Sad News...

Aw. Rest in Peace Duck...

Legendary bass player 'Duck' Dunn dies in Tokyo

NEW YORK (AP) - Donald "Duck" Dunn, the bassist who helped create the gritty Memphis soul sound at Stax Records in the 1960s as part of the legendary group Booker T. and the MGs and contributed to such classics as "In the Midnight Hour," ''Hold On, I'm Coming" and "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay," died Sunday at 70.

Dunn, whose legacy as one of the most respected session musicians in the business also included work with John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd's Blues Brothers as well as with Levon Helm, Eric Clapton, Neil Young and Bob Dylan, died while on tour in Tokyo.

When you look at the musicians assembled by John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd for "The Blues Brother", it's absolutely breathtaking just how many superstars were in that movie:

James Brown, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles, and Aretha Franklin cast in speaking parts in addition to John Lee Hooker, Big Walter Horton, and Pinetop Perkins (who performed "Boom Boom" on Maxwell Street scene), the members of The Blues Brothers band are notable for their musical accomplishments as well. Steve Cropper and Donald Dunn are architects of the Stax Records sound (Cropper's guitar can be heard at the start of the Sam & Dave song "Soul Man") and were half of Booker T. & the M.G.'s. Horn players Lou Marini, Tom Malone, and Alan Rubin had all played in Blood, Sweat & Tears and the Saturday Night Live band. Drummer Willie Hall had played in The Bar-Kays and backed Isaac Hayes. Matt Murphy is a veteran blues guitarist. As the band developed at Saturday Night Live, pianist Paul Shaffer was part of the act and was cast in the film. However, due to contractual obligations with SNL, he was unable to participate. So actor-musician Murphy Dunne (whose father, George Dunne, was the Cook County Board President) was hired to take his role.

Requiem en pace, Duck.

That is all.

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(image courtesy of Robb Allen)