In Memoriam 2019
So we can remember them fondly, here is a compiled list of some of the many musicians and industry veterans who passed away in 2019. May they all Rest In Eternal Peace.
Dick Dale
Dick Dale was an American rock guitarist. He was a pioneer of surf music, drawing on Middle Eastern influences and experimenting with reverberation. Dale pushed the limits of electric amplification technology, helping to develop equipment that was capable of producing a louder guitar sound without sacrificing reliability. Dick Dale was known as “The King of the Surf Guitar.”
Hal Blaine
Hal Blaine was an American drummer and session musician, estimated to be among the most recorded studio drummers in the history of the music industry. His drumming is featured on hundreds of U.S. Top 10 hits, many of which went to number one. He also played on many film and television soundtracks. In 2018, he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Eddie Money
Eddie Money was an American was an American rock singer and songwriter who had success in the 1970s and 1980s with 11 Top 40 songs, including “Baby Hold On,” “Two Tickets to Paradise,” and “Take Me Home Tonight.” He was known as a working-class rocker with a husky voice. In 1987, he was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for “Take Me Home Tonight.”
Peter Tork
Peter Tork was a bassist and most notably a member of the ’60s sensation The Monkees. Prior to joining The Monkees, he was a working musician in the Greenwich Village folk scene. The Monkees first four albums went to number one in the U.S. with hits like “I’m A Believer” and “Daydream Believer.”
Ed Cherney
Ed Cherney was an American recording engineer and record producer who regularly worked with some of the very best in the business…Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, Wynton Marsalis, Eric Clapton, Sting, The Rolling Stones and Bonnie Raitt, to name but a few. His influence on recorded music was tremendous.
Marie Fredriksson
Marie Fredriksson was a Swedish pop singer, known internationally as the lead vocalist of the pop rock duo Roxette. The group had a few major hits in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including this gem, “It Must Have Been Love.”
Doris Day
Doris Day was an American actress, singer and animal welfare activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings. She recorded more than 650 songs from 1947 to 1967. She also became one of the biggest film stars in the early 1960s. In 2011, she released her 29th studio album. She received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a Legend Award from the Society of Singers.
Larry Taylor
Larry Taylor was a founding member and bassist of the band Canned Heat, a band that performed at both the Monterey Pop Festival and Woodstock. Their hits “Going Up the Country” and “Let’s Work Together” were anthems for their era. He also worked with The Monkees, Jerry Lee Lewis, John Mayall, Tom Waits, Albert King, Buddy Guy, and many others.
Reggie Young
Reggie Young was an American guitarist and a leading session musician in Memphis, TN. His approach to the instrument influenced so many other guitarists. He played on hundreds of recordings with artists like Elvis Presley, B.J. Thomas, John Prine, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Dusty Springfield and The Box Tops. Young was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2019.