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Museum of Canadian Music
Kenny Marco
FYI
Obituaries: Canadian Guitarist Kenny Marco, Rocker Rick Derringer, Simpsons Composer Alf Clausen
This week we also acknowledge the passing of Toronto sound poet Paul Dutton, Canadian country singer Cliffy Short, Kool & the Gang hype man Michael Sumler and Hawkwind keyboardist Simon House.
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Kenny (Kenneth John) Marco, a Canadian guitarist, vocalist and songwriter best known for the 1969 Motherlode hit, "When I Die," died on May 24, at age 78, after a battle with cancer.
In its obituary, The Brantford Expositor reportedthat "Marco attended Pauline Johnson Collegiate in Brantford and while there put together his first band called The Galaxies that would play regional dances, along with gigs in Toronto and Windsor. In 1962, he and several bandmates formed The Marque-Royales, followed by The Beau Keys in 1964.
"He later joined popular Toronto group Grant Smith and the Power, but left, citing a desire to play more original material. In a later interview with John Mars for Blitz, Marco stated 'there was no originality happening in that band. That's why Wayne Stone, Steve Kennedy, Smitty [William Smith] and myself left to form Motherlode.'"
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Motherlode found more success in the U.S. than Canada and played pop festivals throughout 1969 including the Rock and Roll Revival in Toronto, one featuring Chuck Berry, with John Lennon attending. The group's single 'When I Die' was a major hit, with Billboard noting that “When I Die … was one of the first Canadian-produced discs to score internationally.”
In the U.S., the single (on Buddah) peaked at No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 in October and it became Billboard’s No. 71 song of 1969. In Canada, the single went gold, occupying RPM’s No. 1 position for two weeks. "When I Die" charted on CHUM Radio at No. 5 and was Cashbox’s No. 12, and earned Motherlode a BMI Certificate of Honour in 1970. In 2011, the song was inducted into The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, and it earned a SOCAN award for over 100,000 radio airplays.
The band toured extensively in the U.S., but their two albums could not duplicate the success of the hit single, and the original lineup broke up at the end of 1969.
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Marco, Steve Kennedy and Wayne Stone went on to become members of the Doug Riley-led band Dr. Music in Toronto, and Marco played on the band's self-titled 1972 album.
Marco then went on to play with David Clayton-Thomas and Blood, Sweat and Tears before doing recording sessions with the likes of Etta James and Jackie De Shannon and sitting in with Doc Severinsen and the Tonight Show Band, during the time he spent living in Los Angeles.
In an obituary posted to Facebook, the Saskatoon Musicians' Association noted that "Kenny Marco had a remarkable career in the professional music business. Always a proud member of the musicians’ union, Kenny was a Life Member of the Saskatoon Musicians Association (AFM-CFM) Local 553.
"Marco left his hometown of Brantford, Ontario, at the age of 15 to pursue his dreams of playing Rhythm and Blues with the greats of the '70s era. This meant having to relocate to Los Angeles to fulfill his dreams. Along the way he played guitar with notable supergroups such as Motherlode, Dr. Music, and David Clayton-Thomas (Blood Sweat & Tears). While with David Clayton-Thomas in 1972 he was part of the pilot episode of the long-running PBS series the Midnight Special. Other musical greats on the pilot episode included none other than Linda Ronstadt, the Everly Brothers and Helen Reddy."
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Saxophonist/songwriter Steve Kennedy (he co-wrote "When I Die" with William 'Smitty' Smith) was a bandmate and close friend of Kenny Marco. He offered this tribute to Billboard Canada: "Kenny Marco was a special guy, both as a musician and a human being. An 'under the radar kind' of guy. No theatrics, no 'Look at me!' It was all about the music.
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"We first met in 1968 when he took over for the guitarist with Grant Smith and the Power. Four bars in, I thought to myself, 'We got one.' He wasn’t just in the rhythm section, he was the rhythm section.
"Ask any guitarist, Kenny Marco had a sound and style that was instantly recognizable. For instance, the guitar licks in 'When I Die' are all Kenny Marco. I can’t imagine the song without them. Pure happiness. Kenny was a joy to play with – and sing with. He grew up surrounded by soul music and it showed in his own incredibly soulful voice. But it was also authentically his own."
"He was a wonderful friend for almost 60 years – loyal, enthusiastic, supportive and kind. We talked on the phone a couple times a week (and boy, could Kenny talk). For the past seven years, we sent the same stupid birthday card back and forth to one another. It’s hard to think I won't get it again."
David Clayton-Thomas paid tribute to his longtime friend and bandmate on Facebook: "Remembering Kenny Marco... A close friend for 50 years. From the early days of touring the world together with BS&T thru our LA years and right up to the present... we phoned each other at 10:30 nearly every morning for the past 20 years... we talked about everything from hockey to politics. Kenny was well read, well informed... on top of everything.... Our conversations were always stimulating... He had strong opinions and he stood his ground but he was always open to discussion. I'll miss our talks. I'll miss my friend. RIP Kenny."
Veteran Toronto guitarist Bernie LaBarge offered this tribute to Billboard Canada: "I spent many high school days being 'home schooled' at the local record store, and I remember the day that the Motherlode album arrived. The rule was that every new release had to be played in its entirety, because in 1969 music was like a candy store. 'When I Die' was the opening cut. It was perfect in every way, but the part that grabbed me at once was Kenny Marco's guitar. It had its own voice, even at the end of a decade full of guitar wizards.
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"I became good friends with Kenny over the years. He maintained his guitar and vocal chops, but that became secondary to us just enjoying each other's company. I'm not sure he ever realized how influential he was to a generation of budding musicians. Kenny nicknamed me Cool Breeze, and I had a guitar built just so I could give it that name. I'm going to miss that kind, soulful, and humble man. Thanks, Kenny."
Read an extensive interview of Marco by Blitz correspondent John Mars here.
Donations in Marco's memory can be made to Royal University Hospital Emergency Department -here. A celebration of life event will take place this summer in Saskatoon. For further details email k.fyfe@sasktel.net
Paul Dutton, a Canadian poet, novelist, essayist. and oral sound artist, died on May 27, at age 81.
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From 1970–1988, the Toronto born and based Dutton was a member of the legendary Four Horsemen sound poetry quartet, along with Rafael Barreto-Rivera, Steve McCaffery and the late bpNichol.
Dutton joined his soundsinging oralities and harmonica-playing to John Oswald’s alto sax and Michael Snow’s piano and synthesizer in the free-improvisation band CCMC (1989 to the present). He appeared in poetry festivals in Germany, France and Venezuela, and at music festivals in Canada, the Netherlands, and Argentina. An accomplished writer, in addition to his published books, he has written dozens of published essays on music and writing.
Dutton collaborated with a wide range of musicians, including fellow oral sound artists Jaap Blonk, Koichi Makigami, Phil Minton, and David Moss in the group Five Men Singing, John Butcher, Lee Ranaldo (of Sonic Youth), Christian Marclay, Günter Christmann, Thomas Charmetant, Xavier Charles, and Jacques Di Donato. His soundsinging has been called "fascinating, inventive, grippingly obsessive" (The Wire).
More recently, he formed Quintet à Bras in company with two French poets and two French instrumentalists, and in 2009, Dutton performed at The Scream In High Park, an annual literary festival in Toronto. In 2007, he received the Dora Mavor Moore award from the Toronto Association of Performing Arts, 2007.
Recordings on which Dutton is featured include Blues, Roots, Legends, Shouts & Hollers (1980), Mouth Pieces (2000) and Oralizations (2005).
To celebrate his 70th birthday in 2014, Dutton's peers and friends organised a star-studded tribute event in Toronto. Noted author Gary Barwin opened the show by highlighting the many hats Dutton has worn — "poet, novelist, musician, improviser, essayist, mentor, collaborator, soundsinger, critic, friend."
"Over the past forty years," he continues, "Paul has created an impressive body of great work: sound poems, visual poems, collections of poetry, short fiction, a novel, CDs, countless performances (both as a solo artist and as a part of groups such as the Four Horsemen and CCMC). He has been a significant part of major works by R. Murray Schafer and has performed and collaborated with a wide array of other artists.
"Paul is a sensitive, exacting, witty, and inventive performer and explorer of language out of the human. As a writer, he has plumbed the musicality of the paragraph, the sentence, and the word. As an oral sound artist, Paul has helped redefined the musical potential of human utterance."
Read more about that tribute here.
As word of his passing spread, admirers of Dutton's multi-faceted work offered tributes on social media. On Facebook, filmmaker and cultural curator Jim Shedden recalled that "In 1979 my CanLit class went to a conference where the extraordinary sound poetry quartet, The Four Horsemen, was performing. The wonderfully, anarchic, joyous creativity of Paul Dutton, bpNichol, Steve McCaffrey, and Rafael Barretto-Rivera absolute blew me away, and paved the way for my interest in the form, as well as all the other projects of the four characters: concrete poetry, DIY publishing, etc.
"I got to know Dutton, and he came in and out of my life frequently over the past 45 years. Besides the Horsemen, he was a core member of the free improvisational group CCMC with Michael Snow, John Oswald, and a revolving cast of characters including Nobuo Kubota, John Kamevaar, and Al Mattes.
"I saw CCMC frequently, programmed them a handful of times at the AGO, and joined the Board (with Dutton and others) of their venue/splinter organization, The Music Gallery. In addition to his own intensive creative work, Dutton could be counted on to show up at concerts, readings, and galleries around Toronto, not to mention salons organized by the composer Jim Tenney, filmmakers Bruce Elder and Stan Brakhage (when he was living in Toronto), and myself.Thanks for everything you brought to life and letters Paul."
Toronto-based musician and composer Nick Storring posted this tribute on Facebook: "Very sad to have learned of the passing of Paul Dutton. I first met him when I was very young and still living in Kitchener Waterloo. He was MCing and performing at the Open Ears Festival of Music & Sound there.
"He was very generous and gregarious with me, despite our gap in age and wisdom and it left a huge impression. When I moved to Toronto some time later, he was one of the first more established players that supported me as a fellow improviser. Miss you, Paul. Thank you so much for your brilliant contributions."
Cem Zafir, producer of acclaimed Hamilton avant-garde festival Something Else, on Facebook: "I am saddened to hear that Paul Dutton passed away. One-of-a-kind wordsmith, vocalist, 'soundsinging' specialist and all around joy-to-be-around kind of a mensch...his work with CCMC and other greats let him shine through with his original voice. Zula Presents Something Else had the great pleasure to present him with Joe Sorbara, then with Joe, Gregory Betts, David Lee and Gary Barwin in 2017, as part of Voice Will Be Voice. In February 2020, as our final event before the world shut down, we had CCMC grace our stage. Both events at The Art Gallery of Hamilton were delightful. Safe travels, dear Paul...
Cliffy Short (born Clifford Legere), a pioneering Canadian country singer and musician, died on May 28, at age 91.
Canadian country music authority Larry Delaney (Cancountry) informs Billboard Canada that "Short was born in Minto, New Brunswick, where he launched his music career in the duo "Cliffy & Jerry" (with Jerry Banks), releasing several singles on Quality Records.
"He moved to Toronto in the 1950s where he headed his own country band and hosted the Crang Plaza, Massey Hall and Club Kingsway Jamborees as well as guesting on the Tommy Hunter TV show. He also appeared on the 'WWVA Jamboree' in Wheeling, West Virginia.
"Cliffy Short hosted The Caribou Show on CHCH TV, Hamilton, with The Caribou Showband, which later evolved into the Johnny Burke & Eastwind band. Short also toured and recorded with The Harry Hibbs Showband. During the 1990s, Cliffy Short returned to the studio and recorded a series of solo albums including his It's Never Too Late CD, on which he wrote eight of the ten songs featured."
Short also recorded the albums Just Plain Old Country andTime That's Passing By.
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Rick Derringer (born Richard Dean Zehringer), a legendary rock guitarist, songwriter, vocalist and producer, died on May 26, at age 77. A cause of death has not been given.
He was the man behind such hits as "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo" and "Real American," and his long resume included production and playing on albums from an eclectic range of artists.
An obituary in Billboardreported that "Shaped by his proficiency on guitar, Derringer’s career as a performer, songwriter and producer spanned six decades. In addition to finding fame as part of the McCoys with hits such as 1965’s 'Hang On Sloopy', the Ohio native and Florida resident also worked on music for a wide variety of artists, including 'Weird Al' Yankovic, for whom he produced six albums."
He worked extensively with Johnny and Edgar Winter, and he also racked up credits on albums by Barbra Streisand, Todd Rundgren, Alice Cooper, Meat Loaf, Bonnie Tyler, Steely Dan and Cyndi Lauper.
Billboard notes that "Over the course of his time in the music industry, Derringer charted four albums on the Billboard 200 — starting with All American Boy, which reached No. 25 in 1974. Spring Fever and The Edgar Winter Group with Rick Derringer would later enter the chart in 1975, followed by Derringer Live in 1977. Derringer also had one LP make it onto the Jazz Albums chart: 2002’s Free Ride.
"Two of the most important pieces of Derringer’s legacy, however, will always be the songs '“Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo' and 'Real American.' The former reached No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1974 — marking Derringer’s highest career peak on the chart — while the latter is known for its use as pro wrestler Hulk Hogan’s theme song." That latter track was also used as campaign music for both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, as well as sitting president Donald Trump.
According to his Spotify, Derringer was still releasing music up until 2022, with a track called “Let It Be the Blues."
Derringer made a splash as a teenager in his first band, The McCoys, who scored a Number One hit with the garage-pop classic, “Hang on Sloopy.” After the band broke up, Derringer continued to work with Johnny Winter and his brother, Edgar, on their various projects. That work included production of two Edgar Winter classics, “Frankenstein” and “Free Ride.”
His debut solo album, 1973's All American Boy, featured his biggest solo hit, “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo.” The song cracked the Top 40, peaking at Number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100, and it became a classic rock radio staple.
Amongst those paying respect to Derringer on social media were many notable Canadian musicians and music industry types. Superstar rock producer Bob Ezrin (Alice Cooper, Pink Floyd) recalled on Facebook that "Rick Derringer played lead guitar on 'Under My Wheels' by Alice Cooper back in 1971. I was producer. We were children. I wasn’t yet 22 and he was turning 23 as were most of the band."
"We were all super excited about making the new album after having had a foundational hit with I’m Eighteen on Love It To Death, our first album together and my first real production - under Jack Richardson’s tutelage and watchful eye, of course. When we were at the latter stages of recording on Killer, Rick was in town for a Johnny Winter show and we all thought it would be insanely cool to get him to do a guest turn on 'Under My Wheels.' The song needed a blistering guitar solo - but something a little more sophisticated than what we’d been doing up to that point.
"Knowing Rick was around and wanted to pop down to the studio made it impossible not to invite him to play. We were all huge fans of his. He arrived as a fully realized rockstar – in all the right gear, with a guitar that was almost as big as him, a leather jacket studded jeans, scarf and Highway Patrol sunglasses. We hadn’t yet met and I was prepared for rockstar vibes but was completely disarmed by his smile and demeanor. Genuine, warm and enthusiastic, he exuded a sense of authentic excitement mixed with a kind of quiet, humble professionalism that put the band and me at total ease. He was funny, swift, smart and profoundly proficient."
"He may have been there for all of an hour as I recall, most of which we all spent laughing about the road and the lifestyle. The nerves the band and I all had before he arrived melted away into a warm camaraderie and joyful sense of collaboration. He played the solo that is on that record now. One take. Brilliantly. We all exploded in the control room and cheered out loud once it was done. I shouted 'that’s it!' and went out to the studio to thank him."
"I saw Rick a few times after that and always stayed on top of his musical adventures. I was and am still a huge fan of him as a musician and as a human being. As you know, I don’t normally comment on the passing of contemporaries - and there have been far too many of those lately - but this news hit me particularly hard because it feels like just yesterday that we were kids playing together, and because he made such a huge impression on all of us."
Toronto blues/rock guitar ace Mike McKenna (Mainline, Downchild Blues Band) posted this tibute on Facebook: "Sad ..he rocked.. met him and his band when they came down to see APOSTLES at Boriss when he played at Maple Leaf Gardens ..We talked geetars for a bit. Nice guy, really liked our band ..and was interested in my maestro fuzz tone..lol!:...RIP."
Alf Clausen, the Emmy-winning TV and film composer whose music provided essential accompaniment for the animated antics of The Simpsons for 27 years, died on May 29, at age 84. He had been struggling with Parkinson’s disease for about a decade.
In its obituary, the Associated Press reported that "Clausen also scored TV series including Moonlighting and Alf ('no relation,' he used to joke) and was nominated for 30 Emmy Awards, 21 of them for The Simpsons, winning twice.
"Al Jean, an early Simpsons writer who was one of the key creative figures on the show in the 1990s, said in a post on X Friday that 'Clausen was an incredibly talented man who did so much for The Simpsons.'"
"While Danny Elfman wrote the show’s theme song, Clausen joined the Fox animated series created by Matt Groening in 1990 and provided essentially all of its music until 2017, composing nearly 600 scores and conducting the 35-piece orchestra that played it in the studio. Clausen believed the best way to back up the gags of Homer, Marge Bart and Lisa was by making the music as straight as possible.
Groening, in a 1996 interview, called him “one of the unacknowledged treasures of the show.”
Clausen was born in Minneapolis. He graduated from the Berklee College of Music in 1966, and moved to Los Angeles seeking a career in music. In the 1970s he was a musical director on several TV variety shows including Donny & Marie. He also worked as an orchestrator for composer Lee Holdridge in his scores for 1980s films including Splash and The Beastmaster.
It was Holdridge who first got the composing job on the hit series Moonlighting, the late-’80s ABC rom-com detective series starring Bruce Willis and Cybil Shepherd, but he handed the gig off to Clausen, who would get six Emmy nominations for his music on it.
Clausen won his Emmys for The Simpsons in 1997 and 1998 and also won five Annie Awards, which honour work in animation in film and television.
Simon House, the former keyboardist for Hawkwind and violinist for David Bowie, died on May 25, at the age of 76.
An obituary in Ultimate Classic Rock reports that "born in Nottingham, England, House began his musical career in 1960s London, initially with the group High Tide. Though he started as the group’s bassist, House switched to violin at the suggestion of his bandmates.
"In 1973 House joined the lineup of Hawkwind, replacing the group’s previous synth player, Del Dettmar. House’s impact could be felt beginning with the band’s 1974 album Hall of the Mountain Grill, which expanded Hawkwind’s space rock sound. House’s tenure with Hawkwind coincided with the final years of Lemmy Kilmister’s run with the band. House remained until 1978, contributing to a total of five studio releases during this initial run.
House then joined David Bowie’s live band, beginning with 1978’s Isolar II world tour. He is featured prominently on Bowie’s Stage live album, recorded during the trek. He also contributed to Bowie’s 1979 LP Lodger, including its hit single “Boys Keep Swinging.”
UCR notes that "House later became a popular session musician, playing on a wide variety of material throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s. Thomas Dolby, Mike Oldfield and former Hawkwind members Robert Calvert and Nik Turner were among the artists he collaborated with. House released a pair of albums under his own name, and returned to Hawkwind for two additional runs from 1989 to 1991, and from 2001 to 2003.
Michael Sumler (a.k.a. Chicago Mike), the much-loved hype man for R&B superstars Kool & the Gang, died on May 24, in a car crash. He was 71 years of age.
A Billboard obituary reported that "Sumler spent more than three decades with Kool & The Gang and was known for being the group’s energetic hype man during live shows."
“He always wanted to see other people succeed in the business that he’d been around most of all of his life,” Adrian Meeks of Song Source Music Group told Fox 5. “He was the bridge, you know, for inspiring artists and songwriters and producers and musicians to the legends.”
Mableton’s Mayor Michael Owens also released a statement on Facebook in the wake of Sumler’s death. “We are saddened by the death of musician Michael Sumler,” he wrote. “‘Chicago Mike’ contributed so much to the music and entertainment communities. His style and energy added flare and excitement to Kool and the Gang for decades. The city of Mableton, council members and I join his family, friends and fans in mourning his loss.”
Kool & The Gang has won two Grammys and seven American Music Awards and registered 31 gold and platinum albums to date. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2024.
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