Rare Tracks from those no longer with us...

1. “The Executive Intro” - Monty Python
   Cause of death: cancer
   How else to lead off a set but with a gentle introduction. However, if your announcer is Graham Chapman (1941-1989), there’s a good chance that the announcement will be a bit on the extreme side. Something you may not have known about Graham Chapman: he was a medical doctor by training, though comedy ended up being his calling. He first worked with John Cleese, his fellow Python, when he joined the Footlights troupe at Cambridge University. Once Python came together, Chapman was the charismatic lead, and was even the first person to say “shit” on the BBC. Chapman fought through pressures - both real and perceived - that his homosexuality wouldn’t be accepted by his fans. He died of cancer in 1989. His funeral was one of the most entertaining services of its type.
2. “That’ll Be The Day” - Buddy Holly
   Cause of death: plane crash
   Like I said in the intro bit, most of these songs will be familiar. But this one has Buddy Holly (1936-1959) mentioning death. No, he wasn’t foreshadowing death in a plane crash, which prematurely ended a most promising rock-and-roll career. But the song is a bit of a lament to teenage love.
3. “Sweet Home Alabama” - Lynyrd Skynyrd
   Cause of death: plane crash
   I must be preoccupied with plane crashes, because a lot of the fame of Lynyrd Skynyrd comes from the fact that they lost some key band members in a 1977 plane crash that claimed the lives of several band members, including lead singer and songwriter, Ronnie Van Zant (1948-1977). And Van Zant’s fingerprints are all over this song, which was a loud, raucous response to Neil Young’s “Southern Man.”
4. “Free Ride” - Nick Drake
   Cause of death: suicide by drug overdose
   Sure, a lot of people know Drake’s “Pink Moon” from the VW ads of a few years back. But Nick Drake (1948-1974) was a well-respected singer-songwriter whose muse was most often his own deep, dark depression. Many of his songs dealt with autumn, a season that is chock full of death references. That Drake committed suicide after the release of his third album came as a shock to few.
5. “Tanglewood Tree” - Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer
   Cause of death: heart attack
   Oh, where to begin with this one? Dave Carter (1952-2002) is possibly the greatest songwriter you’ve never heard. He had a remarkable ability to distill abstract concepts into poetic verse, and create potent concoctions of the physical and mystical. During his short recording career, Carter, along with his partner Tracy Grammer, presented a body of work that fits perfectly alongside Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Springsteen, Baez and Chapin in the American folk canon. I had the honor of seeing Dave and Tracy perform live many times at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, each time being a magical experience. Dave died less than a week before the 2002 festival, yet Tracy carried on. The tribute at that year’s concert was something I’ll always remember. “Tanglewood Tree” is very typical of a Dave Carter song: a reflection on life that’s meaningful and deep, yet presented in such a way that it’s immediately accessible.
6. “I Was In The House When The House Burned Down” - Warren Zevon
   Cause of death: cancer
   Warren Zevon (1947-2003) was a lot more than “Warewolves Of London.” Although he is best known for said song, his best songwriting happened later in life. Zevon always had a bit of a sarcastic and cynical view of the world, politics and people, and he often captured his feelings in songs that seldom appealed to the mainstream, having a more folksy, blues-leaning musical sensibility. Zevon died of mesothelioma, which is a cancer most closely associated with asbestos exposure and is usually fatal within months of diagnosis. Zevon’s recordings during the last year of his live were amongst the best of his career, and his final live gig on The Late Show with David Letterman (where Zevon usually filled in for Paul Shaffer during Jewish holidays) was simply moving beyond description.
7. “Medicine Jar” - Wings
   Cause of death: suicide by heroin overdose
   No this isn’t a rehash of the “Paul is dead” rumors of the late 1960s. Rather, this is a tale of one of McCartney’s sidemen in Wings: Jimmy McCulloch (1953-1979). A member of Wings from 1974 to 1978, McCulloch played lead guitar on the Venus And Mars and Wings At The Speed Of Sound albums, as well as on the Wings Over America and Wings Over The World tours of 1976 and 1977. He was dismissed from the band during recording sessions for London Town, having fallen into heavy-duty heroin addiction. And that’s why I picked this song (from Venus And Mars), as it sounds a warning that drugs can kill ‘ya - which they did, with Jimmy, the smack laying him down less than one year after leaving McCartney’s outfit. Jimmy sings lead on this song, as well.
8. “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay” - Otis Redding
   Cause of death: plane crash
   When you think of Otis Redding (1941-1967), this song pops to mind, doesn’t it? And it should: it’s one of the hallmark Stax tracks from the 1960s, a beautiful piece of soul mastery. Sadly, Redding never saw the popularity of “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay,” as he died in a plane crash (again with the airplanes!) three days after he completed recording sessions for the song.