Songwriter

Died On This Date (April 17, 2008) Chris Gaffney / Hacienda Brothers, Dave Alvin

Chris Gaffney
October 3, 1951 – April 17, 2008

chris-gaffneyChris Gaffney was a beloved member of the Americana music scene of Southern California and beyond.  As a child he learned to play the accordion, which would later add a Norteño element to his music.  But it was his guitar playing that would and song writing that would endeared him to such peers as Dave Alvin, with whom he played as part of the Guilty Men.  Gaffney also released three solo albums and also co-formed the Hacienda Brothers with San Diego musician, Dave Gonzalez.  Chris Gaffney died of liver cancer on April 17, 2008.  He was 51.

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Died On This Date (April 17, 1998) Linda McCartney / Paul McCartney & Wings

Linda McCartney
September 24, 1941 – April 17, 1998

Linda McCartney was many things, including the wife of the Beatles’ Paul McCartney. She was also a photographer, animal activist, vegetarian cookbook author, musician and Oscar nominated songwriter.   She even had her own line of vegetarian frozen food.  Before marrying McCartney in 1969, Linda was well on her way to becoming a respected rock photographer, having shot the likes of Janis Joplin, the Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan. After marrying Paul, she devoted more time to her music, becoming a member of Paul’s post Beatles band, Wings. It was during this period that she and Paul co-wrote, “Live and Let Die”, which earned them an Academy Award nomination.  Linda McCartney was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1995 and died from its results on April 17, 1998.



On This Date (April 16, 1999) Skip Spence / Moby Grape

Alexander “Skip” Spence
April 18, 1946 – April 16, 1999

Born in Ontario, Canada, Skip Spence moved with his family to the San Francisco area when he was in his teens.  Although his name might not be familiar to most, he was as much a part of the San Francisco scene as Janis Joplin or Jerry Garcia were.  Spence first came into the scene as a guitarist for Quicksilver Messenger Service, but was quickly recruited by Marty Balin to join Jefferson Airplane as their drummer even though he had never played the drums.  But after just one album, he left the group to co-form Moby Grape, the legendary psych-folk band that some consider the greatest band to ever come out of San Francisco.  Unfortunately, they never lived up to that reputation commercially.  Spence’s “Omaha” from Moby Grape’s debut was included on Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 greatest guitar songs of all time.  In 1969, friends began noticing big personality changes in Spence.  One indicator was when he tried to break down a band member’s New York hotel door with an axe to kill him in order to save him from himself.  At the time he was using LSD heavily and claiming to be the anti-Christ.  The band was in New York City recording their second album, and by the time they left, Spence had been admitted to Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital where he was diagnosed with schizophrenia.  His mental stability and continued use of drugs and alcohol only made things worse.  He was all but out of Moby Grape by the ’70s, although they did take care of him as much as they could and generally included at least one of his songs on each of their albums.   Spence spent most of his adult life as a ward of the state of California and was basically homeless in the final years of his life.  He died of lung cancer two days before his 53rd birthday.

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Died On This Date (April 15, 2001) Joey Ramone / Lead Singer Of The Ramones

Joey Ramone (Born Jeffrey Hyman)
May 19, 1951 – April 15, 2001

At 6′-8″, Joey Ramone towered, both literally and physically, over the punk rock world as the leader of the Ramones. His early life was a exemplified of that cliche of the awkward kid who  doesn’t fit in, and needs the escape that only rock ‘n’ roll can provide. He found refuge in records by the Beatles, the Who and Phil Spector’s “wall of sound.” In 1974, he co-founded the Ramones,  who many consider to be the the first real punk band. Beneath Joey’s vocal barrage and the band’s assault of bass, drums and guitar, lay some of the most beautiful melodies rock music has ever heard. And they told more in two minutes than many bands can say across an entire CD. The Ramones were the blue print. When discussing his awesome Underground Garage channel on Sirius Satellite, Little Steven Van Zandt describes the programming as “groups that inspired the Ramones, groups inspired by the Ramones, and the Ramones.”  The ’80s found the band struggling to survive due in part to internal substance abuse problems, and an audience that was defecting to more mainstream guitar rock. They took one last shot at crossing over with the 1995 release of Adios Amigos, which in effect launched their farewell tour. The Ramones went out on top as evident by their inclusion in the 1996 Lollapalooza Festival Tour where they floored a new generation of fans that were likely not even born during the band’s heyday. In his final years, Joey suffered from Lymphoma, which took his life on April 15, 2001 at the age of 49.

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Died On This Date (April 15, 2005) John Fred / Had Hit With “Judy In Disguise (With Glasses)”

John Fred Gourrier
May 8, 1941 – April 15, 2005

John Fred was one of the earliest practitioners of “blue-eyed soul.”  His biggest hit, “Judy In Disguise (With Glasses)” was in fact a parody of the Beatles’ “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.” Released in 1968, it became an immediate smash and has since sold over 5 million copies. John Fred & the Playboy Band suddenly broke far beyond his beloved Gulf Coast region. Unfortunately, because of the song, he was unfairly branded a novelty and never had another hit. And it wasn’t until many years and legal battles later, that he was able to collect full legal rights to and royalties from the song. Fred became a fixture in Baton Rouge as he stayed active in the local music scene, hosted his own radio show, and even coached the high school basketball and football team. He released his final album in 2002, but fell ill just a couple of yeas later resulting in a kidney transplant. His health continued to fail until his 2005 death due in part to complications from that transplant. In 2007, he was inducted into the The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame.