Posted on 01/28/2005 9:12:06 AM PST by missyme
Legendary rock drummer and Hall of Fame inductee Jim Capaldi died on Friday after a brief fight with stomach cancer, his publicist said.
The 60-year-old Capaldi, born in England of Italian immigrant parents, died in his sleep at the London Clinic in the early hours with his wife and family at his bedside.
Capaldi, whose driving rock rhythms and songwriting ability helped make groundbreaking band Traffic a household name in the 1960s and '70s with -- among others -- Steve Winwood and Dave Mason -- also had an illustrious solo career.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
I remember Winwood's and Mason's "illustrious careers," but I must be too young to remember Capaldi's, even though I did own one of his cassettes.
Would that be Norman Greenbaum of "Little Green Bag" fame?
Biography by William Ruhlmann
British drummer, singer, and songwriter Jim Capaldi was a member of Traffic in their two incarnations, from 1967 to 1968 and from 1970 to 1974. He frequently collaborated with bandmember Steve Winwood, writing the lyrics to many of Traffic's best-known songs. Capaldi recorded his debut solo album, Oh! How We Danced, during a hiatus in the group in 1972, and scored a U.S. singles chart entry with "Eve." He turned to his solo career full-time after Traffic's demise and earned a U.K. Top 40 hit with "It's All up to You" (1974) and two more U.S. chart hits in 1975 with "It's Alright" and a remake of "Love Hurts" that also hit the U.K. Top Ten. He charted with his second and third albums, Whale Meat Again and Short Cut Draw Blood. But he had to wait until 1983 to score another LP hit with Fierce Heart and its chart singles: "That's Love" and "Living on the Edge." Winwood guested on the album. Capaldi returned to the charts with his Some Came Running album in 1988. In 1994, Capaldi and Winwood reformed Traffic for an album and a tour.
From http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:8e811v0jzzba~T1
Yes, that's it -- Norman Greenbaum. Back when I was in high school (this would have been the early 90's) my church youth group leader made me a tape of his favorite Norman Greenbaum songs. I had complained about how lame Christian music was and he said, here, listen to this guy. It was good stuff. Not Led Zeppelin but still pretty good.
Saw Traffic several times, once with the lineup of Mott the Hoople / Mountain / Traffic. Great show, but it was in Traffic's John Barleycorn era. Winwood on acoustic playing the title song to open their set was kinda hard to hear, after Mountain was though! :)
I have ~20 6-CD cartridges for my vehicles - Led Zeppelin / Hendrix / Joni Mitchell / Traffic / Airplane / Blind Faith / Quicksilver Messenger Service
Only the classics! ;>)
As usual, gross generalization is terribly incorrect.
Tell me what kind of music - musical genre, not lyrical - you like and I'll name you three current songwriters that are as good or better than those from the 60s and 70s. I'm not saying that the writing then wasn't strong - I'm just saying that if you think there isn't good writing now, you must be getting your music info from the radio. There is a ton of high quality music out there, but it does not get much play in the MSM.
No good songwriting now? I presume you haven't listened to Lucinda Williams. Or Patty Griffin. Or Ryan Adams. Or Jeff Tweedy. Or Patterson Hood. Or Buddy Miller, or his wife, Julie. Or Alejandro Escovedo. Or Richard Buckner. Or Kelly Willis, or her husband, Bruce Robison. Or Alison Moorer. I could go on and on.
There is music being made today that stacks up well against any music, ever - except in jazz and blues. You just have to look for it.
Were they originally known in the SF Bay area as East Bay Traffic?
Although a misguided lib, her heart is in the right place, Sarah McLachlan is so absolutely talented. Her lyrics are quite sensitive and emotional baring with a voice that has no equal on this planet at this time. She reminds me of Laura Nyro, another screaming lib with a voice like an angel and a way with words.
My favorite as well!
You are a lucky man.
Or Nils Lofgren.
Lots of great music getting zero airplay in this country.
Interesting comparison to Nyro. I've not thought of that before - and now I will.
Yep - Nils' best work is still hard to find. I'll admit I haven't heard anything of his recently - figured the boss was keeping his dance card full. Is he still putting out solo work?
I should correct my own gross generalization. Some great music does get airplay - on satellite radio.
Highlight on songwriter!
His most recent studio album is Breakaway Angel in 2001 which has his typical level of brilliance. And there's a live album from that tour. Says he's working on new stuff. Plus his usual side gigs (everybody seems to love having Nils polish up their lyrics).
Big cities (where there's lots of competition) and satelite seem to be the only places to find good radio anymore. Pretty sad what the industry has done to itself. I primarily use Scorsese and Chase soundtrack albums to find good new music, they seem to be tapped into the strong vein. Wish Scorsese would get off this period movie kick.
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