Comments for The Passing of Music Icons - 2016 - A tribute to those who passed | Eastern North Carolina Now

When I was a young hippie taking in many shows, I judged bands on how well they performed in concerts.

Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, James Taylor, the Eagles, the Moody Blues, the Allman Brothers were always great. Alice Cooper and Jimmy Buffett not so great, actually, not very good at all. To me, Jimmy Buffet is just a washed up lounge act that people, who have no concept of good music, love to listen to.

Recently, I just saw Jewel in a small theater in Durham, just her and her guitar. Overall, she was far better than her recordings.

Her voice, her soulful attitude, her commitment to message was remarkable, and it may be one of the best shows I have ever seen, and I saw all of the above great bands when they were in their prime.

Commented: Monday, January 2nd, 2017 @ 1:04 pm By: Stan Deatherage

(You) Said: ( Jan 2, 2017 @ 11:08 am )
I am not a big fan of today's music, and it could be that I have been exposed to much better music from our generation, my rudimentary understanding of how to create music from scratch, or my knowledge of classical music of many genres from over the last few centuries. And, from this perspective, today's popular music is abysmal, too stylized and very short on musical originality: from country music to rap, it is mostly not very good.

There are some great musicians today, but they are not so stylized, and, therefore, not so popular.

Mariah Carey v. Jewel: No contest here - Jewel is far more talented, more soulful, better singer, writes better music, and offers far more to our society in so many ways.

Commented: Monday, January 2nd, 2017 @ 11:08 am By: Stan Deatherage

Yeah, I remember Bobby V., but when I was at the "make-out age", Bobby Vee had seen his best days.

Commented: Monday, October 31st, 2016 @ 7:28 pm By: Stan Deatherage

I do remember that movie. Steve was a real social misfit who often played the anti hero, a role that matched his character. He was a anti-authority rebel in real life as well as movie rolls. Of course my favorite McQeeen movie was Bullitt mainly due to the car chase.

Commented: Sunday, August 28th, 2016 @ 6:05 am By: Bobby Tony

I did not include this in the article but put it here in the comment section to illustrate the purity of Glenn's voice. The song is not a bad lesson either.

beaufortcountynow.com

Commented: Saturday, August 27th, 2016 @ 7:47 am By: Bobby Tony

Yeah, and don't forget Pete Maravich, who went to LSU, and I think played for the old Jazz. Nobody ever talks about Pete anymore. What a natural talent back when White boys played sports like basketball.

Pete would be a big star now.

Commented: Sunday, August 7th, 2016 @ 5:45 pm By: Stan Deatherage

Not a week passes that my brother, who is 76 and still active and maintains contact with many of his old Phillips 66 workmates, hears of someone passing or going into a rest home. You are right on track with prevention of atrophy of the body and it is of considerable necessity to keep from getting atrophy of the mind. I think the hardest part is the prevention of atrophy of attitude that creeps in with the loss of goals and plans.

Of course, it is presumptuous for me as a mere 70 year old to offer advice on how to grow old. My old man made it until 99 and was active mentally and physically up until 6 months before passing. He just came to the breakfast table one day and said "Boys I'm done". He never got out of bed again and died peacefully a couple of months later. It was no surprise to Jim or me. He lived life and death on his own terms and was at peace with himself and the lord.

Commented: Wednesday, June 22nd, 2016 @ 3:15 pm By: Bobby Tony

That is funny.

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, I am in the twilight of a mediocre life . Too old to act like I feel and too young to give creditable advice. The only option left is to try to keep from being pigeonholed into either category. I use humor to address the quandary.

A guy at the clubhouse this morning ask me what phase of life we were in and I told him we were moving from the "stick-shift" phase to the "shift-stiff" phase. That is the point in life when you would like to shift the stiff back, fingers and knees to some other part of the body that no longer has that problem.

Commented: Wednesday, June 22nd, 2016 @ 11:50 am By: Bobby Tony

Years ago Readers Digest use to have an ongoing series about my most Unforgettable Character. It always featured someone who was memorable. One of the gimmicks used in sales was the shtick, derived from the Borscht Belt comedians of the Catskill Mountains. Have something that was memorable to differentiate you from the crowd. I never had a goatee until the last two or three years of my working career because we were such a buttoned down engineering company. Nevertheless, I used the shtick at various times to hopefully get a leg up. In industrial sales, there is not a lot of pressure or gimmicks used, but my shtick was usually my sense of humor or my quirky personality. Since most sales engineers are as dry as a popcorn-fart, it was not hard to differentiate myself from the crowd.

Like the old saying goes, "If you can't dazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with your Bull$hit". I am and was pretty good at that.

Commented: Wednesday, June 22nd, 2016 @ 5:28 am By: Bobby Tony

I was never a big Emerson, Lake and Palmer fan; although, I recognize their talent.

In 1974, I went to festival at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, where Emerson, Lake and Palmer were sharing the top billing with the Allman Brothers.

Duane was recently deceased, and rather than try to replace Duane's fabulous guitar work, the band hired Chuck Leavell's piano.

Keith Emerson employed a hydraulic lift to elevate his baby grand (or was it a full grand?), and then rotate it for some major musical theatrics. At the end of the evening, after much musical histrionics, I ws far more impressed by Chuck Leavell, as he just slayed the iconic "Jessica", than anything ELP could accomplish.

Just a memory, and rest in peace Keith.

Commented: Saturday, March 12th, 2016 @ 2:40 pm By: Stan Deatherage

Thanks again Bobby Tony for keeping us informed.

If you don't like Soul Music, and Earth, Wind and Fire was certainly that: What do you like?

The passing of yet another icon.

Commented: Friday, February 5th, 2016 @ 7:17 pm By: Stan Deatherage

Thanks B.T. for keeping me informed about this and all the other stuff you write about - especially the funny stuff - so don't hold back, publish and refine at will.

We'll keep it in front of people's eyes.

Commented: Tuesday, January 19th, 2016 @ 7:48 am By: Stan Deatherage

Thanks Stan for the ICON change on this post, I forgot to update.

All these years and I just got around to looking up Winslow, Arizona on My Maps here at BCN. It is 1798 Miles from home and about 27 Hours drive, but it has to be better than standing on the corner in the retirement community.

Commented: Tuesday, January 19th, 2016 @ 5:22 am By: Bobby Tony

If Eagles were like America's Beatles, then Glenn Frye was their John Lennon.

There was a time in my life, when I made a turn toward a different light, a better light, and musically, the Eagles were part of that turn. During that turn, the Eagles were new and fresh and rhythmic oasis for me. I bought all of their albums, and there were not many of them, but they are all classics.

The Eagles, On the Border, Desperado, Hotel California, The Long Run are all classics - great music.

Commented: Monday, January 18th, 2016 @ 7:54 pm By: Stan Deatherage

I was a big fan, and then wasn't, then became a fan again.

My baby daughter is inconsolable.

In closing, I offer this: beaufortcountynow.com

Commented: Monday, January 11th, 2016 @ 11:40 am By: Stan Deatherage