Back in March, my Job required me to start collecting obituaries of musicians. I’ve blogged already about the oddities of obituaries. What I want to do here is put up, by way of memorial, a list of all those we have lost this year. Not because I have a morbid fascination in this sort of thing; rather – as I mention in that previous post – because of a lively interest in memory, memorial and the achievements of great people. Memory is one of the most important materials in music – it’s like marble for a sculptor – and remembering the dead is one of the most important human functions. Remembering musicians seems important on so many levels.
The list below is in rough reverse chronological order. It was compiled by me throughout the year using a combination of e-mail mailing lists and the obituaries RSS feed available from Moreover. It goes without saying that the list is far from complete, and unfortunately only goes as far back as March.
I’ve tried to link to available obituaries wherever possible.
2004 felt like a bad year for musicians. John Peel, Ray Charles and Elvin Jones will probably head any list of high profile losses in the end-of-year papers, and they will all be sadly missed. It felt like a bad year for punk too, with the deaths of Robert Quine, Arthur Kane and Johnny Ramone in quick succession. Zombies guitarist Paul Atkinson also said his goodbyes.
Reggae took a couple of big knocks with the losses of Coxsone Dodd and Errol Thompson. Elsewhere, metal, industrial and hiphop were shocked by the sudden deaths of Darrell Abbott, Jhonn Balance and Ol’ Dirty Bastard.
In classical and opera, Robert Merrill, Renata Tebaldi and Carlos Kleiber were among the significant departures. Composers Denis ApIvor, Jerry Goldsmith, Elmer Bernstein and Jonathan Kramer will also be missed. Kramer’s contribution to musicology will also be missed; musicology also lost Denis Stevens, Percy Young, Cyril Ehrlich and Albi Rosenthal.
Sadly, every year too many jazz and blues musicians die. Elvin Jones is of course the most significant of 2004; mention should also be made of Illinois Jacquet, Sacha Distel and Robert ‘Willie’ Egan.
Unfortunately, it was also a sad year for those of us who were still boys in the mid-80s. Etienne Roda-Gil and Ritchie Cordell, the composers of ‘Joe le Taxi’ and ‘I think we’re alone now’ respectively both passed away. For various reasons these two songs had a major influence on so many of today’s 20-something men. God bless you both.
Finally, do spare a thought for the Zawose family. Hukwe Zawose, who died late last year, was one Tanzania’s greatest musicians. His nephew Charles died in October of this year from an AIDS-related condition. Charles Zawose, singer and ilimba-player, was accompanist of choice for his uncle, and was a fine musician. Both their deaths have brought to an end one of Tanzania’s greatest musical dynasties.
Musician Deaths in 2004
Renata Tebaldi
Lyric soprano
M.S. Subbulakshmi
Singer of Carnatic music
Sidonie Goossens
BBC Symphony Orchestra harpist
Margaret Fay Shaw
Collector of Gaelic folksong
Jerry Scoggins
Country and Western singer
C.P. Spencer
Motown singer, songwriter and producer
Elena Souliotis
Greek soprano
Dimebag Darrell
Ex-Pantera guitarist
Frederick Fennell
Symphonic wind conductor
Errol Thompson
Jamaican recording engineer
Norman Newell
Record producer
Kevin Coyne
Singer-songwriter
Jacques Levy
Lyricist, worked with Dylan and on Broadway
Billy ‘Uke’ Scott
Ukulele player and music hall star
John Buller
Composer
George Canseco
Composer of Filippino national hymn
Cy Coleman
Broadway composer
Terry Melcher
Byrds producer
Frederik Prausnitz
Conductor
Michel Colombier
Film composer (New Jack City), and “Godfather of French Fusion”
John Balance
Coil co-founder
Ol’ Dirty Bastard
Wu Tang Clan rapper
Bill Reed
Doo-wop bass singer with the Diamonds
Terry Knight
Manager of Grand Funk Railroad
William Yarborough
Conductor
Pete Jolly
Jazz pianist and accordionist
Robert Heaton
New Model Army drummer and songwriter
Joe Bushkin
Jazz pianist
Howard Keel
Baritone
Robin Kenyatta
Jazz saxophonist
Terence Sharpe
Welsh baritone
Lilian Kallir
Pianist
Charles Zawose
Tanzanian musician
Robert Merrill
Leading baritone
John Peel
Radio DJ
Michal Hambourg
Pianist and teacher
Greg Shaw
Garage rock entrepreneur
Dave Godin
Soul CD compiler and music journalist
Heinz Wallberg
German conductor
Wally Harper
Arranger, composer and conductor who worked on Broadway
Vernon Alley
Jazz bassist
Juraj Benes
Slovak composer
Johnny Ramone
Guitarist with the Ramones
Dave Kirby
Country singer-songwriter
Ian Lake
Pianist and composer
Billy Davis
Songwriter – taught the world to sing and buy Coke
Carl Wayne
Lead singer with the Move
Laura Branigan
Singer, songwriter and actress
Hans Vonk
Conductor
Charlie Waller
Bluegrass singer and guitarist
Gnonnas Pedro
African salsa singer
Edmund Kurtz
Cellist and music editor
Melvin Endsley
Composer of ‘Singing the Blues’
Gérard Souzay
Lieder singer
Elmer Bernstein
Oscar winning film composer
Michael Eagan
Lutenist
Tony Mottola
Emmy-winning guitarist who played with Sinatra
Robert ‘Willie’ Egan
Blues legend
Albi Rosenthal
Music collector
David Raksin
Film composer, wrote ‘Laura’
Rick James
‘Super Freak’ songwriter
Piero Piccioni
Italian film composer
Carlos Paredes
Master of the Portuguese guitar
Yoko Watanabe
Opera singer
Jerry Goldsmith
Oscar-winning film score composer
James Williams
Pianist with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers
Sacha Distel
Smooth French crooner
Illinois Jacquet
Legendary saxophonist
Carlos Kleiber
Conductor
Bill Randle
DJ credited with establishing Elvis Presley
Claude “Fiddler” Williams
Jazz violinist
Arthur Kane
Original bassist with the New York Dolls
Edward Reilly
Mahler scholar
Naomi Shemer
Israeli songwriter
Jonathan Kramer
Composer and musicologist
Red Kelly
Jazz bassist
Iona Brown
Violinist and conductor
Ray Charles
Soul singer
Cyril Ehrlich
Economist and music historian
Robert Quine
Guitarist with Richard Hell and Lou Reed
James Savas
Music professor
Etienne Roda-Gil
Chanson writer – wrote ‘Joe le Taxi’
Steve Lacy
Soprano saxophonist
Clint Warwick
Moody Blues bassist
Denis ApIvor
Composer
Lorand Fenyves
Violin teacher
Ronald Smith
Pianist, “the Alkan man”
Terence Pamplin
Instrumentalist and musical polymath
Rick Henderson
Saxophonist
‘Gatemouth’ Moore
Blues singer
Letitia S. Bernhardt
Founder of Baltimore opera
Elvin Jones
Jazz drummer
John la Porta
Clarinettist
Percy Young
Elgar scholar, composer and editor
John Whitehead
R ‘n’ B legend
Brenda Fassie
Queen of African pop
Erik Smith
record producer
Coxsone Dodd
Dub producer
Barney Kessel
“The best guitarist in the world”
Fred Karlin
Oscar-winning film composer
Ritchie Cordell
Songwriter of ‘I think we’re alone now’ and others
Paul Hamburger
Vocal coach and accompanist
Juanito Valderrama
Flamenco singer
Argeo Quadri
Opera conductor
Colin Smith
Trumpeter with Acker Bilk
James H. Bey
Jazz percussionist
AC Reed
Saxophonist, singer and songwriter
Denis Stevens
Musicologist
Paul Atkinson
Zombies guitarist
Gabriella Ferri
Singer
Nikita Bogoslovsky
Soviet era composer
Sylvia Froos
Actress and singer
Bob Copper
Folk singer
Hubert Gregg
Songwriter
Johnny Bristol
Singer and songwriter
Vilayat Khan
Sitar player
Vilém Tausky
Conductor, composer and champion of Czech music in Britain
Sydney Carter
Folk singer and songwriter of ‘Lord of the Dance’
Preston Love
Jazz Sazophonist
Estelle Axton
Co-founder of Stax records
Tony Lee
Jazz pianist
RIP, all of you.
The Rambler 
What about Laura branigan?