MIDWEST MUSIC PAGE

Another MN Music link:
Great stuff, Gypsy, Crow, many more!

2/29/2012 Davy Jones passes at only 66. Died from an heart attack in a Florida hospital. The Screen Gems faux band "The Monkees" actually did, eventually, play and sing their own music. Jimi Hendrix opened for a short time for this band.

2/11/2012 The beautiful and massively talented angel, Whitney Houston left this vale of tears.
Opinion: As far as I am concerned, Bobby Brown should be bitch slapped and rot in hell for corrupting this fine lady.

1/23/2012 Beloved local musician, Paul Manske, 57, dies in a St Paul hospital. He performed solo & with Raggs & Hillbilly Voodoo Dolls.
Star & Trib article

1/20/2012 Etta James, 73, is gone. Her "I'd rather go blind" and "At last" still stands as iconic, brilliant tunes. Nobody was finer in her niche. This woman even made Jim Johnson (Gypsy) nervous! One tough broad.

12/20/2011 Sean Bonniwell, lead singer of the Los Angeles rock band The Music Machine, passed away on December 20, 2011, at 71 years of age. Sean was active in the folk music scene of the early/mid 1960’s and transformed The Ragamuffins, a folk band, into The Music Machine, an innovative and edgy rock band, known for their black dyed hair, black clothes, one black glove and black musical instruments. Two of the original band members have local connections: Keith Olsen ( Minneapolis) played bass guitar and Rod Edgar ( St. Louis Park) played drums. The Music Machine shot up the charts in late 1966 and into January, 1967 (peaking at number 15), with a two minute blast of rock’n’roll called “Talk Talk” that is now considered by many music critics to be one of the greatest garage rock songs of all time (some would put it in the number one slot). After one album and two 45’s, the band came to an end in 1967 and Sean started The Bonniwell Music Machine, but did not match the success of the original band. In 1996, Sean published a memoir called “Talk Talk” which was later was revised and re-titled “Life Beyond the Garage.” Sean (real name: Thomas Harvey Bonniwell) was born in San Jose, California and had been living in Porterville, California. Sean passed away at a medical center in Visalia, California, the cause of death reported as lung cancer.

Submitted by Thomas Campbell

10/11/2011
George “Mojo” Buford
George “Mojo” Buford passed away on October 11, 2011 at age 81. Mojo (born in Hernando, Mississippi) played blues harp for Muddy Waters in Chicago and relocated to Minneapolis in 1962. One of the first places he played in town was Mattie’s Barbecue, where it is reported he got frequent requests to play the Muddy Water’s song “Got My Mojo Working” leading to his nickname. Mojo recorded numerous 45’s in Minneapolis that were released on local labels including Garrett, Bangar, Twin Town, Moon and Soma, and he continued to perform with Muddy Waters on various national and international tours in the 1960’s and 1970’s. In 2004, Mojo was inducted into the Minnesota Rock Country Hall, at the Medina Ballroom. A memorial service for Mojo was held in Minneapolis on October 16, 2011. Mojo is survived by nine children as well as grandchildren and great-grandchildren. His daughter Dianna and his son Abe were both with him in his final hours in a care facility in Minneapolis.

Submitted by Thomas Campbell

8/2/2011: Ira Heilicher passed away at age 65 on August 2, 2011. Ira was the son of Amos Heilicher, of Soma Records and Heilicher Brothers, a record distribution company. Ira was involved in various aspects of the local music business including a partnership with Dick Shapiro in Path Musical Productions, a booking agency in the mid-1960's. The
first band the company worked with was The Chancellors, a popular local rock band. In the late 1970's through the mid-1980's, Ira was the owner of two record store chains, Great American Music and Wax Museum. Great American Music is considered to have been the first record "super store" in the country. In recent years Ira was involved with St. Anthony Main and the Riverfront district of Minneapolis.

Submitted by Thomas Campbell, August 4, 2011

7/24/11 Dan Peek, former member of America, passes away at age 60. A preliminary autopsy report indicates that Dan Peek died as a result of Fibrinous Pericarditis, which is inflammation of the pericardium, the sac covering the heart.

7/23/11 Amy Winehouse ended her self destructive arc in this cruel world. Another member of the "Forever 27" club. Too bad.

7/11/11 Rob Grill, 67, Grass Roots lead singer and bass, died in a hospice in Florida. Where were you when I needed you, Let's live for today, Wait a million years, Midnight confessions, Temptation eyes, Two divided by love, etc. A great list of pure pop.
The Grass Roots

6/14/11 He left us much too young. Christian Hallman passed on June 6th. Christian and his partners were working on a Midwest music documentary from the 50's to 2000.
Big Kids of America
Obit

6/14/11: 617 band is back performing.

1/6/11: We lost Don Forte. A huge supporter of the local music scene. Worked with many high test bands "back in the day". A nice man. The first guy that would talk to us when we started this website was Don. We miss him.
Obit

10/18/10: Colly Waggoner passed away. Member, along with his brother Mike, in the local Mike Waggoner and the Bops band in the late 50's and the 60's. Colly with The Bops have been included in about 10 compilation Mid-West group albums, and an additional 20 Rockabilly albums in America and in Europe. Colly is an honorary member of the Midwest Hall of Fame and an inspirational legend for the likes of Dick and Larry Weigand, Lonnie Knight, Bill Miller, Damon Lee, Tony Andreason, Donny Dax, Doug Barton, and countless other musicians of his era. Among those that he with Mike and The Bops performed with on many occasions were: The Everly's, Del Shannon, Jerry Lee, Leroy Van Dyke, Conway Twitty, Freddy Cannon, Bobby Bare, Bobby Edwards, Sandy Nelson, Brian Hyland, and a number of regional bands during his touring days with The Bops. Colly also worked a number of dates in later years with Dave Duddley when Dave worked the Midwest. Colly was also proficient with pedal steel, fiddle, 5 string banjo, harmonica, and of course his main instrument; the guitar. He played finger style for the most part in the style of Scotty Moore and James Burton as inspired by Chet Atkins.
His obituary can be viewed @ www.morrisnilsen.com. His burial info is included, and of course any and all are welcome to attend, to express your thoughts, to tell some 'Colly' stories, or enjoy the quiet of our little country cemetery.
Submitted by Mike Waggoner.

8/21/10: The Last Chance band lost their boss and friend Steve Cairl. He owned the Mound's Park Lounge for 15 years. Our condolences to friends and family.
Obit

8/20/10: The long awaited Jeff Hill Tribute show on DVD could be arriving soon.
See the Jeff Hill page for more...

8/19/10: Johnny Stafford is gone.
Drummer with Roscoe and his green men and others.
More on the Legends page.

6/20/10: Bob Meide, drummer for Flamingo/The Flamin' Ohs, passed on June 20, 2010. The band was part of the "new wave" rock scene at Jay's Longhorn in the mid to late 1970's and released numerous records during their career.
In 2007, the band was inducted into the Minnesota Rock Country Hall of Fame.
Submitted by Thomas Campbell
Flamin' Ohs on MySpace
Star & Trib Obit

Willie Murphy sounded GREAT at the Bedlam Theatre Friday, Feb 5...
His new, very tasty, Shot of love in a time of need album

We have posted Midwest music video clips on blip.tv.
Some you won't find anywhere else!

Videos from Jeff Hill Tribute Show (shot June 2009) added on 12/5/2010.
1."China" as done by the KO band [Kevin Odegard's]
China was written by Kevin and Jeff Hill.
2."Feels like rain" as done by Hipbone.
3. "I remember you" as sung by Dennis Libby.
blip.tv
[blip .tv provides better quality then U Tube.]

9-18-09: I just went through 2 days of hell with computer viruses. I tried many free removers. The best one so far is from bleepingcomputer.com. It is a free one called ComboFix. FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS exactly.
Run several times and see if it helps. I had over 20 viruses and malwares, which caused pop ups and shutdowns and a real pain. Let me know how well it works for you.
Consider donating $$ to the fine gentleman who wrote it.
Download ComboFix from Bleepingcomputer.com

New song from my home studio: My Music Page

From the legendary (?) "Gypsy Jam 1"
at Di's are the following videos:
Blip.tv: Midwest Music
Crossroads & Gypsy Queen

More videos on my Blip.tv Midwest Music:
Doug Maynard: Lost in the blues [at the Fine Line ]

Sample Jeff Hill Video Clip: Beck's Boogie on Blip.tv from the Jeff Hill Tribute Fine Line show...
15.7 MB, Flash Video

MORE NEWS
Les Paul: RIP 94 years young: 6-9-1915 --8-13-2009. The father of multitrack, electric guitars, and much more.

Tribute to Jeff Hill: Went quite well, thanks to the efforts of many people, esp. Dr Bob Coates, Jeff's family and the management at the Fine Line.
The "Beck's boogie" at the end was a sight for sore eyes for an old 6 stringer like myself. A stage full of pickers battling it out like the old days.

5-04-09 Bob Coates reports that Minnesota musician Jeff Hill (Canoise, Knut Koupee') passed away on Sunday, May 3, 2009.

RIP: Soul Brother: Buddy Miles, Jack!
1947-Feb 26, 2008.
Myspace for Buddy
Seen him just once, at the Cabooze. Fine player...

Roger Arneson, our north Mpls homeboy, is on MySpace. Yes, this is the wild & crazy mofo who drove all over the Crystal airport. And, oh yes, he also does a mean "Jake" blues, aka "the Jake & Elwood's Blues review".

50 greatest MN hits article in
City Pages.

Merlin's rest: Our favorite pub, free music, great beer (Belhaven, Guinness, etc).
Wild Bill to be found here... 3601 E. Lake St., Minneapolis - 612 216 2419
Merlin's website

Wolfgang's vault: Incredible live concerts from Bill Graham's estate. Free to listen to, $10 to record a concert. Bookmark this site, you will be back...

Quote of the day: "The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side."
-- Hunter S. Thompson