Obituary News

Journalist Harvey Geller Writer Penned Lyrics for Popular Folk Acts Dies

Source: All About Jazz
March 18, 2009

Harvey Geller, lyricist and music journalist who worked as a sales exec for Daily Variety and served as West Coast editor of Cash Box magazine, died March 12 in Tarzana, Calif., after a brief illness. He was 86.

Geller also worked as a columnist, feature writer and reviewer, and as a sales executive for Billboard magazine.

Geller's songs were recorded by groups such as the Kingston Trio, the Brothers Four and the River City Ramblers and included such compositions as ...

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Jack Lawrence Songwriter did Lyrics for 'Tenderly' and 'Beyond the Sea' Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
March 17, 2009

Jack Lawrence, a songwriter who wrote the lyrics for hits such as “All or Nothing at All," “Tenderly" and “Beyond the Sea," has died. He was 96.

Lawrence, who fractured his pelvic bone in a fall in his Redding, Conn., home Friday, died of complications Sunday at Danbury Hospital, said Richard D. Lawrence, Lawrence's longtime partner whom he adopted.

In a songwriting career that began in the early 1930s, Lawrence had his songs recorded by artists such as Bing Crosby, ...

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David Williams Guitarist on Jackson Hits Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
March 16, 2009

David Williams, 58, a session guitar player who performed and recorded with Michael Jackson, Madonna and the Temptations, among others, died of cardiac arrest March 6 at the Sentara CarePlex Hospital in Hampton, Va., after suffering a stroke March 2.

A native of Newport News, Va., Williams had moved to Hampton after years living in California and on the road.

Williams played guitar on many of Jackson's biggest hits, including those from the albums Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad. ...

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Altovise Davis Dies Widow of Sammy Davis Jr.

Source: Michael Ricci
March 15, 2009

Altovise Davis, the widow of Rat Pack singer and dancer Sammy Davis Jr., died Saturday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center of complications from a stroke, her business partner, Barrett LaRoda, said. She was 65.

Davis was surrounded at the Los Angeles hospital by friends and family, including her son, Manny Davis.

Trained as an actor and dancer, Altovise Davis met the legendary showman in the mid-1960s, when they were both appearing in Broadway musicals, he in the lead of “Golden Boy" ...

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Joseph Bloch, Guide to Juilliard Pianists, Dies at 91

Source: Michael Ricci
March 15, 2009

The pianist confronts an embarrassment of riches. To a performer embarking on a concert career, five centuries of keyboard music beckon, with every phrase of every prelude and fugue, every sonata and partita, mazurka and minuet, impromptu and intermezzo, rhapsody and fantasy and scherzo and concerto the hundreds of thousands of pieces the repertory comprises open to an array of possible interpretations.

Joseph Bloch, who toured as well as taught, in the 1980s. To this vast storehouse of ebony-and-ivory treasures, ...

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Alan Livingston Capitol Records Prez Brought Beatles to U.S. Dies

Source: All About Jazz
March 13, 2009

Alan Livingston, music exec who created Bozo the Clown and brought the Beatles to America as president of Capitol Records, died March 13 in Los Angeles. He was 91.

Livingston created the Bozo character for a bestselling series of children's story records for Capitol, later producing a TV show before selling rights to the late Larry Harmon. He left Capitol to become VP of network programming at NBC, where he brought “Bonanza" to the network, with a theme song by ...

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Hal Gaba Dies at 63; Chairman and Co-Owner of Concord Music Group

Source: Michael Ricci
March 13, 2009

Hal Gaba and longtime friend and business partner Norman Lear bought Northern California-based Concord Records in 1999 and turned it into one of the world’s largest independent record companies. It’s now based in Beverly Hills and called the Concord Music Group.

Hal Gaba, a veteran entertainment industry executive who was chairman and co-owner of Concord Music Group, one of the world's largest independent record companies, has died. He was 63.

Gaba, who also was co-chairman of Village Roadshow Entertainment Group ...

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Ralph Mercado Impresario Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
March 13, 2009

Ralph Mercado, a promoter who took his passion for Latin music and built an empire around it, not only staging concerts but creating a recording and publishing label, a film and video company, and nightclubs and restaurants, died on Tuesday in Hackensack, N.J. He was 67.

Mercado promoted salsa, Latin jazz, Latin rock and merengue, and shaped musical careers. The cause was cancer, said Blanca Lasalle, a spokeswoman, who gave no other details.

Mr. Mercado managed stars like Tito Puente ...

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