Yes Mommio, I read about his death a day or two ago. Jazz fans will recognise him for composing Autumn Leaves made famous by Canonball Adderly and MIles Davis.
Certainly Autumn Leaves was among his most soothing, with its cascading arpeggios evoking falling leaves. Mr. Williamss instrumental version of that song, written in 1945 and originally known as Les Feuilles Mortes (The Dead Leaves), with music by Joseph Kosma and French lyrics by Jacques Prévert (Johnny Mercer wrote the English lyrics), was No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart for four weeks in 1955 and stayed in the Top 40 for 26 weeks.
Grinderman? I have my doubts about whether what ol' Nick said from stage really means they've broken up, but even if they have he'll undoubtedly be around in one form or another. And that's good news.
Poor Johnny - deserves to be remembered better than that. He had a pretty swinging jump/R&B outfit - one of my favorites from them is their version of Harlem Nocturne.
A coincidence: "She shared the songwriting royalties [for her first hit] with [Hank] Ballard and the bandleader and talent scout Johnny Otis, who had arranged for her recording session. (Mr. Otis died on Tuesday.)"
Quite a coincidence. The difference for me in the UK is that Etta James was well know, whereas Johnny Otis really wasn't that known at all,other than for one or two hits decades ago. I love Etta James' version of I'd rather go blind . She'd still got a great voice even in recent years.
Comments
- Wikipedia
I actually wrote a small piece about it for emusic, but it's not yet accessible... some sort of file malfunction. I hope it's working soon.
Craig
Drift Away. He was much more than that one big hit, though.
Cheeta the Chimp - from the Tarzan movies.
Just love it when he starts to preach on this one.
A coincidence: "She shared the songwriting royalties [for her first hit] with [Hank] Ballard and the bandleader and talent scout Johnny Otis, who had arranged for her recording session. (Mr. Otis died on Tuesday.)"
Craig