Marva Wright (1948-2010)

Another New Orleans music star has passed away.

Blues woman Marva Wright – who sang on Bourbon Street, in the White House and throughout Europe – died this morning. She had suffered two strokes last spring.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune obituary is here.

Click here to hear Ms. Wright’s 2007 recording “Katrina Blues.” Her New Orleans home took almost eight feet of water when the levees broke.

Bernard “Bunchy” Johnson (1952-2010)

Quite sadly, I pass along news that longtime New Orleans drummer (and part-time actor) Bunchy Johnson died today, according to the Louisiana music website OffBeat.com.

Mr. Johnson will be seen acting in the premiere episode of “Treme” on April 11. (He also appears in Episode 5.)

As a drummer, Bunchy (or “Bunchie”) worked with a Who’s Who of New Orleans legends: Dave Bartholomew, Allen Toussaint, Lee Dorsey, James Booker, Dr. John, Aaron Neville, Lloyd Price...

Click here to hear a Bunchy Johnson composition – “Pass It On” – from a 2000 album by Wardell Quezergue & His Slammin’ Big Band. It’s a song about the Mardi Gras Indian culture.

And here’s a video of Mr. Johnson backing Jeremy Davenport during last year’s JazzFest:

Mallia Franklin (c. 1953 - 2010)

Word spread today through the P-Funk online grapevine that vocalist Mallia Franklin has died. She had suffered a stroke last summer.

I hope her passing does not go unnoticed by the news media... at least in her home town of Detroit.

Mallia Franklin was a lead voice in George Clinton’s first female spinoff group, Parlet. Her credited background vocals with Parliament- Funkadelic date back to the 1975 “Chocolate City” album.

Deeper still, Ms. Franklin introduced G. Clinton to a young and struggling Bootsy Collins in 1971, thus changing the course of pop-music history.

Click here to hear the 12-inch version of Parlet’s biggest single, “Ridin’ High,” streaming on my Vox blog. That’s Mallia singing lead.

And she is the first one speaking in the Parlet retrospective vidclip below.

Bobby Charles (1938-2010)

Louisiana songwriter Bobby Charles died today at age 71. He was best known for two early rock ’n’ roll hits – “See You Later, Alligator” and “Walkin’ to New Orleans.”

The New Orleans Times-Picayune obituary is here.

For a Louisiana Cajun, Bobby Charles followed an unusual path to success... black music. He wrote “Walkin’ to New Orleans” for his idol, Fats Domino, and Fats took it to the Top 10 in 1960. Clarence “Frogman” Henry then had a hit with Charles’s “(I Don’t Know Why) But I Do.”

Robert Charles Guidry started out as a singer. According to legend, the Chess Brothers assumed by his singing voice that Guidry was black when they gave him a record deal.

Here’s a story from the Lousiana Music Hall of Fame website:

“The only white artist on a black label, [Bobby Charles] began touring with an all-black band along with Chuck Berry and Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers.

“They were touring Mississippi and were at the University of Mississippi for a gig when he had to go to the restroom. He was followed into the restroom by several Ole Miss football players who were unhappy that he was riding with Chuck Berry.

“Berry, however, had seen the players enter the restroom after Charles and suspected they weren’t seeking autographs so he and several other band members went in after the players. ‘Chuck and the others saved my damn life,’ Charles said.”

Click here to hear a young Bobby Charles performing “Time Will Tell.”

Willie Mitchell (1928-2010)

Renowned R&B producer Willie Mitchell, who recorded Al Green’s signature hits of the 1970s, died today. He was 81 years old.

The Memphis Commercial Appeal obituary is here. Mr. Mitchell was a titan of Memphis soul music.

During his long and fruitful career, Willie Mitchell was a trumpet player, bandleader, studio owner, record-label executive... and was still in demand as a horn arranger into the 21st Century, working with the likes of Buddy Guy and John Mayer.

Mitchell’s work with Al Green is familiar to all. But click here and listen to “I Can’t Stand the Rain” by Ann Peebles. Splendidly arranged and produced by Mitchell, this single reached the Top 40 in 1973.

Ben Ali (1927-2009)

Washington, D.C., is mourning the death last week of Ben Ali, founder of Ben’s Chili Bowl.

Mr. Ali and his family have fed everyone from Duke Ellington and Nat King Cole to Bill Cosby and Barack Obama to Shaq and Serena.

His passing was reported by the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, as well as, of course, the Washington Post.

I hardly ever ate there. But during my journalism days in the 1980s, I did cover a news conference that Cosby conducted at the Chili Bowl. He loved that joint. I’m waiting for him to tweet about it.

Requiem for a lightweight

If you grew up watching championship fights on TV during the 1970s and ’80s, you witnessed a golden age of Latino boxers.

Roberto Duran (Panamanian)... Carlos Palomino (Mexican)... Wilfred Benitez (Puerto Rican)... Alexis Arguello (Nicaraguan)...

On the Internet, dudes full of testosterone and race pride debate who were the best Latino fighters. I’m not going there.

But for Hispanic Heritage Month, I want to share something I just recently learned about Alexis Arguello, a former champ in the featherweight, junior lightweight and lightweight divisions.

He transitioned into government in his home country. Last November, Arguello was elected mayor of Managua, Nicaragua. He’s the only boxing champion I ever heard of who got elected to political office.

In July of this year, Arguello died of a bullet wound to the chest. Nicaragua’s Sandinista government says the gunshot was self-inflicted.

But Arguello’s son, Alexis Arguello, Jr., believes it was murder: “This was not a suicide. ... My dad had been through three failed marriages, alcoholism, crack, the worst things someone could go through. But he would not do this.”

In memory of Alexis Arguello, here’s a YouTube clip featuring the end of one of his classic bouts... a 1981 brawl versus Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini:

Roc Raida (1972-2009)

Roc Raida (Anthony Williams), a pioneer of turntablism, has reportedly died at the age of 37.

Rapper Busta Rhymes broke the news via Twitter. He wrote: “I am sorry 2 say that on this day at 2:05 Sept 19th we lost another incredible life...Dj Roc Raida died 2day my personal Dj is gone...”

HipHopDX.com reports that Roc Raida’s family has confirmed his passing. According to a family statement, Raida’s death was the result of a recent “mixed martial arts accident.”

Roc Raida was a founding member of the X-ecutioners, one of the first DJ crews to get a record deal.

I’m not deep into turntablism. But the first X-ecutioners album (“X-pressions”) was one of my earliest downloads when I subscribed to eMusic back in 2001. And I like that album.

In honor of Roc Raida, let me spin one of his tracks off of “X-pressions.” Click here to hear “One Man Band” on my Vox blog.

UPDATE (09/20/09): There’s much video on YouTube of Roc Raida on the wheels of steel. This clip shows him demonstrating the art form in Japan in 1999:

Don Hewitt (1922-2009)

Legendary CBS News producer Don Hewitt, the creator of “60 Minutes,” died today. He was 86. CBS has posted an online obituary here.

I’ve been a huge “60 Minutes” fan for my whole adult life. The first opportunity I had to pitch an idea for my own TV series, back in 1998, I sold the concept of a Steven Bochco-type ensemble drama about a news show like “60 Minutes.” I imagined Alan Arkin as the Don Hewitt character.

He would’ve been the heart and soul of the thing.

Hewitt’s template for investigative broadcast journalism has been imitated around the world. Click here for a look at South Africa’s answer to “60 Minutes” – “Special Assignment.”

Don Hewitt has said that his show’s finest moment was the Lenell Geter story in 1984. The “60 Minutes” team got an innocent man out of prison (in the days before DNA testing). Check out a glimpse below. Remember that one? I sure do.

Lenell Geter is now a motivational speaker.

Rashied Ali (1935-2009)

Jazz drummer Rashied Ali, who replaced Elvin Jones in Coltrane’s band, died on Wednesday. He was 74. The New York Times obituary is here.

After his legendary free-jazz recordings with Trane, Rashied Ali collaborated with other outstanding avant-gardists such as Frank Lowe, Arthur Blythe, Joe McPhee, Peter Brötzmann, William Parker, James Blood Ulmer and Jaco Pastorius.

Click here to hear “Mars,” from the Coltrane/Ali duo album “Interstellar Space,” recorded in 1967.

Les Paul (1915-2009)

The music world is in mourning. Guitarist and guitar designer Les Paul died today at the age of 94. The Los Angeles Times obituary is here.

In the early 1950s, the Gibson Les Paul, an electric guitar designed with input from Mr. Paul himself, came on the market. It would have a huge impact on rock ’n ’ roll. (Les Paul had designed one of the first solid- body electric guitars back in the ’30s.)

Among the legendary musicians who played Gibson Les Pauls are Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, John Lennon, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Carlos Santana, Peter Framton, Eddie Van Halen, Rosetta Tharpe, Bob Marley, Al Di Meola, Pat Metheny and Frank Zappa.

Les Paul’s name is so thoroughly associated with those Gibson guitars, his own career as a musician tends to be overlooked. Especially his early jazz work.

Click here to hear a version of “How High the Moon” that Paul recorded during World War II while serving with Armed Forces Radio.

And click here to hear a live 1944 recording from the very first “Jazz at the Philharmonic” concert. It’s a jam session anchored by Nat King Cole on piano and featuring Illinois Jacquet and J.J. Johnson along with Les Paul. Paul starts cuttin’ up about 7 minutes in.

This has been called “one of history’s most famous jams,” and Les Paul has referred to it as his favorite gig ever. Listen to the crowd (and the other musicians) go nuts when Nat Cole and Paul get to trading licks.

Reverend Ike (1935-2009)

The famous “prosperity preacher” Reverend Ike died on Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 74.

The L.A. Times obituary is here.

During the 1970s, Rev. Ike became a pop-culture type unto himself – the lavish-living, charismatic black evangelist. At the height of his popularity, he had a fleet of Rolls-Royces.

Richard Pryor lampooned Rev. Ike with his character “Daddy Rich” in the movie “Car Wash.” And embedded below is Roscoe Lee Browne as “Reverend Sam” in an abbreviated episode of “Good Times.”

In recent years, Rev. Ike has been a presence on the internets. Click here to hear a 2-minute bite from a free sermon downloaded from Rev. Ike’s website.

E. Lynn Harris (1955-2009)

Popular novelist E. Lynn Harris, who wrote about black gay life, died today. He was 54 years old.

Essence.com has posted an obituary.

I never read any of Mr. Harris’s writing. But I’ve always respected his impact on the book publishing business. He paved the way for the Black Lit boom of the last 15 years... even though major publishers at first rejected his work.

I’m streaming a 4-minute audio bite from E. Lynn Harris’s 2003 memoir, “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” (read by Richard Allen).

To listen, click here.

Memorial

Much of the Michael Jackson memorial service today I heard on my car radio. Which annoyed me a bit, because on L.A.’s top talk-radio station, KFI, the hosts were dogging Michael throughout.

Absolutely no respect for the deceased... or for the fans who take his passing seriously. Maybe I’ll stream some of that tomorrow, if KFI’s coverage comes available as a podcast.

Meanwhile, here’s a reminder of why Michael Jackson was one of the most popular entertainers of all time:

1. “Don’t Know Why I Love You” – Jackson 5

2. “Lookin’ Through the Windows” – Jackson 5

3. “The Life of the Party” – Jackson 5

4. “Show You the Way to Go” – The Jacksons

Betty Allen (1927-2009)

In the same week that Earth’s most famous singer died, a pioneering African- American opera star passed away at age 82.

Mezzo-soprano Betty Allen had performed with the San Francisco Opera, the New York City Opera, the Santa Fe Opera and others. As a soloist, Ms. Allen sang with symphony orchestras under such conductors as Leonard Bernstein, Georg Solti and Pablo Casals.

I’d never heard of her.

Betty Allen had also served as president of the Harlem School of the Arts, where she taught master classes in voice. She also taught at the Manhattan School of Music and the Curtis Institute of Music.

The New York Times obituary is here. The Washington Post obit is here.

A wake will be held tomorrow from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Benta’s Funeral Home in Harlem.

I’m streaming a Betty Allen recording on my Vox blog. Click here to hear her rendition of the old Negro spiritual “Deep River.”

Michael Jackson (1958-2009)

Michael Jackson is gone.

He will be remembered as one of the greatest entertainers of the 20th Century. He was preparing for a series of “comeback” concerts this summer in London.

Michael, of course, will be remembered also for his legal problems, his family dramas, his plastic surgeries, his many eccentricities. For today, let’s focus on his extraordinary talent.

Before they were signed to Motown, Jackson and his brothers recorded a few sides for Steeltown Records, a local label in their home town of Gary, Indiana.

Their first single, “Big Boy, was released in January of 1968, when Michael was only 9 years old.

Click here to hear “Big Boy” on my Vox blog. To listen to the flip side, “You’ve Changed,” click here.

The Jackson 5’s early recordings were released on a 1996 CD called “Pre-History: The Lost Steeltown Recordings.” These aren’t good songs. But Michael had the magic even then.

Below, check him out at the age of 24. (Hat-tip: EbonyJet.com.)

Koko Taylor (1928-2009)

Koko Taylor, “Queen of the Blues,” died today in Chicago. She was 80 years old. The Chicago Tribune obituary is here.

Ms. Taylor’s recording career spanned more than 40 years, highlighted by her signature hit, “Wang Dang Doodle.” She performed that tune just a few weeks ago at the Blues Music Awards in Memphis, where she received an award.

I’ve blogged about Koko Taylor twice before... here and here.

In her memory, let me spin another record. Click here to hear a funky 1975 track called “Voodoo Woman,” which Ms. Taylor wrote.

Buddy Montgomery (1930-2009)

Charles “Buddy” Montgomery – the youngest brother of guitar genius Wes Montgomery, and the last surviving member of the Montgomery Brothers jazz trio – passed away on May 14. He was 79 years old.

The Los Angeles Times reported this news last night. The New York Times obituary, published last Thursday, is here.

Buddy Montgomery was a pianist and vibraphonist whose recording career spanned from the 1950s to the current decade.

Click here to hear “1,000 Rainbows” (which Montgomery composed) from his 1997 album “Here Again.”

Wayman Tisdale (1964-2009)

Wayman Tisdale, a smooth-jazz bassist and former NBA star, died this morning of bone cancer... a few weeks shy of his 45th birthday.

The USAToday.com obituary is here.

I never got into his music. But I want to honor Mr. Tisdale’s passing by streaming a track off his 2008 CD, “Rebound.”

To hear his cover of Barry White’s “Never Never Gonna Give Ya Up” – featuring country crooner Toby Keith on vocals! – click here.

Marilyn Chambers (1952-2009)

A defining pop-culture phenomenon of the 1970s was the rise of hardcore pornography as an avenue to mainstream fame.

Nowadays nobody bats an eye when Katie Morgan does an HBO special, or Heather Hunter makes a hip-hop album, or Jenna Jameson writes a bestselling book.

But before there was Traci Lords and Sasha Grey (who?)... there was Marilyn Chambers. Her 1972 X-rated debut, “Behind the Green Door,” launched the so-called “Golden Age of Porn.”

Ms. Chambers was found dead yesterday in her L.A. County home. She was 56. The cause of death is unknown, according to the Los Angeles Times.

By 1976, Marilyn Chambers had already made inroads into mainstream show business. She put out a disco record called “Benihana,” produced by Michael Zager (who later had a hit with “Let’s All Chant”).

Chambers also starred in the 1977 horror movie “Rabid,” written and directed by David Cronenberg.

Below are the trailer for “Rabid” and Chambers’ 1977 appearance on the adult-oriented cable show “Midnight Blue.”