[Mb-civic] CBC Arts - LONG JOHN BALDRY DIES IN VANCOUVER

[CBC Arts]

This email has been sent to you by harry.sifton at sympatico.ca
The following is a news item posted on CBC ARTS
at http://www.cbc.ca/arts
____________________________________________________
LONG JOHN BALDRY DIES IN VANCOUVER
WebPosted Fri Jul 22 13:03:52 2005

---Blues legend Long John Baldry has died at age 64 after a four-month
battle with a severe chest infection.

Baldry's agent posted an announcement on the musician's website that
Baldry had passed away Thursday night in Vancouver, where he had
been living.

"Our world is a lesser place without him, for John was a person that
enhanced this world with his enormous presence and talent," said the
statement posted on the website.

The musician was admitted to the intensive care unit of a Vancouver
hospital in April after returning from a trip to his native Britain.

Baldry was nicknamed "Long John" because of his height – six foot
seven –and had been living in Canada for the past 25 years.

The bluesman named Leadbelly, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry as
his musical influences.

Baldry, born in London in 1941, is recognized as one of the chief
influences in British blues and rock music in the 1960s. His seminal 1962
album, R&B From The Marquee is considered the first British blues album.
Baldry hit the top of the singles charts there in 1967 with Let the
Heartaches Begin. He also performed in the Beatles' first worldwide
television special in April 1964.

During the last half of the 1960s, he led a band called Bluesology that
included Reginald Dwight, who went on to become Elton John. His other
bands included Blues Inc., Cyril Davis and the All Stars and the Hoochie
Coochie Men.

Baldry has released more than 40 albums, performing with a string of
other famous musicians including Rod Stewart, Jimmy Page and Mick Jagger.
The Rolling Stones opened for Baldry in London in the early 1960s before
the Stones hit it big.

Stewart considered Baldry a mentor and was at his bedside when he was
admitted to hospital in March.

In 1979, he teamed up with Seattle singer Kathi MacDonald to record a
very successful version of You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' .

After spending time in New York City and Los Angeles in the late '70s,
Baldry chose to settle permanently in Vancouver, B.C. and became a
Canadian citizen in 1980.

Copyright (C) 2005 CBC. All rights reserved.