McCartney Times

I remember when my parents reached an age when their friends started dying. What a stark and sad shot of reality it was for them.Eventually, they reached an age when almost all of their friends were gone. Then it started happening to me. By the time I was 45, two of my three closest childhood-and-lifelong friends had died.Death is a fact of life, and considering that someone who is someone’s loved one dies every day, it’s almost insulting to act like any particular time period is unusual in the number of significant deaths.But just as people reach a point at which their friends pass away, so do generations, and this past year has seen the passing of an awful lot of musical luminaries important to the Baby Boom generation.It started with David Bowie, a visionary artist who managed to obliterate categories and traditional roles, including masculine/feminine, hard/soft, art/entertainment, radical/traditional and more. He was a true star and a hero to outcasts and misfits. Bowie’s death was followed soon by that of Glenn Frey, founding member of The Eagles. Their greatest hits album is the biggest selling of all time, and their style of country rock had as much influence on the direction of country as it did rock.In February, Maurice White passed. He was the founder, songwriter and producer of Earth, Wind & Fire, who also played with or produced Etta James, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Barbra Streisand, Stevie Wonder and more.

Source: For Leonard, and so many others | Ron Colone | santamariatimes.com