On December 3, 2025, Steven Lee Cropper died aged 84. He was musician, songwriter, record producer and actor, known as “The Colonel”. He was the guitarist of the “Stax Records” house band, Booker T. & the M.G.’s, which backed artists such as Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas, and Johnnie Taylor. He was also member of the Blues Brothers Band, and recorded and performed with many other artists including Alabama, Jimmy Barnes, William Bell, Barbi Benton, Big Star, Stephen Bishop, Frank Black, Bobby and the Midnites, Booker T. & MG.’s, Ronnie Baker Brooks, Jimmy Buffett, Billy Burnette, Brian Cadd, Cate Brothers, Chicago, David Clayton Thomas, A. J. Croce, Patti Dahlstrom, Delaney & Bonnie, Ned Doheny, Yvonne Elliman, Jose Feliziano, Eddie Floyd, Peter Frampton, Richie Furay, Art Garfunkel, Cyndi Grecco, Levon Helm, Chris Hillman, Rebecca Lynn Howard, Etta James, Wynonna Judd, Albert King, B.B. King, Al Kooper, John Lennon, Ann Margret, Marilyn McCoo, Billy Davis Jr., Craig Morgan, Aaron Neville, Wayne Newton, Harry Nilsson, John Oates, Nigel Olsson, Roy Orbison, Dolly Parton, Wilson Pickett, Michel Polnareff, John Prine, Otis Redding, Bruce Roberts, Leon Russell, Sanford & Townsend, Leo Sayer, Poncho Sanchez, Guy Sebastian, Neil Sedaka, Paul Shaffer, Paul Simon, Percy Sledge, Broderick Smith, The Soul Children, The Staple Singers, Mavis Staple, Ringo Starr, Rod Stewart, Livingston Taylor, Carla Thomas, Mickey Thomas, Wendy Waldman, Tower of Power, The Manhattan Transfer, Dale Watson and Jerry Lynn Williams. Magazine “Rolling Stone” ranked him 36th on its list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists”. Cropper won two “Grammy Awards”, and as leader or co-leader Cropper released 13 albums.
Tag Archives: Dolly Parton
Merle Haggard And The Strangers: Mama Tried
On October 3, 1968, “Capitol” label released “Mama Tried”, the seventh Merle Haggard and the Strangers studio album. It was recorded February – March, 1968, ay “Capitol Studios” in Hollywood, and was produced by Ken Nelson. In 1999, the album title song won the “Grammy Hall of Fame Award”.
Personnel:
- Merle Haggard – vocals, guitar
The Strangers:
- Roy Nichols – guitar
- Norman Hamlet – steel guitar
- George French – piano
- Jerry Ward – bass
- Eddie Burris – drums
- Lewis Talley – guitar
- Tommy Collins – guitar
- Billy Mize – guitar
- Glen Campbell – guitar
- James Burton – guitar
- Bonnie Owens – harmony vocals
Track listing:
All tracks by Merle Haggard, except where noted.
- Mama Tried
- Green, Green Grass of Home – Curly Putman
- Little Ole Wine Drinker Me – Dick Jennings, Hank Mills
- In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad) – Dolly Parton
- I Could Have Gone Right – Mel Tillis
- I’ll Always Know
- The Sunny Side of Me
- Teach Me to Forget – Leon Payne
- Folsom Prison Blues – Johnny Cash
- Run ‘Em Off – Troy Martin, Onie Wheeler
- You’ll Never Love Me Now
- Too Many Bridges to Cross Over – Dallas Frazier
Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton: Always, Always
On June 30, 1969, “RCA Victor” label released “Always, Always”, the third Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton album. It was recorded December 1968 – April 1969, at “RCA Studio B” in Nashville, Tennessee, and was produced by Bob Ferguson.
Personnel:
- Dolly Parton – lead vocals
- Porter Wagoner – lead vocals
- Wayne Moss – guitar
- Lloyd Green – steel guitar
- George McCormick – rhythm guitar, liner notes
- Jerry Stembridge – electric guitar
- Buck Trent – banjo, liner notes
- David Briggs – piano
- Hargus Robbins – piano
- Roy M. Huskey, Jr. – bass
- Bobby Dyson – bass
- Jerry Carrigan – drums
- Glenn Baxter – trumpet
- Bill McElhiney – trumpet
- Jean Alrshuler – harp
- Mack Magaha – fiddle, liner notes
- Joseph Babcock – backing vocals
- Anita Carter – backing vocals
- Dolores Edgin – backing vocals
- June Evelyn Page – backing vocals
- Hurshel Wiginton – backing vocals
- Al Pachucki – recording
- Roy M. Shockley – recording technician
- Little Jack Little – liner notes
- Speck Rhodes – liner notes
- Don Warden – liner notes
Track listing:
- Milwaukee, Here I Come – Lee Fikes
- Yours Love – Harlan Howard
- I Don’t Believe You’ve Met My Baby – Autry Inman
- Malena – Dolly Parton
- The House Where Love Lives – Leona Reese
- Why Don’t You Haul Off & Love Me – Wayne Raney, Lonnie Glosson
- Always, Always – Joyce McCord
- There Never Was a Time – Myra Smith, Margaret Lewis
- Good as Gold – Paul Martin
- My Hands Are Tied – Dolly Parton
- No Reason to Hurry Home – Dolly Parton
- Anything’s Better Than Nothing – Marie Wilson
Emmylou Harris: Pieces Of The Sky
On February 7, 1975, “Reprise” label released “Pieces of the Sky”, the second Emmylou Harris studio album. It was recorded in 1974, at “Enactron Truck” in Los Angeles, “Track Recorders” in Silver Spring, Maryland, and was produced by Brian Ahem.
Personnel:
- Emmylou Harris – vocals, acoustic guitar
- Brian Ahern – acoustic guitar, guitar, bass
- Bruce Archer – acoustic guitar
- Rick Cunha – acoustic guitar, guitar
- James Burton – electric guitar, Gut-string guitar, dobro
- Amos Garrett – electric guitar
- Byron Berline – fiddle, mandolin
- Herb Pedersen – acoustic guitar, 12-string guitar, banjo, backing vocals
- Danny Pendleton – pedal steel
- Ben Keith – pedal steel
- Bernie Leadon – acoustic guitar, bass, banjo, dobro, backing vocals
- Bill Payne – piano
- Glen Hardin – piano, electric piano, string arrangements
- Richard Greene – fiddle
- Ricky Skaggs – fiddle, viola
- Duke Bardwell – bass
- Tom Guidera – bass
- Ray Pohlman – bass
- Ron Tutt – drums
- Mark Cuff – drums
- Linda Ronstadt – backing vocals
- Fayssoux Starling – backing vocals
- Nick DeCaro – string arrangements
- Brian Ahern – engineer
- Chris Skene – engineer
- Paul Skene – engineer
- Fran Tate – engineer
- Stuart Taylor – engineer
- Lisa Phillips – angel drawings
Track listing:
- Bluebird Wine – Rodney Crowell
- Too Far Gone – Billy Sherrill
- If I Could Only Win Your Love – Charlie Louvin, Ira Louvin
- Boulder to Birmingham – Emmylou Harris, Bill Danoff
- Before Believing – Danny Flowers
- The Bottle Let Me Down – Merle Haggard
- Sleepless Nights – Felice and Boudleaux Bryant
- Coat of Many Colors – Dolly Parton
- For No One – John Lennon, Paul McCartney
- Queen of the Silver Dollar – Shel Silverstein
Emmylou Harris: Luxury Liner
On December 28, 1976, “Warner Bros Nashville” label released “Luxury Liner”, the fourth Emmylou Harris album. It was recorded in 1976, at “Enactron Truck” in Los Angeles, and was produced by Brian Ahem.
Personnel:
- Emmylou Harris – vocals, acoustic guitar
- Brian Ahern – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, finger-style acoustic guitar, engineer
- Nicolette Larson – duet vocals
- Albert Lee – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin, backing vocals
- Rodney Crowell – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, high-strung guitar, backing vocals
- Rick Cunha – acoustic guitar
- Hank DeVito – pedal steel guitar
- James Burton – electric guitar
- Glen Hardin – piano, electric piano, string arrangements
- Mickey Raphael – harmonica, bass harmonica
- Emory Gordy Jr. – bass
- John Ware – drums
- Mike Auldridge – dobro
- Ricky Skaggs – fiddle, mandolin
- Dianne Brooks – backing vocals
- Dolly Parton – backing vocals
- Herb Pedersen – backing vocals
- Fayssoux Starling – backing vocals
- Donivan Cowart – engineer
- Bradley Hartman – engineer
- Stuart Taylor – engineer
- Miles Wilkinson – engineer
Track listing:
- Luxury Liner – Gram Parsons
- Pancho and Lefty – Townes Van Zandt
- Making Believe – Jimmy Work
- You’re Supposed to Be Feeling Good – Rodney Crowell
- I’ll Be Your San Antone Rose – Susana Clark
- (You Never Can tell) C’est la Vie – Chuck Berry
- When I Stop Dreaming – Ira Louvin, Charlie Louvin
- Hello Stranger – A.P. Carter
- She – Gram Parsons, Chris Ethridge
- Tulsa Queen – Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell
Marianne Faithfull: Easy Come Easy Go
On November 10, 2008, “Naïve Records” label released “Easy Come, Easy Go”, the 18th Marianne Faithfull album. It was recorded in 2008, “Sear Sound Studio” in New York City, and was produced by Hal Willner.
Personnel:
- Marianne Faithfull – vocals
- Barry Reynolds – guitars
- Marc Ribot – acoustic and electric guitars
- Keith Richards – vocals, guitar
- Sean Lennon – vocals, guitars
- Gil Goldstein – piano, accordion, arrangements, string direction
- Brian Mitchell – piano
- Steve Weisberg – piano, electric piano, celesta, arrangements, conducting
- Rob Burger – piano, organ
- Greg Cohen – bass
- Jim White – drums
- Joey Baron – drums
- Art Baron – bass recorder, trombone
- Doug Wieselman – clarinet, bass clarinet, baritone saxophone
- Ken Peplowski – bass clarinet
- Marty Ehrlich – bass clarinet, alto saxophone
- Lenny Pickett – bass clarinet, tenor saxophone, sarrusophone, double bass
- Steven Bernstein – glockenspiel, mellophone, alto brass, trumpet
- Maxin Moston, Rob Moose – violin
- Warren Ellis – violin, electric violin
- Michael Nicholas – viola
- Jane Scarpantoni – cello
- Chan Marshall – vocals
- Nick Cave – vocals
- Antony Hegarty – vocals
- Rufus Wainwright – vocals
- Jarvis Cocker – vocals
- Kate & Anna McGarrigle – backing vocals
- Cat Power – backing vocals
- Jean-Baptiste Mondino– art direction, photography
Track listing:
- Down from Dover – Dolly Parton
- Hold On, Hold On – Neko Case
- Solitude – Duke Ellington
- The Crane Wife 3 – The Decemberists
- Easy Come, Easy Go – Bessie Smith
- Children of Stone – Espers
- How Many Worlds – Brian Eno
- In Germany Before the War – Randy Newman
- Ooh Baby Baby – Smokey Robinson
- Sing Me Back Home – Merle Haggard
- Salvation – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
- Black Coffee – Sarah Vaughan
- The Phoenix – Judee Sill
- Dear God Please Help Me – Morrissey
- Kimbie – Jackson C. Frank
- Many a Mile to Freedom – Traffic
- Somewhere (A Place for Us) – Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim
- Flandyke Shore – traditional
David Lindley
On March 3, 2023, David Perry Lindley died aged 78. He was musician (violin, acoustic and electric guitar, lap steel guitar, mandolin, bouzouki, upright and electric bass, cittern, bağlama, gumbus, charango, cümbüş, oud and zither. Lindley was founding member of the bands Kaleidoscope and El Rayo-X, recorded and performed with Ry Cooder, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, Curtis Mayfield, Dolly Parton, Waren Zevon, Graham Nash, Stephen Stills, James Taylor, David Crosby, Terry Reid, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Toto, Rod Stewart, Dan Fogelberg, Joe Walsh, Henry Kaiser, G. E. Smith, Wally Ingram, Hani Naser, Leonard Cohen, The Youngbloods, America, Maria Muldaur, Iain Matthews, Lonnie Mack, Karla Bonoff, Jimmy Barnes, Emmylou Harris, Tanita Tikaram, Marshall Crenshaw, Shawn Colvin, Jerry Joseph, Dzukis Kuche, Ben Harper, Jordan Zevon, Rickie Lee Jones, Arlen Roth and The Sound Field.
Maria Muldaur: Same
In August 1973, “Reprise” label released the self-titled, debut Maria Muldaur album. It was recorded in 1973, at “Warner Bros Studios” in Hollywood, and was produced by Lenny Waronker and Joe Boyd.
Personnel:
- Maria Muldaur – vocals
- Ry Cooder – acoustic guitar
- Andrew Gold – acoustic guitar
- David Nichtern – acoustic and electric guitar
- Clarence White – acoustic guitar
- David Lindley – Hawaiian guitar
- Bill Keith – banjo, steel guitar
- David Grisman – mandolin
- Dr. John – keyboards, horn arrangements
- Jim Dickinson – piano
- Mark T. Jordan – piano
- Spooner Oldham – piano
- Greg Prestopino – vocal and background vocals, piano
- James Gordon – organ, clarinet
- Chris Ethridge – bass
- Klaus Voormann – bass
- Ray Brown – bass
- Dave Holland – bowed bass
- Jimmy Calhoun – bass
- Tommy McClure – bass
- Freebo – bass
- Amos Garrett – vocals, bass, guitar
- Jim Keltner – drums
- Ed Shaughnessy – drums
- John Boudreaux – drums
- Jim Gordon – drums
- Chris Parker – drums
- Nick DeCaro – accordion, string arrangements
- Jerry Jumonville – alto horn, horn arrangements
- Artie Butler – alto horn, horn arrangements
- Richard Greene – violin
- Beryl Marriott – violin
- Larry Packer – violin, viola
- Karen Alexander – backing vocals
- Gloria Jones – backing vocals
- Ellen Kearney – backing vocals
- Bettye LaVette – backing vocals
- Jessica Smith – backing vocals
Track listing:
- Any Old Time – Jimmie Rodgers
- Midnight at the Oasis – David Nichtern
- My Tennessee Mountain Home – Dolly Parton
- I Never Did Sing You a Love Song – David Nichtern
- The Work Song – Kate McGarrigle
- Don’t You Feel My Leg (Don’t You Get Me High) – Blue Lu Barker, Danny Barker, J. Mayo Williams
- Walkin’ One and Only – Dan Hicks
- Long Hard Climb – Ron Davies
- Three Dollar Bill – Mac Rebennack
- Vaudeville Man – Wendy Waldman
- Mad Mad Me – Wendy Waldman
Ethel Nagy Gabriel
On March 23, 2021, Ethel Nagy Gabriel died aged 99. She was music producer and record executive, known as the first female producer in the music industry. She produced more than 2500 albums, winner of “Grammy Award” in 1982, produced six Grammy winning albums, and “15 RIAA Certified Gold Records” hits. Among the others, Gabriel worked with Henry Mancini, Elvis Presley, Al Hirt, Roger Whittaker, Neil Sedaka, Eddie Fisher, Paul Anka, Dolly Parton and Perry Como.
Doc Pomus
On March 14, 1991, Jerome Solon Felder aka Doc Pomus died aged 65. He was singer and songwriter, co-writer (together with Mort Shuman) of big number of hits, many of them became rock and roll standards, including: “A Teenager in Love”, “Save The Last Dance For Me”, “Hushabye”, “This Magic Moment”, “Turn Me Loose”, “Sweets For My Sweet”, “Go, Jimmy, Go”, “Little Sister”, “Can’t Get Used to Losing You”, “Suspicion”, “Surrender” and “His Latest Flame”. He also co-wrote with Phil Spector few successful tracks including “Young Boy Blues”, “Ecstasy”, “First Taste of Love” and “What Am I to Do?” His songs were performed by hundreds of artists including The Beatles, Ray Charles, Elvis Presley, Elvis Costello, Dean Martin, Andy Williams, Bad Company, Leonard Cohen, Van Morrison, Led Zeppelin, Bruce Springsteen, Michael Buble, Dolly Parton, Joe Cocker, ZZ Top, Emmy Lou Harris, Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, Harry Nilsson, John Hiatt, The Beach Boys, B.B. King, Dion, The New York Dolls, Shawn Colvin and Los Lobos. As singer Pomus performed with Milt Jackson, Mickey Baker, and King Curtis. In 1991 he was inducted into the “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame”, in 1992, in the “Songwriters Hall of Fame”, and in 2012 into the “Blues Hall of Fame”.
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