I would like to add some guys to the list:

Johnny Thunders

Jerry Nolan

Arthur Kane

For me John Lennon's death remans the biggesr lose and the most disturbing all the way around. I happen to think that DOUBLE FANTASY is brilliant in it's simplicity, it's honesty and the lyrics, as referenced previously. I still haven't really gotten over that much the way when Hendrix died in 1970 when I was 17. In both cases I must admit I was deeply depressed for a long time. The rest of my list goes as follows: George Harrison, Jim Morrison, Janis, T Rex ( Marc Bolan), Michael Hutchence, Keith Moon, John Bonham. I add Brian to the list because musically the man was just getting started but that's assuming he WAS recovering and getting back on track and off the junk before he died.

Sadly added since 2006 when posted by good old Potted Shrimp:

2010 Solomon Burke
2010 Pete Quaife (bassist "The Kinks" )
2010 Ronnie James Dio
2010 Alex Chilton (singer "Box Tops" )
2010 Teddy Pendergrass

2009 James Gurley (guitarist "Big Brother and the Holding Co." )
2009 Dickie Peterson (lead singer, bassist "Blue Cheer" )
2009 Mary Travers (singer, "Peter, Paul, and Mary" )
2009 Les Paul (Guitar innovator)
2009 John "Marmaduke" Dawson (co-founder "New Riders of the Purple Sage" )
2009 Allen Klein (Stones)
2009 Michael Jackson
2009 Koko Taylor (blues singer)
2009 Dewey Martin (drummer "Buffalo Springfield" )
2009 Billy Powell (Lynyrd Skynyrd)

2008 Mitch Mitchell (drummer Jimi Hendrix)
2008 Jimmy Carl Black (drummer, vocalist for Frank Zappa and Mothers of Invention)
2008 Levi Stubbs (singer "Four Tops" )
2008 Richard Wright (keyboardist "Pink Floyd" )
2008 Isaac Hayes
2008 Colin Cooper (founding member and singer "Climax Blues Band" )
2008 Bo Diddley
2008 Danny Federici (keyboardist Bruce Springsteen)
2008 Buddy Miles (drummer Jimi Hendrix)

2007 Dan Fogelberg
2007 Ike Turner
2007 Kevin DuBrow (singer "Quiet Riot" )
2007 Hilly Kristal (founder club "CBGB's" )
2007 Brad Delp (singer "Boston" )
2007 Billy Thorpe
2007 Denny Doherty (founding member "Mamas and the Papas" )
2007 Sneaky Pete Kleinow (founding member of "The Flying Burrito Brothers" )

2006 James Brown
2006 Ahmet Artegun (Atlantic Records)
2006 Sandy West (drummer "The Runaways" )
2006 Freddy Fender
2006 Arthur Lee (singer, guitarist "Love" )
2006 Syd Barrett (singer "Pink Floyd" )
2006 Billy Preston
2006 Desmond Dekker
2006 Buck Owens
2006 Wilson Pickett
2006 Lou Rawls

IAN STEWART

Brian jones
jimi hendrix
jim morrison
janis joplin
buddy holly
the big bopper
elvis presley
steve marriott
ronnie van zant
john lennon
george harrison
marvin gaye
johnny cash
robert johnson
muddy waters
hank williams
john bonham
bon scott
keith moon
john entwistle
joey ramone
johnny ramone
dee dee ramone
waylon jennings
ray charles
cass elliot
dennis wilson
carl wilson

hell the list is too long

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Debra
For me John Lennon's death remans the biggesr lose and the most disturbing all the way around. .

To be honest ,not for me .
When Lennon died,imo he wasn't anymore the singer/musician/icon/picture he used to be .
So ,on ghostryder's list ,I would pick


Brian jones
jimi hendrix
jim morrison
janis joplin
buddy holly
elvis presley
steve marriott
ronnie van zant
johnny cash
bon scott



I am a Frenchie ,as Mick affectionately called them in the Old Grey Whistle Test in 1977 .

Brian and Johnnie Johnson.

Out of great artists passing away very early into their careers without having accomplished nowhere near their full potential Jeff Buckley is one of a kind. A truly amazing songwriter, singer and guitarist whose only proper studio album Grace is a masterpiece.

.........IKE



ROCKMAN

For me without a doubt, it is Lennon. He was a touchstone as I moved through life. He stated his musical formula: Tell the truth; make it rhyme; and give it a back beat. It sounds easy, but it isn't. And it does not translate to broad popular appeal. Few of his songs I consider fluff. Personally, he was one of the most interesting of the classic rock personalities. He had the courage to state where he was at at any point in his life. He may have sometimes been full of sh*t, but I never thought he was bullsh*tting me. He was a mass of contradictions: An often insecure egotist musical giant whose landscape became his soul. Ultimately that is where any artist of note
finds his muse. Fame, wealth, loneliness, love, family, the role of an artist in society...are all things he dealt with in spades. What do you do, what does it mean when you have everything? It is territory the Stones are not capable of exploring. As Keith said in the Chuck Berry movie: "There's no money in it." Hearing a Lennon interview left me scratching my head for days. He was honest and thoughtful. I never felt that way about a Jagger interview. Lennon's first solo album, the POB, is one of the most compelling albums ever made. This from "a Beatle." It's stunning.

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pmk251
For me without a doubt, it is Lennon. He was a touchstone as I moved through life. He stated his musical formula: Tell the truth; make it rhyme; and give it a back beat. It sounds easy, but it isn't. And it does not translate to broad popular appeal. Few of his songs I consider fluff. Personally, he was one of the most interesting of the classic rock personalities. He had the courage to state where he was at at any point in his life. He may have sometimes been full of sh*t, but I never thought he was bullsh*tting me. He was a mass of contradictions: An often insecure egotist musical giant whose landscape became his soul. Ultimately that is where any artist of note
finds his muse. Fame, wealth, loneliness, love, family, the role of an artist in society...are all things he dealt with in spades. What do you do, what does it mean when you have everything? It is territory the Stones are not capable of exploring. As Keith said in the Chuck Berry movie: "There's no money in it." Hearing a Lennon interview left me scratching my head for days. He was honest and thoughtful. I never felt that way about a Jagger interview. Lennon's first solo album, the POB, is one of the most compelling albums ever made. This from "a Beatle." It's stunning.

Great post pmk.

james honeyman scott-pretenders
pete faradon-pretenders
glen buxton-alice cooper
jesse ed davis
roy buchanan
danny gatton
eddie hazel-parliament
ron asheton-stooges

i was going to mention shannon hoon from blind melon figuring no one else would. i see his name already though

did anyone mention GG Allin ?

Stevie Ray Vaughan--really loved him.


Already mentioned but important to me,

Arthur Lee
Jerry Garcia

i think in order to fit this question it should be someone who was young enough to still make great music. i see people being named that were 55+ and at the end of their career. is that really a great loss to music or are we just sad they are gone?

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keefriffhard4life
i think in order to fit this question it should be someone who was young enough to still make great music. i see people being named that were 55+ and at the end of their career. is that really a great loss to music or are we just sad they are gone?

Dude, are you serious? The loss of an artist is both sad and a great loss regardless of age.

Is James Brown not important because he didn't die young?

Quote
The Sicilian

Quote
keefriffhard4life
i think in order to fit this question it should be someone who was young enough to still make great music. i see people being named that were 55+ and at the end of their career. is that really a great loss to music or are we just sad they are gone?

Dude, are you serious? The loss of an artist is both sad and a great loss regardless of age.

Is James Brown not important because he didn't die young?

what do you think people live forever?

It would seem lennon's best work was behind him, though of course his death is the most tragic circumstances. "Double Fantasy" is nice and I'm sure he would have come up with some more good stuff, but I don't feel his career was halted mid-sentence,

In that regard, the artists that left with the most promise ahead (IMO of course):
:
Hendrix without question first and foremost. Where he was taking music can only be fathomed, but the with an increasing Afrocentric influence and his ability I feel the best was ahead.

Otis -- Jesus, "Dock of the Bay" was his last song. Just beginning to hit his stride.

Jim Morrison -- because the Doors had previously released their best two albums -- "Morrison Hotel" and "LA Woman." I think they were on a run comparable to the Stones "Beggars Banquet" to "Exile." So I'm guessing we got cheated two classic LPs.

Duane Allman -- "Eat a Peach" shows where the Allmans were going -- lyrical, melodic, heartfelt, -- so Southern but not Southern Rock. And "Layla" for Duane's playing. Right as the flame was rising.

I'm not as familiar with Cobain and Jeff Buckley but it would seem they were cut way short. Now as to artists who were waylaid by drugs and alcohol and sins of the flesh, that is another matter....

I agree with all of these choices but for me on a personal level I'm more curious about Buddy Holly and Same Cooke.

I really wonder what they would have done.

Sam Cooke may have become more of a producer but he was just about to record any full LP. I think it was set to be all Blues. Maybe another classic? Would he still be performing today? He surely would have recorded for at least another decade.

Buddy Holly I think about a lot. Would he have become Dylan before Dylan? He was writing singer/songwriter songs just a couple years before the Dylan. Would he have been rediscovered in the early 70s during the singer/songwriter boom?

Perhaps if he had lived he would have been like most acts from the 50s. Sadly most of the greats have not done much recording outside of the 50s.


I know we are mainly concerned with rock and roll here but I wonder these same things about Johnny Horton as well who I consider a great loss. I believe he would have had a steady career like willie nelson or george jones had he lived.

It's very sad. I can picture a whole career for these gentlemen with highs and lows and a even a rick rubin produced comeback in their twilight years.

Buddy Holly in my opinion had the most potential for the longest career and it's very easy to picture a Dylan like setting for him.

I don't think anyone has mentioned Eddie Cochran or Bobby Fuller yet...two GIANT talents that died waaaaay too young.

And in the blues world, its a damn shame Magic Sam died so young.

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Rockman
.........IKE

Turner ??

FM Radio and records.

Freddie Mercury - Greatest Singer, who ever walked on Planet Earth!!!!

.... and other great ones like John Lennon, George Harrison, Jim Morrison, etc.

Has anyone mentioned Stevie Ray Vaughn? Was only getting better and better.

Benjamin Smoke from ATL, GA.

Ronnie Lane;

John Lennon
George Harrison
Brian Jones
Janis Joplin
Jimi Hendrix
Otis Redding
Jim Morrison
Keith Moon
John Bonham
Randy Rhodes
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Duane Allman
Ronnie Van Zandt
Ian Stewart
John Entwistle
Muddy Waters
Elvis Presley
John Phillips
Mama Cass
David Ruffin
Michael Jackson
Marvin Gaye
James Brown
Solomon Burke
Jerry Garcia - Don't like the Dead but feel for the fans - it will never be the same



These people and many others are missed dearly and they all made great contributions to the rock and pop world weather or not we like all of them or not. I especially miss Hendrix, Moon and Brian Jones (wold love to have seen what he would have done outside the Stones) and John Lennon.

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boston2006

Quote
Rockman
.........IKE

Turner ??

Ike Turner's passing inspired one of the all-time bad taste headlines in the New York Post: "Ike Beats Tina to Death."

The quality control manager of the Rolling Stones Inc., passed away ca. 1988

Bon Scott - he was so good that ACDC made their biggest album without him - purely because his spirit lingered long enough for the recordings to take place. After Back in Black, they were never the same. Bon was a giant. Every music collection should have Powerage in it. Street poetry, with swagger and a big heart.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-12-12 20:38 by letitloose.

Quote
Wry Cooter
It would seem lennon's best work was behind him, though of course his death is the most tragic circumstances. "Double Fantasy" is nice and I'm sure he would have come up with some more good stuff, but I don't feel his career was halted mid-sentence,

In that regard, the artists that left with the most promise ahead (IMO of course):
:
Hendrix without question first and foremost. Where he was taking music can only be fathomed, but the with an increasing Afrocentric influence and his ability I feel the best was ahead.

Otis -- Jesus, "Dock of the Bay" was his last song. Just beginning to hit his stride.

Jim Morrison -- because the Doors had previously released their best two albums -- "Morrison Hotel" and "LA Woman." I think they were on a run comparable to the Stones "Beggars Banquet" to "Exile." So I'm guessing we got cheated two classic LPs.

Duane Allman -- "Eat a Peach" shows where the Allmans were going -- lyrical, melodic, heartfelt, -- so Southern but not Southern Rock. And "Layla" for Duane's playing. Right as the flame was rising.

I'm not as familiar with Cobain and Jeff Buckley but it would seem they were cut way short. Now as to artists who were waylaid by drugs and alcohol and sins of the flesh, that is another matter....

Hendrix continuing on would have ben interesting but he was ridiculously overrated