Obituaries: Canadian Blues Bassist Al Duffy, Hit Songwriter John David Souther & More

Al (Alan) Duffy, a veteran Toronto blues bassist and record producer who worked with Jack de Keyzer, Morgan Davis, Downchild Blues Band and others, died on Sept 17, at age 74.

He had been living with cancer, and in June this year his musical friends, headed by Jack de Keyzer, held a fundraiser in support at Toronto's Redwood Theatre.

Canadian blues star De Keyzer informs Billboard Canada that "Al was a member of my band from 2003 to 2023, and he played on seven of my albums. A great musician, Al was one of the best traditional style blues bassists in Canada and was also a dedicated follower of the James Jamerson and Jaco Pastorius style of bass playing. He was a fantastic musician with a great ear and wonderful British style of humour."

de Keyzer albums Duffy played on include the Juno Award-winning The Corktown Sessions(2009) and three other Juno-nominated releases.

A professional bassist for over 50 years, Duffy's long list of credits includes Downchild Blues Band, Morgan Davis, Mark Haines, Josh Miller, Brant Parker, the Carlos Del Junco Band, James Boraski, Pat Finochio and The Pappy Johns Band.

Duffy played bass on and produced the 2021 single "Solidarity" for Joshua Arden Miller and the Pappy Johns Band. Miller tells Billboard Canada that "the song and video was screened around North America and garnered numerous video and single of the year nominations. The follow up single, also produced by Al (and bass), helped catapult the band to winning Performer of The Year for Josh Miller at the 202 Summer Solstice Indigenous Music Awards. We were in the midst of recording new material for a new album when Al got the cancer diagnosis and had to stop."

Duffy also worked as a recording engineer and producer, most notably on three early albums by the Downchild Blues Band. He and the late Billy Bryans are credited with co-producing and remixing that band's 1973 album, Straight Up, featuring three of Downchild's best-known songs, "Flip Flop & Fly," "(I Got Everything I Need) Almost" and "Shotgun Blues." These tunes were later reprised by The Blues Brothers on their smash hit debut album.

Duffy also worked on Downchild albums Bootleg (1971) and Dancing (1974). At the time, he ran Horn Sound studio in the basement of the infamous Rochdale apartment in Toronto.

His fellow musicians and notables in the Canadian blues scene offered eloquent tributes on social media and to Billboard Canada.

Morgan Davis told Billboard Canada that "Al Duffy was the bass player in my trio for nearly a decade, and he was a big factor in my musical education. I pared my band down to a trio after years of working with four piece bands and larger bands with a horn section. My trio with Al first had Mike Fitzpatrick on drums, then Geoff Arsenault. That band taught me all about groove."

"We spent a lot of time together on the road, including 6 - 8 weeks touring Western Canada every summer. Al was passionate about not only music, but politics as well, and the many hours together in the truck were filled with lively conversation.

"Al had a great ear and was instrumental in producing the first Downchild recording. He understood the importance of air in the music, and his playing, deceptively simple and solid, always honored the song. He played on both live and studio albums I recorded over the years.

"He could be counted on to deliver every time he hit the stage. He was present for every note, never 'phoned in his part.' Al taught me so much about groove and playing the part that the song required. Although he had the chops, his simple approach was always directed to making the song deliver the message."

"Upon learning of his illness in the spring, I changed my annual tour of Ontario so that I could visit him as soon as I could. We spent a couple of afternoons together. Our families - wives and children - grew very close over our years together. He will be greatly missed."

Music promoter Elaine Bomberry posted this on Facebook: "Last summer at the 'Indigenous Sounds Now' concert weekend at Ontario Place's Trillium Park in Toronto was a one night reunion of Josh Miller & The Pappy Johns Band with Murray Porter. It was so awesome to see Al Duffy was still playing with the Band. Al was truly a wonderful, kind, intelligent, funny and talented human, who played kick ass bass. I will never forget our interesting convo's. Rest in Paradise Al."

Veteran Toronto blues/roots music promoter, festival artistic director and Toronto Blues Society president Derek Andrews offered this tribute to Billboard Canada: “Al Duffy was a family friend and a shining example of positive vibes 24/7. Light-hearted, intellectual, someone you would always enjoy sharing a conversation with."

International

Nick Gravenites, a Chicago blues musician who played an important role in San Francisco's burgeoning rock scene in the '60s, died on September 18, after many months of failing health. He was 86.

On the Chicago scene in the late '50s and early '60s, Gravenites was a peer of the likes of Elvin Bishop, Paul Butterfield and Michael Bloomfield.Deadline reports that "The blues acolytes became a fixture in the South Side bars and clubs that hosted such greats as Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Howlin’ Wolf, Jimmy Reed and Otis Rush, absorbing the musical lessons that they’d transform into the blues rock and psychedelic guitar rock of the mid- to late-1960s and ’70s.

"After relocating to Haight-Asbury in the mid-60s, Gravenites — who sang, played the guitar and harmonica and was a prolific songwriter — teamed with his old Chicago pal Bloomfield to form the Electric Flag in 1967. That band, with Gravenites on vocals, performed at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, and influenced such area groups as Quicksilver Messenger Service and Big Brother and the Holding Company."

He befriended Janis Joplin, and he and Butterfield helped shape Joplin’s first solo album, 1969’s I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama!, with Gravenites writing the track “Work Me Lord” for the record. The song would become a staple of Joplin’s live shows and a highlight of the singer’s famed performance at Woodstock.

Gravenites' song “Buried Alive in the Blues” appeared as an instrumental on Joplin's chart-topping solo album Pearl. He often would perform the song — complete with his lyrics — in concert as a tribute to Joplin.

Shortly after Joplin’s death, Gravenites produced the song “One Toke Over the Line” for the folk rock duo Brewer & Shipley, a track that went to No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1971.

Kenny Hyslop, a Scottish drummer who played in an early version of Simple Minds and in the glam pop band Slik, died on Sept. 15 at age 73, of prostate cancer.

He began his musical career in the early '70s, joining glam-rock band Salvation. Two-years later they were renamed Slik following a line-up change that resulted in Midge Ure becoming lead vocalist. That group scored a UK number one single with Forever And Ever in 1975, prior to disbanding in 1977.

Ure found global fame fronting Ultravox, while Hyslop went on to play with new wave bands Zones and The Skids prior to joining Simple Minds in 1981. Hyslop stayed with the band for a year, during which he performed on the first leg of the Sons and Fascination Tour, and played on hit Simple Minds song "Promised You A Miracle."

Following his departure from Simple Minds in 1982, Hyslop formed Set the Tone with bass player Bobby Paterson, then formed the One O'Clock Gang, which released an album on Arista Records.

Hyslop went on to write songs for Les McKeown (Bay City Rollers)and also toured with Midge Ure on his The Gift World Tour 1985. He became an alternative DJ until leaving the UK for Canada with the Glasgow blues band, Big George and the Business.

That group played the Montreal Jazz festival, Theatre St Denis and other venues in Quebec and Ontario in 1992. While touring in Canada in the late 1990's the band recorded half of their album, Home of the Wolf, in Montreal.

Back in the U.K., Hyslop started teaching drumming at Carlton Studios in Glasgow as well as producing new music published through Myspace.

Eddie (Edward Robert) Low, a popular New Zealand country and folk singer, died on Sept. 21, at age 81, of cancer.

Radio New Zealand reports that "Low was born blind because of the German measles outbreak. He started his first band when he was 13 with two friends, called The Three Blind Mice, and went on to establish a reputation as an outstanding vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. He found fame in the mid-'60s in the Maori group The Quin Tikis."

In 2006, Low received a NZ Order of Merit (MNM) for his services to music. In 2009, he was the recipient of the Variety Artists of NZ’s Benny Award for his lifetime achievement in the entertainment industry. A service, which will be livestreamed, will be held in Christchurch.

John David “JD” Souther, a singer-songwriter and actor best known for writing hit songs for The Eagles and Linda Ronstadt, has died, at age 78. The news was reported via his official website on Sept. 17.

ABillboard obituary termed Souther "one of the foremost musical architects in the 1970s country-rock scene." He forged a friendship with the Eagles’ Glenn Frey and would collaborate as a writer on many of the Eagles’ biggest hits, including “New Kid in Town,” “James Dean,” “Doolin-Dalton” and “Best of My Love.”

Souther also co-wrote the Eagles’ 1979 hit “Heartache Tonight” alongside Frey, Bob Seger and Don Henley, and co-wrote Henley’s 1989 hit song “The Heart of the Matter.” Souther also wrote Bonnie Raitt’s “Run Like a Thief,” and Ronstadt’s “Faithless Love” and “White Rhythm and Blues.” Souther and Ronstadt also collaborated together on songs including “Prisoner in Disguise” and “Hearts Against the Wind,” featured in the 1980 film Urban Cowboy starring John Travolta.

As a solo artist, Souther released a self-titled debut in 1972, and then teamed with Chris Hillman and Richie Furay to release the album The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band. Souther followed with the 1976 solo album Black Rose, which included a collaboration with Ronstadt, “If You Have Crying Eyes.”

His biggest solo hit came in 1979 with “You’re Only Lonely,” which reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1981, his collaboration with James Taylor, “Her Town Too,” reached No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 00.

As an actor, Souther appeared in movies including My Girl 2, Deadline and Postcards From the Edge, and in television series including Thirtysomething, Purgatory and a recurring role on Nashville.

Souther was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2013.

“It’s been said that JD Souther could have been a major artist if he had kept more of those beautiful, introspective songs he wrote for himself,” Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, said in a statement. “He wasn’t a star of country-rock, but he was crucial to its enduring power.”

Billy Edd Wheeler, a country singer-songwriter who created hits for Johnny Cash, Kenny Rogers, Elvis Presley and other stars, has died on Sept. 16 at age 91.

Wheeler is best known as the co-writer of “Jackson,” a Grammy-winning duet made famous by Cash and June Carter. He earned 13 awards from ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) and wrote songs recorded by more than 100 artists.

Those covering his compositions included Elvis Presley, Glen Campbell, Kathy Mattea, Ed Bruce, Kenny Rogers, Bobby Bare, Judy Collins, Jefferson Airplane, Bobby Darin, Richie Havens, The Kingston Trio, Hazel Dickens, Florence and the Machine, Nancy Sinatra, and Neil Young, who recorded the Wheeler song, "High Flyin' Bird."

The West Virginia native and North Carolina resident was a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, inducted in 2000 and touted as “Renaissance artist” by the organization. He also was honored by the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in 2014, during its Poets & Prophets Series.

“Billy Edd Wheeler is known as a country recording artist and the writer of country hits for Kenny Rogers ("Coward Of The County"), Johnny Cash, Hank Williams Jr. and others. But songwriting is only one facet of this Renaissance artist’s life,” the hall of fame says on its website. “Wheeler has been a poet and storyteller, a Navy pilot, a playwright, a teacher, a painter, a novelist, a humor writer and a magazine editor. Like Kris Kristofferson and Shel Silverstein, he seemed capable of fulfilling any creative pursuit at any point in his life.”

Wheeler was the author-composer of eight plays and musicals, a folk opera (Song of the Cumberland Gap), commissioned by the National Geographic Society, and three outdoor dramas. He also authored six books of humour. In 2018, Wheeler published a book of memoirs entitled Hotter Than A Pepper Sprout, a Hillybilly poet's journey from Appalachia to Yale to writing hits for Elvis, Johnny Cash & More.