A lot of people with names I grew up with - listening to and learning from - have left this mortal coil to start the New Year:
Natalie Cole.
Maurice White.
Dan Hicks.
Paul Kantner.
Lemmy Kilmister.
David Bowie.
Mic Gillette (Tower of Power).
Glenn Frey.
Signe Anderson (Jefferson Airplane's original lead voice).
One of the common cliche's we hear about when dealing with notable deaths, is the "rule of threes". They always seemed to come in threes. Perhaps now that the Woodstock generation is entering its elder stage, we should alter the rule of threes by a factor of...three? Nine deaths are listed above, and I'm sure it's a non-conclusive list.
I'm a solid Gen-Xer, having been conceived during the "Summer of Love" and born in April of the next year, and yet while I'm well aware of the passage of time and the inevitability of mortality...
It's still a stretch to believe that these people, whose music I grew up listening to, are no longer around to even discuss it, let alone create more for future generations to enjoy. It motivates me (and I hope, those of you reading this) to take another listen to the veteran performers still alive as of this writing.
Because neither you, nor I, nor they, know how much longer they've got.
