BIRMINGHAM RECORD COLLECTORS
DEDICATED TO THE COLLECTING OF MUSIC, ITS PRESERVATION AND LASTING FRIENDSHIP
THIS MONTH’S MEETING THE SECOND SUNDAY, JANUARY 14TH 2:00 PM
HOMEWOOD PUBLIC LIBRARY 1721 OXMOOR RD BIRMINGHAM, AL 35209
NEXT MEETING, FEBRUARY 11TH 2:30 PM THE SECOND SUNDAY
NOTE NEW MEETING TIME BEGINNING IN FEBRUARY
THIS MONTH’S MEETING
We had a fun time at the December meeting playing Dirty Santa and there was a really good collection of ‘Free For All’ vinyl for everyone to browse through. Thanks to everyone who brought the goodies to eat and the vinyl to share.
At our January meeting we have scheduled as our speaker Tom Wier. Tom is doing a documentary on the musical career of guitarist, Wayne Perkins. Wayne is from Alabama, in fact he was born in Center Point which is here in the Birmingham area. Here is what Tom wrote about Wayne: “He was a session player, and a sideman in demand. His guitar licks punctuate iconic songs including Concrete Jungle and Sir It Up by Bob Marley and the Wailers, Joni Michell’s Car on a Hill, The Rolling Stones Hand of Fate, Glen Frey’s That Girl, Joe Cocker’s High Time We Went and many others.” Hope you can make it for this special time.
LOST IN 2023
It has been said that only two things are certain, death and taxes. And for those of us known as Baby Boomers we are seeing more of our musical heroes pass away. The list gets longer and longer each year because of all the water that has gone under the bridge. But fortunately we live in a time where music can be recorded and shared in various ways. I sometimes think of people who lived in a time where music was heard only one way, LIVE. So as I list those musicians, singers, songwriters and performers who passed away in 2023 be thankful we have their music to listen to. So starting in January and going through December here are those we lost.
Jeff Beck – 6-24-44 – 1-10-23. Guitarist from England who worked as a session player and also was with The Yardbirds during their early-hit years replacing Eric Clapton. Jeff would leave the band and form The Jeff Beck Group. Some of the members who were part of the band included Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood and Nicky Hopkins. He is a member of the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame twice for The Yardbirds and as a solo artists.
(1965 – #17 Pop Chart – Jeff Beck on guitar)
Robbie Bachman – 2-18-53 – 1-12-23. Drummer from Canada who was with Brave Belt which became Bachman-Turner Overdrive. Robbie was 18 when he became a member of Brave Belt. He co-wrote one of BTO’s hit, ‘Roll On Down The Highway’.
David Crosby – 8-14-41 – 1-18-23. Singer, songwriter, guitarist best known for being a member of The Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash, later adding Neil Young. Winner of numerous Grammys and a member of the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame twice for both The Byrds and for CSN.
Dean Daughtry – 9-8-46 – 1-26-23. Keyboardist for many groups including The Candymen, The Classics IV and The Atlantic Rhythm Section. The Candymen were quite often used by Roy Orbison as his backing band. Some of the members then formed The Classics IV which had lots of success with songs such as ‘Stormy’, ‘Traces’ and ‘Spooky’. From there he co-founded The Atlanta Rhythm Section which was very popular and had many hits. Dean was the sole constant member of ARS until he retired in 2020. Dean was born in Kinston, AL and died in Huntsville, AL.
Barrett Strong – 2-5-41 – 1-28-23. Singer songwriter who had Motown’s first charted record with ‘Money (That’s What I Want)’. Barrett along with Norman Whitfield co-wrote ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’, ‘War’, ‘Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)’ and ‘Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone’. He is a member of the Songwriters Hall Of Fame.
Charlie Thomas – 4-7-37 – 1-31-23. Singer with The Drifters. Charlie was did the lead on ‘Sweets For My Sweet’ and ‘When My Little Girl Is Smiling’. He is a member of The Rock & Roll Hall Of fame as a member of The Drifters.
Burt Bacharach – 5-12-28 – 2-8-23. Songwriter, composer, record producer and pianist. Most of you will know Burt’s work because of all the hits he and Hal David wrote for Dionne Warwick but he wrote so many other hits and had songs recorded by over 1,000 artists. With Dionne he co-wrote 35 of her 60 charted hits. He had 73 US and 52 UK Top 40 hits. Some of the other songs he co-wrote include ‘Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head’, ‘Baby It’s You’, (The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance’, ‘Wishin’ & Hopin’ ‘, (They Long To Be) Close To You’, ‘Please Stay’, ‘My Little Red Book’, ‘Tower Of Strength’, ‘Make It Easy On Yourself’, ‘Blue On Blue’ and I could go on and on. And let me add that the man is not even a member of The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. What a shame.
(Recorded by Love – 1966 – #52 Pop Chart. We think of so many slow, mellow love songs written by Bacharack but he also co-wrote this song and ‘Baby It’s You’)
Huey ‘Piano’ Smith – 1-26-34 – 2-13-23. Pianist and songwriter. He was a session player and formed his own group, Huey Smith and The Clowns. The groups hit, “Rockin’ Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogie Flu’ only made it to #52 on the pop charts and #5 on one of the R&B charts but his piano style was one of the influential styles in rock & roll. That song is in the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. And don’t forget their hit, “Don’t You Just Know It’ and the flip (which was played here in Birmingham), ‘High Blood Pressure’. Huey also played piano for Little Richard’s first band in sessions at Specialty Records.
(1958 – #9 Pop Charts #4 R&B Charts)
I am running out of room so here are some short bios.
Leon Hughes – 5-6-30 – 3-1-23. Singer with The Coasters. Leon was the last remaining original member of The Coasters.
Gary Rossington – 12-4-51 – 3-5-23. Lead and rhythm guitarist and Longest surviving member of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Member of The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.
April Stevens – 4-29-29 – 4-17-23. Singer along with her brother Nino Temple. Big hit, ‘Deep Purple’.
Tim Bachman – 8-1-51 – 4-28-23. Guitarist from Canada who was with Brave Belt which became Bachman-Turner Overdrive. Tim was the older brother of Robbie Bachman listed above.
Billy ‘The Kid’ Emerson – 12-21-25 – 4-25-23. Singer best known for his song, ‘Red Hot’. A very popular rockabilly style song. He began his career with Ike Turner’s band, The Kings Of Rhythm.
Gordon Lightfoot – 11-17-38 – 5-1-23. Singer, songwriter, guitarist from Canada. Many hits such as ‘If You Could Read My Mind’ and ‘Sundown’.
Tina Turner – 11-26-39 – 5-24-23. Not enough room to write about Tina. But I will say I do not know how her voice hung in there as long as it did with the style she sang form the beginning of her career to the end. Many Grammys and a member of The Grammy Hall Of Fame and twice in the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame as Ike & Tina Turner and as a solo artists.
(1960 – #27 Pop Charts #2 R&B Charts)
Now real fast and short, Randy Meiser (The Eagles), Robbie Robertson (The Band), Ray Hildebrand (Paul & Paula), Jimmy Buffett, Larry Chance (The Earls), Rudolph Isley (The Isley Brothers), Les Maguire (Gerry & The Pacemakers), Denny Laine (The Moody Blues & Wings) and Redd Holt (Young-Holt Unlimited).
AND, Chas Newby – WHO? Chas played bass with Beatles at 4 gigs in London but turned down going to Germany with them to return to school. George and John did not want to play bass, Paul reluctantly did and the rest is history.
See Ya,
Charlie
1 Comment