Categotry Archives: Musicians

Frank “Son” Seals not only sang the blues, he lived them. A car accident in 1995 severely injured his left hand. Two years later, he was shot in the face during a domestic dispute. A lifelong diabetic, part of Seals’ left leg was amputated in 1999. More recently, his motor home was destroyed by fire and his custom-made guitar was stolen.
Despite these troubles, the gravelly-voiced singer/songwriter and guitarist toured all over the country and in Europe. He shared the stage with B.B. King, Johnny Winter and the jam band, Phish. Robert Palmer, writing for The New York Times once described Seals as “the most exciting young blues guitarist and singer in years.”
Seals was taught to play the guitar by his father, a former minstrel show performer and juke joint operator. However, the Arkansas native entered the music business in the late 1960s as a drummer, accompanying artists such as Earl Hooker and Albert King.
Seals moved to Chicago in 1971 and found regular work performing in South Side clubs. He released his debut album, “The Son Seals Blues Band,” in 1973 with Alligator Records, a premier blues label. Rolling Stone magazine called his sophomore effort, “Midnight Son,” one of the most significant blues albums of the 1970s. He recorded seven more albums for Alligator and two for other labels; his final album, “Lettin’ Go,” was released in 2000.
Seals won three W.C. Handy Blues Awards and received a Grammy nomination in 1980 for his work on the live compilation “Blues Deluxe.” In the 1990s, he performed at the White House for President Bill Clinton.
Seals died on Dec. 20 of complications from diabetes. He was 62.
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Artie Shaw, a jazz clarinetist who became the highest paid bandleader of the Big Band era, died on Dec. 29 of natural causes. He was 94.
Born Arthur Jacob Arshawsky, the New York native began playing the alto saxophone at 14. A few months later, he switched to the clarinet, the instrument that made him famous.
Shaw was playing for the CBS radio orchestra in 1935 when he was asked to form a small group that would play while the band onstage was changed. Their rendition of his song, “Interlude in B Flat,” brought down the house. Inspired by this reception, Shaw put together a combination of clarinet, strings and drums, and topped the charts with a recording of Cole Porter’s “Begin the Beguine.”
But success had its pitfalls, and soon Shaw was overcome by the demands of celebrity. He missed his privacy the most and in 1940, moved to Acapulco to get away from the madness of fame. After three months of peace and quiet, however, the media found him when he saved a woman from drowning. Since he was contracted to produce six more recordings for RCA Victor, Shaw returned to the states and formed a 31-piece studio band that released the hit song “Frenesi.”
The success of this tune allowed Shaw to create the Gramercy Five, a traveling band named after the New York telephone exchange at the time. They recorded the hits “Mysterioso,” “Nightmare,” “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered,” “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive,” “Dr. Livingstone, I Presume?,” “Star Dust,” “Summit Ridge Drive” and “My Funny Valentine.”
At his peak in the 1930s and ’40s, Shaw earned $60,000/week. He worked with numerous jazz legends, including Mel Torme, Joe Bushkin and Barney Kessel, and shocked all-white audiences in the South when he hired Billie Holiday to sing with his band. Shaw was wooed to Hollywood, as well, and appeared in half a dozen films. He received two Academy Award nominations for his soundtrack contributions to the musical “Second Chorus.”
Shaw enlisted in the Navy after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. During World War II, he culled together a group of civilian musicians to perform for the troops stationed in the Pacific. Despite this military service, Shaw was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1953. The outspoken liberal admitted that he had attended a couple of Communist meetings after the war, but never joined the party or gave it any money.
Shaw left the music business several times, then put down his clarinet for good in 1954. After that, he became a cattle rancher, a dairy farmer, a film producer, a lecturer on the college circuit and an author. Shaw published two short story collections (“I Love You, I Hate You, Drop Dead: Variations on a Theme” and “The Best of Intentions”), and the autobiography, “The Trouble With Cinderella.” He spent many years working on an unpublished novel about a troubled young jazz musician named Albie Snow. In 2004, Shaw received a lifetime achievement award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, and was named a jazz master by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Shaw was also famous for his matrimonial endeavors. Married eight times, his good looks and talent led to partnerships with four actresses (Lana Turner, Ava Gardner, Doris Dowling and Evelyn Keyes) and novelist Kathleen Winsor (“Forever Amber”). All but one of his marriages ended in divorce; his marriage to Jane Carns was annulled.
In his 90s, Shaw penned his own epitaph for “Who’s Who in America”: “He did the best he could with the material at hand.” He later edited it down to two words: “Go away.”
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Italian operatic soprano Renata Ersilia Clotilde Tebaldi had a voice that was praised by critics and conductors for its pure timbre, control and wide range.
Born in 1922, Tebaldi contracted polio when she was 3 years old. After recovering from the debilitating illness, she took piano and singing lessons at the conservatories in Pesaro and Parma, Italy.
Tebaldi made her professional debut in 1944 playing Elena in Boito’s ”Mefistofele” at the opera house in Rovigo, Italy. For the next three decades, she traveled widely and sang in some of the most noted opera houses, including Covent Garden in London and La Scala in Milan.
In 1950, Tebaldi made her American debut in San Francisco as Aïda. Five years later, she premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City as Desdemona. Tebaldi also signed an exclusive contract with Decca, and recorded most of her repertory for the record company.
Although the media frequently wrote about a bitter rivalry between her and Maria Callas, Tebaldi claimed she never felt any animosity toward the Greek leading lady. Callas, however, frequently compared Tebaldi to herself as “Coca-Cola to Champagne.”
In total, Tebaldi sang in 1,048 operas and 214 concerts. After experiencing problems with her vocal chords in the mid-1970s, however, she retired from performing and spent her final years teaching. Tebaldi was a Knight Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic and received a Commander, Order of Arts and Letters from France.
Tebaldi died on Dec. 19. Cause of death was not released. She was 82.
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Anne Sidonie Goossens, the principal harpist of the BBC Symphony Orchestra for nearly half a century, died in her sleep on Dec. 15. She was 105.
Born in 1899, Goossens was the last surviving member of a musically distinguished family. Her father and her grandfather, both named Eugene, were principal conductors of the Carl Rosa Opera Company. Her sister Marie, who died in 1991, was a harpist with several British orchestras. Her brother Leon, who died in 1988, was a renowned oboe player. Her brother Eugene, who died in 1962, directed symphony orchestras in the United States and later became the chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in Australia. Her brother Adolph, who played the French horn, was killed in World War I.
Although she yearned to be an actress or an opera singer, Goossens’ father decided she should play the harp. She studied at the Royal College of Music for one year then earned a living playing with chamber music groups and theatre bands. Goossens mastered difficult modern and avant garde works on her French Erard harp, and made her orchestral debut in 1921 in the orchestra her brother Eugene formed to play Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring.” She and Marie played the harp parts while Leon served as the principal oboe.
Goossens became the first solo harpist broadcast on the radio in 1923. In 1936, she was the first to play the harp on television. Goossens also made news that year when the destroyer Gallant rescued her and 49 other Britons from Barcelona after the Spanish Civil War broke out. Goossens was married to conductor, violinist and composer Hyam “Bumps” Greenbaum until his death in 1942. Three years later, she wed Major Norman Millar; he died in 1991.
A founding member of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Goossens was its principal harpist from 1939 to 1981, and a professor of the harp at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama for 30 years. She was appointed a Member (of the Order of the) British Empire in 1974 and an Officer (of the Order of the) British Empire in 1981. At 91, she became the oldest person to perform at the Last Night of the Proms concert. Televised on the BBC in 1991, the concert featured Goossens performing “The Last Rose of Summer” with singer Dame Gwyneth Jones.

Nadine Shamir, a singer/songwriter who was best known for the 1996 crossover hit “Set U Free,” died on Dec. 2 following the birth of her first child. She was 32.

The New York-born/Miami-raised performer was always creative — she painted, sculpted, acted and wrote screenplays — but her true passion was music. She wrote her first song at 12 and formed her first band two years later. At 16, Shamir independently released her debut album, “Say You’ll Stay,” and adopted the stage name Nadine Renee.

After high school, Shamir wrote and co-produced her second independent album, “Let’s Make Love.” She traveled around the world before moving to New York City to work as a receptionist at MCA Studios. In 1996, Shamir co-wrote the song “Set U Free.” She joined forced with Miami disc jockey George Acosta, and together they released “Set U Free” under the name Planet Soul. The song peaked at #26 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and crossed over to the R&B charts.

In recent years, Shamir performed in Europe and wrote songs for Warner/Chappell USA, a music publishing house. She recorded an album for MCA in the late-’90s, but it was later shelved. The Orchard released a reworked version as “Oasis of Love” in 2000.

Shamir is survived by her husband Jon and her newborn daughter, Liat Nadine Shamir.

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Darrell Abbott, guitarist of the heavy metal band Damageplan, was murdered on Dec. 8. He was 38.
Damageplan were performing at the Alrosa Villa, a nightclub in Columbus, Ohio, when a man jumped on stage and shot Abbott several times. The gunman, 25-year-old Nathan M. Gale, shot and wounded a bouncer who tried to tackle him, then began firing into the crowd. Three other people — Damageplan bodyguard Jeff Thompson, 40; fan Nathan Bray, 23; and Erin Halk, 29, who worked at the club — were slain before a police officer was able to shoot and kill Gale. Three others were also wounded in the attack.
Darrell and Vincent Abbott were born and raised in Dallas-Fort Worth. Their father, country & western songwriter/producer Jerry Abbott, owned a recording studio and often brought the boys to work. Although Vinnie became a drummer, Darrell was a natural on the guitar. Guitarists Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads and Ace Frehley of KISS heavily influenced his style (Darrell even tattooed Frehley’s image and signature onto his body).
The brothers, then known as Diamond Darrell and Vinnie Paul, formed Pantera in 1981 with singer Terrence Lee and bassist Rex Brown. Originally a glam rock group, Pantera released its recordings under the Abbotts’ Metal Magic label. Once singer Phil Anselmo joined the group in 1988, however, Pantera streamlined its sound into an angry, hard-core metal. Darrell then dumped his former nickname and adopted a new moniker: Dimebag Darrell.
Pantera quickly found an audience with disaffected youths. The band signed with Atlantic’s Atco Records imprint and released the breakthrough album “Cowboys From Hell” in 1990. Pantera’s 1994 album “Far Beyond Driven” entered the Billboard chart at No. 1 and sold 1.4 million copies in the United States. The band earned Grammy Award nominations for best metal performance in 1995 and 2001, but personal politics lead to the group’s break-up in 2002.
A year later, the Abbott brothers formed Damageplan with singer Pat Lachman and bassist Bob “Zilla” Kakaha. The group’s debut, “New Found Power,” was released in February and sold 160,000 copies.
“[Darrell's] the type of guy that would do anything for his friends,” Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian said in a VH-1 interview. “He really did put his family and his friends first, and for him everyone was his family. Once you came into contact with Dimebag and became friends with that guy, it was a sacred bond.”
[Update: A memorial for Dimebag Darrell will be held on Dec. 14 at the Convention Center in Arlington, Texas.]
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