Tommy’s Coffee Break Calendar for January 28th

In memorium: three classic rockers who passed away on this date...

1/28/2005 (15 years ago today) - Traffic founding member and drummer/singer/songwriter Jim Capaldi passed away from stomach cancer; he was 60 years old -- In addition to the mucho-underappreciated Traffic catalog (that's Jim taking over the lead vocal spot from Steve Winwood on "Rock & Roll Stew" on the "Low Spark..." album; wicked percussion rhythms from him on there too), Jim also worked with Eric Clapton, George Harrison and Jimi Hendrix, so no slouch -- Had a massively successful solo single hit in Europe in 1974 with his disco-dance arrangement of the Nazareth/Everly Brothers classic ballad "Love Hurts", which was weird to American ears, but (just like Traffic) proof he was adventurous and had a keen sense of humor...

1/28/2009 (11 years ago today) - Lynyrd Skynyrd keyboard player Billy Powell died at the age of 56 from a suspected heart attack at his home in Florida -- Weirdly, he had a scheduled appointment for a check-up on his heart the day before but, for whatever the reason, he missed out on that meeting with his physician. And while Skynyrd might be most infamous for their dueling lead guitars, it's pretty hard to imagine their sound without Billy's distinctive contributions, like the piano solo's on "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Tuesday's Gone", along with that organ intro to "Free Bird". Another taken-for-granted rocker for sure...

1/28/2016 (4 years ago today) - Jefferson Airplane founder, guitarist-singer-songwriter Paul Kantner, made his final exit at age 74, due to complications from multiple organ failure and septic shock after suffering a heart attack a few days earlier -- One of the most influential artists of the classic psychedelic era, Paul led the band through a series of fascinating sounding albums and occasionally controversial concert performances: they were at the top of their game at the Monterey Pop and Woodstock festivals, less so at Altamont and a bizarre, drugged-up and out-of-tune appearance on ABC-TV's late night "Dick Cavett Show". Still, the Airplane LP trilogy of "Surrealistic Pillow" (February, 1967), "After Bathing At Baxter's" (November,1967) and "Crown Of Creation" (1968) remain completely unique, almost essential...

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"Life is change/How it differs from the rocks...", xoxo!