Another Sad Day...

[gambrinus]

Heaven has gained not only a patriot but also one hell of a singer/piano player this week. Raise a glass for the great Ray Charles.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,122380,00.html


RW

[lorazepam]

Wow, two great men so close together. I was already sad, but now I am very sad. I wonder who the third one will be?

[frazz]

The loss of both is indeed a sad state of affairs...the world was better for their having been and is diminished with their passing

[BMWBeauty]

I admired him as a singer as well as his talent for the piano......
He will indeed be missed.....

[BradfordBenn]

My favorite the best movie musical scene, the warning shot of the shoplifter followed by Shake a Tail Feather in Blues Brothers.

It is a loss.

Also Ray is the 3rd one. Robert Quine passed away last week also.

For those of you not well versed in the NYC Guitar scene from the New York Times...

Robert Quine noted guitarist of the New York rock scene of the 1970's and 80's who played with Richard Hell, Lou Reed and others, died last week in his home in Manhattan. He was 61.

In the loud world of New York punk, where crude simplicity trumped most conventional notions of musical skill, Mr. Quine stood out as a stylish virtuoso. His guitar, first heard on "Blank Generation," the 1977 album by Richard Hell and the Voidoids, borrowed equally from rockabilly, jazz and the Velvet Underground, giving the music a quick, agitated pulse and an explosive power.

"He was an extraordinary mixture of taste, intelligence and rock 'n' roll abilities, coupled with major technique and a scholar's memory for every decent guitar lick ever played under the musical sun," Mr. Reed said.

The Voidoids made only two albums, but Mr. Quine's versatility gave him a long career as a sideman and studio guitarist. Hired by Lou Reed to play on his stark 1982 album "The Blue Mask," Mr. Quine played in a style that was more restrained and atmospheric. Rolling Stone praised the guitar work on the album, saying in a review that "the intuitive responsiveness between Lou Reed and Robert Quine is a quiet summit of guitarists' interplay: the notes and noise soar and dive, scudding almost formlessly until they're suddenly caught up in the focus of a rhythm."

Mr. Quine was an anomaly in the punk scene. Older than most of his fellow musicians, he had a law degree and was nearly bald, and wore button-down shirts and sport coats and described his appearance as that of a "deranged insurance salesman."

Before he moved to New York in 1971, he was a great fan of the Velvet Underground, Mr. Reed's groundbreaking 1960's art-rock band, and attended dozens of its concerts in St. Louis and on the West Coast, dutifully recording them with a hand-held cassette deck. Some of those recordings were released in 2001 as a three-CD set, "Bootleg Series, Vol. 1: The Quine Tapes."

In New York Mr. Quine became involved with the rock scene around 1975 after taking a job at Cinemabilia, a Greenwich Village bookstore. Mr. Hell and Tom Verlaine, who then played together in the band Television, worked at the store, and when Mr. Hell, a bassist, started the Voidoids, he recruited Mr. Quine.

Besides his work with the Voidoids and Mr. Reed, Mr. Quine also played with Marianne Faithfull, Material, James Chance, Tom Waits, Brian Eno and John Zorn. In the 90's he played extensively with Matthew Sweet and Lloyd Cole. He also made duo recordings with the guitarist Jody Harris and the drummer Fred Maher.

The four original members of the Voidoids — Mr. Hell, Mr. Quine, Ivan Julian and Marc Bell — reunited to record a song, "Oh," which was released on the 2001 compilation album "Beyond Cyberpunk."

Born in Akron, Ohio, Mr. Quine graduated from Earlham College in Richmond, Ind., and the Washington University law school in St. Louis.

Mr. Quine's wife, Alice, died last August. His uncle, the philosopher W. V. Quine, died in 2000. He is survived by a brother, William, of Visalia, Calif.
:cry

[jgr451]

Ray Charles.Dam.

[Grey Matter]

I watched most of President Reagan's memorial & cried like a baby a few times. Ray Charles & President Reagan both left the work in better shape than they found it.

Rest in peace…

[Gnome]

Boy I'll miss him. I remember the time I had been drinking and stuff and needed a ride. This big black 1972 cadilac pulls up and it's Ray driving.He says "hop in man,you look like you need a lift" He gave me a ride to my place. What a guy.

Hey, he said he was Ray Charles,what do I know. I was stoned dude.