Gospel/soul legend Roebuck “Pops” Staples, patriarch of the legendary family group the Staple Singers, died December 19 at age 84 while recovering from a concussion sustained in a fall. The Staples had #1 hits in the early-mid 1970s with “I’ll Take You There” (on Stax Records) and “Let’s Do It Again” (on Curtis Mayfield’s Curtom label). Many of their best-known songs carried the torch of social consciousness inspired by their acquaintance with Martin Luther King Jr. Pops released two solo albums in the 1990s on PointBlank….
Guitarist Robert Buck of folk-pop band 10,000 Maniacs died December 19 of liver failure at age 42. Buck was a founding member of the Jamestown, New York, group and co-wrote (with singer Natalie Merchant) many of the group’s best-known songs, including “These Are Days”, “Hey Jack Kerouac” and “Lilydale”….
Soul singer James Carr died January 14 of cancer at age 58. Carr was perhaps best-known for his definitive recording of the oft-covered Dan Penn/Chips Moman classic “Dark End Of The Street”.
