Aug 25: Dolly Parton RIP

Sad news just now as I heard of the passing of Dolly Parton,  

She did a great deal for literacy in the USA as well as her decades of musical achievements, charity work and philanthropy and theme park creation...

Here's a classic from 1973.

Much has been said from lots of people about the importance of the work she did. 

Aug 18: Frank Beard RIP

Frank Beard, drummer with ZZ Top has sadly passed away.

ZZ Top was founded in 1969 and the trio - Beard, Billy Gibbons and the late Dusty Hill - played their first live concert the following year. Together they released 15 studio and four live albums, with hit singles like Gimme All Your Lovin', Sleeping Bag, and Viva Las Vegas. When Hill died in 2021, the group carried on performing with Elwood Francis as its bassist.

They recorded various songs featuring their famous spinning furry guitars... and their custom car.

And of course ironically Frank's surname was Beard when the other two members were the ones with the famous beards.

Here's one of their classic hits:

Aug 12: ...of the heart...

RIP Bonnie...

Or perhaps this...

Aug 11: Glen Hansard RIP

I wasn't very familiar with the music of Glen Hansard who sadly died last week in an accident, but it seems he meant a great deal to a great many people and lived a life steeped in music and live performance.

He was connected with 'The Commitments' and led a band called 'The Frames'.

In October 2022, Hansard recorded "Take Heart", featuring Irglová, and Ukrainian refugees, in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Aug 7: William Orbit RIP

William Orbit has sadly passed away. His work has been mentioned on the blog previously.

I've mentioned his work with Madonna and Propaganda.

Here's his remix of U2's 'Electrical Storm'.

Update

The Guardian suggests 12 of his best works here.

Jul 11: Bonnie Tyler - RIP

News came out a few days ago of the sad passing of Bonnie Tyler. The track that many people remember her for is Total Eclipse of the Heart - created by Jim Steinman, whose dramatic style led to the creation of Meat Loaf's 'Bat out of Hell' (a favourite on the jukebox at the Student Union as you got more minutes for your money than if you chose 'Teenage Kicks').

For me though it's this track. I remember buying Mike Oldfield's 'Islands' album and hearing this for the first time: a period when he was bringing in various guest vocalists for his shorter non-instrumental tracks.

The album was recorded in France, and featured Simon Phillips on drums, but also some Pierre Moerlen. The long first side called 'The Wind Chimes' was also the title of a VHS Video I had a copy of, with some very 1980s graphics....

Here's the title track....

Jul 2: Abdullah Ibrahim RIP

Back in April I posted about the South African pianist Abdullah Ibrahim / Dollar Brand.

I was sorry to notice an obituary for him in yesterday's issue of the i newspaper, and that he passed on June the 15th.

I saw him play a concert in Sheffield.

I don't think it was at the Leadmill from memory, although I know that he did play there.

It must have been in the early to mid 1980s as I remember having to get a lift home, so I hadn't learned to drive yet...

This website suggests he played the Crucible Theatre in 1981-ish with his Quartet.... not sure it was there either. Although I did see the late John Martyn there in a memorable concert.

Here's a track from the late 1970s... full of the energy I remember from seeing him play live. His later albums were more reflective.

Here's a Guardian obituary for him.

His music played a part in the freedom struggle in South Africa. His tune Mannenberg, recorded during a return visit in 1974, became an anthem of the movement, its title referring to a Cape Flats township created under the Group Areas Act to house black South African people evicted when Cape Town’s District Six was designated a whites-only area.
After the Soweto uprising of 1976 he left South Africa again, declaring his support for the African National Congress. Nelson Mandela was said to have described him as “our Mozart”.

Here's Mannenberg with some shots of Robben Island when he visited.

Apr 14: Moya Brennan - RIP

Very sorry to hear of the passing of Moya Brennan: the singer and harpist with Clannad, and the vocalist who provided their signature sound to so many albums.

I featured the band in an early post on the blog.

I saw them in the early 1980s a number of times and was also present at their final ever gig at the Royal Albert Hall. 

I describe that in the post. 

I also had several of Moya's solo albums.

I liked this track with Davy Spillane on pipes...

And this one, with Bono on vocals as well as Moya...

And the track that introduced me to her voice: the theme from Harry's Game.

Condolences to Moya's family and friends...

Apr 11: Keith's Bench

On the local news a few weeks ago there was news of a story about a bench.

The bench was placed in the churchyard where Keith Flint of The Prodigy was buried.

When a musician who many people adored dies, there is often a need for a place of pilgrimage.

Consider the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, France. Jim Morrison of The Doors is buried there, along with other musicians, plus authors such as Georges Perec.

The Prodigy's most famous track is called 'Firestarter' and here it is.

They are one of my brother's favourite bands.

The bench is scorched black.

Band manager John Fairs and Prodigy founder Liam Howlett worked on the design and family members signed it off, the company said.

There's a connection here with GA Vice President Fiona Sheriff..,

She told me via the Google Form of a song that reminded her of a place...

Firestarter - my home town, Braintree. Keith Flint (RIP) was from Braintree, I went to both primary and secondary school with his niece Carly. Always makes me think of back home, as on nights out it was always on! 

Feb 10: Remembering Lyle Mays

One of my musical heroes passed away on the 10th of February 2020.

"I've been a fan of Lyle’s writing and playing forever and It was somewhat daunting to play a keyboard with Lyle listening. He's truly shaped the landscape of piano and synth playing forever. So proud and honoured to play rhythm keys to Lyles lead. I'm honoured to have gotten to know him as a friend.". Mitchel Forman.

From a TEDX performance in 2011.

Lyle Mays has been an integral part of the Pat Metheny Group since its inception in 1977, and has co-written much of the consistently engaging music for the multi-Grammy-winning group's albums. Lyle's sense of melody, crystal clear virtuosity and almost cinematic scope of orchestration has clearly distinguished the group's sound. Born into a musical family in Wausaukee, Wisconsin, in 1953, he was always encouraged to explore new forms of expression. As a teenager, Lyle attended jazz summer camps and studied with such talents as Rich Matteson and Marian McPartland. He then studied composition and arrangement at North Texas State University before touring with Woody Herman's Thundering Herd. While appearing at the 1975 Wichita Jazz Festival, Lyle met twenty-year-old guitarist Pat Metheny, and the two formed a musical alliance that has proven to be among the most artistically successful of the past three-plus decades.

I was fortunate to have seen Lyle play live many times over a period of 25 years...  accompanying Pat Metheny and other wonderful musicians.

Here's a classic track and performance.

I also have all of Lyle's solo albums which are varied and creative and wonderful.

When watching concerts, a highlight was when you knew Lyle was going into one of his piano solos...

Lyle Mays was a key member of Pat Metheny's band for many years.

A favourite piece of music is 'Close to Home' from Lyle's first solo album - could easily have been a PM Group piece... capturing that feeling of getting close to home... also check out his tribute to the bass player Eberhard Weber - more on him to come in future blog posts.

And here's a classic performance from a jazz festival performance similar to one I had on VHS back in the day.

A song called Ozark which featured Pat and Lyle along with the wonderful Brazilian percussionist Nana Vasconcelos (playing a berimbau - a Brazilian percussion instrument made with a dried gourd) who I saw playing with Andy Sheppard. Check out that piano solo....

Jan 26: Penny Lane / Strawberry Fields Forever

Brendan Conway has produced a series of ESRI StoryMaps. I referenced one a few days ago, but this one is a Beatles themed one - linked to another guest blog post I shall publish in a few weeks' time. The StoryMap format lends itself very well to this sort of exploration.

I may set up a small competition at some point if we get enough regular readers of the blog to create a musical StoryMap for a favourite band or piece of music. Brendan has modelled some good practice here in that regard.

This one is about Penny Lane / Strawberry Fields Forever.

In 2019, with my son, I visited the Dakota Hotel in New York, where he lived, and at the entrance of which he was shot by Mark Chapman in 1980. 

It has also been home to many other celebrities. The views of Central Park are stunning.

We then crossed the road into Central Park and visited an area called 'Strawberry Fields'. 

This mosaic with the word 'Imagine' in the middle often has flowers placed there.

Image: Alan Parkinson - shared on Flickr under CC license.

Jan 10: This is not America

Today is the 10th anniversary of the passing of David Bowie: a musical icon for many. I remember listening to his music from the late 1970s onwards. My wife saw him play live, but I never managed it. 

He is often described as a musical 'chameleon', adopting a number of personas in his music, and also having a successful acting career. Three classic albums are referred to as the Berlin trilogy.

In 2022, the film 'Moonage Daydream' was released: a montage of footage. This is well worth catching and captures the experience of seeing him play live for his fans.

David Bowie's archive is now on display at the V&A Storehouse in East London. 

This contains a range of objects (about 90 000) and there is more information on Bowie's career and the creation of some of his most famous songs. I have plans to see it later this year and will be blogging about the visit here of course.

Social media is full of people sharing their favourite David Bowie tracks today.

Here's a track which is not necessarily my favourite, but whose name is perhaps apposite.

It's from the soundtrack to a film called 'The Falcon and the Snowman', which starred Sean Penn. Penn is getting a lot of nominations for acting in the Paul Thomas Anderson film 'One Battle After Another', More about that over on my dedicated film blog.

For the album, Bowie was asked to contribute by the composers Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays. They will be mentioned on the blog a lot. He worked out the vocals after watching an early cut of the film.

The story of the track is here. It was recorded in late 1984. Released in early 1985 it made it into the UK charts.

It is called 'This is not America'.

The iconic Bowie track 'Heroes' was used in the final closing credits of the final episode of 'Stranger Things'. 

I will be blogging more about that particular track later in the year, and also sharing a Bowie story map created by Brendan Conway.

What is your favourite Bowie track? 

Let me know in the comments.

Update

Thanks to Matt Podbury for suggesting this performance by David Bowie, and referencing his collaboration with Queen. More on that to come later in the blog.

Jan 7: Remembering 'the Professor'

Through the year we will be marking anniversaries of events: some joyful and some immensely sad. The loss of this musician was particularly hard to take....

It's been six years today since the passing of the master musician and lyricist Neil Peart of the band Rush. 

I count myself extremely lucky to have seen him perform many times since 1982. He always gave 100% and the musicality of his drumming was beyond parallel. I've seen many great drummers play live, and he was the best.

Here's one of my favourite Rush songs, which we will also return to later in the year because of its theme of alienation in the suburbs, or subdivisions:

He was a part of my life for over 40 years, and Rush have to be one of the bands that I have played the most whether on LP, CD or streamed on Spotify. 

I was privileged to see Rush play live 7 or 8 times I think from 1982 onwards, to the final live gig I attended in Sheffield on the Time Machine tour in 2012 - I will always regret not seeing them on the Clockwork Angels tour now.... 

One of my favourite non-Rush videos is when Peart laid down a drum track for his friend Matt Scannell from the Australian band Vertical Horizon. 

The enjoyment of Matt as his friend and hero plays drums for him is infectious, and the drum track is awesome.... There are so many Rush tracks I could embed here... but check this out next...



And then check out Red Barchetta live from that Time Machine tour that I saw.

Along with his music, he was a great traveller - particularly on motorbikes but also on bicycles and he wrote about his travels in a series of books, most of which I have. These were excellent travelogues and observations of people, although he was a very private person. He also wrote lengthy pieces for Rush tour programmes - some of which I still have in my collection of tour memorabilia.

In October 2025, we had an interesting announcement from Geddy and Alex...

I'll not be partaking of this particular musical moment.

Here's a well conceived tribute video from Hudson Music... gives a flavour of his legacy and drum technique.

And check out his website.

Neil was partial to ending the day with a glass of the Macallan. But have you seen the price of it? 

I'll raise a glass of something more affordable to Neil tonight, as I have done each year since his passing.

Rest in peace Professor.