HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOU REED - R.I.P. CLAYTON LOVE

By Beatle Bob-

Happy birthday Lou Reed!

The man who revolutionized rock & roll: Lou Reed turns 68 today!

Especially when he was a member of the avant-Gard rock & roll band The Velvet Underground, reed broke new ground for the rock genre in several important dimensions, introducing more mature and intellectual themes into what was considered a largely simplistic genre of music.

Although the Velvet Undergound's music never became a big commercial sell, Lou Reed set the seeds for the growth of underground and alternative music scene from which they sprang.

As a guitarist, he made innovative use of abrasive distortion, volume driven feedback, and nonstandard tunings.

Reed's flat, New York voice, stripped of superficial emotions, and like Bob Dylan's, flaunting it's lack of conventional training, was no less important to the music's radical effect.

To hear one of Lou Reed's alltime classic songs performed live, hit this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foMNiug0WGc

R.I.P CLAYTON LOVE:

One of the greatest unsung heroes of blue & R&B piano players has passed away.

St. Louis' Clayton Love had died at the age of 82.

Mr. Love performed on some of the greatest blues & R&B records of the 50's and 60's and was a full time member at one time of the legendary Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm.

Blues pianist and singer Clayton Love dies

BY KEVIN C. JOHNSON, POST-DISPATCH POP MUSIC CRITIC-

Clayton Love, a St. Louis blues pianist and singer who played in Ike Turner's band before moving on to a solo career, died Sunday (Feb. 28, 2010) at a local
hospice.

He was 82.

Mr. Love had been ill in recent years with arthritis and dementia.

His grandson Hakeem Love, also known as rapper Hakeem Tha Dream, says Mr. Love had a stroke on Thanksgiving, followed by a heart attack on Christmas.

He had been in and out of the hospital before going into hospice care.

Mr. Love was born in 1927 in Mattson, Miss., and grew up in Clarksdale, Miss.

After a stint in the Navy during World War II, he attended Alcorn A&M, now Alcorn State University, in Mississippi.

He graduated in 1949.

His recording career began with his band, the Shufflers, which recorded for Trumpet Records, based in Jackson, Miss., in 1951.

His recordings included "Susie" and "Shufflin' With Love."

He moved to St. Louis in the 1950s.

In the mid-'50s, Mr. Love was a member of Turner's legendary Kings of Rhythm band and was showcased on songs such as "The Big Question," "Do You Mean It" and "She Made My Blood Run Cold."

By 1958, he branched out to record his own singles for the St. Louis-based Bobbin Records, with songs such as "Limited Love"/ "Unlimited Love."

Mr. Love received a master's degree in 1972 from the St. Louis University and taught general education at several elementary schools in the St. Louis Public Schools, including Bryan Hill and Jefferson.

He also was an administrator at Vashon High School.

Blues musician Tom "Papa" Ray called Mr. Love "a foundation R&B figure for St. Louis.

He had a wonderful way at the piano, and his vocals were always convincing and heartfelt."

John May, president of the St. Louis Blues Society, called Mr. Love's singing a cross between Ray Charles and Jackie Wilson, and said his style was as suave as
his name implied.

He "captured lovers on the verge of asking the big question with 'The Big Question,'" May said.

"His collaborations with Ike Turner generated several
soulful St. Louis rhythm and blues hits."

Hakeem Love says his grandfather never fully got his due as a musician.

"He didn't get as much love as say an Oliver Sain. ...
I felt his name could've been recognized in different areas more."

The wake will be held from 9 to 11 a.m. Friday at St. Peters AME Church, followed immediately by the funeral service.

Among the survivors are his wife, Joyce Love of St. Louis; a son, Greyling Love of Atlanta; four daughters, Cheryl Love, Joann Johnson, Gail Love and Mia Love, all of St. Louis; a sister, Mildred Chavers of Clarksdale; and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

A son, Kenneth Love, and a daughter, Kathy Jones, died earlier.