Archives » Reelin’ In The Years

Reelin’ in the Years 240: Help Me Make It Through the Night. RIP Kris Kristofferson

Kris Kristofferson, who died last week, was a man of many parts (literally as an actor but also a Rhodes Scholar, a soldier, helicopter pilot, singer and songwriter.)

It is for his songwriting and acting he will most likely be remembered for. Classic songs like Me and Bobby McGhee, For the Good Times and this one.

Kris Kristofferson: Help Me Make It Through the Night

Reelin’ in the Years 240 and 241: Walk on the Wild Side/Rock On. RIP Herbie Flowers

Also lost to us last week was bass player Herbie Flowers. His CV is second to none.

Perhaps his most distinctive performance was his double bass line for Lou Reed’s Walk on the Wild Side but that could be matched by the innovation on David Essex’s Rock On.

Lou Reed: Walk on the Wild Side

David Essex: Rock On

 

Brian Keith (Herbie) Flowers: 19/5/1938 – 5/9/2024. So it goes.

Reelin’ in the Years 239: The Lightning Tree (Theme from Follyfoot)

For a change, a TV theme from the 1970s. Follyfoot was a programme about a farm which took in horses in need of recuperation.

The tune will bring back memories for some.

The Settlers: The Lightning Tree (Theme from Follyfoot)

 

Friday on my Mind 236: Smokey Blue’s Away

A real forgotten track this.

The tune is of course based on a melody from the Largo section of Dvořák’s New World symphony, a theme also used for Goin’ Home.

I believe Smokey Blue’s Away got to something like no 38 in the UK charts in 1968.

1970s chart followers might recognise the singer’s voice though.

A New Generation were in fact an earlier incarnation of the Sutherland Brothers (later The Sutherland Brothers Band and then The Sutherland Brothers and Quiver.)

A New Generation: Smokey Blue’s Away

I noticed from the last link above that Iain Sutherland died in 2019. I missed that at the time.

Iain George Sutherland: 17/11/1948 – 25/11/2019. So it goes.

Reelin’ in the Years 238: I Get By. RIP Joe Egan

Stealers Wheel weren’t just Gerry Rafferty’s backing band. Joe Egan, who has died, was his fellow front man and wrote many of their songs himself as well as co-writing their most famous hit Stuck in the Middle With You with Rafferty.

I have featured their work before with Benediction and Late Again.

This is one he wrote himself.

Stealers Wheel: I Get By

 

Joseph (Joe) Egan: 18/10/1946 – 6/7/2024. So it goes.

Reelin’ in the Years 237: Lilac Wine

Another from Elkie Brooks. A bit different from Pearl’s a Singer.

On reflection this one’s a bit overproduced.

Elkie Brooks: Lilac Wine

This Top of the Pops performance seems a little more restrained.

Reelin’ in the Years 236: Mr Blue Sky. RIP Richard Tandy

I mentioned Richard Tandy’s passing a couple of weeks ago.

He was a mainstay of The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) being Jeff Lynne’s right hand man in the group.

I note that the lyrics scrolling along the bottom of this video misrepresent the last vocoded words (which apparently Tandy voiced.) They are not “Mr Blue Sky” but instead “Please turn me over.”  Mr Blue Sky was the last track on side three of the album Out of the Blue.

Electric Light Orchestra: Mr Blue Sky

Richard Tandy: 26/3/1948 –  1/5/2024. So it goes.

Reelin’ in the Years 235: Ramblin’ Man. RIP Dickey Betts

Guitarist, singer and songwriter Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers Band has died.

Among other songs he wrote perhaps the band’s most famous track, Jessica, used as the signature tune for the TV programme Top Gear.

Despite that tune’s lasting appeal the band never had a hit in the UK.

This, another of his compositions, was their biggest in the US.

The Allman Brothers Band: Ramblin’ Man

Forrest Richard (Dickey) Betts: 12/12/1943 – 18/4/2024. So it goes.

Reelin’ in the Years 234: Judy Teen. RIP Steve Harley

By force majeure another 1970s song. For Steve Harley has also left us.

I posted Cockney Rebel’s first single Sebastian here, their biggest hit Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me) – a storming no. 1 – here, and a later cover of George Harrison’s song Here Comes the Sun here.

This song was the first of Cockney Rebel’s (and therefore Steve’s) songs I ever heard. A no. 5 in 1974.

Cockney Rebel: Judy Teen

Stephen Malcolm Ronald Nice (Steve Harley) 27/2/1951 – 17/3/2024. So it goes.

Reelin’ in the Years 232: No Woman, No Cry. RIP Aston Barrett

And this week Aston Barret, known as Aston “Family Man” Barrett, bassist with Bob Marley’s band the Wailers, and instrumental in popularising reggae, has died.

His bass playing is prominent on this famous track.

Bob Marley and the Wailers: No Woman, No Cry

Aston Francis Barrett: 22/11/1946 – 3/2/2024. So it goes.

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