Two Passings in Popular Music

The music world lost two great, and I would say, underrated, popular singers this year.  The first one died of coronavirus, and the second one died of cardiovascular disease.

John Prine, who died on April 7, was a witty country-folk rocker who came up with wry, sharp observations of life around him in songs such as the iconic "Angel of Montgomery" and the humorous "Crazy As a Loon."  My favorite song from John Prine was "Paradise," a sad environmentalist broadside about the destruction of western Kentucky by the Peabody coal company with its strip-mining tactics to dig out all of the coal.  The narrator hopes that  his ashes will one day be scattered on the Green River, along which the small town of Paradise was.  The ongoing environmental degradation makes it a relevant song today.

Bill Withers, who died on March 30, was one of the greatest soul vocalists and songwriters of the 1970s.  While he didn't have as many hits as some of his contemporaries, but the hits he did have showed his remarkable versatility, from his lonely ballad "Ain't No Sunshine" (in which he managed to sing the words "I know" 26 times without making it sound boring) to his funky groove "Use Me."  Withers - or, as Joe Simon once called him, "my man Bill Withers" - scored his biggest triumph with "Lean On Me," a song about friendship, brotherhood, and the need to helping hand that topped the Billboard singles chart for three weeks in July 1972.  My favorite Bill Withers song, though might be his ballad "Lovely Day," about something we could all use right now.

John Prine was 73. Bill Withers was 81. Both will be greatly missed. 

Transition

Richard Holbrooke, who died earlier this week at 69, was the quintessential American diplomat, always trying to bring opposing parties together and knowing when to cajole and push them for their own good. It was that kind of tenacity that enabled Vietnamese refugees to settle here in the late seventies and also led to a peace accord that brought an end to the Bosnian civil war in 1995 (and the peace has held since). Holbrooke was instrumental in both initiatives.

Holbrooke was usually the adult in the U.S. diplomatic corps - he was the anti-Bolton - and he knew that bringing Islamic terrorist groups under control wouldn't merely be achieved by throwing the Taliban out of power in Afghanistan; he was not so naive to believe that a new Afghan government could make a positive change overnight. Or even in a decade. That's why Holbrooke made it his mission to bring U.S. involvement in Afghanistan to as successful a conclusion as possible - and also include Pakistan, whose borders had been infiltrated by Taliban and al-Qaeda regiments, in the process - when President Obama made him the special envoy for that region. With Holbrooke gone, the U.S. effort to defeat al-Qaeda and the Taliban and stabilize the region has become much more difficult than it already was.

Meanwhile, I would be remiss if I did not mention the death from cancer of Elizabeth Edwards, who made it her life's work to help less fortunate people and handled her own misfortune so well. Her passing marks yet another tragic turn of events for John Edwards and his family, already marked by a sex scandal and the death of an older son. The story of the Edwardses seems almost Shakespearean, with no one left to redeem the story in its final act. Although Mrs. Edwards was stellar at battling cancer - and don't say she "lost her battle with cancer," she died - so much wreckage from the Edwardses' ill fates remains, and it will take a long time for anyone involved in this sad story of love and betrayal to recover. Mrs. Edwards will never get the chance to do so.

Lynn and Lena

Two notable passings in the entertainment world occurred recently. . . .

Lynn Redgrave was a British actress as familiar to Americans as a Beatles song on the radio. She had the relative (no pun intended) career impediment of being a good actress in a family with a great one. But Lynn was able to get out of sister Vanessa's shadow in good fashion. First introduced to moviegoers in the title role in Georgy Girl, a 1966 movie about a young woman dealing with a weight problem, Lynn Redgrave came out of Swinging London swinging with talent, a talent that made her a ubiquitous presence in movies, theater, stage and television. She distinguished herself in various stage roles, both plays and musicals, and considered no role too small; only a couple of years ago, she starred in a production Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest in New Jersey. Lynn Redgrave died of breast cancer last week at 67. Her death comes a a bad time for sister Vanessa Redgrave, who lost her daughter Natasha Richardson last year and her brother more recently.

Meanwhile, I don't think I can say anything about singer/actress Lena Horne, who died Sunday at 92, that hasn't been said already. So I'll just say what's on my mind. Lena Horne was always referred to as the first black woman to be major star in Hollywood, but what makes her career important is that she succeeded in being a female Hollywood star who happened to be black. Her success paved the way for future stars such as Halle Berry, and Horne was able to succeed without having to re-invent herself. She never had to erase her accent, and she adapted to changing times without changing her style. Her 1981 one-woman Broadway show, Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music, proved that she was still relevant, glamorous, and talented at 64.

Both women will be missed. RIP. :-(

Two Fifth Beatles Gone

Two individuals with connections to the Beatles died recently . . ..

Gordon Waller was the latter half of Peter and Gordon, the most successful duo to come out of the sixties British Invasion. He and Peter Asher recorded Lennon-McCartney songs predominantly written by Paul when he was dating Asher's sister Jane, and these were unsurprisingly among the most heartfelt ballads of the time. The list is quite impressive: "World Without Love," "Nobody I Know," "I Don't Want To See You Again," and "Woman." Hits not penned by Lennon and McCartney included "Lady Godiva" and the Buddy Holly Song "True Love Ways." Their harmonies were perfect (Waller mostly sang lead), and the arrangements were first rate. Waller went on to perform in British musical theater and run a music publishing business after the duo broke up. (Asher, of course, became a record producer, producing James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt, among others.) The duo reunited a few years back, and this blogger had the rare and appreciated opportunity to see them perform at a Beatles convention in 2006. After nearly forty years apart, they hasn't lost their touch. They were doing some shows only recently, including an Atlanta appearance this spring. Waller died in Connecticut, where he lived, on July 17 of a heart attack at 64.

Heinz Edelmann was a prestigious advertising and editorial illustrator in Germany in 1967 when movie producer Al Brodax approached him to be the art director for the animated Beatles movie Yellow Submarine. Edelmann's neo-Art Nouveau approach, characterized by fluid lines and bright colors, fit the mood of the movie perfectly, and he revolutionized animation with his work (and made the greatest animated movie ever as well). The Beatles themselves loved Edelmann's work, and John Lennon singled out as the only person involved with Yellow Submarine worthy of his respect. Edelmann got little respect for a long time, as many people somehow came to believe that poster artist Peter Max had been responsible for Yellow Submarine's look. (Max, to his discredit, let people believe that.) Edelmann was still able to enjoy a distinguished career, and he gained recognition for his contributions to Yellow Submarine in later years. He died at 75 on July 21 of heart disease and kidney failure.

I just found out about both passings yesterday. :-(