In Memory Of ...

[ghost2509]

Garth Hudson, master instrumentalist and last surviving member of The Band, dead at 87

yahoo.com
The Associated Press
January 21, 2025

Garth Hudson, The Band’s virtuoso keyboardist and all-around musician who drew from a unique palette of sounds and styles to add a conversational touch to such rock standards as “Up on Cripple Creek,” “The Weight” and “Rag Mama Rag,” has died at age 87.

“Today, we sadly say goodbye to Garth “Honey Boy” Hudson, the last living original member of The Band,” a statement posted to The Band’s official X page on Tuesday read. “A musical genius and cornerstone of the group’s timeless sound, Garth once said, “I found some true enjoyment in helping people get to the bottom of their feelings.” Through his music, he did just that—helping us all feel more deeply and connect to something greater. Rest easy, Garth.”

Hudson was the eldest and last surviving member of the influential group that once backed Bob Dylan, according to an obituary by the Associated Press. His death was confirmed Tuesday by The Canadian Press, which cited Hudson’s friend, Jan Haust. Additional details were not immediately available. Hudson had been living in a nursing home in upstate New York.

A rustic figure with an expansive forehead and sprawling beard, Hudson was a classically trained performer and self-educated Greek chorus who spoke through piano, synthesizers, horns and his favored Lowrey organ. No matter the song, Hudson summoned just the right feeling or shading, whether the tipsy clavinet and wah-wah pedal on “Up on Cripple Creek,” the galloping piano on “Rag Mama Rag” or the melancholy saxophone on “It Makes No Difference.”

The only non-singer among five musicians celebrated for their camaraderie, texture and versatility, Hudson mostly loomed in the background, but he did have one showcase: “Chest Fever,” a Robbie Robertson composition for which he devised an introductory organ solo (“The Genetic Method”), an eclectic sampling of moods and melodies that segued into the song’s hard rock riff.

Robertson, The Band’s guitarist and lead songwriter, died in 2023 after a long illness. Keyboardist-drummer Richard Manuel hung himself in 1986, bassist Rick Danko died in his sleep in 1999 and drummer Levon Helm died of cancer in 2012. The Band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

Formed in the early 1960s as a backing group for rocker Ronnie Hawkins, The Band was originally called The Hawks and featured the Arkansas-born Helm and four Canadians recruited by Helm and Hawkins: Hudson, Danko, Manuel and Robertson.

The Band mastered their craft through years of performing as unknowns — first behind Hawkins, then as Levon and the Hawks, then as the unsuspecting targets of outrage after hooking up with Dylan in the mid-1960s. All joined Dylan on his historic tours of 1965-66 (Helm departed midway), when he broke with his folk past and teamed with The Band for some of the most stirring and stormiest music of the time, enraging some old Dylan admirers but attracting many new ones. The group would rename itself The Band in part because so many people around Dylan simply referred to his backing musicians as “the band.”

By 1967, Dylan was in semi-seclusion, having allegedly broken his neck in a motorcycle accident, and he and the group settled in the artist community in Woodstock that two years later would become world famous thanks to the festival in nearby Bethel. With no album planned, they wrote and played spontaneously in an old pink house outside of town shared by Hudson, Danko and Manuel. Hudson was in charge of the tape machine as Dylan and The Band recorded more than 100 songs, for years available only as bootlegs, that became known as “The Basement Tapes.” Often cited as the foundation of “roots” music and “Americana,” the music varied from old folk, country and Appalachian songs to such new compositions as “Tears of Rage,” “I Shall Be Released” and “This Wheel’s on Fire.”

“There would be an informal discussion, before each recording,’” Hudson told the online publication Something Else! in 2014. “There would be ideas floating around, and the telling of stories. And then we’d go back to the songs.

“We looked for words, phrases and situations that were worth writing about. I think that Bob Dylan showed us discipline, and ageless concern about the quality of his art.”

Dylan resurfaced in late 1967 with the austere “John Wesley Harding,” and The Band debuted soon after with “Music from Big Pink,” its down home sound so radically different from the jams and psychedelic tricks then in fashion that artists from The Beatles to Eric Clapton to the Grateful Dead would cite its influence. The Band followed in 1969 with a self-titled album that many still consider its best and has often been ranked among the greatest rock albums of all time.

Future records included “Stage Fright,” “Cahoots” and “Northern Lights/Southern Cross,” a 1975 album that brought Hudson special praise for his work on the keyboards. A year later, Robertson decided he had tired of live performances, and The Band staged the all-star concert and Martin Scorsese film, “The Last Waltz,” featuring Dylan, Clapton, Neil Young and many others. Tension between Robertson and Helm, who would allege the film unduly elevated Robertson over the others, led to a full breakup before the documentary’s release in 1978.

Hudson played briefly with the English band the Call; appeared with various latter incarnations of The Band, usually featuring Danko, Hudson and Helm; assisted on solo albums by Robertson and Danko; and joined Danko and Helm for a performance of Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” at the Berlin Wall. Other session work included records by Van Morrison, Leonard Cohen and Emmylou Harris.

Hudson also organized his own projects, although his first solo effort, “The Sea to the North,” came out on the day of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In 2005, he formed a 12-piece band called The Best!, with his wife on vocals. “Garth Hudson Presents: A Canadian Celebration of The Band” was a 2010 tribute featuring Neil Young, Bruce Cockburn and other Canadian musicians.

In recent years, Hudson struggled financially. He had sold his interest in The Band to Robertson and went bankrupt several times. He lost one home to foreclosure and saw many of his belongings put up for auction in 2013 when he fell behind on payments for storage. Hudson’s wife, Maud, died in 2022. They had a daughter, Tami Zoe Hill.

The son of musicians, Hudson was born in Windsor, Ontario in 1937 and received formal training at an early age. He was performing on stage and writing before he was even a teenager, although by his early 20s he had soured on classical music and was playing in a rock band, the Capers.

He was the last to join The Band and he worried that his parents would disapprove. The solution was to have Hawkins hire him as a “musical consultant” and pay him $10 extra a week.

“It was a job,” Hudson said of The Band in a 2002 interview with Maclean’s. “Play a stadium, play a theater. My job was to provide arrangements with pads underneath, pads and fills behind good poets. Same poems every night.”

[KDO]

Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull
December 29, 1946 – January 30, 2025

British Singer | Actress

Singer and Actress Marianne Faithfull Dies at 78 - BBC
Singer and Actress Marianne Faithfull Dies at 78

Marianne Faithfull, 1960s Pop Chanteuse, Dies at 78 - Pitchfork

Marianne Faithfull, a Pop Star Turned Survivor, Is Dead at 78 - NYT
A fresh-faced singer and Mick Jagger’s muse in the 1960s, she went on to experience more than her share of hard times before emerging triumphant.

Marianne Faithfull - Wikipedia




Marianne Faithfull - As Tears Go By (1964):
Archive
(left click = play)
(VBR)

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[Gemini37]

October 11, 1985 - February 26, 2025

By Carson Blackwelder, Mason Leib, and Aaron Katersky 

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/buffy-gossip-girl-actress-michelle-trachtenberg-dead-39/story?id=119215091

Michelle Trachtenberg, an actress best known for her roles in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Gossip Girl," has died at age 39.

Trachtenberg was found dead Wednesday in her New York City apartment near Columbus Circle just after 8 a.m. local time by her mother, police sources told ABC News.

The sources told ABC News the actress recently underwent a liver transplant and may have been experiencing complications. Trachtenberg is believed to have died of natural causes and no foul play is suspected.

An autopsy will be conducted by the medical examiner's office to determine the cause and manner of death.

Trachtenberg, a New York City native, made her acting debut as a child star with roles in Nickelodeon projects, including the television series "The Adventure of Pete & Pete" and the film "Harriet the Spy."

Her big break came when she was cast on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" as Dawn, the younger sister of Sarah Michelle Gellar's titular character, from 2000 to 2003. The role earned her a Teen Choice Award nomination for choice TV sidekick in 2001.

Trachtenberg recently reminisced on her days co-starring with Gellar on "Buffy." Just last month, she shared a photo of them together, captioning it: "Slay all day! Always loved this twinning photo of us! #buffy #dawn #sister #womancrushwednesday."

The actress also made a cameo in Fall Out Boy's music video for the band's hit song "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" in 2007.

Trachtenberg starred as Georgina Sparks on "Gossip Girl" from 2008 to 2012. For her role, she was nominated as the choice TV villain at the Teen Choice Award in 2012.

"It's kind of easy to be evil when you're saying evil things," said Trachtenberg of her "Gossip Girl" role to Seventeen in 2009. "It's definitely a lot more fun than playing the good girl. I love the reaction you get. I never understood why some actors don't want to play villains or evil characters."

Trachtenberg has also appeared in a wide range of television shows, including "Mercy," "Weeds," and earlier in her career, 'Truth or Scare." She had a minor arc in HBO's "Gossip Girl" reboot in 2022.

In film, she took on roles including "EuroTrip," "17 Again" and "The Scribbler."

[KDO]

Gene Hackman
Eugene Allen Hackman
January 30, 1930 – February 26, 2025

American Actor | 2 Time Academy Award Winner

Gene Hackman, Hollywood’s Consummate Everyman, Dies at 95 - NYT

Gene Hackman and His Wife Found Dead at Their Home - BBC
Oscar-winning US actor Gene Hackman, his wife Betsy Arakawa and their dog have been found dead at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Gene Hackman and Pianist Wife Betsy Arakawa Found Dead at Home with Their Dog - TheGuardian

Gene Hackman - Wikipedia

[HoHoinc]

Man hearing the details of Gene's passing hurts me to the Core. I watched the first two French Connection films last Year and I say please watch them he's was freaking great. I think many will say the first is better but the 2nd one is crazy as hell. Jimmy's Character is going after the people from the first film and he gets super close to them but he's in a different Country and the Police force there don't like his style of doing things. He gets caught by the bad guys and they get him hooked on Heroin and it's a gripping thing to watch. The French Police finally find Jimmy and they help him get back to normal but it's a long journey to the point it had me thinking if he was using Heroin the way he was acting.

[KDO]

Brian James
February 18, 1955 – March 6, 2025

British Musician | Guitarist | Songwriter
The Damned | Lords of the New Church

Founding Damned Guitarist Brian James Dies at 70 - PitchFork
James was the early principal songwriter for the first UK punk band to put out a single, release their debut album, and tour the United States

Brian James Dead: British Icon and Damned Legend Dies Aged 70 - Daily Express

The Damned’s Founding Guitarist Brian James has Died, Aged 70 - NME
He recorded The Damned's first two albums before going on to start numerous bands and solo projects

Brian James - Wikipedia

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The Damned - Born to Kill (1977):
@Archive
(left click = play)
(320kbps)

[KDO]

Jesse Colin Young
November 22, 1941 – March 16, 2025

American Singer | Songwriter
Founding Member and Lead Singer of The Youngbloods

Jesse Colin Young, Youngbloods Frontman Who Sang Sixties Hit ‘Get Together', Dead at 83 - RollingStone
The singer-songwriter enjoyed a long solo career as well, dabbling in folk, rock, blues, jazz, and country over many albums

Jesse Colin Young, Singer Who Urged Us to ‘Get Together,’ Dies at 83 - NYT
As the leader of the Youngbloods, he sang an enduring anthem of the peace-and-love era, with the chorus, “Come on people now, smile on your brother.”

Jesse Colin Young, Youngbloods’ Frontman and “Get Together” Singer, Dies at 83 - HollywoodReporter
His biggest hit called for everyone to “smile on your brother” and “try to love one another right now.”

Jesse Colin Young, Singer of The Youngbloods' 'Get Together,' Dies at 83 - NPR

Jesse Colin Young - Wikipedia

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Youngbloods - Darkness, Darkness
http://archive.org/download/rock-co...20Darkness.mp3
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(320kbps)

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