And so now Gordon Lightfoot has gone.

I noted his song If you Could Read My Mind here.

His first single was Me and Bobby McGee which subsequently had a substantial after life. The many artists to have recorded it include its writer Kris Kristofferson, Roger Miller, Kenny Rogers and The First Edition, Janis Joplin, Charley Pride and Jerry Lee Lewis. Janis Joplin’s version has had over 1,000,000 sales/streams.

Gordon Lightfoot: Me and Bobby McGee

Janis Joplin: Me and Bobbie McGee

Gordon Meredith Lightfoot:17/11/1938 – May 1/5/2023. So it goes.

Another one from Cliff. He recorded some good stuff at times. Like The Day I Met Marie this was written by Hank Marvin.

I saw this cited in a list of 1960s psychedelia. At the time of its release, because of its performers, I did not consider it as such.

The drum pattern in this prefigures the one in Neanderthal Man by Hotlegs, the group that was the precursor to 10cc.

Cliff Richard and Hank Marvin: Throw Down a Line

Here’s a version from 1970 as credited to Marvin, Welch and Farrar.

Marvin, Welch and Farrar: Throw Down a Line

I suppose I really should have featured this long ago. It’s just so perfect.

Simon and Garfunkel: Bridge Over Troubled Water

The prompt to post it now was that a few weeks ago I discovered another of those budget priced cover version compilations featuring Elton John. Not that it suits his voice at all.

Elton John: Bridge Over Troubled Water

And so now Keith Reid has left us.

As lyricist for Procol Harum he contributed mightily to that band’s distinctiveness.

I have already mentioned the apocalyptic imagery of Homburg but most of Reid’s lyrics were

Listening to this, the band’s last UK hit (in 1975,) again I hadn’t remembered how much it swings.

Procol Harum: Pandora’s Box

Keith Stuart Brian Reid: 19/10/1946 – 23/3/2023. So it goes.

I note the last surviving member of US rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd has died. Guitarist Gary Rossington’s finest moment probably came with his slide guitar playing on Free Bird voted by viewers of the Old Grey Whistle Test as their favourite track to have been played on the show.

So here it is. (There’s what sounds like some mellotron on this. Even better.)

Lynyrd Skynyrd: Free Bird

Gary Robert Rossington: 4/12/1951 –5/3/2023. So it goes.

The band Hotlegs was a kind of precursor to 10cc. The trio who recorded this (Eric Stewart, Lol Crème and Kevin Godley) all went on to be in that group as did Graham Gouldman who was a member of Hotlegs but unable to play on this for contractual reasons.

Hotlegs: Neanderthal Man

In looking the above video up I came across this recording of the song for one of those compilation albums of knock-off versions of recent hits. The singer here?

A guy who went on to become Elton John.

Elton John: Neanderthal Man

Just because it provided the title for the David Keenan book I reviewed earlier this week.

Como really did have a mellifluous voice.

Surprisingly this wasn’t a hit for him in the US. Maybe it wasn’t a single there. It made no 7 in the UK in 1973, though.

Perry Como: For the Good Times

So this week both Barrett Strong, cowriter of many Tamla Motown hits especially for the Temptations, and Tom Verlaine of proto punk band Television and have left us.

Strong had a 1950s hit with Money (That’s What I Want), later recorded by The Beatles. His writing credit for the song has been withdrawn twice.
Apart from that his most enduring work is probably the run of songs he wrote with Norman Whitfield for The Temptations. Including this one.

The Temptations: Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World is Today)

Barrett Strong: 5/2/1941 – 28/1/2023. So it goes.

Verlaine’s music has been an influence of many of those who came after him.

Television: Marquee Moon

Thomas Miller (Tom Verlaine) 13/12/1949 – 28/1/2023. So it goes.

The Stranglers, whose original drummer, Jet Black, died earlier this month rode the punk wave but were never part of it – possibly because of his jazz background.

Here’s the band in its heyday but taking a 1977 Top of the Pops appearance not entirely seriously.

The Stranglers: No More Heroes

Brian John Duffy (Jet Black): 26/8/1938 – 6/12/2022. So it goes.

Another sad loss. This time the songwriter known as Christine McVie.

She first came to my attention as the singer in the band Chicken Shack who had a hit with a cover of I’d Rather Go Blind in 1969. See below.

She later joined Fleetwood Mac whose bass player, John McVie, she had married in 1968. The band’s most successful incarnation coincided with her membership. Many of their most well-known songs were written or co-written by her. From that era of her life I have chosen to feature Songbird as it’s essentially a solo performance.

Chicken Shack: I’d Rather Go Blind

Fleetwood Mac: Songbird

I will refer to her below by her birth name as it is the Scottish tradition for a woman to revert to that on her death. It’s perfect.

Christine Anne Perfect; 12/7/1943 – 30/11/22. So it goes.