Rick Rosas obit

Rick Rosas dies at 65; longtime studio musician

 

He was not on the list.

Rick Rosas, a longtime studio musician who in recent years played bass guitar with Neil Young as well

as a reunited Buffalo Springfield, died Thursday in Los Angeles of complications from lung disease. He was 65.

A spokeswoman for Lookout Management, which represents Young, confirmed Rosas’ death.

A Los Angeles native born Sept. 10, 1949, Rosas got his start with Mark Guerrero’s East L.A. bands Mark and the Escorts, and Tango. Rosas went on to play bass guitar with Joe Walsh for a number of years.

Rosas had joined Young for recording sessions and tours since the late 1980s. He performed with Young’s band at the Nashville concerts that director Jonathan Demme filmed for the 2006 documentary “Neil Young: Heart of Gold” and the Chrome Dreams II tour dates that Demme captured for the subsequent concert film “Neil Young Trunk Show.”

In 2010, Young, Stephen Stills and Richie Furay briefly came together as a new incarnation of the late ‘60s country-rock group Buffalo Springfield for two of Young’s annual Bridge School benefit concerts. Rosas replaced original bassist Bruce Palmer, and Joe Vitale replaced Dewey Martin on drums. (Palmer died in 2004, Martin in 2009.) Rosas continued as bassist for the band’s 2011 reunion tour.

“Of course we missed not having Bruce and Dewey there, but Joey and Rick sure took up the slack,” Furay told Goldmine magazine in a 2011 interview.

This summer Rosas had toured with Young’s Crazy Horse band after regular bassist Billy Talbot suffered a stroke.

Rosas, who also joined a 2006 Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young reunion tour, played regularly during Young’s wife Pegi’s solo appearances and with Waddy Wachtel’s band.

According to publicist Robert Harris, Rosas had recently finished his work on a new movie Demme is filming, “Ricki and the Flash,” starring Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline.

Rosas is survived by his longtime partner, Elizabeth Sauger.

Filmography

 

    2006 Heart of Gold

    2008 CSNY Déjà Vu

    2010 Neil Young Trunk Show

    2012 CRAZYTOWN A Visual Music Album

    2015 Ricki and the Flash

 

Video and television appearances

 

    1986 Jazzvisions: "Jump the Blues Away" w/ Joe Walsh, Etta James and Albert King

    1988 This Note's For You w/ Neil Young & the Bluenotes, dir. Julien Temple. Winner: MTV Music Award Video of the Year

    1989 MTV Unplugged w/ Joe Walsh, Dr. John

    2005 Late Night with Conan O'Brien w/ Neil Young five consecutive nights promoting Prairie Wind

    2005 Saturday Night Live w/ Neil Young

    2005 Farm Aid XX w/ Neil Young & the Prairie Wind Band

    2006 Living with War w/ Neil Young recording sessions DVD

    2006 Late Show with David Letterman w/Jerry Lee Lewis & Neil Young

    2006 Farm Aid XXI w/ Neil Young & the Prairie Wind Band

    2008 Farm Aid XXIII w/ Neil Young & His Electric Band

    2009 Hard Rock Live w/Neil Young & His Electric Band and Paul McCartney

    2009 Farm Aid w/ Neil Young & His Electric Band

    2010 Last Man Standing video w/Jerry Lee Lewis