Tony Hicks

Yes, it was just 4 days ago that we celebrated the birthday of Back Door drummer Tony Hicks. And we're back today to honor the 3rd anniversary of his passing.

Tony Hicks

8/8/48-8/12/06
l to r - Peter Thorup (guitar), Colin Hodgkinson (bass),
Ron Aspery 6/9/46-12/10/03 (sax, flute) Tony Hicks (drums),
Mark Wilson - also deceased (WB rep)

You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Tony Hicks and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Ron Aspery

Ever hear of Ron Aspery? Ever hear of a band called Back Door? I didn't think so.

I probably wouldn't have either had they not been the opening act for Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Back Door were a three-man jazz-sort-of-rock-fusion band that managed to blow 17,500 people away when they didn't even fill a quarter of the stage at the Coliseum in Vancouver. And Ron Aspery played a wicked saxophone and wasn't bad on the flute too.

Today is a celebration of Ron Aspery's 63rd birthday.

Ron Aspery

6/9/46-12/10/03

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any footage of Ron playing live but this is the next best thing. So, sit back and feast your ears on the saxophone of Back Door's Ron Aspery...

You can see more pictures and learn more about Ron Aspery and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

More Dead

I am continuing to work day and night on the book. Last night I finished up around midnight. Since it usually takes a half hour or so to unwind before I can fall asleep, I decided to take another look through a book of black and white negatives that I had previously checked and alphabetized. Sure enough I found two more musicians. Granted they are from more obscure bands, two bands I had checked out before but somehow missed the information of their deaths.

Ron Aspery was part of the English band, Back Door. They recorded four albums with Warner Bros. and toured with Emerson, Lake and Palmer. He passed away on December 10, 2003 after a long illness.

Peter Bardens, also a Brit, is best known for his progressive rock band, Camel. However, his influence on the rock'n'roll world goes much deeper. More on that in the book. He died of lung cancer on January 22, 2002.

I'm still searching for my Muddy Waters and Canned Heat photos, so who knows what else I may find.

Back to work.