Obituary News

Memorial Service for Leanne Butts to be Held Thursday, October 29

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
October 29, 2009

A memorial service for bassist Leanne Butts will be held at 1:00 p.m. Thursday, October 29 at St. Paul's Cemetery, 7600 S Rock Hill Rd. Butts died Wednesday, October 21 at age 49. Her obituary in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch did not list a cause of death.Leanne Butts performed jazz around the St. Louis area with Lee Hyde, After Six, Terry Thompson, her own trio, and various others. She earned a master's of music degree from Webster University, ...

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Lloyd Bartlett, Jazz Pianist and Former St. Louisan, Dead at Age 85

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
October 27, 2009

According to an article published today by the Arizona Daily Star, jazz pianist and former St. Louisan Lloyd Bartlett (pictured) has died of natural causes at age 85.Bartlett moved from St. Louis to Tuscon, Arizona “about a dozen years ago," the article said, and had continued to perform solo and with local groups including the Big Band Express until just a few days before his death.Lloyd Bartlett began his career as a professional musician in St. ...

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TV-Show Comedian Was a Hit with Pies and Sidekick Puppets

Source: Michael Ricci
October 25, 2009

Soupy Sales, 83, a loose-limbed comedian whose goofy skits, slapstick antics and pie-tossing shenanigans made him one of the country's most popular television stars of the 1950s and '60s, died Oct. 22 at a hospice in the Bronx, N.Y. He had a variety of health problems, but the cause of death was not reported. Mr. Sales gained early fame in the 1950s as the host of a daytime children's TV show in Detroit and always had a strong following among ...

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Drummer Wilby Fletcher, Jr., Dead at 54

Source: Michael Ricci
October 21, 2009

Wilbert B. Fletcher “Wilby" age 54, passed away suddenly, October 15, 2009, in Wilmington. Father of Jumbe, Jeffrey, Jermaine and Cheo Fletcher, Quinn Jackson, and Spencer Hill. Son of Betty Fletcher and the late Wilbert Fletcher. Brother of Anthony and Jamil Fletcher and Sharon Turner. He is also survived by 2 grandchildren, Laila and Camille Jackson; 1 niece, 3 aunts, 2 uncles and a host of other family and friends. Wilby was known throughout the country as a renowned drummer. ...

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Blue Cheer's Dickie Peterson Rip Bassist/Vocalist Dead at 63

Source: JamBase
October 18, 2009

BLUE CHEER'S DICKIE PETERSON DEAD AT 63

From roadrunnerrecords.com:

Dickie Peterson - Blue Cheer Dickie Peterson, the bassist/vocalist and founding member of Blue Cheer, passed away Monday morning (October 12) at 5 a.m. in Germany. He was 63 years old. Peterson had reportedly been battling prostate and liver cancer, and according to Blue Cheer's message board, had developed a fatal infection following a surgical procedure to help alleviate his fight.

Blue Cheer was an American blues-rock band that initially performed ...

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'Godfather' Actor Al Martino Dies in Pa. at 82

Source: Michael Ricci
October 14, 2009

SPRINGFIELD, Pa. (AP) -- Singer Al Martino, who played the Frank Sinatra-type role of Johnny Fontane in “The Godfather" and recorded hits including “Spanish Eyes" and the Italian ballad “Volare" in a 50-year musical career, died Tuesday. He was 82. Martino died at his childhood home in the Philadelphia suburb of Springfield, in Delaware County, according to publicist Sandy Friedman, of the Rogers & Cowan public relations firm. Friedman didn't cite a cause of death. Starting in 1952, Martino was ...

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John Lennon Re-Imagining Himself, then Gone

Source: Michael Ricci
October 12, 2009

Robert Hilburn, former pop music critic for the Los Angeles Times, is author of “Corn Flakes With John Lennon (and Other Tales From a Rock 'n' Roll Life)." An excerpt in Sunday Calendar recalled his relationship with Lennon after the Beatles' breakup. In today's abridged excerpt, he writes about Lennon's murder. In 1980, after 10 years at The Times, I was at a crossroads in my personal life. I loved my family, but I was also so obsessive about my ...

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Shelby Singleton Maverick Country Music Mogul Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
October 9, 2009

Shelby Singleton, a maverick country music mogul and talent scout who launched the careers of Roger Miller and Ray Stevens before resuscitating the fabled Sun Records label to give new life to recordings by 1950s Sun discoveries including Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis, has died. He was 77. Singleton died Wednesday in Nashville following a battle with brain cancer. He had been admitted to St. Thomas Hospital a week earlier after suffering a seizure, his longtime friend and associate ...

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