Bob Avellini obit

Bob Avellini, Bears QB who teamed with Walter Payton, dies

 

He was not on the list.

CHICAGO -- Bob Avellini, the former Bears quarterback who teamed with Hall of Fame running back Walter Payton to lead the Bears to the 1977 playoffs, has died. He was 70.

The Bears said Saturday that Avellini died of cancer. The team did not say when he died.

Avellini and Payton had the finest seasons of their careers in 1977, when Chicago and the Minnesota Vikings each went 9-5 in the NFC North. Minnesota won the division, while Chicago earned a wild-card playoff berth.

The Bears were beaten by Dallas 37-7 in the playoffs that season. Avellini threw 11 touchdown passes and had a career-high 2,004 yards with 18 interceptions. Payton, meanwhile, rushed for more than 1,800 yards and 14 TDs.

Avellini threw for 7,111 yards with 33 touchdowns and 69 interceptions in 73 games over nine seasons, from 1975 to 1984. He later completed with Mike Phipps for the job.

Avellini, from New York, was part of the same draft class as Payton, selected by Chicago in the sixth round out of Maryland in 1975. Payton was the fourth overall pick.

He played college football for the Maryland Terrapins and was selected by the Bears in the sixth round of the 1975 NFL draft. He finished his career with the New York Jets, for whom he did not appear in a game.

In 1984, with the Bears starting 2–0, Jim McMahon was injured and Mike Ditka inserted Avellini as the starter for a road game against the Green Bay Packers. Avellini had started only five games since the end of the 1978 season. The Bears mustered little offense with Avellini at the controls, but still managed to edge the Packers 9–7. Chicago struggled the next week as they were soundly beaten by the Seattle Seahawks 38–9. This resulted in Avellini being cut from the Bears’ roster by Ditka, ending his decade-long tenure with Chicago. Avellini signed with the New York Jets in mid-November, where he ended his playing career after the 1984 season. The Jets released him before the 1985 season. The Bears, meanwhile, went to the NFC Championship game in 1984 and won Super Bowl XX in 1985. Avellini made a brief comeback in 1986 with the Dallas Cowboys, starting three preseason games, but was released at the final cut deadline.

In May 2009, Avellini was arrested for driving under the influence and acquitted for the third time. He had been convicted of the offense in 2002. In October 2013, a DuPage County grand jury indicted Avellini on felony drunken driving charges a week after his sixth DUI-related arrest since 2002. On November 19, 2014, Avellini was sentenced to 18 months in prison for his 3rd DUI. Avellini declared bankruptcy on February 27, 2012 listing debts of more than $2.2 million and assets of $1.3 million.

On November 20, 2014, Avellini was sentenced to 18 months in prison for aggravated DUI.

Avellini was actively involved in a number of Chicago area charitable organizations and despite his professional real estate career had been on the air at several Chicago radio and television sports shows.

There wasn’t a lot of love lost between the veteran quarterback and coach Mike Ditka.

“It gets a little tiring hearing that he’s such a great competitor,” Avellini told reporters after he was released. “(Cowboys coach) Tom Landry is a great competitor, (Washington Redskins coach) Joe Gibbs is a great competitor and so are a lot of other coaches, but you don’t see any of them acting like Ditka does.

“I wasn’t surprised I was cut. (Ditka) threatened me with that once a week. He thinks that’s going to make you play better. After the first pass I threw this year against Green Bay, he said he was going to cut me then, and I was the only quarterback who could play. He wanted to yank me out of there and put in someone that didn’t even know our snap count.”

Ditka fired back.

“In the long-range picture for the Bears, the quarterbacks we have here now are better than Bob,” he said. “He wanted to do too much. He tried to go outside of our offense and that’s something you just can’t do. You don’t go out and audible to throw a 5-yard pass (against the Seahawks) when we have a runner (Payton) who averages 5.7 yards per carry.

“He did everything we asked of him, and there were a lot of things I liked about him. But on my radio shows, the No. 1 question was, ‘Why do you keep Avellini?’ I can’t play him here. The fans would boo him unmercifully. I don’t want to use that as an out, but it’s true. People have a tendency to blame the quarterback and to give him too much credit.”

That predicament for the Bears — the quarterback getting too much credit or blame — continued long after Avellini’s playing days concluded. He had a brief stint with the New York Jets after the Bears released him and he spent time with the Cowboys in the 1986 preseason before retiring.

Jim Mills obit

Jim Mills passes

 

He was not on the list.

Jim Mills, one of the most celebrated banjo players of his generation, and a noted vintage instrument trader, has died of a heart attack at his home in Durham, NC on May 3. He was 57 years of age.

Though most bluegrass lovers remember Jim for his 14 years with Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, he also played a five year stint with Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. Prior to those national touring gigs, Mills served as a member of Summer Wages and The Bass Mountain Boys. Throughout his entire professional career, spanning roughly 30 years, he was known for a powerful banjo style drawing heavily on the music of Earl Scruggs and J.D. Crowe.

So impressed was he with Scruggs, Jim enjoyed telling everyone, that as a youngster, on top of practicing Earl’s licks all day, he would also insert a toothpick between his two front teeth, hoping to give himself that same gap in his smile that Scruggs always had.

Though both his father and grandfather were banjo players, it has hearing the original cut of Foggy Mountain Breakdown on a record his brother brought home that sealed his fate. From that day forward it was banjo, banjo, banjo for Jim Mills.

On top of nine albums with Skaggs, and four with Doyle, Jim had three solo projects of his own, Bound To Ride (1998), My Dixie Home (2002), and Hide Head Blues (2005). All were extremely influential among banjo players, and received both critical and commercial success. He was also featured on Dolly Parton’s My Grass Is Blue (1999) and My Little Sparrow (2001), Carry Me Across The Mountain from Dan Tyminksi (2000), Alan Bibey’s In The Blue Room (2000), and the two Huber Banjos records, Team Flathead (2004) and Cuppa ‘Jo (2006).

During the early 2000s, Mills was everywhere you looked: on the road with Skaggs, appearing on any number of albums as a studio player, and put forward by Huber Banjos with a Jim Mills signature model banjo, a replica of the notorious Mack Crow RB-75 Gibson Masterone made in the late 1930s. When Vince Gill decided to do a bluegrass tour in 2012, he called on Jim to fill the banjo spot.

His banjo style didn’t diverge tremendously from Scruggs and Crowe, yet he played with a power and immediacy that set him apart. Not a large man, his right hand hit those strings with an authority and intensity that belied his size. And those rakes!

Between 1999 and 2006, he won the IBMA Banjo Player of the Year award each year but two, with those going to Tom Adams and J.D. Crowe. It was his time.

A native North Carolinian at heart, Jim resisted moving to Nashville while working with Kentucky Thunder. He maintained a small apartment and a vehicle in Nashville but always returned to his home near Raleigh after each road trip with Skaggs.

In 2009, his meticulously-researched book on the history of Gibson banjos was released, Gibson Mastertone: Flathead 5-String Banjos of the 1930s and 1940s, complete with an array of wonderful photos of classic examples.

In 2010, Jim left Ricky Skaggs to focus on his growing business, buying and selling vintage Gibson banjos. He built a showroom in the basement level of his home with as many as a dozen or more prewar Mastertones on display, along with a remarkable collection of Flatt & Scruggs memorabilia. Browsers and serious buyers were welcomed into his home and treated like royalty, as Jim was quite proud of his banjos – both items for sale, and those “keepers” he had found, like the Snuffy Jenkins RB-4 – not to mention his hard won archive of early bluegrass mementoes. Every picture, every knick knack, and every instrument had a story, and he relished the telling as much as he did showing off his wares.

As a collector, Mills was a keen competitor and kept close tabs on vintage banjos all over the US, staying in touch with the owners in case they should ever decide to sell. In more recent years, he had expanded the business to include vintage Les Paul Gibson guitars.

Jim leaves behind many friends. He was a warm and generous man, with perhaps the biggest smile in the bluegrass world. He loved the banjo deeply, and the bluegrass music he played so well. There won’t be another like him.

No funeral service is planned, though a Celebration of Life will be scheduled at some point in the near future.

R.I.P., Jim Mills.

Dick Rutan obit

Dick Rutan Dies At 85

 

He was not on the list.

Legendary pilot, educator and adventurer Dick Rutan died Friday, according to a press release issued on behalf of the family. (Full text follows). He was 85. Rutan, best known for the record-setting nonstop unrefueled circumnavigation he and Jeana Yeager accomplished in 1986, was surrounded by family when he died in Kootenai Hospital in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho, in the early evening from complications resulting from a yearlong bout with long COVID, according to family friends.

“He spent his last day in the company of friends and family, including his brother, Burt, and passed away peacefully at Kootenai Health Hospital in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, in the company of his loving wife of 25 years, Kris Rutan,” said the release. “He is survived by daughters Holly Hogan and Jill Hoffman, and his four grandchildren, Jack, Sean, Noelle, and Haley.” Funeral arrangements have not been announced.

EAA Chairman Jack Pelton said Rutan was a major contributor to the organization and aviation as a whole. “Dick Rutan is closely linked with EAA history for the past half-century,” Pelton said. “Whether it was the flights of canard aircraft to Oshkosh back in the 1970s, the unforgettable Voyager project and mission in the 1980s, or his trips to AirVenture for forum presentations almost every year, Dick Rutan was a true friend of EAA and AirVenture. We will miss him and remember him, and our condolences go to his family at this time.”

He was also a test pilot and record-breaking aviator who in 1986 piloted the Voyager aircraft on the first non-stop, non-refueled around-the-world flight with co-pilot Jeana Yeager. Rutan was born and raised in Loma Linda, California, where he gained an interest in flying at a young age. He was the older brother of famed aerospace designer Burt Rutan, whose many earlier original designs Dick piloted on class record-breaking flights, including Voyager.

After completing the Radar Intercept Officer Course, Rutan served as a McDonnell F-101B Voodoo Radar Intercept Officer with the 322d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Kingsley Field, Oregon, from December 1959 to September 1961, and then as a Northrop F-89 Scorpion Radar Intercept Officer with the 57th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Keflavik Airport, Iceland, from September 1961 to October 1962. His next assignment was as a Douglas C-124 Globemaster II navigator with the 85th Air Transport Squadron at Travis AFB, California, from October 1962 to November 1965. He underwent Undergraduate Pilot Training, earning his Pilot Wings at Laughlin AFB, Texas, in December 1966.

Rutan served during the Vietnam War as one of the founding members of the "Mistys" of Operation Commando Sabre, pioneering the use of tactical jets as a "FastFAC" (known as forward air control) for the FAC Airborne mission, which searched for and marked targets with white phosphorus rockets ahead of the strike package. He flew 325 missions but had to eject one time, when his "Hun" North American F-100 Super Sabre aircraft was hit.

In 1992 Rutan ran as a conservative Republican against Democratic congressman George Brown, Jr. in California's 42nd congressional district, consisting mostly of the San Bernardino region of southern California and viewed as a swing district. In the Republican primary, Rutan upset San Bernardino County Supervisor Rob Hammock, who had run a strong race against Brown in 1990. In the general election, Rutan ran on a platform that called for reforming Congress and lowering taxes. Brown, first elected in 1962, was long known for surviving close elections and prevailed with 79,780 votes (50.7%) to Rutan's 69,251 (44%). Fritz Ward, a Libertarian, received 8,424 votes or 5.3% of the vote.

Peter Oosterhuis obit

PGA TOUR winner, beloved Masters analyst Peter Oosterhuis dies at age 75

 

He was not on the list.

Peter Oosterhuis was probably best known to U.S. sports fans as the longtime voice of the 17th hole at Augusta National during CBS’s annual coverage of the Masters. Golf fans, however, knew that “Oosty” was worth a listen because he could really play. The Englishman was a member of six consecutive Ryder Cup teams, first representing Great Britain and Ireland in 1971 and later competing alongside continental Europeans in the biennial tournament. Among the Americans Oosterhuis beat in singles are World Hall of Fame members Arnold Palmer, Johnny Miller and Gene Littler, and he defeated Palmer twice.

Oosterhuis parlayed his stylish game and charming British accent into a long announcing career with several networks, including CBS, for more than 15 years following his playing career. Oosterhuis retired from broadcasting in 2014 to deal with the effects of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Oosterhuis passed away peacefully this morning, one day shy of what would have been his 76th birthday.

Born in London in 1948 as the country was rebuilding from World War II, Oosterhuis enjoyed a stellar amateur golf career; he became the first schoolboy to represent Great Britain & Ireland at the Walker Cup and was a member of the Eisenhower Trophy team. He turned professional in the late 1960s and won the 1969 Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Award on the DP World Tour. Oosterhuis dominated the Tour by winning the Harry Vardon Trophy as leading its Order of Merit in four consecutive seasons (1971-74).

After Oosterhuis won tournaments in Africa and Europe – including the national opens of France (twice, in 1973 and 1974) and Spain, seven DP World Tour titles and three on the Southern Africa Tour all told – he made his way to the States. He qualified for the PGA TOUR and played full time from 1975 to 1986.

Oosterhuis made his PGA TOUR debut at the 1971 Masters Tournament and eventually went on to play in 343 official tournaments. Oosterhuis is still tied for the all-time lead in Ryder Cup singles victories for either side with six.

In 1981, Oosterhuis enjoyed his best PGA TOUR season as he finished 28th on the final money list. He had been a steady money-winner, with three runner-up finishes to his credit, before he broke through at the Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club outside Toronto. Trailing by three shots entering the final round, Oosterhuis fired a final-round 70 in difficult conditions to beat Jack Nicklaus, Bruce Lietzke and Andy North by one shot. The first-prize check of $76,500 was more than he had earned in any previous season.

“What a way to win after watching those big names come in and mine still staying up there on the leaderboard,” he said. “I am fortunate that the course is so tough. It allows no one to make a powerful finish.”

The following year, he finished runner-up for the second time at The Open Championship, falling to Gary Player by four shots at Royal Lytham and St. Anne’s. Oosterhuis never won again, though, and eventually explored other careers in the game.

From 1987 through 1993, Oosterhuis was the Director of Golf at Forsgate Country Club in Jamesburg, NJ and famed Riviera Country Club outside Los Angeles. After working as the lead analyst for The Golf Channel’s incipient coverage of the DP World Tour, Oosty became a fixture on CBS’s broadcasting of the PGA TOUR, working the Masters from 1997 through 2014.

Having moved with his second wife Ruth Ann to Charlotte, North Carolina, where he was a member at Quail Hollow Club, he retired from broadcasting following CBS’s coverage of the 2014 PGA Championship and later revealed he was battling with early-onset Alzheimer’s. He is survived by his wife, sons Rob and Rich, stepsons Byron and Matt and four grandchildren Peyton, Turner, Sutton and Lachlan.

Gary Floyd obit

Gary Floyd, Scene-Defining Singer of Austin Punks the Dicks, Has Died

 

He was not on the list.

Gary Floyd, the multiformat artist who helped define the Austin punk scene as the outspoken frontman of rowdy punks the Dicks, has died at 71. He was taken off life support after a stay in the hospital with congestive heart failure.

Floyd grew up in Palestine, Texas and spent two years in Houston – where Floyd, a conscientious objector, worked as a janitor at a state hospital in order to avoid the draft – before he moved to Austin in 1974. By 1980, he, bassist Buxf Parrott, drummer Pat Deason, and guitarist Glen Taylor had formed the Dicks.

Perusing the titles on definitive compilation album Dicks 1980-1986 – “Anti-Klan (Part 1), “No Nazi’s Friend,” “No Fuckin’ War,” “I Hope You Get Drafted” – you get a sense of the band’s Reagan-era politics. Most aggressively upfront was Floyd himself, a fat, openly gay man who often wore drag while performing to Eighties Texas crowds. “Dicks Hate the Police,” a brutality satire often covered by Mudhoney back in the day, might be the band’s calling card, but “Saturday Night at the Bookstore,” an atonal tale of gloryholes and self-hating closeted men, best depicts Floyd’s blunt style.

In a 2000 Chronicle feature on the singer, punk forebears Jello Biafra and King Coffey recalled the exact moments they first saw Floyd front the Dicks. For the Dead Kennedys singer, it was 1982.

"I was a little late for the show, and walked in and there was Gary in full drag (with eye shadow that made his eyes a lot bigger to us down on the dance floor), a long, long wig, cut-off shorts, and a tight white wifebeater shirt with a great big white bomber bra underneath,” Biafra said. "Believe me, Gary took on a whole new dimension in drag that was more alarming than anything I've seen him do since. My God, a 300-pound communist drag queen who can sing like Janis Joplin."

Coffey, then a Fort Worth high schooler and not yet drummer for the Butthole Surfers, recalled of his first Dicks show: "People began leaping from the stage, the slammers behind me began making double-time, and the rest of the crowd as deliriously happy as I. Right then and there, in the middle of 'Fake Bands,' I had my first major rock & roll epiphany. I knew then I wanted to move to Austin, be a punk rocker, be in a band, and try to relive this moment for the rest of my life.”

Floyd moved to San Francisco in 1982 and, after the Dicks disbanded in 1986, led a number of other projects. More than a screamer, the vocalist showed off his singing chops in alternative blues ensemble Sister Double Happiness, which toured with Nirvana and Soundgarden in the Year Punk Broke. Aughts band Black Kali Ma followed, blending the styles of his previous projects.

Outside of music, Floyd wrote books – including the 2014 mini-autobiography Please Bee Nice: My Life up ’til Now and 2017 Dicks lyric book I Said That – and made visual art. In 2022, he debuted his last Austin art show, Maybe We’ll See Butterflies, at Prizer Arts & Letters. Issues with diabetes and congenital heart failure, plus a fall the artist suffered during the pandemic, kept Floyd from returning to Austin for the opening, but he caught up with the Chronicle for one last Q&A.

On the art show’s uncharacteristically optimistic title, he joked: “It sort of hippies me up a little bit, right? What good punk rocker would ever call anything after the loving butterfly? I'm glad to break all those molds and not be too sealed into any one idea. So, hippie butterfly, let it be. It's that stubborn, hardheaded Texan part. I'll say I'm a hippie, but if you say I'm a hippie, I'll say, ‘Well, wait a minute now, I'm a punk rocker.’ And if you say, ‘Well, okay, you're a punk rocker,’ I'll say, ‘Wait just a minute now!” It's always fighting the titles hung around your neck.’”

In his final Chronicle interview, Floyd said he had given up his in-your-face ways. “I'm just a sweet old Buddhist now,” he declared. From his home in California, he looked back on his time in Texas with similar ambivalence.

“Texas is where I grew up,” he said. “I've lived in San Francisco longer than I've lived any place – I moved out here in ’82 with the Dicks. The original guys moved back, but I've been in bands almost ever since. My home is where I am with my friends. My family is gone, but I've been so lucky to have a family from my friends, my chosen family. And luckily, they've chosen me back. It's like – I could die here; I could die there. I could die on the plane en route [to Texas], and I'll be happy because I've had such wonderful friends and a really good, full life. It's still happening.”

John Pisano obit

John Pisano, dean of L.A. jazz guitar, dies at 93

 

He was not on the list.

Jazz guitarist extraordinaire John Pisano, renowned for his solid rhythm, melodic solo lines and generosity, died May 2 at his home in Studio City with his wife Jeanne by his side. He was 93 years old.

Pisano’s career spanned seven decades and included sharing the stage or recording studio with many jazz luminaries, including Chico Hamilton, Herb Alpert, Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra, Benny Goodman, his longtime friend Joe Pass, and nearly every notable guitarist in the business as host for 22 years of his Guitar Night at Spazio Restaurant in Sherman Oaks.

Bob Bakert, editor of Jazz Guitar Today, said, “A finer gentleman I’ve never met. John was a consummate gentleman and a gracious, truly caring guy. It was always about the music and camaraderie and his love for his fellow musicians. John was a master craftsman.” Bakert noted that Pisano’s Guitar Night tradition lives on in distinguished guitarist Frank Vignola’s Guitar Night at Birdland in New York, an intentional tribute to Pisano.

Vignola said, “At the age of 5, one of the first recordings I heard was Joe Pass’ 'For Django.' My guitar teacher, Jimmy George, and my father used to tell me to listen to the rhythm guitarist, John. I got to know him and record with him in the early 2000s when I played a rare touring appearance with Les Paul. He had me over to his house, made me a pizza and we recorded all afternoon. What a swinging guitar player. Later, while on tour with Vinny Raniolo, we played Guitar Night.

“This totally inspired me to aspire to having a Guitar Night in New York City. After COVID, Ryan Paternite reached out to me … asking if I would consider a weekly Guitar Night, ‘like John Pisano’s,’ as he put it. I was pleasantly surprised that he knew of John and how awesome his Guitar Night was. I immediately jumped at the opportunity, and we’ve been there almost three years now, every Wednesday night playing to near sold-out crowds weekly.

“What a great personality, person, player, songwriter and pizza maker.”

“John originally began his regular and ongoing (over almost two decades) Guitar Night series as a way to keep his chops in good shape and to stay inspired via encounters with other guitarists,” said Anthony Wilson, a guitarist and composer who is known for a body of work that moves fluidly across genres and is a frequent guest at Guitar Night.

The steady gig quickly became a hub for the guitar community in L.A. and was eventually a required stop for the many noted players who traveled here from around the country as well as from points beyond. Pisano grew very naturally into his role as the dean of this large intergenerational group of guitarists, guitar designers and builders, and guitar enthusiasts, hosting the evenings with a warm, generous spirit, and playing with a wide-open sense of musical curiosity that invited diverse approaches to the instrument and always kept the music vital and absorbing, Wilson remembers.

Pisano was born on Staten Island, N.Y., on Feb. 6, 1931. His first influence musically was his father, Americo Pisano, who played guitar but never professionally, according to John's online biography. He started learning piano at about the age of 10, but never really cared to practice. It was about 13 when he started playing guitar.

He developed quickly on the instrument, showing as much innate skill as musical understanding. Then he heard Charlie Christian, a pioneer of jazz guitar, and not long after Django Reinhardt, which deepened his love for the guitar. He was also introduced to the jazz radio station WOV in New York and heard Charlie Parker. “Birdland had a live broadcast about 3 or 3:30 in the morning. I remember recording people off the radio like Tadd Dameron and Fats Navarro with an acetate disc recorder that I owned," he wrote.

In 1952, after being in the U.S. Air Force for about eight months, Pisano auditioned for the Air Force Band. It was the only authorization for a guitarist in the Air Force, and he got the gig, which included a lot of recruiting broadcasts.

Pisano said that he never considered himself to be a professional musician until he started playing with the U.S. Air Force band. He was also playing with the Crew Chiefs, an official Air Force group that did some touring, including a 1955 Bob Hope U.S.O. show in Greenland and a spot on “The Steve Allen Show” in Los Angeles.

When he left the service, Pisano was planning to attend the Manhattan School of Music. Shortly before he started his studies, saxophonist and friend Paul Horn, who was then working with the Chico Hamilton band, called to say that Jim Hall was about to leave the band. Horn persuaded Hamilton to audition Pisano, who joined the band and ended up staying in California. Hamilton’s band could be described as a chamber jazz quintet and produced several successful albums, including the music for the film “The Sweet Smell of Success.”

Pisano left the Hamilton band circa 1956 and did some session work while he studied music at Los Angeles City College. In 1958, Pisano recorded two albums of guitar duets with Billy Bean, “Makin' It,” and “Take Your Pick,” which were both well-received.

Pisano met Pass in 1962, when he asked Pass to fill in for him with Pat Cavanaugh’s band while Pisano went on tour with Peggy Lee. Pass was still at Synanon but he was already something of a legend and very well known throughout guitar and jazz circles. Their first recording together, “For Django,” in 1964, has become a touchstone among jazz guitarists. They went on to record well over a dozen albums together including “Whitestone,” which Pisano co-produced; “Ira, George and Joe” in 1981, on which Pass played a 12-string guitar; and “Duets” in 1991, an album of rich interplay and complex harmonies.

Always keeping busy, in addition to his session work, Pisano joined Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass in 1967. He contributed tunes to the band’s repertoire and recorded with many artists who were on Alpert’s A&M record label. Pisano played on all the early Sergio Mendes hits, and some tunes with Burt Bacharach. During that period, he was always traveling and recording. He was with Alpert’s band for about four years before the band folded.

“John was certainly a father figure to me, both personally and musically, encouraging me and showing me astounding things on the instrument at a crucial point in my development as a musician,” said Wilson, “I relished the many opportunities I had to play with him and learn from him, from casual sessions at home that included his famous homemade pizzas, to many Guitar Nights, recording studios and concert halls."

Apart from a great teacher, Wilson also describes John as a lifelong student. The two sometimes took lessons together — often joining "life-changing" tandem two-hour sessions with the legendary guitar teacher Ted Greene. Wilson added, “As a duo partner John was truly remarkable, always providing the exact kind of accompaniment needed — the right chord, the right rhythm, the right feel — with a sensitivity that seemed to be a musical reflection of his personality, which was empathetic, encouraging, and nurturing — like the best kind of friend, you always knew John had your back.”

Pisano is survived by his wife, Jeanne, a singer who performed with John as the Flying Pisanos, his son Christopher and daughter Alyssa. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made in Pisano’s honor to the Los Angeles Jazz Society.

Earl Edwards obit

San Francisco 49ers Lineman Earl Edwards Dies  

He was not on the list.

He was born in Statesboro Georgia in 1946, he was the son of Bruce and Adella Edwards. He was raised in Tampa and attended Blake High School. He attended Wichita State University on a football scholarship, where he was an All American candidate, left Wichita to play in the Canadian Football league for the Edmonton Eskimos. In 1969 the San Francisco 49ers acquired him for 11 players. He would go on to play for other teams Including the Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns, and Greenbag Packers, playing in the NFL from 1969-1980. He went on to coach at UNLV for 3 years before returning to Arizona State University to complete his degree in sports psychology, subsequently becoming the sports psychologist working with the ASU football team under Coach John Cooper. He went on to become the Player Program Coordinator for the Arizona Cardinals. He also worked in athletic ministry for Athletes International Ministries and Meadowlark Lemons ministry. He consulted with “Kids For Tomorrow” working as a counselor, and then as a substitute teacher.

He will be remembered by his football teammates for his work ethic and contributions and was a relentless seeker for racial and social justice on and off the football field. He is remembered by his family for his big smile, big personality, sarcastic charm, and boundless tenacity. His commitment to help others when he could, and always wanting to stick his neck out and pass forward generosity for someone else encouraged others to follow in his footsteps. You always knew when you needed to “go to your room” with his stern eyebrow. He had a love for music, played a mean air guitar when he wasn't playing his saxophone. He always was a father figure to anyone around him. You never entered or left his presence without one of his big hugs. He always entered the room with a distinctive flare. He was a big family man and made sure everyone felt loved and accepted. As a father figure to not only his own kids, he was respected and he touched a lot of lives through many generations, became a visionary to a great number of people and will be fondly missed.

He is survived by his wife of 37 years Janice Edwards and father to Reginald (Tracy) Edwards (deceased 2020), Sandi (Blaine) Ringham, Brandi Edwards, Gavin (Elle) Edwards and Damien (Katelyn) Edwards. Grandfather to Joseph Handy, Jerin Handy, JJ Edwards, Maya Edwards, Adonis Edwards.

The funeral memorial service will be held on June 8, 2024 at 2pm at Vineyard Gilbert Community Church 601 S Cooper Rd, Gilbert, Az, 85225. Family is requesting the wearing of bright colors to celebrate his colorful life.

Earl Edwards dropped out of Wichita State in 1966 after being "dismissed" from the football team, along with two other players, for unspecified rules violations. The local paper reported the dismissals, then a short time later the Head Coach George Karras then told the same paper that there had been

"no dismissals".

The next story in the saga reported that there had been an olive branch offered by the coach allowing the three players to return under some unstated conditions. Edwards refused.

The previous year he was the Missouri Valley Sophomore Lineman of the Year so bigs things were expected for Edwards but prior to the dismissal he's suffered from a fairly severe ankle injury and was not have the kind of All-America season projected by the school.

Edwards had been a highly recruited athlete out of Tampa, Florida. He'd been offered a football scholarship from 26 schools and a basketball scholarship from ten. He was 6-6, 245 pounds at the time, and his play as a soph caught the eye of the Cowboys, Lions, Packers, and 49ers.

In Spring practice of 1966 the Packers defensive line coach, Dave Hanner, visited the campus and said, "Edwards is going to be a great one". When the 49ers visited and assessed the Shocker team they rated Edwards as good but teammate Bob Hoskins was better.

So after the controversy Edwards and went to Canada to play football. he was signed by Ottawa and went through their camp but they were not impressed with him, stating he stood up to high. They were very very impressed with his size and speed (reported as 5.2 in full gear) but waived him before the season.

Edmonton picked him up and made him an offensive tackle for the '67 season. He was quite successful for Edmonton as a defensive tackle, even garnering possible All-Star notice in 1968 but ultimately didn't gat named to the All-CFL team.

Then around 260 pounds, in 1969 the 49ers drafted him on the fifth round, knowing his physical quality and "good film" from Canada, to help them with their defensive line, which was aging in the middle. he'd become eligible for the draft in 1969 since his class was graduating, allowing him to be drafted that year. In the 16th round  (yes there were that many rounds back then) the 49ers took Bob Hoskins, his former teammate at Wichita State. They got both their guys from the Shockers.

Charlie Kreuger was 32 and Roland Lakes was 30. It was time to retool. The ends were younger and their left end was solid (Stan Hindman) and their right end (Bill Belk) was more of a "hustle-type" not really suited for end due to the lack of speed in his pass rush, but was a good run defender.

However, Edwards was still under contract so the 49ers had to give Edmonton compensation. That turned out to be "immediate and long-term player assistance that will ensure a supply of top talent to the Eskimoes for several years". What?

One Canadian football writer suspected much of that "assistance" was cash but that was never confirmed. He also speculated that since there were waiver wire procedures in both the NFL and CFL that essentially it would be Edmonton would "get the first crack" at the 49ers taxi squad.

Regardless, the deal was finalized and Edwards was a 49er. As a rookie he got to start, not at tackle., but at end, four games each in place of Hindman and Belk and got no notice. He even got three votes for NFL Defensive rookie in a year, not bad considering Joe Greene won the award and was terrific as a rookie and much better known, being the number one overall pick that year.

In addition to his starts at the defensive end, he caught a pass as a tight end and took camp snaps on the offensive line.

Edwards prepared for the 1970 season by lifting weights for the first time in his life. He said he was inspired by Curley Culp's performance in Super Bowl IV so he hit the weights and got his weight to 277 with no loss of quickness, but was aiming to get down to 265 pounds when the season started.

That year Tommy Hart, who was a linebacker in 1968-69, was converted to defensive end  (he'd hit the weights as well and was up to 250 pounds from the 220 he was as a rookie) and the Niners took Cedrick Hardman with their top pick. Hart earned the left end position and Belk was the right end with Hardman coming in on likely passing situations and spelled Belk as well until he became the starter the last month of the season.

Inside Kreuger and Lakes were the starters but Edwards usually played on passing down with Lakes coming out. Edwards also spelled both, gaining experience and provide inside pressure. The 49ers defensive improved as did the team winning the NFL West.

In July 1971 Lakes was shipped to the Giants for a draft pick and Edwards was the starting tackle. According to Mike Giddings, who was on the 49ers staff at the time, "Earl solidified our line and was an excellent player in 1971 and 1972, and the year before as well, as a rusher. He helped is win the West those three years."

 

Career history

Edmonton Eskimos (1967–1968)

San Francisco 49ers (1969–1972)

Buffalo Bills (1973–1975)

Cleveland Browns (1976–1978)

Green Bay Packers (1979)

Career NFL statistics

Games played:            150

Games started:            98

Fumble recoveries:            7

Edgar Lansbury obit

Edgar Lansbury, Tony-Winning Producer and Brother of Angela Lansbury, Dies at 94

He worked on Broadway and movie versions of 'The Subject Was Roses' and 'Godspell' and on a revival of 'Gypsy' that starred his sister.

 He was not on the list.

Edgar Lansbury, the Tony-winning producer and younger brother of famed actress Angela Lansbury who guided the Broadway and big-screen versions of The Subject Was Roses and Godspell, has died. He was 94.

He died Thursday at his home in Manhattan, his son David Lansbury told The Hollywood Reporter.

Lansbury also produced the popular 1974-75 Broadway revival of Gypsy that starred his sister in a Tony-winning turn and worked on other films including The Wild Party (1975), directed by James Ivory.

Angela Lansbury, winner of five Tony Awards and star of Murder, She Wrote, died on Oct. 11, 2022, at age 96. His twin brother, TV producer Bruce Lansbury, died in February 2017 at age 87.

Lansbury’s first Broadway production, the intense family drama The Subject Was Roses, opened in 1964, ran for two years, and won a Pulitzer Prize and the Tony for best play. Written by Frank Gilroy and directed by Ulu Grosbard, it starred Martin Sheen as a returning veteran and son of warring parents played by Jack Albertson and Irene Dailey.

Sheen, Albertson, Gilroy and Grosbard then reprised their roles for the MGM version, with Albertson backing up his Tony victory by winning the Oscar for supporting actor opposite Patricia Neal as his wife.

Invited by future Hill Street Blues actor Charles Haid to a performance of Godspell at the New York experimental theater club La MaMa in March 1971, Lansbury and his frequent producing partner Joseph Beruh took the musical to the off-Broadway Cherry Lane Theatre in 1971 and then to Broadway in 1976. (Victor Garber played Jesus in the 1973 Columbia adaptation.)

The onetime scenic designer also received Drama Desk nominations in 1977 and 1998, respectively, for producing American Buffalo, starring Robert Duvall in David Mamet‘s Broadway debut, and Douglas Carter Beane’s As Bees in Honey Drown.

In 2007, he was presented with the John Houseman Award from The Acting Company to honor his commitment to the development of classical actors and a national audience for the theater. (He served on its board of directors for more than four decades since its start in 1972.)

Edgar George Lansbury was born in London on Jan. 12, 1930. His mother, Moyna Macgill, was a Belfast-born stage actress, and his father, also Edgar, was a politician and timber merchant. His grandfather was George Lansbury, a former Labor Party leader in England and a member of Parliament.

As World War II was heating up, he came to New York in 1940 aboard a refugee boat with his sister, brother and mother (his dad had died of stomach cancer when Edgar was 4). They lived in upstate New York and then in Greenwich Village before he and Bruce attended the Choate School in Wallingford, Connecticut.

After the twins joined their mom and Angela in Los Angeles — both women had landed acting contracts at MGM by then — he graduated from University High School, served in the U.S. Army for two years and became a U.S. citizen in 1954.

Lansbury studied drawing and painting at the Otis Art Institute and at UCLA, then landed a job as art director at CBS Television City. He worked as an art director on The Red Skelton Hour, Climax!, Studio One, Playhouse 90 and The Defenders and on the 1962 film War Hunt, starring John Saxon.

In 1967, he produced Coronet Blue, a CBS drama that starred Frank Converse as an amnesia victim in search of his true identity.

With Beruh, Lansbury took a 10-year lease on a hotel ballroom on Broadway at 76th Street in New York and designed and built the 400-seat Promenade Theater, which opened in 1969. The venue hosted hundreds of plays before shuttering in 2006.

Lansbury’s producing résumé also included the Broadway projects The Only Game in Town, Doug Henning’s The Magic Show, The Night That Made America Famous and Lennon; off-Broadway revivals of Waiting for Godot and Long Day’s Journey Into Night (with a cast that included Robert Ryan, Stacy Keach and Geraldine Fitzgerald); and the 1977 film Blue Sunshine.

In his later years, he turned to painting and sculpture.

In addition to David, an actor, survivors include his second wife, artist Louise Peabody (they married in 2008), and his other children, James (an assistant director on Seinfeld), George, Michael, Brian and Kate.

Art Director

Desperate Characters (1971)

Desperate Characters

6.2

Art Director (uncredited)

1971

 

Robert Reed and E.G. Marshall in The Defenders (1961)

The Defenders

8.0

TV Series

Art Director

1963–1964

15 episodes

 

War Hunt (1962)

War Hunt

6.2

Art Director

1962

 

Red Skelton in The Red Skelton Hour (1951)

The Red Skelton Hour

8.1

TV Series

Art Director

1954–1961

18 episodes

 

Playhouse 90 (1956)

Playhouse 90

8.4

TV Series

Art Director

1958–1960

5 episodes

 

The Red Skelton Chevy Special

9.0

TV Special

Art Director

1959

 

The Gene Kelly Show

8.0

TV Special

Art Director

1959

 

Studio One (1948)

Studio One

7.6

TV Series

Art Director

1958

5 episodes

 

Dan Duryea in Climax! (1954)

Climax!

6.7

TV Series

Art Director

1957

1 episode

 

Stars of Jazz (1956)

Stars of Jazz

TV Series

Art Director

1956

1 episode

 

Producer

Andy Dick, Cynthia Nixon, Timothy Olyphant, and Jon Tenney in Advice from a Caterpillar (1999)

Advice from a Caterpillar

5.3

producer

1999

 

A Stranger Waits (1987)

A Stranger Waits

5.5

TV Movie

executive producer

1987

 

Summer Girl (1983)

Summer Girl

6.2

TV Movie

executive producer

1983

 

The Clairvoyant (1982)

The Clairvoyant

5.5

producer

1982

 

Caitlin O'Heaney in He Knows You're Alone (1980)

He Knows You're Alone

5.0

executive producer

1980

 

Blue Sunshine (1977)

Blue Sunshine

5.9

executive producer

1977

 

Squirm (1976)

Squirm

4.9

executive producer

1976

 

Raquel Welch and James Coco in The Wild Party (1975)

The Wild Party

5.3

executive producer

1975

 

Victor Garber, Katie Hanley, David Haskell, Merrell Jackson, Joanne Jonas, Robin Lamont, Gilmer McCormick, Jeffrey Mylett, Jerry Sroka, and Lynne Thigpen in Godspell (1973)

Godspell

6.5

producer

1973

 

Natalie Wood and Jacques Sernas in Camera Three (1955)

Camera Three

7.7

TV Series

producer

1971

1 episode

 

The Subject Was Roses (1968)

The Subject Was Roses

7.0

producer

1968

 

Frank Converse in Coronet Blue (1967)

Coronet Blue

8.3

TV Series

producer

1967

13 episodes

 

Star Witness

producer

1963

 

Additional Crew

Doug Henning in The Magic Show (1983)

The Magic Show

5.8

producer: original Broadway production

1983

 

Victor Garber, Katie Hanley, David Haskell, Merrell Jackson, Joanne Jonas, Robin Lamont, Gilmer McCormick, Jeffrey Mylett, Jerry Sroka, and Lynne Thigpen in Godspell (1973)

Godspell

6.5

produced on the stage by

1973

Susan Buckner obit

Susan Buckner Dies: ‘Grease’ Actor Who Played Olivia Newton-John’s Cheerleading Pal Was 72

 She was not on the list.

Susan Buckner, best known to moviegoers as Grease‘s bubbly cheerleader Patty Simcox, died peacefully surrounded by loved ones in Miami on May 2.

Her death was announced by family.

Buckner’s Grease character was the Rydell High cheerleading pal of Olivia Newton-John’s Sandy. The 1978 film also starred John Travolta and Stockard Channing.

Born on January 28, 1952, in Seattle, Washington, Buckner was crowned Miss Washington in 1971 and represented the state in the Miss America pageant the following year. Soon after, she became one of The Dean Martin Show’s Golddiggers dancers, and that led her to become part of the all-girl group Fantasy and the musical duo Buckner and Pratt.

She also appeared on such variety shows as The Mac Davis Show, Sonny and Cher and, as a dancer and synchronized swimmer, The Brady Bunch Variety Hour.

In 1977, she landed her signature role of perky Patty Simcox, Grease‘s embodiment of pep and school spirit. “Do the splits, give a yell!” she cheered alongside Newton-John. “Show a little spirit for old Rydell! Way to go, red and white! Go Rydell, fight, fight, fight!”

Grease was the top-grossing movie of 1978 with $132.4 million in box office. Its soundtrack spawned four Top 5 singles, earned an Album of the Year Grammy nom and has sold more than 8 million units in the U.S. alone.

Buckner later was featured in several TV shows, including The Love Boat, B.J and the Bear, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, and co-starred in the ABC series When the Whistle Blows. She starred in the 1981 Wes Craven horror film Deadly Blessing alongside Sharon Stone and in 1989’s Police Academy 6: City Under Siege. She later stepped away from show business to raise a family.

Buckner is survived by her son Adam Josephs, daughter Samantha Mansfield, grandchildren Oliver, Riley, Abigail and Ruby as well as her sister Linda, daughter-in-law Noel Josephs, son-in-law Adam Mansfield and longtime partner Al.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Miami’s Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Susan’s honor.

Actress

Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (1989)

Police Academy 6: City Under Siege

4.4

News Reporter (uncredited)

1989

 

Sharon Stone in Deadly Blessing (1981)

Deadly Blessing

5.5

Vicky Anderson

1981

 

Douglas Barr, Philip Brown, Susan Buckner, Tim Rossovich, and Dolph Sweet in When the Whistle Blows (1980)

When the Whistle Blows

5.7

TV Series

Lucy Davis

1980

10 episodes

 

Fred Grandy, Bernie Kopell, Ted Lange, Gavin MacLeod, and Lauren Tewes in The Love Boat (1977)

The Love Boat

6.3

TV Series

Kim Patterson

1979

1 episode

 

Greg Evigan in B.J. and the Bear (1978)

B.J. and the Bear

6.4

TV Series

Renee

1979

1 episode

 

Elizabeth Taylor in Return Engagement (1978)

Return Engagement

6.8

TV Movie

Janice

1978

 

John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in Grease (1978)

Grease

7.2

Patty Simcox

1978

 

Shaun Cassidy, Pamela Sue Martin, and Parker Stevenson in The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (1977)

The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries

7.3

TV Series

George Fayne

1977–1978

3 episodes

 

Starsky and Hutch (1975)

Starsky and Hutch

7.0

TV Series

Sharon Carstairs

1978

1 episode

 

Florence Henderson, Susan Olsen, Robert Reed, Christopher Knight, Mike Lookinland, Maureen McCormick, Geri Reischl, and Barry Williams in The Brady Bunch Variety Hour (1976)

The Brady Bunch Variety Hour

3.7

TV Series

Krofftette

1976–1977

9 episodes

 

The Amazing Howard Hughes (1977)

The Amazing Howard Hughes

6.6

TV Movie

Jean Harlow

1977

 

Eddie Albert and Robert Wagner in Switch (1975)

Switch

7.1

TV Series

Jessica

1977

1 episode

 

The First Nudie Musical (1976)

The First Nudie Musical

5.4

Dancer

1976

 

Angie Dickinson in Police Woman (1974)

Police Woman

6.6

TV Series

Judy

1976

1 episode

 

The Dean Martin Show (1965)

The Dean Martin Show

8.1

TV Series

Sketch Performer

1973

1 episode

 

Soundtrack

Florence Henderson, Susan Olsen, Robert Reed, Christopher Knight, Mike Lookinland, Maureen McCormick, Geri Reischl, and Barry Williams in The Brady Bunch Variety Hour (1976)

The Brady Bunch Variety Hour

3.7

TV Series

performer: "Celebrate", "How Lucky Can You Get?", "Singing in the Rain", "Laughter in the Rain", "United We Stand"

Roxanne Rosedale obit

Roxanne Rosedale, ‘Beat the Clock’ Assistant & ‘Seven Year Itch’ Actress, Dies at 95

 

She was not on the list.

Roxanne Rosedale, the model and actress who served as Bud Collyer‘s glamorous assistant on the 1950s game show Beat the Clock, has died. She was 95.

As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, she passed away on Thursday, May 2, in an assisted care facility in her birthplace of Minneapolis, Minnesota, according to her daughter, Ann Roddy.

Born on March 20, 1929, as Dolores Rosedale, the game show star was better known professionally as Roxanne. Before her show business career, she studied fashion design at the Minneapolis School of Art and was a member of the Minneapolis Models Guild.

After finishing second in the Miss Minneapolis beauty pageant in 1947, Roxanne moved to New York, signing with the Harry Conover modeling agency and studying with Lee Strasberg at The Actors Studio.

She made her television debut in 1948 on the short-lived CBS game show Winner Take All, which Collyer also hosted. The show was canceled after two seasons, but Roxanne and Collyer went on to work together on Beat the Clock, which saw contestants completing in challenges to win prizes while faced with a time limit.

The original run of the show aired from 1950 to 1958. Roxanne left the show in 1955 after marrying businessman Tom Roddy in 1954 and becoming pregnant with Ann.

Roxanne rose in popularity for her role on Beat the Clock, where she would introduce the contestants and pose alongside the winners’ prizes. During her time with the show, she appeared on the covers of magazines such as Life, Look, and TV Guide. And she even had a doll named after her, the Roxanne Dolls, which she’d often hand out on the show.

Her acting roles included episodes of the CBS drama Casey, Crime Photographer, and the syndicated anthology series Broadway Television Theatre. Most notably, she starred in Billy Wilder’s 1955 romantic-comedy The Seven Year Itch alongside Marilyn Monroe and Tom Ewell.

Roxanne’s final film role came in 1957’s noir crime thriller The Young Don’t Cry.

According to THR, Roxanne moved back to Minnesota with her family after 1957 and worked for a furrier, modeled, and appeared in numerous local commercials. She later relocated to Palo Alto and had four more children with Roddy before divorcing in 1979. She went on to marry Stanley Shanedling, a lawyer and judge in Minneapolis.

She is survived by her children, Ann, Thomas, David, Michael, and Elizabeth; her grandchildren, Erica, Anna, Sarah, and John; her great-grandchildren, Adeline, Tatiana, Elijah, and Major; and her sister, Kitty.

 

Actress

The Young Don't Cry (1957)

The Young Don't Cry

6.1

Mrs. Maureen Cole (as Roxanne)

1957

 

The Seven Year Itch (1955)

The Seven Year Itch

7.1

Elaine (as Roxanne)

1955

 

Broadway Television Theatre (1952)

Broadway Television Theatre

6.6

TV Series

(as Roxanne)

1952

1 episode

 

Crime Photographer (1951)

Crime Photographer

5.0

TV Series

as Roxanne

1952

1 episode

Richard Maloof obit

Richard Maloof, bass and tuba player on the Lawrence Welk Show, Has Died 

 He was not n the list.

Richard Maloof played bass and tuba on the Lawrence Welk Show from 1967 to 1982. Maloof was born in Sacramento. After attending Sacramento State University, Maloof played with with Les Brown and later Carmen Cavallaro. It was during his stint in NORAD when he got the invitation to join Lawrence Welk and his Music Makers, replacing the the ever popular Tuba player, Buddy Hayes. Maloof remained with the Lawrence Welk Show until 1982.

Marriage To Mary Lou Metzger

In Addition to Lawrence Welk, Maloof also performed in several TV shows such as "The Julie Andrews Show," and "Kojak," as well as numerous commercials and feature films.   Maloof also did six years with the Los Angeles Pops and also teaches music sight and ear training for LA's Musicians Institute. How lived in Sherman Oaks with Mary Lou Metzger, married to since June 1973.

Richard Maloof was born and raised by Cy and Lucille Maloof, one of four children. Richard graduated from San Juan High School in Citrus Heights, then attended Sacramento State University, Los Angeles City College and UCLA while searching for work as a musician. He got his first break playing for Les Brown's band and later Carmen Cavallaro before joining the U. S. Army.

While stationed at the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD), Richard played in the NORAD Commanders Jazz Band alongside future Welk musicians Johnny Zell and Dave Edwards. During his NORAD stint he got the invitation to join Lawrence Welk, both with the orchestra and on his weekly television show. That was in August 1967 and he remained until the show ended in February 1982. Starting in 1976, he had a mustache as shown on the show.

Maloof also performed music for several television shows such as The Julie Andrews Show and Kojak as well as several commercials and feature films, and performed on stage for the show Forever Plaid. He also served six years with the Los Angeles Pops and also taught music sight and ear training for LA's Musicians Institute.

Maloof married fellow Welk star Mary Lou Metzger on June 16, 1973. They resided in Sherman Oaks, California. Richard Maloof died on May 1, 2024, at the age of 84.

Richard Tandy obit

Richard Tandy, Keyboardist of ELO Dies at 76

 

He was not on the list.

Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) posted the sad news that the band’s longtime keyboardist Richard Tandy has passed away. He wrote on Facebook, alongside several photos of Tandy and the band, “It is with great sadness that I share the news of the passing of my long-time collaborator and dear friend Richard Tandy. He was a remarkable musician & friend and I’ll cherish the lifetime of memories we had together. Sending all my love to Sheila & the Tandy Family.”

Tandy was best known for his contributions to ELO and played a plethora of keyboards including Minimoog, Clavinet, Mellotron, and piano. His story truly began when he met his future bandmate Bev Bevan at the Moseley School. In 1972, he joined ELO as a bassist before becoming the band’s full-time keyboardist. He became especially close to bandmate and ELO frontman Jeff Lynne and they worked on many other projects together.

In 1985, Tandy formed the Tandy Morgan Band featuring Dave Morgan and Martin Smith and released a concept album called Earthrise. Over the years, he kept working and reunited with Lynne in 2012 for another ELO project, a live set of the band’s greatest hits. They reunited several more times, often for charity concerts. Just a month ago, ELO announced a farewell tour. It is unclear as of now if the tour will go on without Tandy.

While not much is known about his personal life, he is survived by his second wife Sheila and was said to have been residing in Wales. No cause of death has been revealed at the time of posting. Feel free to share your condolences in the comments and share what your favorite ELO song is.