OBITUARIES:
Neal Casal 1968 - 2019
Daniel Johnston 1961 - 2019
Ric Ocasek 1944 - 2019

More sad losses within the rock and roll universe over the last couple of weeks as we bow down and wish a fond farewell to three huge No Static At All faves in the forms of legendary Cars frontman Ric Ocasek, cult alt-rock singer/songwriter Daniel Johnston and the Americana/folk rock polymath Neal Casal. All three revered gents have been mainstays of my record collection over the last few decades and will be sorely missed. 

Ocasek - who has died of heart failure at the age of 75 - was possibly the least likely looking rock star in all of recorded music history. Ridiculously tall, beanpole thin and very rarely seen without his trademark dark glasses, he was about as far removed from a mega-selling frontman as it's possible to imagine. However, during their imperial phase of the late 70's and early 80's, his band The Cars were as big as bands get in America. Their self-titled debut album flew off the shelves and stayed in the upper reaches of the Billboard chart for nigh on three years. Bursting with gloriously life-affirming power-pop and 50's inspired rock and roll - best exemplified by the peerless My Best Friend's Girl - the album struck a chord with American youth who hadn't quite got to grips with the whole punk rock thing, as well as their parents who recognised the Beatles influenced pop smarts throughout Ocasek's songwriting. More classic albums followed and hit singles were plentiful: Just What I Needed, Since You're Gone, Shake It Up, You Might Think. The band were at the vanguard of the US new wave explosion of the early 80's with a sound that embraced angular art-rock, AOR balladry and driving rock/pop that eventually mellowed into bombastic power ballad territory in the mid-80s when they finally broke into the UK mainstream with their gargantuan hit Drive. By this time, tensions were running high between Ocasek and the band's other principal songwriter Ben Orr. Ocasek left the band in 1987 and after a middling couple of solo albums, threw himself into production helming albums by bands who were heavily influenced by that classic Cars sound: Weezer, No Doubt, Nada Surf, Hole and The Cribs. There was a short-lived Cars reunion in 2010 but Ocasek was more happy behind the mixing desk and living a quiet life with his wife and sons. 

Daniel Johnston - who has left us at the far too young age of 58 - was a real anomaly in that crazy alternative rock explosion of the early 90's. Feted by many of the big grunge era bands - famously, Kurt Cobain wore a Johnston t-shirt pretty much solidly throughout the 'Nevermind' treadmill of 1991 - their patronage of his abilities got him signed by Atlantic Records who released one album before realising that they were unable to carry on working with him. Perhaps if they had taken enough time to investigate Johnston's history then they would have left him alone. Johnston was a bi-polar manic depressive - before such mental illnesses were that well known - and he had struggled throughout his life to come to terms with his issues, as well as his schizophrenia that had been diagnosed in the early 90's.

 He had spent a fair amount of time in mental institutions and had spent most of his life outside hospitals squirreled away in the basement of his parent's home, recording countless cassette tapes of his lo-fi love songs and vignettes on life and death. Armed with nothing more than a cheap, out of tune keyboard and a beaten up acoustic guitar, this astonishing hoard of tunes would be given away by Johnston in their hundreds at gigs and record shops throughout his home town of Austin, Texas. Embracing ramshackle folk, woozy alt-rock and a spare, haunted strain of Americana, Johnston's songs eventually reached the ears of the great and good of the burgeoning underground US rock scene that was just about to tip over into the mainstream. Johnston regularly appeared with some of these artists as a tour support but found the idea of playing live increasingly difficult - on one occasion in Australia, he fled the stage after three songs, apologising profusely but leaving the assembled audience in tears because of the beauty of the songs he did play. Johnston carried on writing and releasing songs by himself for many years after, seemingly not that bothered about any form of financial gain. He had also spent many years drawing and painting, showing his work in exhibitions across America and publishing comics as well. In the mid noughties, his story was told - brilliantly but heartbreakingly - in the excellent documentary 'The Devil And Daniel Johnston', and there was also a fantastic tribute album released with artists such as Tom Waits, Beck, Wilco, Eels, Mercury Rev and The Flaming Lips covering his songs and bringing in some much needed monetary assistance. In recent years he had been dogged with physical ill health which, along with his previously diagnosed issues, had stopped him from travelling and touring. He had continued to live at his parent's old house and leaves a brother, Dick, who had spent his whole adult life taking care of Daniel's affairs. Daniel Johnston's life wasn't a happy one but, with the legacy of songs that he left us with - such as the truly heart-wrenching True Love Will Find You In The End - it was one filled with a unique talent that will be very much missed. 

Finally in this little tribute to fallen heroes we say goodbye to Neal Casal who has tragically taken his own life at the age of 50. Born in New Jersey, Casal followed his muse down to California where - after a few years as a session guitarist - he recorded a bunch of well-received Americana albums under his own name, including the excellent 1998 opus 'Basement Dreams'. After a couple more solo records, Casal formed the short-lived band Hazey Malaze before retiring the band to join Ryan Adams in his latest venture The Cardinals. Appointed as lead guitarist and co-songwriter, Casal appeared on 5 albums with Adams before leaving to pursue other projects.

Those projects included putting together three other bands - GospelBeach, Hard Working Americans and The Skiffle Players - as well as collaborating with artists as varied as Lucinda Williams, James Iha, Willie Nelson, Mark Olson, Vetiver and Minnie Driver. In recent years, Casal had hooked up with former Black Crowes nabob Chris Robinson and had become an integral part of Robinson's Grateful Dead inspired groovesters The CR Brotherhood. He had also formed another psych-rock infused instrumental jam band called Circles Around The Sun. Throughout all of this stellar work, Casal's laid-back guitar playing and easy on the ear vocal delivery were both full of a relaxed charm and were a joy to listen to and to watch live. He had been touring solidly this summer with The Brotherhood before returning home for a short break before the tour's resumption. A really talented guy and a life gone too soon.

Here's a clip of the surviving members of The Cars - minus Ben Orr who died in 2000 - performing the utterly splendid Just What I Needed at their Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony last year. This may very well be Ric Ocasek's final live performance.

Recent clips of Daniel Johnston performing make for a heartbreaking watch - and this one is no exception. However, the spine-tingling beauty of this song makes it almost impossible not to post here as an accompanying video to the above obituary. He truly was a complete one of a kind artist.

Finally, here's a three year old clip of Chris Robinson and His Brotherhood - featuring the late Neal Casal on fabulous lead guitar - absolutely OWNING Bob Dylan's It's All Over Now Baby Blue. Just wonderful.