We’ve officially turned the page on 2020, but almost like an epilogue to a horror novel, there was one more name to add in the annals of artists lost in the painfully ugly year that is now hindsight.
Saxophonist Alto Reed, 72, died Wednesday of colon cancer.
Not a name everyone would recall, it was said by his friend Bob Seger of the Silver Bullet Band member, “I may have been the leader, but he was our rock star.”
With hopes of not minimizing the loss of 350,000 souls across the land, there were artists whose lives were sadly taken from us and yet remain in their recordings, immortal in song. We can appreciate their gifts at least for the rest of our lives. Alto Reed’s mournful wail was an early call for a young girl in Michigan to begin collecting vinyl.
Here’s a few other names whose memory catapulted me to a certain time and place: Neil Peart, Kenny Rogers, Bill Withers, Harold Reid (the baritone Statler Brother), Little Richard, Helen Reddy, Johnny Nash, Charley Pride, and of course Eddie Van Halen.
Hoping you can help me fill in the blanks with those who marked time with you, and raise a glass to the memories of those who shared their gifts with us, who framed the moments of our lives within their melodies.
Cheers, it’s 5:00 somewhere — over the Rainbow Bar and Grill.