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Buddy Miles, the drummer in Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsys and a hitmaker under his own name with the song “Them Changes,” died on at his home in Austin, Tex. He was 60.

Mr. Miles suffered from congestive heat failure, his publicist, Duane Lee, said, according to Reuters. Lee said he did not know the official cause of death.

A partial list of the musicians Buddy Miles performed with include: Jimi Hendrix, Wilson Pickett, The Buddy Miles Express, John McLaughlin, Billy Cox, Mitch Mitchell, Michael Bloomfield, Carlos Santana, Herbie Rich, Jim McCarty, Andre Lewis, Stemsy Hunter, Bob Hogins, Marcus Doubleday, Noel Redding, Charlie Karp, Johnny Winter, Larry Young, Al Kooper, Toby Wynn, Roland Robinson, Robert Musso, Eddie Hoh, Randy Jo Hobbs, California Raisins, Electric Flag, Hardware, Band of Gypsies, Jimi Hendrix Experience, Express. Bruce Cameron, Funkadelic, Three Man Army, and Greg Allman.

Read more about Buddy Miles on Wikipedia.

Andy Ebon
CEO of Soul

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The following obituary was printed in the Santa Cruz Sentinel last Thursday under “Remembrances”. This was provided by Annie Van Brunt, Bruce’s longtime partner and companion.
Bruce Marshall Steinberg completed his extraordinary life early December 30th in Santa Cruz, California after a brief illness. He was 64. (pictured left: Al Carlos Hernandez, Skip Mesquite & Bruce Steinberg)

Bruce was born May 17, 1943 in Queens, New York to Emily Cowan and Arthur Steinberg. Bruce began acting at a young age using the name Bruce Marshall, performing as a regular on NBC’s the Children’s Hour on of the earliest children’s shows on television, produced by Horn & Hardart (the Automat). He also recorded for Disney, costarred in the short lived television series “Jamie” with Brandon DeWilde and performed in theater with actors such as Burgess Meredeth. Concurrently, Bruce was a dedicated ham radio operator and, by the age of twelve, had his own call sign: N6LZ.

Bruce attended the School for Performing Arts eventually transferring to Stuyvesant High School to pursue his love of science and engineering. Bruce entered Cornell University’s Engineering program at the age of 16. He excelled academically but was equally proud of being on the varsity rowing team.

After receiving his B.E.E. degree, he went directly to Cape Kennedy and the Apollo One program where he worked as a PCM Telemetry Field Engineer. Intrigued by the emerging music scene in San Francisco, he moved to California in the summer of 1966 and worked as a Quality Assurance Engineer for the Mariner Mars Program at Berkeley’s Space Science Lab before leaving the engineering field to document the San Francisco Bay Area rock and roll and funk scene.

Bruce shot a series of photos of Janis Joplin, catching her enigmatic personality so well, that Warner signed him on as one of their photographers and album cover designers. His impressive list of rock, funk and jazz album credits include Tower of Power, Azteca, Santana, It’s a Beautiful Day, Doobie Brothers, Jefferson Starship, Link Wray, The Pointer Sisters, John Lee Hooker, Lee Ritenour, Eddie Henderson and countless other groups and performers from the 1960s, 70s and beyond. An accomplished blues harp player, Bruce would occasionally sit in with the bands and even recorded with It’s A Beautiful Day and also drummer James Levi and bassist Paul Jackson.

In the late 1960s he also shot a breathtaking series of photos of the Bay Bridge workers, fearlessly accompanying them on the high cable lines to get the best possible shots.

In 1983 Bruce moved to Santa Cruz and worked for ten years with Santa Cruz Operations (SCO) as the Vice President of Marketing and Communications. After leaving SCO, he worked as a marketing consultant and writer, continuing to take photographs of everything along the way.

Due to increased public interest and a desire to return to his most satisfying work, Bruce began to show his photography again, leading to representation by the San Francisco Art Exchange and Rush Creek Editions. He also developed and recently launched his own website, where his work can also be viewed.

Bruce was an inveterate traveler. He made enduring friendships through his travels as well as virtually through Internet connections and discussion forums covering a myriad of topics. He was a brilliant artist, extraordinary photographer, and a talented, intelligent writer. However, his greatest joy was as a devoted father, grandfather and friend.

Bruce is survived by his children, Cheyenne Young and Jenny Roth, their spouses and his beloved granddaughter Teagan. He is also survived by his long time partner and companion Annie Van Brunt, his co-parent Adrienne Young, and close friend Patricia Rain. His memory is kept alive through the love and admiration of his numerous friends around the world. A celebration of his life will be held in early February.

Donations to help cover unforeseen cost are greatly appreciated. Please make checks payable to the Bruce M. Steinberg Memorial Fund c/o J. Roth 4360 Diamond Street #2 Capitola, Ca. 95010.

Technorati Tags: Bruce Steinberg, Doobie Brothers, Jefferson Starship, John Lee Hooker, Pointer Sisters, Santana, Tower of Power

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Last night, I witnessed something special; a funeral service with barely a hint of sadness. The crowd paying tribute to ‘Sweet Louie’ was standing room only at the Palms Mortuary, 6pm on Saturday. Jessica and I had been concerned that the scheduling might limit the attendance since so many who would want to attend are musicians and entertainers.

We couldn’t have been more wrong. There wasn’t an empty seat. People were standing on the room, perimeter, and spilled out into the hallway.

When we arrived, there was a long line into auditorium. We signed the guest book, and were greeted at the door by Sonny Charles, Louie’s childhood friend, and singing partner in The Checkmates. With grace and appreciation Sonny welcomed and thanked every person as they entered.

Sonny’s remarks about Louie, and their lifetime together, were both warm and filled with humor. From the podium, he looked out at the room, bursting at the seams, and quipped, “Sweet Louie would have appreciated this turnout. He always liked a full house. In fact, if he had known so many people loved him, he would have borrowed more money from you.”

Sonny shared history and stories, all with a twinkle in his eye. Then he introduced Louie’s daughter, Tiffany. On the verge of tears, more than once, Tiffany was joined on stage, by her husband. His arm around her shoulder provided the warmth and strength for Tiffany to gather herself and express her love and appreciation for her dad, and the support of everyone in the room.

Longtime friend of The Checkmates, Bill Cosby, provided a 2-minute video tribute to “Sweet Louie.”

What came next was a great video highlight reel. Much of the performance clips can be seen on The Checkmates website; however, it also included some classic moments. One particular scene showed Sonny & Louie on a local TV cooking show. As was typically the case, Louie was hamming it up, and Sonny was trying to keep a straight face, and stay out of trouble. Louie was riffing about the family history of this particular dish, and last night, Sonny let us all know, he had “no idea what we were doing up there.”

Louie loved to tell jokes, often repeating the same jokes, and just as often laughing louder than the people was telling jokes to. That was part of his charm and personality.

In the brief moments we spoke with Sonny, it was immediately apparent that he would continue to perform. That’s a great thing. Although Sweet Louie won’t be at his side, and will be missed, Louie will never be forgotten. His positivity put a smile on the face of everyone he touched. You could feel it in every corner of the room, last night.

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Marvin “Sweet Louie” Smith (pictured right, in his trademark sunglasses) of the rhythm-and-blues duo, The Checkmates, passed away Saturday. “Sweet Louie” was 68.

The Indiana-born Smith, was partnered in music with his friend, Sonny Charles, since childhood. The Checkmates exploded onto the Las Vegas scene in 1964, performing at the Pussycat A Go Go. The group performed in many venues over 4+ decades, including The Sands, Caesars Palace, The Sahara, and others.

Their greatest recording success, Black Pearl, was a Top 10 hit in 1969, produced by Phil Spector.

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On a personal note: I had first seen and heard The Checkmates in the mid-70’s, during the Golden Age of Las Vegas lounges. My girl friend, Jessica, introduced me to “Sweet Lou” and Sonny, just last year. Sadly and ironically, our introduction had occurred at her dad’s funeral celebration.

When Jessica was still in high school, her dad, Irv Kluger, would give “Sweet Lou” drum lessons, helping him polish this reading skills.

After completing a stint with the Los Angeles cast of hair (right out of high school), Jessica toured the country, singing backup with The Checkmates. She fondly credits them with teaching her the finer points of stagecraft. performance, and introducing her to sweet potato pie.

Rest well, good friend.

Technorati Tags: Checkmates Ltd., Sonny Charles, Sweet Louie Smith

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