RIP - Dawn Wells

One day before the end of the worst year ever, and this has to happen.

Dawn Wells, one-half of the decades-old "Ginger or Mary Ann?" question, passed away on December 30, 2020 at age 82. 

 

The cause was COVID-19. 

 

CNN obituary 

 

RIP - Eddie Van Halen

In the past month or two, celebrities have been passing away at an alarming rate. 

Rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen passed away on October 6, 2020 at age 65.

One of my favorite VH songs from the David Lee Roth era is "Ice Cream Man". (All 4 of them are off the chain on that one.) From the Sammy era it is "I Can't Stop Loving You". 

My son and I saw Van Halen a few years ago. We have been hitting some of the classic rock shows over the past decade: Van Halen, Paul McCartney, the Who, Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood, the Beach Boys, Kiss, and Def Leppard.

Foghat

I belong to a music group on Facebook, and a few days ago someone posted about Foghat, which reminded me that they were one of my favorite bands in the mid-1970s. Then I watched a few YouTube videos (about 5 times each!) and decided I needed to write about them here.

When I first latched on to rock music in 1967, my favorite bands were the Beatles (duh!), the Beach Boys, and probably the Monkees. As the Beatles winded down their career in 1970, the Grass Roots soon filled the space on my music radar for a few years.

In the mid-1970s, I became acquainted with Kiss and Foghat through my younger brother's 8-track tapes. I soon bought Foghat's Live LP (which went platinum).

The classic Foghat lineup was "Lonesome" Dave Peverett (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Rod Price (lead guitar), Tony Stevens (bass), and Roger Earl (drums). All but Price had been in Savoy Brown before leaving to form Foghat in 1971.

Their 5th album "Fool for the City" was released in 1975 and included the title track, and also "Slow Ride". (I think this was the 8-track that my brother had back then.)

Although "Slow Ride" was their biggest hit, that song seemed too slow (no pun intended) for me. I always liked "Fool for the City" best, followed by "I Just Want to Make Love to You" (mostly because of the dueling guitars on the intro and the driving bass line).

They had some great songs, but the band seems to have been forgotten over time. They broke up in the 1980s, then two splinter groups formed. Finally, the original lineup got back together for a while in the 1990s.

Here are 3 must-see videos:

Fool for the City (1975) (Peverett, Price, Earl; Craig McGregor on bass)

I Just Want to Make Love to You (1997 video) (Peverett, Price, Stevens, Earl)

Sweet Home Chicago (1999 video) (Peverett, Stevens, Earl; Bryan Bassett on lead guitar)

The change in singer Dave Peverett's appearance in just the 2 years between the 1997 video and this 1999 video is startling. 5 months later, he died from cancer at age 56.

Rod Price passed away in 2005. Drummer Roger Earl still tours with a new Foghat lineup.

RIP - Olivia de Havilland

Olivia de Havilland, the last remaining star from Hollywood's Golden Age, passed away on July 26, 2020 at age 104.

She appeared in 49 movies, 35 of them coming during the 1930s and 1940s. She is probably most remembered for her role in "Gone With the Wind". She won two Academy Awards for Best Actress (1946, 1949).

She had lived in Paris since the early 1950s, mostly out of the public eye.

New York Times obituary
 

Happy 80th Birthday, Ringo!

Just 3 weeks after Paul's 78th birthday, Ringo turned 80 today.

Happy 78th Birthday!

Paul McCartney (June 18) and Brian Wilson (June 20).

RIP - Ken Osmond

Never in my 10 years of blogging have my Baseball, Eagles, Football, and Pop Culture blogs all been running obituaries at the same time. I can't keep up! (I haven't even had time to say anything about Jerry Stiller yet.) And none of these are COVID-19 related, as far as we know. 


Ken Osmond, best known as the wise-cracking troublemaker Eddie Haskell on the 1950s' TV series "Leave It To Beaver", passed away on May 18, 2020 at age 76.

I read somewhere that his part was originally supposed to be a one-and-done appearance, but he was so popular that he was retained for the duration of the series. I can't imagine that series without him!

In the 1980s, TBS rebooted the show as "The New Leave It to Beaver", where Beaver, Wally, Eddie, and Lumpy were the grownups with school-age kids. Eddie's 2 boys were played by Ken Osmond's real-life sons.

"Hello Mrs. Cleaver. That's a wonderful dress you're wearing. I was just telling young Theodore how lucky he is to have a mom like you!"

Variety obituary

New York Times obituary

RIP - Astrid Kircherr

Astrid Kircherr, the German photographer who befriended the Beatles during their time in Hamburg, passed away on May 13, 2020 at age 81.

She became the band's photographer in the early days. Here are some of her more well-known photos:

Pete Best, George, John, Paul, Stu Sutcliffe

Stu and John

Stu and Paul

During the Beatles' first trip to Hamburg, she and their early-bassist Stu Sutcliffe became romantically involved. He quit the band to remain in Germany with her.


Kircherr also suggested the hairstyle that the Beatles came to wear beginning around 1960. Previously, they looked like the photos above.

Origin of the hairstyle

 
BBC News obituary

Rolling Stone obituary
 

RIP - Little Richard

Little Richard (Richard Penniman), one of the early pioneers of rock and roll, passed away today, May 9, 2020 at age 87.

My first exposure to him was through the Beatles' cover of "Long Tall Sally". Later I heard "Tutti-Frutti", "Good Golly Miss Molly", "Lucille", and the rest.

People Magazine obituary

Comments from Ringo, Brian Wilson, and others
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RIP - Kirk Douglas

Kirk Douglas, the last remaining male movie star from Hollywood's Golden Age, passed away on February 5, 2020 at age 103.

Douglas appeared in over 85 movies from 1946 to 2004. Surprisingly, he never won an Oscar for best actor, although he was nominated three times in the 1950s.

Possibly best-known for his role in "Spartacus", my kids remember him as "the guy who sang A Whale of a Tale" in Disney's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea".

The Hollywood Reporter obituary

CBS News Obituary
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RIP - Edd "Kookie" Byrnes

Edd Byrnes, who played cool characters on 1950s' TV show "77 Sunset Strip" and the 1978 movie "Grease", passed away on January 8, 2020 at age 87.

He was never far from his trademark comb, neither as the fast-talking parking lot attendant on "77", nor the high school dance emcee in "Grease".

I found a 45 of his signature song at a used record store several years ago.

Los Angeles Times obituary
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RIP - Neil Peart

Neil Peart, drummer for Canadian rock group Rush, passed away on January 7, 2020 at age 67.

This occurred just 3 months after the death of Ginger Baker, a top drummer from the 1960s.

Peart is often considered to be one of the top 3 rock drummers (with John Bonham and Keith Moon).

No need to revisit his career here. If you've read this far, you're probably already a fan.

Fox News obituary .