In Memoriam|

Update: Mr. Bain was on the Def Leppard/Hysteria on the High Seas Cruise and had just performed that day with his new band Last in Line. He apparently passed sometime during the night. The other bands stepped up to fill in for him, especially Eric Brittingham (bassist, formerly of Cinderella). To add to the misery, Joe Elliott of Def Leppard lost his voice and was unable to perform. The other bands joined together and filled the shoes of both dearly loved musicians to keep the adage, “The show must go on”, for the attendees of the cruise.

Last in Line will release its debut album, “Heavy Crown”, on February 19 via Frontiers Music Srl. The CD was recorded at a Southern California studio with producer Jeff Pilson, a veteran bassist who has played with Dio, Foreigner, Dokken and T&N, among others.

If you are a Facebook friend of either Diane Robinson or Bonnie Felthager, please read their wonderful tributes to Jimmy.

Diane Robinson on Fb, 01/27/16: I concur with Eddie Trunk – it was a wonderful cruise overall. You cannot control anything that happened – and they made it right in every way for us all. This was a once in a lifetime historical music event, albiet a very sad one, but our music community was one through it all!… There were incredible and beautiful moments about and for Jimmy that I, again, cannot say enough about the manner in which Last In Line, the other musicians, Eddie Trunk and Larry Morand and the On the Blue crew handled everything while dealing with their grief and shock. They were all beyond terrific in everyway facing unspeakable occurrences. I have nothing bad to say in any way period. I LOVE my cruise family! I saw Def Leppard when they recently came to Denver with Tesla and Styx and Joe was spot on. The band was incredible and the singers that stepped up to help make the show go on were fantastic! Fan for life!

Bonnie Felthager on Fb, 01/24/16: So I realize everyone’s all about the Broncos today, and I’m not feelin tip top shape today, but I just read that rock n roll lost another great guy. RIP Jimmy Bain (former Dio, Thin Lizzy and Rainbow bassist)…. I had the opportunity to work with Jimmy and some rock veterans in 2005 – I hired “Hollywood Allstarz” to play a club for my little hole in the wall, Trinidad, CO. The lineup was Jimmy himself, Carlos Cavazo (Quiet Riot), Vinnie Appice (Black Sabbath), Krigger (Ike & Tina Turner) and Chas West (Lynch Mob)….great bunch of guys and a great time for me and one of my favorite projects from my promo days. RIP, Jimmy….the rocker world has lost another great musician. I’m sorta bummed that people cared about Lemmy Kilmister and NO mention anywhere today, fan pages, news pages, or rock n roll groups of Jimmy Bain?? LAME…….going back to bed…..let me know if the Broncos win. And Jimmy, it was a pleasure.

Jimmy Bain, Bassist for Dio, Rainbow + Last in Line, Dead at 68

The music world has suffered another loss. Jimmy Bain, best known for his work as the bassist for Dio and Rainbow and more recently with Last in Line, has reportedly passed away at the age of 68.

Though an official cause of death has not been revealed, a number of industry sources have reported on Bain’s death. Diana Deville, a member of Wendy Dio’s Niji Management, posted on Instagram that Bain had passed. In addition, drummer Simon Wright, Bain’s Dio bandmate, also tweeted an RIP referencing Bain’s death. The bassist can be seen second from left in the photo above.

Bain’s music career started in 1974 with the band Harlot. A couple of years later he was asked to join Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio in Rainbow and he recorded on the group’s 1976 album Rising and appeared on the 1977 double live album On Stage before being let go.

He also toured with John Cale, formed a band called Wild Horses, and co-wrote with Thin Lizzy‘s Phil Lynott for the singer’s solo albums before joining Dio. During his time with Dio, Bain appeared on seven studio albums, including the metal staples Holy Diver and Last in Line.

In 2013, Bain joined Last In Line, which features his Dio bandmates Vivian Campbell and Vinny Appice from the Dio Last in Line album with vocalist Andrew Freeman. Though the group initially sought to pay tribute to the Dio era with Bain, Campbell and Appice, the band actually penned an album of original music called Heavy Crown that’s due Feb. 20. Last in Line performed just this past week as part of Def Leppard‘s “Hysteria on the High Seas” cruise. Stay tuned as we’ll add more details as they become available.

By Chad Childers

http://loudwire.com/jimmy-bain-bassist-for-dio-rainbow-last-in-line-dead-at-68/?trackback=tsmclip

* * * * *

Colin “Black” Vearncombe – Writer of ‘Wonderful Life’ – Dies

Colin Vearncombe (26 May 1962 – 26 January 2016), known by his stage name Black, was an English singer-songwriter. He emerged from the punk rock music scene and went on to achieve mainstream pop success in the late 1980s, most notably with the international hit single “Wonderful Life” in 1987. William Ruhlmann of AllMusic described Vearncombe as a “smoky-voiced singer/songwriter, whose sophisticated jazz-pop songs and dramatic vocal delivery place him somewhere between Bryan Ferry and Morrissey”. Michael Hann of The Guardian described his voice as a “slightly frayed baritone”.

Black’s first release was the single “Human Features” on Rox Records in 1981. At this time, Black consisted of Vearncombe, Dane Goulding (formerly of Blazetroopers) on bass and another school friend on drums. The single was followed by another independent release in 1982 “More than the Sun”. It was then that Colin formed a friendship with Dave “Dix” Dickie of the Last Chant and the two became musical collaborators and signed for WEA Records.

In 1982 Black played with the Thompson Twins on their “Quick Step and Side Kick” tour and also supported Wah! on a UK tour. The live sound of synth/percussion/guitar and the use of reel-to-reel tapes got them noticed.

Black signed for WEA in 1984 and the next single was “Hey Presto” (1984), which got Vearncombe noticed outside the UK: the video for the song featured on the satellite music channel Music Box, and the single was also released in Australia. The second WEA single was a re-recording of “More than the Sun”. After this, Black was dropped from the record label and Vearncombe and Dix went their separate ways

1985 was a gloomy year for Vearncombe, causing him to write the ironically entitled minor key song “Wonderful Life”. At first released independently through Ugly Man Records, the track got Black noticed by A&M Records who signed Vearncombe and launched his international career. At first, the single “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” flopped, but the follow-up, “Sweetest Smile” became a UK top-10 hit. The third single, a re-release of “Wonderful Life”, was a massive hit worldwide. The album of the same name, released in 1987, had similar success, reaping commercial and critical acclaim.

Black then went on to sell over two million records worldwide with Comedy (1988) and Black (1991). In the meantime, Vearncombe married Swedish singer Camilla Griehsel, formerly from the band One 2 Many. Disillusioned with having to deal with a big record company, Vearncombe founded the independent label Nero Schwarz (which is the word “black” in Italian and in German, respectively), and released one album Are We Having Fun Yet? (1993).

After a prolonged hiatus, Vearncombe returned in 1999 to release a string of recordings under his own name. Vearncombe returned to the name “Black” to release a new recording entitled Between Two Churches in November 2005. On this album he included a song mocking the success of his hit “Wonderful life”, where he poignantly re-asked the question, “Are you having a wonderful life?”.

2009 saw two album releases. The Given was issued on 4 July, initially available as a free download under Vearncombe’s name; and Water On Stone on 17 November, the first Black studio album in four years. In September 2011, the album Any Colour You Like was released through Black’s website.

In April 2014, he started a pledge fund (via the dedicated music crowd-funding site PledgeMusic) for a new album. This was the first time Vearncombe participated in a crowd-funded project. The project significantly exceeded its funding goals and he regularly expressed his surprise and gratefulness through video updates on the PledgeMusic site. His experience with the process also contributed to the name of the album: Blind Faith. The album was released on April 13, 2015.

In November 2015, he recorded a Catalan version of Wonderful Life as a fundraiser for the Catalan telethon La Marató de TV3. Vearncombe himself sings a Catalan translation of the original lyrics.

On Sunday 10 January 2016, he was involved in a serious car accident near Cork Airport in Ireland and placed in a medically-induced coma after sustaining serious head injuries. Vearncombe died from his injuries at the intensive care unit of Cork University Hospital on 26 January 2016 at the age of 53. Vearncombe left a widow and three children.

http://www.wikipedia.com/

* * * * *

Other Notable Musicians’ Deaths…

January 2016:
26: Black, 53, British singer-songwriter (“Wonderful Life”), head injuries sustained in a traffic collision.

25: Denise Duval, 94, French soprano; Leif Solberg, 101, Norwegian composer and organist.

24: Jimmy Bain, 68, Scottish bassist (Rainbow, Dio, Last in Line); Zarkus Poussa, 40, Finnish drummer (RinneRadio) and songwriter.

23: Cadalack Ron, 34, American rapper.

22: Shankar Ghosh, 80, Indian tabla player, pneumonia; Alec Wishart, 76, British-born New Zealand musician (Hogsnort Rupert), lung cancer.

21: Boguslaw Kaczynski, 73, Polish classical music journalist, stroke.

20: Lee Abramson, 45, American composer and musician.

18: Glenn Frey, 67, American singer-songwriter (“Lyin’ Eyes”, “New Kid in Town”, “Heartache Tonight”) and musician (Eagles), complications following intestinal surgery; Pablo Manavello, 65, Italian-born Venezuelan musician; Else Marie Pade, 91, Danish composer.

From http://www.wikipedia.com

Leave a Reply

Close Search Window