Categotry Archives: Musicians

Rachel Bissex, an award-winning folk singer and songwriter, died on Feb. 20 from complications of breast cancer. She was 48.
Raised in Newton, Mass., Bissex was 13 when her mother gave her a $35 guitar. Using instruction books penned by Joan Baez and Peter, Paul and Mary, she taught herself to play the instrument and write music. Bissex earned a bachelor’s of fine arts degree from Johnson State College in 1982, then moved to Burlington, Vt. She delved into the town’s burgeoning music scene and founded the Burlington Coffee House, a local venue for contemporary folk artists, and the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival.
Over the next two decades, Bissex developed a loyal following on the folk festival circuit. She recorded five albums, opened for artists such as Joan Armatrading, Ray Charles and Shawn Colvin, and played at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Her latest record, “In White Light,” featured orchestral arrangements of her music performed by the Vermont Youth Orchestra. Bissex won the Kerrville New Folk Songwriting Award and the Wildflower Songwriting Contest. In 2001, she was a finalist in the Telluride Troubadour Contest and received an honorable mention in the Billboard Song Competition.
In recent years, Bissex delved into other creative pursuits. She acted in the 2004 film “Nothing Like Dreaming,” and directed the play “Sun Spot: The Crime of the Need to Be Right,” which was written by her husband, playwright Stephen Goldberg. Bissex is survived by Goldberg and their two children, Emma and Matt.
Download MP3s by Bissex

Tyrone Davis, a suave soul singer who placed 43 songs in the R&B charts between 1968 and 1988, died on Feb. 9 of pneumonia. He was 66.
The Mississippi native was just a teenager when he moved to Chicago in 1959. Davis toiled at a factory during the day and spent his evenings honing his smooth vocal style. Years of performing in the city’s west- and south-side blues clubs led to a record deal with the Four Brothers label and a job working for blues guitarist Freddie King as a valet and chauffeur.
“Tyrone the Wonder Boy” moved to Dakar Records in 1968 and found a national audience with the single, “Can I Change My Mind.” The song topped the R&B charts, and became a No. 5 pop hit. In the 1970s, the baritone scored other R&B hits with “Turn Back the Hands of Time” and “Turning Point.”
Davis continued to record albums and tour the club circuit through the 1980s and 1990s. In 1998, the master of soul ballads received the Pioneer Award from the R&B Foundation. His last album, “Legendary Hall of Famer,” was released in October, a month after a stroke forced him to retire. Davis remained hospitalized until his death.
Download MP3s by Tyrone Davis

   Australian opera star June Bronhill died in her sleep on Jan. 24. Cause of death was not released. She was 75.

Born June Gough in Broken Hill, New South Wales, she took piano and vocal lessons throughout her childhood. After winning a singing competition in 1950, June changed her last name to Bronhill to honor the people of her hometown, who raised £1,500 to send her overseas.

Bronhill made her debut in 1954 at Sadler’s Wells Opera Company in London as Adele in “Die Fledermaus.” Four years later, she received a 20 minute standing ovation on opening night for her performance in Franz Lehar’s “The Merry Widow.” Despite her small stature — she was barely five feet tall — Bronhill’s vibrant personality and clear voice could fill an entire opera house.

For four decades, the coloratura soprano performed in Britain, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Bronhill regularly appeared on the British Broadcasting Corp. show “Friday Night Is Music Night,” but was best known for her roles in the operas “Lucia di Lammermoor,” “The Magic Flute,” “The Cunning Little Vixen,” “Rigoletto,” “Don Pasquale” and “The Sound of Music.” She sang on 30 operetta albums, most of which are currently out of circulation. However, several of Bronhill’s early London recordings were re-released in 2004.

For her contributions to the music industry, Bronhill was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1976. An auditorium and a street in Broken Hill were also named in her honor.

Bronhill suffered from breast cancer in the 1980s, then steadily lost her hearing. Robbed of her music and the ability to perform, the gregarious singer was forced to retire in 1993. Bronhill married twice and had one daughter.

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Big Joe Burrell, a larger-than-life blues singer and saxophonist, died on Feb. 2 from complications following abdominal surgery. He was 80.
One of seven children, Burrell spent his early years in Port Huron, Mich., listening to his mother sing and his father play the guitar, harmonica and piano. At 10, the boy’s mother borrowed $5 from her boss in order to buy him a saxophone. The request was granted and changed his life.
For the next six decades, Burrell sang and played jazz, rock and blues on his sax. He dropped out of high school in the ninth grade to pursue a music career, and was already working gigs at local clubs when World War II called him into the service. Burrell joined the U.S. Army in 1943 and played in the military’s show band, then spent two years battling tuberculosis — a condition that temporarily hindered his ability to play.
After recovering from the disease, Burrell moved to Toledo, Ohio, and formed the Red Tops Organ Trio. At a dance in Akron, the band opened for legendary blues guitarist B.B. King. King loved Burrell’s big sax sound, and immediately invited him to join his band. Burrell agreed and spent the next two years touring the United States. When Count Basie heard him play, he also invited Burrell to join with his orchestra in New York City. Through Basie, Burrell landed a job backing The Miller Sisters as they toured Bermuda, the Bahamas and Europe.
Burrell spent the next decade living in Toronto and playing in a jazz band with Big John Little. He was en route to New York in 1976 when he stumbled upon the burgeoning music scene in Burlington, Vt. For the next 30 years, Burrell became a fixture in the area, and even received a key to the city from the mayor.
His informal jam sessions at the now-defunct Hunt’s club drew standing room only audiences. With guitarist Paul Asbell, keyboardist Chuck Eller, bassist Tony Markellis and drummer Russ Lawton, Burrell formed the Unknown Blues Band, a group that performed in clubs and jazz festivals all over New England and released the albums “Live at Hunt’s” and “Every Time I Hear That Mellow Saxophone.”
One person who heard the gregarious saxophonist perform was Trey Anastasio, a University of Vermont student and guitarist who later formed the touring rock band Phish. Once he became a successful musician in his own right, Anastasio invited Burrell to open for Phish and play in a solo project he formed.
Until his death, Burrell played a gig every Thursday night at the Halvorson’s Upstreet Café. He also performed benefit concerts for the Multicultural Center of Greater Burlington, Women Helping Battered Women and the Flynn Center Endowment Fund. His autobiography, “We Call Him ‘Big’ Joe! Big Horn, Big Soul, Big Man: A Musician’s Odyssey,” was published in 2002.

James Arthur Griffin, an Academy Award-winning singer/songwriter and guitarist who was also a founding member of several soft rock and country bands, died on Jan. 11 from complications of cancer. He was 61.
Born in Cincinnati and reared in Memphis, Griffin moved to Hollywood, Calif., in 1962, with hopes of breaking into the music business. He released a solo debut (“Summer Holiday”) and several pop singles, then joined forces with keyboardist/vocalist David Gates and guitarist/vocalist Robb Royer to form the soft rock group Bread.
Bread released a self-titled debut in 1968, but it failed to attract much attention. The band’s sophomore release, “On the Waters,” went gold and featured the chart-topper “Make It With You.” Several hits followed, including “If,” “Mother Freedom,” “Baby I’m-a Want You” and “Everything I Own.” In 1973, Griffin left the band due to creative differences with Gates. He rejoined three years later, but more fighting ensued, and Bread soon disbanded amidst rancor and lawsuits.
Although Gates penned most of Bread’s hit songs, Griffin was a talented songwriter in his own right. He wrote the county song “Who’s Gonna Know,” which became a hit for Conway Twitty, and shared a 1970 Oscar for best original song with Royer and Fred Karlin. The trio co-wrote “For All We Know” for the film, “Lovers and Other Strangers.” The song was also a Top 5 hit for The Carpenters.
Griffin later released a second solo album (“James Griffin”) and formed the country band Black Tie with former Eagles’ bassist Randy Meisner and singer Billy Swan. He and the country band, the Remingtons, scored a Top 10 single in 1992 with “A Long Time Ago.”
Download MP3s by Bread

Spencer Dryden, a former drummer for the rock band Jefferson Airplane, died on Jan. 10 of cancer. He was 66.
Although he was born in New York, Dryden was raised in Los Angeles. The son of Broadway actor Wheeler Dryden and ballet dancer Alice Dryden, Spencer was also Charlie Chaplin’s nephew. He picked up the drums as a teenager and eventually sat in with bands at southern California jazz clubs.
After Dryden graduated from the Army and Navy Academy in Carlsbad, Calif., he switched from jazz to rock n’ roll. To make a living, Dryden offered rim shots to comedians in L.A. nightclubs and gave the exotic dancers at Hollywood strip clubs a rhythm to follow. Session drummer Earl Palmer heard Dryden’s performance at the Pink Pussycat and recommended him to the manager of Jefferson Airplane.
Dryden joined the band in 1966, replacing Skip Spence, who later formed the rock group, Moby Grape. As Airplane’s drummer, Dryden performed at Woodstock, Monterey and Altamont, and recorded “Surrealistic Pillow,” the band’s most famous album, which included the hits “Somebody to Love” and “White Rabbit.” He also dated Airplane’s lead singer Grace Slick. A year after they broke up, Dryden married groupie Sally Mann, and Slick served as the matron of honor. Dryden was fired from the band a few weeks after the 1970 wedding. He and Mann divorced three years later.
Dryden spent the 1970s in the country rock band New Riders of the Purple Sage before becoming the group’s manager. From 1982 to 1995, he played with the Dinosaurs, a Bay Area group of psychedelic rock veterans. For his work with Jefferson Airplane, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.
In recent years, Dryden fell on hard times. He lost all of his personal belongings in 2003 when his home burned down. He underwent two hip replacements and heart surgery, then was diagnosed with cancer in 2004. To help with his medical bills and living expenses, friends put together an eBay auction and a benefit concert, featuring performances by Grateful Dead vocalist Bob Weir and singer Warren Haynes of The Allman Brothers and Gov’t Mule. These events raised nearly $36,000.
Download “Surrealistic Pillow”