Whoa, barely two months into 2016 and the world has lost an incredible amount of musical talent. While you may not know of all these names, here are five more noteworthy artists who have recently passed away.
On January 28th, Jefferson Airplane's lead guitarist and songwriter, Paul Kantner, died at the age of 74 (pictured second from left with glasses). Jefferson Airplane's psychedelic sound and free-spirited mindset helped define the '60s counterculture in San Francisco. Kantner was a co-founder of the
group in 1965 with Marty Balin and the guiding spirit of its successor,
Jefferson Starship. With
hits like "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit" (both featured here), Jefferson Airplane
wrote anthems for the hippie movement and the memorable Summer of Love in 1967. While vocalists Grace Slick and Balin were the public faces of Jefferson
Airplane, Kantner was often the creative force
of the band, bringing a freshness from his folk music scene background. From their historic album Surrealistic Pillow in 1967, listen for Kantner's vocal at 1:08 in "How Do You Feel?"
And what are the odds two members of Jefferson Airplane would pass away on the same day and at the same age? Also on January 28th, the band's original female vocalist, Signe Anderson, died at 74 (also pictured in the top photo). Initially a jazz and folk singer in Portland, OR, she joined Jefferson Airplane after a trip to San Francisco in 1965, and sang on their first album Jefferson Airplane Takes Off. Married to one of the Merry Pranksters, Jerry Anderson, and pregnant with her first child, Signe left the group in late 1966, and was replaced by rock 'n roll diva Grace Slick. Check out this footage of the band performing "It's No Secret" at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco in 1966; look for Signe at the 1:34 mark.
On January 16th, American singer and guitarist Gary Loizzo, best-known as the lead singer of The American Breed, passed away at the age of 70. From the greater Chicago area, The American Breed had several hit records, including the million-selling single
"Bend Me, Shape Me" in 1967/'68.
In the early '70s, Loizzo went on to start his own recording studio called 'Pumpkin Studios,' and became a two-time Grammy-nominated recording engineer. He worked with REO Speedwagon, Styx, Bad Company, Slash, Survivor, Liza Minnelli, Tenacious D, and many others. Since "Bend Me, Shape Me" was previously featured here, here's their first Top-40 hit in 1967, "Step Out of Your Mind" (gotta love that "trumpet-playing" drummer).
On February 6th, American singer-songwriter Dan Hicks passed away, also at the end of 74. Combining cowboy folk, jazz, country, swing, bluegrass, pop, and gypsy music in his sound, Hicks first became part of the San Francisco folk
music scene in 1959, performing at local coffeehouses. Later, he joined the San Francisco band The Charlatans in 1965 as drummer, and in 1967, formed Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks, contemporaries of Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane. From his first albumreleased in 1969, "How Can I Miss You When You Won't Go Away?" features Hick's humor, frequently infused into his tunes.
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Finally, American musician, songwriter, screenwriter, and voice actor Bill Martin passed away on January 27th at the age of 64. A friend of Monkee Michael Nesmith, Martin's first contribution to The Monkees came in the form of "All of Your Toys,"
recorded during the very first studio sessions that featured the group
supporting themselves instrumentally. Because of a publishing dispute
with Screen Gems, the song never saw the light of day until it was released
on the Missing Links compilation in 1987. He also composed "The Door Into Summer," which did see release on 1967's Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. album. Martin later collaborated with other artists, including Harry Nilsson ("Rainmaker," covered by Nesmith on his third solo effort, Nevada Fighter). Martin later co-starred with Nesmith in his Grammy-winning Elephant Parts in 1981, and in addition to screenwriting credits (1987's Harry and the Hendersons), his voice skills earned him roles in numerous animated series. Unfortunately, I could not find any photos of him! But these two songs are true gems and needed to be included. Here's the Bill Martin-penned could-have-been-a-hit Monkees' tune, "All of Your Toys," recorded in 1967.
From The Monkees' fourth studio album, here's "The Door Into Summer," officially written by Bill Martin and the Monkees' producer Chip Douglas (although Douglas denies any writing contribution). Another fantastic tune.
So this week, The 60's Beat will take a little hiatus from posting (even pop music archeologists need a break once in awhile), but the good news is that next week, we're going hog-wild with the British Invasion! However, in complete contrast, I'll leave you with just this one post about a few bands from the 1960's with "American" in their name.
So first off, we have the American group (obviously) The Five Americans, originally from Oklahoma (and thanks to my sister for reminding me about this song). Considered a one-hit wonder (although they did have a few tunes make it into the Top-100), these guys are best known for their 1967 hit "Western Union," which scored #5 on the Billboard charts. This song holds the record for the most repetitive word in a Top-10 hit, however, this imitative word ("dit") represents morse code that Western Union used to transit messages (a very clever idea, if you ask me). And according to this introduction, even the "old squares" like this tune.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From Chicago, Illinois, the rock band The American Breed were also somewhat known as a one-hit wonder. Released in 1967, their biggest hit was "Bend Me, Shape," which reached #5 on the charts as well. Written by Scott English and Larry Weiss, this fun tune was first released by The Outsiders the previous year, however, The American Breed's version went on to sell over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. The single mix of this song was sped-up during the mastering for its release, while the album release is at normal speed. From their performance on American Bandstand, these guys make this "swingin'" song so much fun.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The final band for today is the wonderful New York pop group, Jay and the Americans. These guys are so great, I'm actually going to post two of their songs! Forming in the late-1950's, the original "Jay" Traynor left the group in the early 60's but after being replaced by David Black (who agreed to change his name to "Jay" Black), the group found their biggest success. In 1965, they had a #4 hit with the popular song "Cara Mia," which was actually first recorded by English singer David Whitfield in 1954. Meaning "my beloved" in Italian, Jay can sure belt this tune!
And the final song for the day by Jay and the Americans is "Come A Little Bit Closer," the group's most popular single to this day. Reaching #3 on the charts in 1964, this song was written by songwriting team Boyce and Hart, their first Top-10 hit before going on to write the early hits for The Monkees. Because of its popularity, Jay and the boys joined The Beatles on their first American tour, along with The Righteous Brothers. Whenever I hear this song, I'm reminded of my dad playing this tune really loud on the radio while on our family roadtrips. What a fun classic!
On January 28th, Jefferson Airplane's lead guitarist and songwriter, Paul Kantner, died at the age of 74 (pictured second from left with glasses). Jefferson Airplane's psychedelic sound and free-spirited mindset helped define the '60s counterculture in San Francisco. Kantner was a co-founder of the
group in 1965 with Marty Balin and the guiding spirit of its successor,
Jefferson Starship. With
hits like "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit" (both featured here), Jefferson Airplane
wrote anthems for the hippie movement and the memorable Summer of Love in 1967. While vocalists Grace Slick and Balin were the public faces of Jefferson
Airplane, Kantner was often the creative force
of the band, bringing a freshness from his folk music scene background. From their historic album Surrealistic Pillow in 1967, listen for Kantner's vocal at 1:08 in "How Do You Feel?" 
