The Rest In Peace and Remembrance Thread

[jag]

`Teen Angel' songwriter Jean Dinning dies at 86

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. — Songwriter Jean Dinning, who wrote the teen tragedy hit "Teen Angel," has died. She was 86.

Daughter Cynthia Wygal tells the Orange County Register that her mother died Feb. 22 in Garden Grove.

Dinning's brother Mark performed "Teen Angel," which is about a girl who dies tragically. A couple's car stalls on railroad tracks and they safely get out, but the girl runs back to get the boy's high school class ring and a train hits the car.

The song was released in October 1959 and it became an instant hit.

Dinning is survived by her sisters Ginger and Dolores; children Shay Edwards, Cynthia Wygal, Howard Mack, Ronald Surrey and David Surrey; eight grandchildren; and eight great grandchildren.

A memorial service is planned May 21 in Nashville, Tenn.

[jag]

Legendary jazz drummer Joe Morello dies at 82

One of the most famous drummers in jazz music history has died.

Family members say Joe Morello died Saturday at his home in northern New Jersey. A cause of death was not immediately available.

Morello, who was 82, was best known for his work with the Dave Brubeck Quartet. He was a member of the group for more than 12 years and was featured on such jazz classics as "Take Five" and "Blue Rondo a la Turk."

Morello also played with many leading jazz musicians over the years, including pianist Marian McPartland's Hickory House Trio in the early `50s.

After Brubeck disbanded the quartet in 1968, Morello turned to teaching and writing instructional books.

[unchoopfan]

Ronnie Hammond, ARS lead singer, dead at 60
http://www.macon.com/2011/03/15/1487812 ... onnie.html


Joe Kovac, Jr., Macon Telegraph

Ronnie Hammond, the former lead singer of the Atlanta Rhythm Section, died Monday (March 15) in Forsyth, Ga. He was 60.

The Macon, Ga. native died of heart failure about 11 a.m., said his brother, Jimmy Hammond.

Hammond, whose powerful, balladeer’s voice helped vault ARS to prominence, joined the band in 1972 after lead vocalist Rodney Justo left the group. ARS had several hits during the 1970s, including “Doraville,” “Jukin,” “Champagne Jam,” “Imaginary Lover,” “So Into You,” “I’m Not Gonna Let It Bother Me Tonight,” and a remake of the Classics IV hit “Spooky.”

Hammond left ARS in the early 1980s before rejoining the group in 1987. During his years off the road, he continued to write music, with songwriting partner and producer Buddy Buie. Hammond, who was also a carpenter, built houses around Macon, including his own near Lake Tobesofkee.

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Big Jack Johnson, Mississippi bluesman, dead at 70
http://communityvoices.sites.post-gazet ... hnson-dies
Jim White, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Mississippi bluesman Big Jack Johnson, 70, has died. Johnson was one of the last of the deep-blues musicians out of the Clarksdale area of Mississippi. He's probably most widely know for being a part of the Jelly Roll Kings, a Mississippi trio made of of Johnson, Sam Carr and Frank Frost. But he also had a local reputation as a tough, hard-working singer and guitarist in the best of the deep blues tradition, and didn't really tour much beyond the Clarksdale, Miss., area until the mid-'90s or so.

He also played bass and blues mandolin, and was nicknamed the "Oil Man" because his day job for years was driving an oil truck.

Johnson was the sole survivor of the major blues artists featured in the 1992 movie, "Deep Blues," based on the fine blues book by Robert Palmer. He also performed and wrote "Jack's Blues" and performed "Catfish Medley" with Samuel L. Jackson on the Black Snake Moan film soundtrack.

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Todd Cerney, country songwriter, dead at 57
Zanesville, OH native penned country hits "I'll Still Be Loving You," "Good Morning Beautiful"
http://blogs.tennessean.com/tunein/2011 ... ies-at-57/
Peter Cooper, The Tennessean

Nashville songwriter and musician Todd Cerney, whose compositions have been recorded by Aretha Franklin, Cheap Trick, Etta James, Levon Helm, Restless Heart and others, died of cancer Monday (March 15) at age 57. He was diagnosed after a brain seizure in November and had been in hospice care.

“He was so well-rounded, and such a consummate musician,” said Pam Rose, who with Mr. Cerney, Mary Ann Kennedy and Pat Bunch wrote the Restless Heart ballad “I’ll Still Be Loving You,” which was nominated for a Grammy in 1987 for best country song and which won the 1988 ASCAP country song of the year award. “Todd was gracious and talented and so musical.”

Mr. Cerney was born in Detroit and raised in Zanesville, Ohio. He moved to Nashville in 1974, finding work as a singer, songwriter and audio engineer. He sang harmony vocals on recordings by Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton and many others, and he played with the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble, but Mr. Cerney built a career on his ability to craft words and melodies into emotional songs.

One of those was 2001’s “Good Morning, Beautiful,” a five-week Billboard No. 1 country single for Steve Holy that was performed on the Feb. 24, 2011 edition of American Idol. The show aired a week before Mr. Cerney’s health necessitated a move from his Middle Tennessee home to Alive Hospice.

A multi-instrumentalist, Mr. Cerney performed often on Nashville stages and co-wrote with notables including Jon Bon Jovi, Brian May of Queen and Nashville songwriters Rivers Rutherford, Bill Lloyd and Buzz Cason.

[Scott Reppert]

Nate Dogg, Dead At 41

LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Rapper and music producer Nate Dogg, a prominent figure in the world of hip-hop, has died at the age of 41, the Hollywood Reporter wrote Wednesday without giving a cause of death.

Best known for his 1994 hit "Regulate," Nate Dogg -- a longtime friend and collaborator of rap legends Snoop Dogg and the late Tupac Shakur -- died late Tuesday, the trade newspaper wrote.

It quoted a tweet from Snoop Dogg lamenting the death of his friend.

"We lost a true legend n hip hop n rnb. One of my best friends n a brother to me since 1986," the rap megastar wrote on this Twitter microblog posting.

"I miss u cuzz I am so sad but so happy I got to grow up wit u and I will c u again n heaven cuz u know d slogan all doggs go to heaven."

Born Nathan Hale, in Long Beach, California, Nate Dogg made his debut on rap artist Dr. Dre's seminal 1992 album "The Chronic," the Hollywood Reporter wrote.

Hale was a rapper and producer on one of the biggest hip-hop singles of the 1990s, "Regulate" with Warren G, a hit which reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1994.

News reports said he suffered from ongoing health problems, including two strokes over the past four years.

[David Paleg]

Batman's 'butler' Michael Gough dies at 94
Mar 17, 3:22 PM (ET)

LONDON (AP) - Michael Gough, the British actor best known for playing Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred in a series of Batman movies, died Thursday at age 94, his ex-wife said.

Gough appeared in more than 150 movies and television shows, including British science-fiction show "Doctor Who," and recently voiced characters in Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" and "Corpse Bride." But he remains best remembered for his role as Alfred Pennyworth in the Batman franchise, opposite three different Batmans: Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer and George Clooney.

The veteran actor died at home in England, surrounded by family, his ex-wife Anneke Wills said through her agent.

Wills, who herself starred in the "Dr. Who," said in an obituary posted on its website: "As his body was deteriorating this week, he said that he wanted to hang on for St. Patrick's Day. And he did, just. In the end ... there is only love."

Gough starred in "Batman Returns," directed by Burton in 1992, and "Batman Forever" in 1995 and "Batman and Robin" in 1997, both by Joel Schumacher.

[Lester]

Country Music Hall of Famer Ferlin Husky, the innovative recording artist whose 1957 smash "Gone" helped usher in the pop-leaning Nashville Sound era, died Thursday at his daughter's home in Westmoreland, Tenn. He was 85 and suffered from congestive heart failure.


http://www.kansascity.com/2011/03/17/27 ... erlin.html

[Lester]

Former Secretary of State Warren Christopher dies
When he took over as secretary of state in the Clinton administration at age 68, Warren M. Christopher said he didn't expect to travel much. He went on to set a four-year mark for miles traveled by America's top diplomat.

http://www.wral.com/news/national_world ... y/9295189/

[jag]

Blues legend Pinetop Perkins dies at 97
Pinetop Perkins, one of the last old-school bluesmen, died Monday at his home of cardiac arrest. He was 97.

He accompanied Sonny Boy Williamson on the popular King Biscuit Time radio show broadcast on KFFA in Helena, Ark., in the 1940s. He toured with Ike Turner in the 1950s.

Perkins won a Grammy in February for Best Traditional Blues Album for "Joined at the Hip: Pinetop Perkins & Willie 'Big Eyes' Smith." That win made Perkins the oldest Grammy winner. Perkins also won a 2007 Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album for his collaboration on the "Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen: Live in Dallas." He also received a lifetime achievement Grammy in 2005.

Even at his age, he was a regular fixture at Austin blues clubs, playing regular gigs up to last month. After they won the Grammy this year, Smith and Perkins discussed recording another CD.

Perkins was born in Belzoni, Miss., in 1913 and was believed to be the oldest of the old-time Delta blues musicians still performing.

In an 80-year career, he played at juke joints, nightclubs and festivals. He didn't start recording under his own name until he was in his 70s and released more than 15 solo records since 1992.

Perkins also loved fast food and was a smoker until the day he died.

"Two cheeseburgers, apple pie, a cigarette and a pretty girl was all he wanted," Southard said.

Perkins, who had no survivors, will be buried in his hometown, Southard said, but details were not immediately available. An Austin tribute will be planned to honor his life and music will be scheduled within the next week, Southard said.

[EZ103.3FM]

Legendary actress Elizabeth Taylor has died at age 79.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/2 ... 39435.html
The passing was first reported by ABC's Good Morning America. In a tweet sent out at 9 am on Wednesday, the show wrote: "Breaking: Elizabeth Taylor has died, @GMA confirms."

Taylor had been hospitalized in February for congestive heart failure, a condition she learned she had in 2004. A two time Oscar winner (for "Butterfield 8" in 1960 and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" in 1966), Taylor was also known for her eight high profile marriages.

In mid-March, her publicist, Sally Morrison, said she was in stable condition at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Taylor's son, Michael Wilding, released a statement on the passing:

"My Mother was an extraordinary woman who lived life to the fullest, with great passion, humor, and love. Though her loss is devastating to those of us who held her so close and so dear, we will always be inspired by her enduring contribution to our world. Her remarkable body of work in film, her ongoing success as a businesswoman, and her brave and relentless advocacy in the fight against HIV/AIDS, all make us all incredibly proud of what she accomplished. We know, quite simply, that the world is a better place for Mom having lived in it. Her legacy will never fade, her spirit will always be with us, and her love will live forever in our hearts."

[unchoopfan]

Ralph Mooney, steel guitar legend & country songwriter, dead at 82
He helped to craft the "Bakersfield Sound" with Buck Owens & Merle Haggard; co-wrote country classic "Crazy Arms"
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/ ... 9277.story

Randy Lewis, Los Angeles Times

Ralph Mooney, the influential steel guitarist whose crisp, melodically rich and rhythmically buoyant sound bolstered dozens of country music hits by artists including Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Wynn Stewart and Wanda Jackson before he joined Waylon Jennings' band for a 20-year stint, has died. He was 82. Mooney died Sunday at his home in Kennedale, Texas, of complications from cancer, said his wife, Wanda.

Mooney's work as a top country session player for Capitol Records in Hollywood in the 1950s and '60s helped revitalize the steel guitar's role in country music at a time when Nashville producers were veering away from the instrument to create a more broad-based, orchestra-laden style that became known as the Nashville sound.

As a songwriter, Mooney co-wrote the country classic "Crazy Arms," which became a No. 1 hit for Ray Price in 1956, and has been recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis, Willie Nelson and numerous others. "I would starve to death if it wasn't for those royalty checks," Mooney once said.

When Jennings hired him to be part of his Waylors band in 1970, it was because "Waylon always said, 'Hell, there's only one steel guitar player, and it's Ralph Mooney,' " Jennings' longtime friend and drummer, Richie Albright, said in the liner notes for the 2006 box set "Waylon — Nashville Rebel."

He had been named steel guitarist of the year by the Academy of Country Music in 1966 and received six more nominations for that honor over the next 15 years. He was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in St. Louis in 1983, and his induction plaque reads, in part, "So uniquely original that he remains unduplicated."

Mooney was part of the studio band that played on most of Buck Owens' earliest hits. He came up with the sharp, snappy opening notes of "Under Your Spell Again," "Above and Beyond," "Excuse Me (I Think I've Got a Heartache)" "Foolin' Around" and other hits that helped put Owens repeatedly into the Top 10 of the country singles chart in the late '50s and early '60s

Once Owens had formed his band, the Buckaroos, which would back him live and in the studio for most of his career, Mooney contributed key melodic ideas and support on hits for Merle Haggard, including "Swinging Doors," "Sing Me Back Home" and "The Bottle Let Me Down," as well as other California-based country stars such as Stewart, Rose Maddox and Bonnie Owens. He wasn't limited to West Coast country community, and also played behind Wanda Jackson, Donna Fargo and Jessi Colter, Jennings' wife.

[jag]

Tony-nominated actress Helen Stenborg dies at 86

Helen Stenborg, a Tony-nominated stage, film and TV actress who was the wife of the late Tony Award-winning actor Barnard Hughes and mother of the Tony Award-winning director Doug Hughes, has died. She was 86.

Publicist Chris Boneau says Stenborg died Tuesday evening at her Manhattan apartment. The actress earned a Tony nomination for her 1999 role as pyromaniac Sarita Myrtle in Noel Coward's "Waiting in the Wings."

She and her husband celebrated their 50th anniversary onstage in the Coward play and were honored with Drama Desk Awards for Lifetime Achievement in 2000.

Her last Broadway performance was in 2002 in Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" with Liam Neeson and Laura Linney. Other Broadway appearances included the 1995 production of "A Month in the Country," starring Helen Mirren, and Hugh Leonard's "A Life" in 1980-81.

[genlock]

Super-glue inventor dies at 94





KINGSPORT, Tenn. — Harry Wesley Coover Jr., known as the inventor of Super Glue, has died. He was 94.

Coover was working for Tennessee Eastman Company, a division of Eastman Kodak, when an accident helped lead to the popular adhesive being discovered, according to his grandson, Adam Paul of South Carolina. An assistant was distressed that some brand new refractometer prisms were ruined when they were glued together by the substance.

In 1951, Coover and another researcher recognized the potential for the strong adhesive, and it was first sold in 1958, according to the Super Glue Corp.'s website.

Cyanoacrylate, the chemical name for the glue, was first uncovered in 1942 in a search for materials to make clear plastic gun sights for World War II. But the compound stuck to everything, which is why it was rejected by researchers, the website said.

President Barack Obama honored Coover in 2010 with the National Medal of Science.

Coover died Saturday at his home in Kingsport, Tenn. He was born in Newark, Del., and received a degree in chemistry from Hobart College in New York before getting a master's degree and Ph.D., from Cornell.

[Lester]

I sure wish he'd have stuck around.

[jag]

1950s screen idol Farley Granger dead at 85

NEW YORK — Farley Granger, the 1950s bobby sox screen idol who starred in the Alfred Hitchcock classics "Rope" and "Strangers on a Train," died Sunday at his Manhattan home of natural causes, said Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the New York City medical examiner's office. He was 85.

Granger was an overnight Hollywood success story, a 16-year-old student at North Hollywood High School when he got the notion that he wanted to act and joined a little theater group.

He made his Broadway debut in 1960 in "First Impressions," a musical version of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice." He continued to make films over the years, including "The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing," "The Serpent," "The Man called Noon," "The Imagemaker" and "The Whoopee Boys." He made several movies in Italy including Luchino Visconti's "Senso."

He also appeared in several daytime soaps, including "As the World Turns," "Edge of Night" and "One Life to Live," for which he received a Daytime Emmy nomination.

But he said he preferred the stage: "I feel I'm much more relaxed in front of an audience than a camera. I feel the response. The live audience really turns me on and I like it.

[Scott Reppert]

...and "The Whoopee Boys."

Eddie Deezen at his best...

[jag]

Country singer-songwriter Mel McDaniel dies at 68

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Mel McDaniel, a husky-voiced country music singer-songwriter with hits like "Baby's Got Her Blue Jeans On" and "Louisiana Saturday Night" has died. He was 68.

Darleen Bieber of Schmidt Relations, the publicists for the Grand Ole Opry, confirmed on Friday morning that McDaniel had died, but had no details.

McDaniel's other hits, most in the early and mid-1980s, included "Stand Up," "Big Ole Brew" and "Let It Roll (Let It Rock)."

McDaniel said "Baby's Got Her Blue Jeans On" related to average Americans: "The main thing everybody says to me is, `I can picture that in my mind.'"

[David Paleg]

Lumet, '12 Angry Men' and 'Network' director, dies
Apr 9, 1:25 PM (ET)
DAVID B. CARUSO and BOB THOMAS


NEW YORK (AP) - Sidney Lumet, the award-winning director of such acclaimed films as "Network,""Serpico,""Dog Day Afternoon" and "12 Angry Men," has died. He was 86.

Lumet's death was confirmed Saturday by Marc Kusnetz, who is the husband of Lumet's stepdaughter, Leslie Gimbel. He said Lumet died during the night and had suffered from lymphoma.

A Philadelphia native, Lumet moved to New York City as a child, and it became the location of choice for more than 30 of his films. Although he freely admitted to a lifelong love affair with the city, he often showed its grittier side.

Such dramas as "Prince of the City,""Q&A,""Night Falls on Manhattan" and "Serpico" looked at the hard lives and corruptibility of New York police officers. "Dog Day Afternoon" told the true-life story of two social misfits who set in motion a chain of disastrous events when they tried to rob a New York City bank on an oppressively hot summer afternoon.

"It's not an anti-L.A. thing," Lumet said of his New York favoritism in a 1997 interview. "I just don't like to live in a company town."

Although he didn't work in Los Angeles, the director maintained good relations with the Hollywood studios, partly because he finished his pictures under schedule and budget. His television beginnings had schooled him in working fast, and he rarely shot more than four takes of a scene.

He was nominated four times for directing Academy Awards, and although he never won, Lumet did receive an honorary Oscar in 2005 for lifetime achievement. He also received the Directors Guild of America's prestigious D.W. Griffith Award for lifetime achievement in 1993.

Al Pacino, who produced memorable performances for Lumet in both "Dog Day Afternoon" and "Serpico," introduced the director at the 2005 Academy Awards.

"If you prayed to inhabit a character, Sidney was the priest who listened to your prayers, helped make them come true," the actor said.

Accepting the award, Lumet thanked the many directors who had inspired him, then added, "I guess I'd like to thank the movies (too)."

Lumet immediately established himself as an A-list director with his first theatrical film, 1957's "12 Angry Men," which took an early and powerful look at racial prejudice as it depicted 12 jurors trying to reach a verdict in a trial involving a young Hispanic man wrongly accused of murder. It garnered him his first Academy Award nomination.

Other Oscar nominations were for "Dog Day Afternoon" (1975), "Network" (1976) and "The Verdict" (1982).

"Network," a scathing view of the television business, proved to be Lumet's most memorable film and created an enduring catch phrase when crazed newscaster Peter Finch exhorted his audience to raise their windows and shout, "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!"

It won Academy Awards for Paddy Chayefsky for best screenplay, Finch as best actor (presented posthumously) and Faye Dunaway as best actress.

Although best known for his hard-bitten portrayals of urban life, Lumet's resume also included films based on noted plays: Eugene O'Neill's "Long Day's Journey into Night," Arthur Miller's "A View from the Bridge," and Tennessee Williams'"Orpheus Descending," which was made into "The Fugitive Kind." He also dealt with such matters as the Holocaust ("The Pawnbroker"), nuclear war ("Fail-Safe") and the convicted Soviet spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg ("Daniel").

He directed a highly successful Agatha Christie mystery, the all-star "Murder on the Orient Express," as well.

Other popular Lumet films included "Running On Empty,""Equus,""Family Business' and "The Wiz."

The director was born June 25, 1924, in Philadelphia to a pair of Yiddish stage performers, and he began his show business career as a child actor, appearing on radio at age 4.

He made his Broadway debut in 1934 with a small role in Sidney Kingsley's acclaimed "Dead End," and he twice played Jesus, in Max Reinhardt's production of "The Eternal Road" and Maxwell Anderson's "Journey to Jerusalem."

After serving as a radar repairman in India and Burma during World War II, Lumet returned to New York and formed an acting company. In 1950, Yul Brynner, a friend and a director at CBS-TV, invited him to join the network as an assistant director. Soon he rose to director, working on 150 episodes of the "Danger" thriller as well as other series.

The advent of live TV dramas boosted Lumet's reputation. Like Arthur Penn, John Frankenheimer, Delbert Mann and other directors of television drama's Golden Age, he smoothly made the transition to movies.

Lumet continued directing features into his 80s, and in 2001 he returned to his television roots, creating, writing, directing and executive producing a cable series, "100 Centre Street." It was filmed in his beloved New York.

In 2006, he brought out "Find Me Guilty," starring Vin Diesel and based on a true story about a mob trial in New Jersey. His final film was 2007's "Before the Devil Knows Your Dead," starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke and Marisa Tomei.

Lumet once claimed he didn't seek out New York-based projects.

"But any script that starts in New York has got a head start," he said in 1999. "It's a fact the city can become anything you want it to be."

His first three marriages ended in divorce: to actress Rita Gam, heiress Gloria Vanderbilt and Lena Horne's daughter, Gail Jones. In 1980, he married journalist Mary Gimbel.

[unchoopfan]

Coyote McCloud, Nashville Radio DJ, dead at 68
http://www.wsmv.com/entertainment/27462845/detail.html

Music City radio icon Coyote McCloud died Wednesday, April 6 on his houseboat on Percy Priest Lake, Tennessee. McCloud, 68, died of cirrhosis of the liver. He worked 42 years in radio, spending 32 years on Nashville's airwaves with radio stations including WMAK, WYHY, WZPZ and WRQQ. He was the first on-air voice of CMTV, now CMT, which launched in 1983. McCloud was one of the most controversial air personalities of the late 1980s when he led "The Zoo Crew" on Nashville's Y107. McCloud also wrote songs and made a splash in the early 1980s with a play on the Wendy's hamburger slogan "Where's the Beef."


Bill Pitcock, Dwight Twilley Band guitarist, dead at 58
http://www.tulsaworld.com/ourlives/arti ... TLIN966907

Bill Pitcock IV, guitarist for the 1970s Tulsa-based rock band The Dwight Twilley Band and a 45-year veteran of the Tulsa music scene died Friday, April 8 of cancer-related complications. He was 58. Twilley charted two top 20 hits in the mid 70s and 80s, 1975's "I'm on Fire" with the Dwight Twilley Band and 1984's "Girls" as a solo act. Pitcock was the lead guitarist for the band in the 1970s and continued to work with Twilley and bandmate Phil Seymour during their solo careers.

[unchoopfan]

Roger Nichols, Grammy-winning engineer and producer, dead at 66

Veteran studio engineer and Steely Dan producer Roger Nichols died April 9 after a yearlong battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 66.

In 1971, Nichols began his long association with Steely Dan, whose albums were noted for their pristine sonic clarity. His work with the group spanned engineering their first album "Can't Buy a Thrill" (1972) to their most recent "Everything Must Go" (2003). He also engineered most of Donald Fagen's and Walter Becker's solo projects. Nichols collected three Grammy Awards (including one for album of the year) for his work on the duo's 2000 album "Two Against Nature," and also received the best engineered recording Grammy for Steely Dan's albums "Aja" (1977) and "Gaucho" (1981) and their film theme "FM (No Static at All)."

Born in Oakland, Nichols grew up in Cucamonga, Calif., where he recorded early projects by his high school chum Frank Zappa. Like another noted engineer, the late Tom Dowd, he studied nuclear physics; after working at the San Onofre nuclear plant, he branched into professional recording in the late '60s. Kenny Rogers & the First Edition was an early client at his Torrance facility Quantum Studios.

Nichols engineered and produced albums for John Denver over a nearly twenty-year period, until his death in 1997. Nichols also worked in the studio with artists such as the Beach Boys, Stevie Wonder, Frank Zappa, Crosby Stills & Nash, Al Di Meola, Roy Orbison, Cass Elliot, Plácido Domingo, Gloria Estefan, Diana Ross, Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, Rickie Lee Jones, Kenny Loggins, Mark Knopfler, Eddie Murphy, Michael McDonald, James Taylor, and Toots Thielemans, among others. In 2006, Nichols' work was formally recognized by The Recording Academy (Grammys) Producers and Engineers Wing.

[Bob Campbell]

Darn. Sadly, his passing puts the lie to his nickname (check some album credits), "The Immortal".