Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

Another day, another tragic passing.


Charlotte Lesher(1927-2007)
Mother of Joey Ramone and all around awesome lady

Charlotte Lesher(Ramone)was a fantastic human being. Besides the obvious reverence she is due for being Mrs. Lesher, she should also recieve credit for her amazing charity work. She created The Joey Ramone Foundation for Lymphoma Research and also create several charity events like the successful Joey Ramone Birthday Bashes as a way to drum up support and cash. Not that anybody reads this but if they would like to donate to this awesome cause they can contact the center here:

Joey Ramone Foundation for Lymphoma Research
P.O. Box 1107
Cooper Station, NY, NY 10276

She made us a smile, so lets return the favor.

Fallen Angel

Sadly I have another passing to report.


"Sneaky" Pete Kleinow(1934-2007)
Steel Guitarist for The Flying Burrito Brothers

I don't know why there was not national mourning about this. "Sneaky" Pete is most famous for his tenure in the amazing Flying Burrito Brothers. The group was founded in 1968 by Gram Parsons(The Byrds, International Submarine Band), Chris Hillman(of The Byrds), bassist Chris Ethridge(International Submarine Band) and an animator turned steel guitarist Pete Kleinow. The band's debut album, "The Gilded Palaces Of Sin", provided the blue print for every alt-country band that was to follow. Wilco, Uncle Tupelo, Old 97's and many more would not exist without this record. After recording the third Burrito Brothers album in 1971, without Gram Parsons who had bailed to start a solo career in 1970, the band split up. "Sneaky" Pete than devoted himself to session work in which he worked with some of the most successful musical acts of the 70's including: Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, Jackson Browne, Stevie Wonder, John Lennon, and many more. After a four year hiatus the Flying Burrito Brothers were reformed with Klienow as the only original member. This new line up of the band would record four more albums before splitting up in 1981.

Before becoming a professional musician Kleinow worked as a special effects artist and animator for programs like Gumby and Outer Limits. After the Burrito Brothers final break up Kleinow went back to work in special effects and stop motion animation. He worked on several big budget projects like: Terminator 1 and 2, Robocop 2, Empire Strikes Back and cult classic Army Of Darkness. He also won an Emmy for his work on the mini series, Winds Of War in 1983.

Kleinow finally lost his long battle with Alzheimer's disease at his home in California at the age of 73.

"Hour Of Darkness"

During this year I am going to be listing the valuable musicians we have lost. Here is sadly the first one to be mentioned


Brent Liles(1963-2007)
Bassist for Social Distortion/Agent Orange

Brent is most famous for being the bass player for California punk legends Social Disotrtion. During his tenure in Social D, he appeared on some of the band's most hearlded moments including their debut, Mommy's Little Monster, and the killer documentary film "Another State Of Mind". He stepped into the band right after the Agnew brothers(Rikk and Frank) and Casey Royer split on singer Mike Ness to start my favorite Fulerton hardcore band, The Adolescents. Brent left Social D on New Year's Eve of 1984. Right after Brent's departure Social D's leader Mike Ness went head long into a heroin addiction which would split up the band for two years. He would later step in and take over the bass in Agent Orange with former Social D member and friend Derek O'Brein on drums.

Brent was sadly killed when he was struck by a car while he was riding his motorcycle. He was 43 years old.