Music Obituaries: April 2018

Tweet

It's time to look at the music and music-related individuals that we said goodbye to last month. I do this every month for two reasons: one, my primary interest is music; and two, most of these don't make the headlines. That's usually reserved for the Tom Pettys and the Princes of the world. Here are those from the world of music that we lost in April 2018: Chuck McCann (died April 8, heart failure, age 83): a member of the Grammy-winning The First Family album troupe. Steve McNicol (died April 8, natural causes, age 67): guitarist and songwriter of the Louisville-based band the Rugbys, who scored a national hit with "You, I" in 1968. Yvonne Staples (died April 10, colon cancer, age 80): a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees the Staple Singers, who enjoyed hits in gospel and R&B. She also worked as the group's manager. Harry Anderson (died April 16, stroke, age 65): the star of Night Court was a Mel Tormé fan in real life. Tormé frequently credited the numerous mentions of him on Night Court with revitalizing his career in the 80s and 90s. Randy Scruggs (died April 17, short illness, age 64): Earl Scruggs' son was also a Grammy-winning musician and songwriter. Stuart Colman (died April 19, cancer, age 73): British record producer who worked extensively with Shakin' Stevens as well as the Young Ones, Cliff Richard, and others. Bob Dorough (died April 23, cancer, age 94): songwriter and performer on the iconic Saturday morning Schoolhouse Rock! program, he is probably best remembered for his song "Conjunction Junction." Roy Young (died April 27, unknown cause, age 81): a prolific British session pianist, he also played live with the Beatles in the early days. Tim Calvert (died April 30, Lou Gehrig's Disease, age 52): guitarist for the metal band Nevermore. EDIT: I left one very important obituary off from April: Charles Neville (died April 26, pancreatic cancer, age 79): saxophonist in the legendary Neville Brothers. Farewell, and thank you for the music. Here's a great Staple Singers R&B hit, featuring the late Yvonne Staples on lead vocals: