Joe Cocker去世

Joe Cocker（ John Robert "Joe" Cocker）12月22日在美國科羅拉多州的家裡去世（70歲），就在今年九月17日他還在紐約麥迪遜花園廣場演出，在場的Billy Joe當時就覺得Joe Cocker狀況不好。

Joe Cocker出生於英格蘭Sheffield，16歲時即組了一個爵士風的搖滾樂團，並在酒館表演，後來滾石合唱團the Rolling Stones也在那酒館發跡。

1964年Joe Cocker 加入Decca唱片公司後漸漸有了知名度，1968年他灌了一首批頭合唱團the Beatles的 "With A Little Help From My Friends" 在英國獲得了排行榜冠軍，但這首歌在美國只得到第68名。

1969年夏Joe Cocker應邀到伍斯塔克Woodstock音樂節表演，1970年他的第二張專輯裡的"She Came In Through The Bathroom Window"就獲得美國排行榜30名。同年，Joe Cocker的"Mad Dogs And Englishmen"巡迴演唱錄音出了一張專輯，他翻唱the Box Tops' "The Letter"則獲得第七名。

Joe Cocker的暢銷曲另有"Cry Me A River" (#11-1970)、"Feeling Alright" (#33-1972) 及1975年Billy Preston 所寫的"You Are So Beautiful" (#5)。

Joe Cocker最有名的歌是與Jennifer Warnes合唱的電影（軍官與紳士）"An Officer And A Gentleman" 的插曲"Up Where We Belong"，這首歌是1982年的冠軍曲，也獲得Grammy最佳流行歌曲二重唱及奧斯卡最佳電影歌曲獎。

Joe Cocker因肺癌去世後包括前批頭合唱團the Beatles的團員Paul McCartney與Ringo Starr等流行音樂圈人士都表示哀悼，經紀人Barrie Marshall表示：毫無疑問Joe Cocker是來自英國最傑出的搖滾與靈魂歌手。

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8sFtJV6-C8

 

Up Where We Belong

Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes

- written by Buffy Sainte-Marie, Will Jennings and Jack Nitzsche  

 

Who knows what tomorrow brings

In a world where few hearts survive

All I know is the way I feel

When it's real

I keep it alive

 

The road is long

There are mountains in the way

But we climb a step every day

 

Love lift us up where we belong

Where the eagles cry

On a mountain high

Love lift us up where we belong

Far from the world we know

Up where the clear winds blow

 

Some hang on to used to be

Live their lives looking behind

When all we have is here and now

All our lives

Out there to find

 

The road is long

There are mountains in the way

But we climb a step every day

 

Love lift us up where we belong

Where the eagles cry

On a mountain high

Love lift us up where we belong

Far from the world we know

Up where the clear winds blow

 

Time goes by

No time to cry

Life's you and I

Alive... today

 

Love lift us up where we belong

Where the eagles cry

On a mountain high

Love lift us up where we belong

Far from the world we know

Up where the clear winds blow

 

 

貓王的憂鬱聖誕

貓王Elvis Presley早年的錄音室與演唱會高音和聲歌手 Mildred "Millie" Kirkham 12月14日中風後在故鄉納許維爾家中去世 （91歲），1970年時Kathy Westmoreland就取代了"Millie"的舞台演出的位子，但是在貓王的記錄片"Elvis: That's The Way It Is."當中還可以看到她的身影。

"Millie"的聲音在貓王的暢銷曲"Blue Christmas" 、"Don't" 、"The Wonder Of You" 及 "Surrender"當中可以聽到，另外在Roy Orbison的"Oh, Pretty Woman"及Brenda Lee的"I'm Sorry"當中也有她的伴唱。

"Blue Christmas"是貓王1957年錄製的聖誕歌曲，詞曲作者是Billy Hayes 與 Jay W. Johnson，是Bing Crosby的White Christmas之外近代最知名的聖誕歌曲。

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KK6sMo8NBY

 

Blue Christmas

I'll have a Blue Christmas without you

I'll be so blue just thinking about you

Decorations of red on a green Christmas tree

Won't be the same dear, if you're not here with me

 

And when those blue snowflakes start falling

That's when those blue memories start calling

You'll be doin' all right, with your Christmas of white

But I'll have a blue, blue blue blue Christmas

 

You'll be doin' all right, with your Christmas of white,

But I'll have a blue, blue, blue blue Christmas

The Manhattans二團員去世

The Manhattans合唱團的創始團員、次中音歌手Edward "Sonny" Bivins 12月三日去世（78歲），該團的另一位團員、低音歌手Winfred "Blue" Lovett接著於12月9日也去世（74歲）。

Edward "Sonny" Bivins出生於喬治亞州 Macon後來全家搬到新澤西州Jersey City，他與Winfred "Blue" Lovett在那裡組了合唱團，在國民兵與空軍基地表演，而其它團員George "Smitty" Smith, Kenneth "Wally" Kelly與Richard "Ricky" Taylor 都是當地中學畢業生。

起初他們以Te Dorsets團名幫 Asnes唱片公司錄了唱片，雖然成績平平，但因而獲邀參加阿波羅劇場競賽並得到冠軍，接著與Carnival唱片公司簽約，一年後，他們推出一首Winfred "Blue" Lovett所寫"I Wanna Be (Your Everything)" (#68 Pop, #12 R&B)，是第一次進排行榜的歌。

雖然The Manhattans合唱團1960年代在Carnival與 King的子司DeLuxe Records 漸次成名，但是直到1972年他們與Columbia唱片公司簽約並以  Gerald Alston 取代 Smitty ，The Manhattans 才真正開始走紅，他們的暢銷曲如"Shining Star" (#5 Pop, #4 R&B - 1980), Winfred "Blue" Lovett寫的 "Kiss And Say Goodbye" (#1 Pop and R&B - 1976) 及"There's No Me Without You" (#43 Pop, #3 R&B - 1973)都是歌迷們耳熟能詳的歌。

Edward "Sonny" Bivins 曾於 1999年獲頒亞特藍大市鑰。

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-vicuO1b0s

 

 

Kiss And Say Goodbye

 

{This has got to be the saddest day of my life

 I called you here today for a bit of bad news

 I won't be able to see you anymore

 Because of my obligations and the ties that you have

 We've been meeting here everyday

 And since this is our last day together

 I wanna hold you just one more time

 When you turn and walk away, don't look back

 I wanna remember you just like this

 Let's just kiss and say goodbye}

 

I had to meet you here today

 There's just so many things to say

 Please don't stop me 'till I'm through

 This is somethin' I hate to do

 

We've been meeting here so long

 I guess what we done, oh was wrong

 Please darlin', don't you cry

 Let's just kiss and say goodbye

 

Many months have passed us by

 I'm gonna miss you, I can't lie

 I've got ties and so do you

 I just think this is the thing to do

 

It's gonna hurt me, I can't lie

 Maybe you'll meet, you'll meet another guy

 Understand me, oh won't you try, try, try, try, try, try, try?

 Let's just kiss an' say goodbye

 

I'm gonna miss you, I can't lie

 Understand me, oh won't you try?

 It's gonna hurt me, I can't lie

 Take my handkerchief an' wipe your eyes

 Maybe you'll find, you'll find another guy

 Well let's kiss and say goodbye, pretty baby

 Please, don't you cry

 Understand me, oh won't you try?

 Let's just kiss and say goodbye

三資深樂人辭世

2014年底有幾位美國流行音樂資深工作者辭世：

曾在 Rolling Stones合唱團的("Brown Sugar"), Dion 的"The Wanderer"), John Lennon的 ("Whatever Gets You Through The Night"), Joe Cocker的 ("Cry Me A River"), George Harrison的 ("What Is Life")與其他許多歌曲擔任薩克斯風伴奏的Bobby Keys十二月二日在田納西州Franklin家中去世（70歲），出生於德州Slaton的他曾與Buddy Holly, Buddy Knox 及Bobby Vee 這些1960年代早期的偶像歌手一同巡迴演唱，Bobby的自傳"Every Night's a Saturday Night"「每晚都是週末夜」於2012年出版。

十二月三日(Small) Faces合唱團的主鍵琴手Ian McLagan則因心肌梗塞於德州Austin的醫院中去世（69歲），他也曾與the Rolling Stones一起工作過，近年他組了自己的樂團走向檯前，2000年他也出過自傳"All the Rage: A Riotous Romp Through Rock & Roll History"。

而十一月29日曾與Paul[j1]  Evans一同寫過Bobby Vinton 於1962演唱得到冠軍的"Roses Are Red (My Love)"的Al Byron亦不幸去世，他也曾替Paul Evans自己演唱得過第10名的"Happy-Go-Lucky-Me"及貓王的"Something Blue"寫過歌詞。

Bobby Vinton的四週冠軍曲"Roses Are Red (My Love)"是他的成名曲，Al Byron為這首情歌寫的歌詞非常通俗，是一首當年美國青年人人朗朗上口的歌。

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rjPC7-JMUM

 

Roses Are Red (My Love)

Bobby Vinton

 

Roses are red, my love ... doo doo da doooo ...

 

A long, long time ago

On graduation day

You handed me your book

I signed this way:

 

   "Roses are red, my love.

    Violets are blue.

    Sugar is sweet, my love.

    But not as sweet as you."

 

We dated through high school.

And when the big day came,

I wrote into your book,

next to my name:

 

   "Roses are red, my love.

    Violets are blue.

    Sugar is sweet, my love.

    But not as sweet as you."

 

Then I went far away

And you found someone new

I read your letter dear

And I wrote back to you:

 

   "Roses are red, my love.

    Violets are blue.

    Sugar is sweet, my love.

    But luck may god bless you."

 

Is that your little girl?

She looks a lot like you.

Someday some boy will write

in her book, too.

 

   "Roses are red, my love.

    Violets are blue.

    Sugar is sweet, my love.

    But not as sweet as you."

 

---

 [j1]