He's responsible for the deliciously relaxed and understated guitar work you remember from Rainy Night in Georgia and the driving chukka chukka whipsnap that propelled Aretha Franklin's Rock Steady, as well as her version of Spanish Harlem. And he's lent his masterful musical sense to many, many other tunes from artists as diverse as Ringo Starr, Archie Shepp, Joe Cocker, Miles Davis and Paul Simon. Guitarist Cornell Dupree has died at age 68. Primarily a studio musician, Dupree was more often heard than seen, but you can catch some glimpses of his Southern-fried six-string artistry on this live version of King Curtis' Memphis Soul Stew.
posted by flapjax at midnite on May 9, 2012 - 23 comments

R.I.P. Herbert Maurice William 'Bert' Weedon, OBE
posted by unSane on Apr 20, 2012 - 13 comments

Folk guitar legend Bert Jansch has passed away aged 67. [more inside]
posted by motty on Oct 5, 2011 - 47 comments

Enrique Morente, a controversial, influential giant among flamenco singer-songwriters, died today in the Madrid clinic La Luz, where he had been in an induced coma for the last several days. He was said to have been suffering from stomach cancer, and last week had entered the hospital for surgical intervention for hemorrhaging. [more inside]
posted by toodleydoodley on Dec 13, 2010 - 4 comments

She's been called "the greatest posthumous success story in music history." But when she died of melanoma at age 33, few people outside of the Washington DC-area had heard of Eva Marie Cassidy. [more inside]
posted by zarq on Jun 17, 2010 - 62 comments

Les Paul, musician, pioneer of multitrack recording, and creator of one of the most successful and recognizable guitars in history, passed at the age of 94. [more inside]
posted by mrg on Aug 13, 2009 - 169 comments