Arif Mardin (1932-2006)

June 27, 2006 1:45 PM

Arif Mardinpassed away Sunday. Yes, the first is a NYTimes link, but here's an obit from the Independent newspaper, and here's a BBC obit as well. It would be unseemly not to note the passing of the arranger or producer (or both, or co- ) behind the Art Farmer Quartet's Live at the Half-Note, Sonny Stitt's Stitt Plays Bird, Max Roach's Drums Unlimited, the Rascals' "Good Lovin'" and "Groovin'," Aretha Franklin's I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You and Aretha Now, Dusty Springfield's Dusty in Memphis, Donny Hathaway's Extension of a Man, the Stones' Black and Blue, Chaka Khan's first several solo albums, and hundreds of others all the way down to Norah Jones ... a list almost too long to compile. NPR interview here, lengthier article from Sound on Sound here, his discogs.com list here.
posted by blucevalo (11 comments total)

. for the 'Retha material alone.
posted by adamgreenfield at 1:52 PM on June 27, 2006

He was a titan and a linchpin of Atlantic's rise to glory in the 60s. Funny how the one of the greatest purveyors of African American music in the mid-20th century was run by three Turks, a self-described "athiest Jew," and a physicist with ties to the Manhattan Project.

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posted by joseph_elmhurst at 1:55 PM on June 27, 2006

serious .
posted by phaedon at 2:03 PM on June 27, 2006

Damn, sorry to hear that. Thanks for the post.
posted by languagehat at 2:10 PM on June 27, 2006

Deserves a lot of the credit (or blame, YMMV) for the Bee Gees late 70s comeback.

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posted by evilcolonel at 3:16 PM on June 27, 2006

A music legend, whether you've heard of him or not.
No need to apologize in your FPP, blucevalo.

posted by wendell at 3:20 PM on June 27, 2006

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posted by trip and a half at 3:44 PM on June 27, 2006

Arif had the golden ear. Another giant gone.
posted by rdone at 3:51 PM on June 27, 2006

That sort of range seems sort of unimaginable today. "Black and Blue" is contemporaneous with my intro to "real" rock and roll back in the 70's and I still have a soft spot for "Hand of Fate". A real loss, evidently.
posted by hwestiii at 3:51 PM on June 27, 2006

One more, from the Times of London.
posted by blucevalo at 4:00 PM on June 27, 2006

Arif wrote and conducted the string arrangement on Stephen Stills' song "To a Flame" on Stills' first solo album, with Ringo, credited only as "English Richie," on drums. Nice track.
posted by digaman at 7:11 AM on June 28, 2006