Horace Eldred “Danny” Dill’s died Thursday at the age of 83. While I don’t know much about the total scope of his life, I wanted to take a moment and acknowledge him for having a hand in writing two of country music’s saddest songs of all time. “Detroit City” (above), most famous as a 1963 hit for Bobby Bare, is a depressing song about failing in the big city and being afraid to tell your family back home that Dill co-wrote with Mel Tillis.
Levi Stubbs, the gravel-voiced singer for the Four Tops, passed away at his home in Detroit today. Stubbs was a founding member of the Tops, which formed in 1954 and signed to the Motown offshoot Workshop in 1963. The group went on to score a ton of hits for the label, including the indelible “Reach Out (I’ll Be There),” “Baby I Need Your Loving,” and “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honeybunch),” all of which were penned by the Holland/Dozier/Holland songwriting powerhouse. Stubbs was diagnosed with cancer in 1995 and suffered a stroke in 2000; shortly after that, he stopped touring, although he appeared with the group again for a 50th-anniversary performance in 2004. After the jump, a few other glimpses into Stubbs’ storied career.
Jazz trumpeter and soundtrack composer Neal Hefti died in Los Angeles, it was reported this morning. Hefti wrote, arranged, and played in big bands with such major names as Count Basie and Woody Herman, and he also arranged for Frank Sinatra and worked in film. But it’s his work for the small screen that is best remembered. Hefti is responsible for two of the catchiest songs ever written: the theme to The Odd Couple, which was originally used in the movie and then (see above) repurposed to great effect on the ABC sitcom version; and the first song Prince ever learned to play on piano, which we’ve placed after the jump. Hefti was 83.
Hector Zazou, the French composer, producer, and arranger whose work crossed boundaries from rock to classical to various global styles to electronic music and back again, passed away earlier this week. More »
Jerry Reed–country star of the ’70s and 80’s, songwriter, and occasional film star–died Sunday at the age of 71. More »
