DEATHS ; Notable Passings; The Thread to Pay Last Respects

[Tomasso]

Jimmy Savile.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15507374

 

[Saint-Just]

George Daniels passed away on 21 October.

George Daniels, who has died aged 85, was considered by some to be the greatest watchmaker since Abraham Louis Breguet (1747-1823), and was credited with preventing a battery-powered quartz takeover by showing that a mechanical watch can perform as well as an electronic one.

The rest ot The Telegraph obituary

I had the honour of meeting him and Roger Smith at the opening of last year's Salon QP. This year's opens on 10 November, I hope they will mark his passing.

RIP

 

[Peacoat]

Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of the death of Duane Allman. In my opinion he was the greatest rock/blues guitarist of all time. Rolling Stone Magazine had him at number two in rock's greatest guitar players, behind Jimi Hendrix. A respectable showing, but when his blues playing, and especially his slide playing, is added to the mix, he comes in at number one (my opinion). He was the guitar voice of Layla--those famous 7 notes which opened the song and repeated throughout. Eric also played on that album and did an excellent job, but Duane brought it alive (my opinion). The way those two met is a story in itself.

I met Duane (and Greg) in Daytona Beach when a buddy of mine and I went down there to see them. He knew Duane and Greg from Nashville, and later at Castle Heights Military Academy. They weren't famous yet, and were only playing local gigs. This was early 1964. He and I had dinner a couple of weeks ago. We were talking about those days and the layout of the Allman's house. He said he had no memory of the interior of the house, but remembered the address. I was shocked when he said "100 Van Avenue." He was the one who called Duane when we first got down there and got the address from him. He remembered it all these years later.

One of the things I remember so clearly about Duane is that every time we were at his house, he always had his guitar around his neck. He would even go to the bathroom wearing it. I have read from other sources that he continued this practice for at least several more years. When we talking he would keep playing the guitar, while engaging in the conversation. He was obsessive about becoming a great guitar player. However, I never had an inkling he would become the guitar god he was at the time of his death.

Greg, on the other hand, had little interest in music--that I saw. He later developed one of the finest blues voices of all the white singers, and became one of my favorite singers. The two of them spent a lot of time together, and Greg looked up to his big brother. As my buddy said about their time in Nashville, "Where you would see one, you would always see the other."

Socially, I never saw either of the Allman brothers again after I left Daytona about five months later. When I got word of Duane's death in 1971, it affected me deeply. Still does today--40 years later. I would so much like to spend just one more day with him.

When Duane died, his assets were less than $5,000. His estate later made some royalties from his work, but it never amounted to even a fraction of what he would have earned if he had lived. As Greg said at some point after Duane's death, "You never made any money big brother, but you made your mark, you sure made your mark." A fitting epitaph.

Rest in Peace, Duane, and keep that guitar around your neck.

 

[dhermann1]

Beryl Davis

I never heard of this lady till a moment ago. I heard her sing this song on the good old Big Broadcast on www.wfuv.org. The MC, Rich Conaty, announced that she had just died on Friday. Wow, what a great singer. Definite Ella Fitzgerald influence here, but a definite individuality, too. Here she sings a Sinatra, standard, "Don't Worry 'Bout Me", with the immortal Django Reinhardt accompanying her, in 1939, when she was just 15.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfQY-VtpofU

Here's the Wikipedia bio:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beryl_Davis

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Andy Rooney passed away.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Somehow this doesn't really belong here but a friend of mine was found dead in the streets of Berlin near the Landwehr Canal just a few days ago. Seems he died of a cardiac arrest. He'll be sorely missed by many people. R.I.P. Andreas.

My condolences. That happened to one of my friends recently. He died of a cardiac arrest at a bus stop while on his way to meet his brother. He was 39.

 

[rue]

Andy Rooney passed away.

He was the only reason I ever watched 60 minutes

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/06/us/andy-rooney-mainstay-on-60-minutes-dead-at-92.html

 

[rue]

My condolences. That happened to one of my friends recently. He died of a cardiac arrest at a bus stop while on his way to meet his brother. He was 39.

I'm so sorry to hear about your friend V.C.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Thanks, I used to sell with Kenny and his brother at the swap meet.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

George Daniels passed away on 21 October.


The rest ot The Telegraph obituary

I had the honour of meeting him and Roger Smith at the opening of last year's Salon QP. This year's opens on 10 November, I hope they will mark his passing.

RIP

I was reading about George Daniels at the watch forum. I've been wanting to get a copy of his book Watchmaking, one of the most comprehensive books on the subject.

 

[scooter]

The great Andy Rooney left us today, we'll all be poorer with his absence.

Sorry, this was already noted, I was late to the thread.

 

[HadleyH]

RIP Andy Rooney.

 

[Fletch]

Rooney's air-witness account of a B-26 raid on occupied France for Stars and Stripes, September, 1943.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Boxing legend Joe Fraizer dies.

 

[rue]

Gosh that's sad.... he wasn't that old either.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

67...Cancer

 

[dhermann1]

Here's the ESPN story. A sad day.
http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/7206261/joe-frazier-former-heavyweight-champion-dead-67

 

[rue]

I didn't realize that my favorite boxer George Foreman was the one that took him down first.

Anyway, I hope he rests in peace.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

...And my favorite boxer took your favorite boxer down. What a rope-a-dope....

 

[rue]

Yeah yeah..... Everyone loves Ali