Sonny Burgess, Rockabilly Wild Man
Sonny Burgess 1929-2017 He played frantic, jangling guitar One of the most electrifying stars In the Sun Records galaxy in Memphis He fell, met mortality and left us He played lead with full-tilt loco Growled and shrieked a manic vocal Though crowds went crazy as he tore it apart He and The Pacers never made […]
Marian C. Diamond
Marian C. Diamond 1926-2017 Acetylcholinesterase. It’s good to have a lot if you are wending through a maze as a rat (or not – I go down dead-end lanes though I’ve been that way before That enzyme of the brain? I could use a little more) Acetylcholinesterase. It’s fortunate we got it Without it we […]
Dr. Ruth Pfau
Dr. Ruth Pfau 1929-2017 I’m a pretty thoughtful guy Let me give you an example Recently a friend baked a pie And offered me a sample The taste was gray and ghastly Pathetic and pernicious “How is it?” he asked me I said it was delicious My integrity suffered I now labor […]
Glen Campbell
Glen Campbell 1936-2017 He said the secret is clear for an unhappy life: About every three years find a new wife Say “I do” to your honey and as she repeats it Say adieu to your money, ‘cause she gonna keep it As foolish at romance as he was adept with frets He got […]
June Foray
June Foray 1917-2017 “The First Lady of Animated Voicing” So termed by the entertainment world A life fading but Death rejoicing To have the company of Rocket J. Squirrel (Rocky Squirrel predates Rocky Raccoon But in my mind they are close cousins With Gideon and Bullwinkle they got a room where there’s […]
Bill Collings
Bill Collings 1948-2017 Warm, crystalline tone, projection we’re talkin’ Bill Collings guitars “I could never reach perfection” and God could improve upon stars His dedication to function and form dictated their elegant construction Paul Simon could soothe, Keith Richards could storm and Hendrix would’ve fucked ’em They all have stories of how they found ’em […]
Margaret Bergmann Lambert 1914-2017
Margaret Bergmann Lambert 1914-2017 She was a Jew who could jump She would have won the gold at Berlin But the twentieth century’s Donald Trump Laid a trap and lured her in A movement arose to boycott the games Unless Germany showed it was unbiased A fake competition – Bergmann came And of course she […]
Martin Landau
Martin Landau 1928-2017 Johnny Depp was Ed Wood in all his neurosis But yet it was understood the film was Lugosi’s Martin Landau got a break with the part Past failures palled and got a stake in the heart He won an Oscar, should have had more Like for the Doctor who killed his paramour […]