John Renbourn, left, one-fifth of folk-rock greats Pentangle, passed away at age 70.
John Renbourn, left, one-fifth of folk-rock greats Pentangle, passed away at age 70.

After writing last week's obits for the Soft Machine/Gong's Daevid Allen and Free's bassist Andy Fraser, I'd hoped to get at LEAST a week off from writing about anyone who was cut down by death's unflinching, and recently very busy, scythe. Oh well, no such luck, as I'm afraid we also lost writer Samuel Charters, singer Sharon Tandy, guitarist John Renbourn, AND the drummer from Twisted Sister. Yeah, AJ Pero, the drummer for TS passed away while touring with his other band, Adrenaline Mob. He reportedly died from heart attack in his sleep; he was only 55.

I hate that I missed posting last week about blues archivist Samuel Charters passing - he died last week at home in Arsta, Sweden, at age 85. Charters is one of those heavies you've never heard of, but the music you hear NOW is BECAUSE of his work; he was a writer, researcher, and a behind the scenes kinda feller. His first book, The Country Blues, published in 1959, was the first proper history book of pre-war and country blues. His history, and the accompanying compilation album of country blues, helped shine a much needed light on black Americans' cultural past and served as a primer for the folk and rock music that has followed. In all he wrote a ton of books - jazz biographies, poetry, and MORE books about the blues. In the '60s, he also worked for many folk-inclined labels, Folkways, Prestige, Vanguard, producing either new recordings by blues players or reissuing their forgotten sides. He also produced the killer Chicago: The Blues Today! series which included tracks by Junior Wells, J.B. Hutto, James Cotton and Charlie Musselwhite. He also was down with the heads—he produced the first four Country Joe & the Fish records! Oh, and his recording of Lightin' Hopkins in 1959 is how Lightin' was rediscovered. See, uh, Charters WAS A god-damn heavy.

Also passing this past week was South African blue-eyed soul singer Sharon Tandy; she died last Saturday. Her pop career began in 1964 after she moved to England and got signed to Atlantic. Sadly, her '60s sides never amounted to much. However, her catalog is actually pretty solid, she recorded a ton of great singles, but none broke. A fate which was I've always found odd as she was in all the right places—her singles were released on Atlantic, in 1966 she recorded at Stax, and was even an opening act for the European 1967 Stax/Volt tour. It wasn't until the mid-'70s that she had any success, and then it was in South Africa. Only through the mid'-90s rediscovery of her heavy sides, she was backed by the Fleur de Lys on tracks like the brutal "Hold On," has helped her maintain a something of a contemporary profiles. I'm not sure exactly what Tandy's illness entailed, but she had been sick for a long while. While I dig all her sides, I've always been partial to her anthemic duet with Tony Head, "Two Can Make It Together."

Lastly, the well-loved English folkie John Renbourn died yesterday from a heart attack; he was only 70. His body was discovered in his home after he failed to turn up for a gig. Renbourn began his lengthy career playing classical guitar and, tho' swayed by skiffle as a teen, smartly backtracked to skiffle's roots: Lead Belly and Big Bill Broonzy. In 1964, after years of hitching around Europe, he began playing the Roundhouse some and backing blues/gospel singer Dorris Henderson. Then, sometime in 1965, he teamed up with Bert Jansch and the two guitarists sorted a duet style now called folk baroque; the resulting album, Bert and John, is fantastic. Renbourn also released a handful of solo records in the 1960s; his records are mostly something like traditional folk, but as it was the '60s, there's also some blues and jazz sounds in his mix. In 1967, Renbourn, Jansch, and other like-minded players formed Pentangle. The group was very well regarded and had some success—they recorded a string of great albums before the original lineup split in 1973. After Renbourn left the Pentangle, he went back to recording solo albums, including a couple notable LPs he recorded with Stefan Grossman. Since then he'd continued to write classical music, tour, record, and occasionally even form a band. Um, regarding his playing, he had a specific method of his own: he'd use his fingers vs. his thumb with ping pong balls glued to his finger nails as picks. Yeah, whatever works, man! He was one of those players, like your dad or goofy uncle, who just had the knack and got a musical itch which never let up.