhorder never quite reached the level of success found by those bands.   After the group’s original bassist left in 1990, Sparcello signed on to replace him.  Exhorder soon disbanded, but would later reunite with Sparcello coming back into the fold in 2010.  Frankie Sparcello passed away on March 22, 2011.  Cause of death was not immediately released.



Died On This Date (March 21, 2011) Pinetop Perkins / Blues Great

Joseph “Pinetop” Perkins
July 7, 1913 – March 21, 2011

Pinetop Perkins was a Delta blues pianist and singer whose remarkable career spanned from the 1920s until his passing in 2011.  At 97, he was one of the last surviving original Delta bluesmen who were still playing and releasing records.  In March of 2011, he became the oldest person to ever win a Grammy.  It was for Joined At The Hip that he recorded with Willie “Big Eyes” Smith.  Perkins began his career as a guitarist, but was forced to switch to piano after he injured the tendons in one of his arms.   By the 1950s, he was touring with Earl Hooker. He also made his first record, “Pinetop’s Boogie Woogie,” at Sam Phillips’ legendary Sun Studios in Memphis.  Perkins moved to Chicago in 1968 and within a year, he was hired by Muddy Waters to replace Otis Spann in his band.   Perkins played with Waters for more than a decade.  It wasn’t until 1988 – and countless vinyl appearances as a sideman – that Perkins finally released his first album, After Hours.   He went on to record several more over the next three decades.  In 2004, while driving in La Porte, Indiana, 94-year-old Perkins was struck by a train – yes a TRAIN – and although his car was demolished, he walked away with minor injuries.  Perkins continued to perform a couple shows nearly every week in Austin where he had eventually settled.  Pinetop Perkins passed away on March 21, 2011.

Thanks to Stephen Brower for the assist.

What You Should Own

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Joined At the Hip: Pinetop Perkins & Willie

Died On This Date (March 20, 2011) Johnny Pearson / Respected English Pianist; Composed “Monday Night Football” Theme

Johnny Pearson
June 18, 1925 – March 20, 2011

Johnny Pearson was a British pianist, band leader, arranger, and composer of theme music for several popular TV programs.  Pearson learned to play the piano as a child, and at the age of nine was awarded a scholarship to the London Academy of Music.  Although he soon became an accomplished classical pianist, he followed his love for jazz after school and toured Europe as part of the Malcolm Mitchell Trio.    In 1964, the Pearson-arranged Cilla Black single, “Anyone Had A Heart” topped the UK charts.  In 1966, Pearson took over the Top Of The Pops Orchestra, a position he held for the next 15 years.  In 1967, he began recording with the Sounds Orchestral group who would release approximately 17 albums through 1977.  He also worked with the Carpenters and Dusty Springfield.  Throughout a career that spanned some 50 years, Pearson composed music that appeared on such television programs as All Things Great And Small Monday Night Football, Ren and Stimpy,  and The Early Show to name a few.  Johnny Pearson was 85 when he passed away on March 20, 2011.

Thanks to Anne Bentley for the assist.