June 10, 200421 yr I don't use terms like 'American Institution' very often in referencing people, but if there is such a thing Ray was it. The man literally invented soul music. Brother Ray
June 10, 200421 yr Author I just saw the notice. bummer, R.I.P. Whose going to complete the three? I see I wasn't the only one thinking that...
June 10, 200421 yr I see I wasn't the only one thinking that... BTW, I'm also wondering if my buddy still runs a death pool. Reagan was only worth 7 points. Ray Charles would have been worth 27.
June 10, 200421 yr I just saw the notice. bummer, R.I.P. Whose going to complete the three? Well, Derek Frigo of Enuff Z'Nuff (local Chicago band that did decent in the late 80's) passed away last week, and then there was this just brought to my attention: LOS ANGELES, California/NEW YORK (Billboard) -- Guitarist Robert Quine, one of punk rock's most daring soloists, was found dead Saturday in his New York apartment. He was 61. According to close friend and guitar maker Rick Kelly, who discovered Quine's body, the musician died of a heroin overdose Memorial Day weekend. He had been despondent over the recent death of his wife. Born in Akron, Ohio, Quine was heavily influenced by the Velvet Underground, whose music he recorded obsessively while living in San Francisco. He moved to New York in 1971 and became the lead guitarist for bassist Richard Hell's important group the Voidoids, with whom he recorded two albums. His skittering, unpredictable work with Hell defined the possibilities of punk guitar. During the '80s, he recorded and toured frequently with Lou Reed and played on saxophonist/composer John Zorn's best-known albums. Quine made key guest appearances on Tom Waits' "Rain Dogs" (1985) and Marianne Faithfull's "Strange Weather" (1987). In 1989, he began a long association with Matthew Sweet; he also worked regularly with Lloyd Cole. In 2001, Universal released a three-CD box of Quine's live 1969 recordings of the Velvet Underground, "The Bootleg Series Volume 1: The Quine Tapes." "Robert Quine was a magnificent guitar player -- an original and innovative tyro of the vintage beast," Reed said in a statement released to Billboard.com. "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 son. He made tapes for me for which I am eternally grateful -- tapes of the juiciest parts of solos from players long gone. "Quine was smarter than them all. And the proof is in the recordings, some of which happily are mine. If you can find more interesting sounds and musical clusters than Quine on 'Waves of Fear' (from Reed's 1982 album "The Blue Mask"), well, it's probably something else by Robert." "He was a marvelous guitarist, a soulful music lover with high standards and had an eviscerating wit," Patti Smith Band drummer Jay Dee Daugherty told Billboard.com. "He did not suffer fools gladly, but made up for it with a thinly disguised generosity of spirit." So it all depends on how "famous" you want your three to be.
June 10, 200421 yr Author Well, Derek Frigo of Enuff Z'Nuff (local Chicago band that did decent in the late 80's) passed away last week, and then there was this just brought to my attention: Brian is a huge fan of Enuff and when he heard that he wasn't surprised at all, in fact his first words were he looked dead back in '88.
June 10, 200421 yr I forgot about Quine and I posted his notice a couple days ago. There was a real popular guitarist (Eddie VanHalen?) that counted Quine as his biggest influence and I couldn't find the reference.
June 11, 200421 yr He lived a good life. He was born into crushing poverty, watched his younger brother drown in the tub when he was 5, went blind for unexplained reasons when he was 7, was an orphan at 15 raised as a ward of the state in a school for the blind, had a serious heroin addiction from the 50s through the mid-60s... Yeah, good times...
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