Chicago blues guitarist and vocalist Albert Abraham "Little Smokey" Smothers, 71, died on November 20, 2010. Smothers recorded multiple albums and accompanied other famed blues men and women on records and in live performance. He was also known as a mentor to younger musicians, including Paul Butterfield and Elvin Bishop of the popular and influential 1960s blues crossover group The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Smothers died at Little Company of Mary Hospital in Chicago of natural causes.
Smothers was born into a musical family in Tchula, Mississippi on January 2, 1939 and moved to Chicago as a teenager. His older brother, guitarist Otis "Big Smokey" Smothers became a well-known Chicago blues artist. Little Smokey took up guitar and before long was recording and performing with artists like Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, his soul singer cousin Lee "Shot" Williams and others. Little Smokey developed a smooth, jazzy, contemporary blues style, with heavy influences from B.B. and Albert King and Kenny Burrell. Concentrating primarily on his instrumental skills, he toured and led bands playing locally in Chicago's South Side blues clubs beginning in the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s. He partially retired to raise a family, but returned to blues in 1978. He spent most of the 1980s playing small Chicago clubs and touring occasionally as a sideman, including as lead guitarist with the Legendary Blues Band.
Smothers made his debut recordings as part of Mojo Buford's WINDY CITY BLUES SUMMIT album. During his tenure with the Legendary Blues Band, he was featured on their album WOKE UP WITH THE BLUES. Smothers recorded his first CD as a bandleader in 1993 with the award-winning Dutch Black Magic label release BOSSMAN!. In 1996 he recorded SECOND TIME AROUND for the German CrossCut label; the title track was a chronicle of his then-recent emergency coronary bypass surgery. He was co-billed with his protege Elvin Bishop for his American album debut, THAT'S MY PARTNER! on Alligator Records, recorded live in San Francisco. In 2009 Bishop facilitated CHICAGO BLUES BUDDIES, a collection of their musical collaborations which also received uniformly warm reviews and provided financial and spiritual support for Smothers as his quality of life declined.
In addition to his recording and performing career, Smothers was a featured artist in Martin Scorsese's 1993 public television series, The Blues, with a lengthy live performance sequence filmed at blues singer Koko Taylor's night club.
Smothers' relationship with The Paul Butterfield Blues Band began in the early 1960s when he first saw Butterfield playing harmonica on the sidewalk in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. He soon incorporated Butterfield into his South Side revue which also included Lee "Shot" Williams and an impressive horn section including another Smothers protege, baritone sax player Willie Henderson, who went on to become a well-known R&B horn arranger. In 1964 Smothers accompanied Butterfield on some recordings for Swedish Radio. At the Blue Flame club on 39th Street, Smothers met Elvin Bishop, an aspiring blues guitarist and a University Of Chicago scholarship student. Smothers took Bishop under his wing and taught him blues guitar fundamentals. Bishop still remembers Smothers' motivational tactics with fondness: "He'd take me over and have them neck bones and beans goin' on the stove, and he said, 'Come here.' He'd lift up that lid and say, 'Smell this!' and I'd say, 'Oh, that smells good!' And he'd say, 'When you get this part, you can have some.'" Bishop became a core member of The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, which broke the blues through to a much wider audience outside the black community and was involved in pivotal blues landmarks including Bob Dylan's legendary and controversial amplified band performances at the Newport Folk Festival.
Along with the musical legacy of his own recordings and the noteworthy musicians he helped at a critical time, Smothers is well remembered for a quick wit, smile and laugh; a healthy quotient of humor in the delivery is one of his main influences on Bishop. Recalling his friendly, outgoing nature, Bishop commented, "He would've gotten along with Martians."
http://communityvoices.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/arts-entertainment-living/blue-notes/26276-chicago-blues-guitarist-qlittle-smokeyq-smothers-dies
Hammer horror actress Ingrid Pitt dies aged 73
Her popularity in Hammer Film Productions made her a cult figure.
Hammer horror actress Ingrid Pitt, best known for starring in cult classics such as Countess Dracula, has died at the age of 73.
The Polish-born star passed away at a hospital in south London after collapsing a few days ago.
She was regarded by many fans as the queen of Hammer Horror films.
The star's death comes weeks after film-maker Roy Ward Baker, who directed Pitt in The Vampire Lovers, died at the age of 93.
Pitt's daughter told the BBC News website that her mother's death had come as a "huge surprise".
After the actress has collapsed recently, doctors told her was she suffering from heart failure.
"She could be incredibly generous, loving, and she'll be sorely missed," Mrs Blake said.
She added that she wanted her mother to be remembered as the Countess Dracula with the "wonderful teeth and the wonderful bosom".
'Gloriously uninhibited'
Official Hammer historian Marcus Hearn paid tribute to the star, calling her a "talented actress and fine writer".
Continue reading the main story
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All fans of Hammer and of British horror are going to miss her terribly”
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Marcus Hearn
Official Hammer historian
He added: "She was partly responsible for ushering in a bold and brazen era of sexually explicitly horror films in the 1970s, but that should not denigrate her abilities as an actress."
A good friend of the actress, Mr Hearn said she was "gloriously uninhibited" and "great fun to be with".
Although she was not the first female star of a Hammer film, Mr Hearn said she had always been "very proud" of becoming the first prominent female protagonist in a Hammer after her role in The Vampire Lovers.
"All fans of Hammer and of British horror are going to miss her terribly," he said.
She began her career with fairly minor roles in several Spanish films in the mid-1960s.
But in 1968 she landed a supporting role in war movie Where Eagles Dare, appearing alongside Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton.
The actress got her breakthrough role two years later in the horror thriller The Vampire Lovers, which was a box office success.
Several Hammer movies followed, firmly establishing her as one of the key women of British horror of the 1970s.
Her other film credits included The Wicker Man (1973), Who Dares Wins (1982), Smiley's People (1982) and Wild Geese II (1985).
Pitt made regular appearances at horror conventions and penned several books about her career in the genre.
FROM: The Kokomo (IN) Tribune ~
By Tribune Sports Staff
Kokomo has lost one of its favorite sons.
Tom Underwood, who pitched in the major
leagues in 1974-84, died around midnight
on Monday in West Palm Beach, Fla.,
following an 18-month battle with pancreatic
cancer. He was 56.
Underwood's older brother, Mark, said
a memorial service is planned in Florida.
The family is considering plans for a local
service at a later date.
Underwood was the first local player to reach
the majors and with 86 career wins, he set the
standard for those who have followed.
He was selected by the Tribune as Howard
County's greatest athlete of the 20th century.
In a 1999 interview, Underwood said he had
no disappointments about his baseball career.
"For 10 years I saw the entire U.S. for free and
had five months vacation. I just wish I could
have played the game longer," he said.
Underwood noted in the same interview that
he owed, in part, his success to his
neighborhood, family and the city as a whole.
"The competition in Kokomo during that time
was incredible," he said. "Just in our
neighborhood we must have had 20 or 30 kids
to play football, basketball and baseball against
and with an older brother and younger brother
[Pat], we had a wide range of kids. I think
I learned to be competitive at a very early age.
"I had good coaching, too," he added.
"Andy Fernung and Bill Cooper were a big help
at UCT [Little League] and I remember Bob
Dyer helping me work on a pickoff move in
Babe Ruth. Dick Mugg and Carl McNulty
worked with me in high school and of course,
Bob Ronk and Jim Heathcoat were great in
Legion ball. I owe a lot to my dad [John], too.
My brothers and I always had a glove on his
hand to play catch the moment he walked in the
door after work. He never said 'no.' I was very
lucky."
The Underwood family gave Kokomo one of
its proudest sports moments. On May 30,
1979, Pat made his major league debut for the
Detroit Tigers, pitching against Tom and the
Toronto Blue Jays. The southpaws hooked up
in a duel with the Tigers winning 1-0 on an
eighth-inning home run.
Former Tribune sports editor Dave Kitchell
covered the game. He raved about the brothers'
brilliant pitching and wrote that "For the
Kokomoans who were there . they'll remember
two standing ovations and Tom and Pat
embracing on the field after the game while the
organist played "He Ain't Heavy, He's My
Brother."
Underwood first began to turn heads at UCT,
and he went on to great things at Kokomo
High where the three-sport athlete quarterbacked
the football team. In his final two seasons with
the Red and Blue baseball program, he amassed
a 17-3 won-lost record with an ERA of around
0.40.
In addition, Underwood had a 25-1 record over
his final two seasons with Ronk's American
Legion team, helping Post 6 win the 1972 state
championship.
After being drafted by Philadelphia with the
27th overall pick in the 1972 draft, Underwood
spent 1973 and part of '74 in the minor leagues
before receiving word he was going to join the
Phillies. He called that the greatest moment of
his baseball career.
"We were playing in Waterbury [Conn.] and
I remember my manager asking me after the
game if I had a suitcase . he said I was
going to the majors," Underwood said in the
1999 interview. "It was like my feet were off
the ground - it was a feeling that never went
away. My goal had always been to play in the
majors and to know I'd finally gotten there
was just unbelievable."
Underwood pitched for six teams over parts
of 11 seasons, finishing with an 86-87 record.
He had strong seasons in 1976 (10-5 record,
3.52 ERA with the Phillies) and in 1980 (13-9,
3.66 with the Yankees), but his best season
might have come in 1982 when he worked as
a starter and reliever for the Oakland A's,
appearing in 56 games, posting a 10-6 record
with seven saves and finishing with a 3.29
ERA that ranked among the top 10 in the
American League.
Underwood pitched in the postseason in 1976
with the Phillies, in 1980 with the Yankees and
in 1981 with the A's.
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/times-standard/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=145873576
Christopher Dylan Shea
passed away on August 19th of natural causes near his home in Honeydew, California. Born on February 5, 1958 in Los Angeles, Christopher had made Humboldt County his home for over twenty years. As a young boy, Christopher acted in such iconic television shows as The Odd Couple, Bonanza, and Green Acres, as well as numerous appearances in the Sunday evening classic series The Wonderful World of Disney. His most recognized role was that of voicing the character of Linus Van Pelt in the original Charles Schulz's Peanuts television specials, A Charlie Brown Christmas and It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown among others. Christopher was a colorful person with a playful spirit and a big heart. His smile was contagious and his family enjoyed his wonderfully sincere hugs. Christopher influenced many who crossed his path in a positive and creative way: he frequently lent a hand to others when they were in need. He had a generous nature and took genuine pleasure in other people's good fortune. He loved communing with nature, listening to music, and he had a lifelong passion for literature. Christopher was a loving father, a devoted son, and a caring brother and uncle. He is deeply missed by all who knew and loved him. Christopher is survived by his wife Sara Straton, and his beloved daughters, Nicea Straton-Shea and Teal Straton-Shea. A memorial service will be held on Sunday, October 17, 2010. Care is under the direction of Pierce Mortuary, Eureka, California. To leave condolences for the family please visit www.piercemortuarychapels.com Please sign the guest book at www.Times-Standard.com, click Obits.
Published in Eureka Times-Standard on October 10, 2010
It is with great sadness that this morning the Quietus is having to report that Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson of Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV, Coil and X-TG has died. He was 55, and reportedly passed away in his sleep. The news was broken in the early hours of the morning by Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti, who tweeted "Our dearest beautiful Sleazy left this mortal coil as he slept in peace last night.words cannot express our grief". The Throbbing Gristle website simply features Sleazy's name, and the dates of his life: 1955 - 2010.
Only recently Sleazy had been in London for what will now be Throbbing Gristle's final ever concert at the Village Underground venue. Read our interview with Sleazy, conducted just a few months ago, here. Our thoughts are with Cosey Fanni Tutti, Chris Carter, Genesis P-Orridge, TG's manager Paul Smith and all Sleazy's friends and family.
Robin "Scanner" Rimbaud contacted the Quietus to pay tribute: "Sleazy was the sweetest gentleman. I remember him telling me after the very first Scanner CD in 1992 that it was the first album he'd listened to all the way through from start to finish in a long time and that really touched me, given that I'd been a TG fan since 1980. We remained friends since then and I will miss him a hollow heart indeed. I hope there's a hellish handsome angel out there that has kidnapped him for eternal naughtiness."
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