As the music of the 70s get older, those that created and performed the music are older. And each year we lost more.
A listing of some of the music figures of the 70s who died in 2018:
Ray Thomas — January 4 — The Moody Blues at the age of 76.
Edwin Hawkins – January 15 – Edwin Hawkins, 1970 “Oh Happy Day” at the age of 74.
Jim Rodford — January 20 — Bass player with Argent, The Kinks and The Zombies at the age of 76.
Dennis Edwards — February 1 — Singer, The Temptations at the age of 75.
Mickey Jones — February 7 — Drummer with Kenny Rogers and The First Edition at the age of 76.
Craig MacGregor — February 9 — Bass player for Foghat at the age of 68.
Mike Harrison — March 25 — Lead singer with Spooky Tooth at the age of 72.
Yvonne Staples — April 10 — The Staple Singers at the age at age of 80.
Bob Dorough – April 23, 2018 – musical keystone of Schoolhouse Rock! at the age of 94.
Charles Neville — April 26 — The Neville Brothers at the age of 79.
John “Jabo” Starks — May 1 — Drummer who played with James Brown at the age of 79.
Danny Kirwan — June 8 — An Early member of Fleetwood Mac, 1968 to 1972, at the age of 68.
Alan Longmuir — July 2 — bassist was a founding member of The Bay City Rollers at the age of 70.
Aretha Franklin — August 16 — “The Queen of Soul,” at the age of 76.
Ed Willis — August 20 — Guitarist with Motown’s Funk Brothers at the age of 82.
Ed King — August 22 — Lynyrd Skynyrd at the age of 68.
Maartin Allcock — September 16 — Jethro Tull at the age of 61.
Marty Balin — September 27 — co-founder and co-lead singer of Jefferson Airplane, at the age of 76.
Tony Joe White — October 24 — singer/songwriter “Polk Salad Annie” and “Rainy Night in Georgia.” at the age of 75.
Wah Wah Watson — October 24 — guitarist Motown’s The Funk Brothers at the age of 67.
Hugh McDowell — November 6 — cello player with Electric Light Orchestra at the age of 65.
Roy Clark — November 15 — Country Music and co-host of TV’s Hee Haw at the age of 85.
Joe Osborn — December 14 — member of the Los Angeles session outfit The Wrecking Crew at the age of 81.
Norman Gimbel — December 19 — lyricist who co-wrote such hits as Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly with His Song,” Jim Croce’s “I Got a Name” and Astrud Gilberto’s “The Girl from Ipanema.” and TV shows themes, Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley at the age of 91.
Ray Sawyer — December 31 — Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show at the age of 81.