Indeed, that’s what I thought as well.
I must confess I am not familiar with Survivor’s music, but Paul’s tribute is
deeply moving.
Cheers,
Nathan
Nathan Wajsman
Alicante, Spain
http://www.frozenlight.eu
http://www.greatpix.eu
PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws
Blog: http://nathansmusings.wordpress.com/
Cycling: http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/belgiangator
YNWA
On 03 Sep 2014, at 19:18, Tina Manley <tmanley@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I am so sorry about your friend, but that is the best tribute and memory
> you could have.
>
> Tina
>
>
> On Wed, Sep 3, 2014 at 1:11 PM, Paul Braun <pbraun42@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>> I may have posted this photo at some time last year - I don't remember.
>>
>> But the events of the past two days says that I need to share it again.
>>
>> I'm sure some of you are familiar with the rock group Survivor and are
>> aware of my connections with its history and members.
>>
>> They had two lead singers (well, two that counted anyway) - original guy
>> Dave Bickler and his replacement, Jimi Jamison. Jimi's always been one of
>> my favorite vocalists, and a number of years ago I was fortunate enough to
>> be introduced to him. Meeting one of your heroes is fraught with risk -
>> what if they turn out to be unkind, unpleasant? That would tarnish the
>> enjoyment you get from their work.
>>
>> Fortunately, Jimi wasn't any of that. Because I was friends with Jim
>> Peterik, I was OK in Jimi's book. We hit it off right away, and in the
>> years to come, had many long coversations about music, life, family,
>> friendship.
>>
>> Last April, Sheri and I decided to take a short vacation in Tunica since
>> she got an offer to stay at one of the casinos for almost free, and it was
>> some place we hadn't been before. Conveniently, it's roughly a half-hour
>> from Memphis, so I emailed Jimi to see if he'd be in town by chance. He
>> was, and said he'd love to hang out for a while. I told him I wanted to see
>> *his* Memphis - I could see the tourist-guide Memphis any time. Jimi moved
>> to Memphis with his mother when he was less than a year old, so he'd spent
>> pretty much his entire life in Memphis. He had a friend help him plan the
>> day. She works at the FedEx headquarters in the pilot-training department,
>> so she had arranged for Jimi and I to fly the brand-new 777 simulator (I
>> did surprisingly well in "beginner mode"), and then we headed over to
>> Willie Mitchell's Royal Studio. Royal is one of the oldest
>> continuously-operating recording studios in the world, opening in 1956 in a
>> defunct movie theatre. It's where Al Green recorded almost all of his
>> albums. I shot a number of photos (I definitely want to go back
>> better-prepared - it's an amazing place with a history and vibe you can
>> just feel.) Two that really stand out for me involve Jimi, who was good
>> friends with one of the producers there, was having a lot of fun. This
>> first one is from when he put on headphones and stood at Rev. Green's
>> "pulpit" in the vocal booth and started singing one of his songs. Any time
>> I hear his voice, especially when I'm standing right there and there's
>> nothing between me and that magnificent instrument but air, always lights
>> me up and makes my soul happy. I knew there was a Memphis soul singer
>> inside of him - it was in his blood. I laid out a plan to fund an album
>> project, and he and Carl had been working on songs. It saddens me that the
>> world will never hear what would have come from those sessions.
>>
>> http://zone-10.com/tope2/main.php?g2_itemId=4698
>>
>> The second one is from the back hallway leading into the studio. There was
>> an old promotional poster of Al Green on the wall - if you know his work,
>> it's an iconic photo. Jimi saw that, a smile lit up his face, and he
>> mimicked the pose. I had to have that photo. Had to. Of all the photos I
>> have of Jimi, it's my favorite. To me, it shows the real Jimi - the sense
>> of fun, the mischievous sense of humour. I see my friend, not the rockstar.
>> Looking at it again, I may try desaturating some of the greenish-yellow out
>> of it, but for right now, it'll do. Although, the wall really was that
>> shade of green...
>>
>> http://zone-10.com/tope2/main.php?g2_itemId=4801
>>
>> Monday evening, while we were sitting at the bar at a restaurant in Chicago
>> waiting for our table, I got a text from a friend with a link to a breaking
>> story that said the lead singer of Survivor, Jimi Jamison, was dead at the
>> age of 63. I thought it was a hoax. I showed it to Sheri, we stared at each
>> other, she told me that I'd better go outside and try to find out the
>> truth. I called Gwen to find out. She was crying when she answered the
>> phone - I knew the truth. Survivor had played a concert in California on
>> Saturday evening, he'd flown home to Memphis Sunday morning, and died from
>> a heart attack on Sunday night.
>>
>> There's a lot more I could say about Jimi, but the words are hard right
>> now. Based on the messages and postings of grief from all over the world
>> that are coming into our Facebook pages, Jimi's talent, warmth and
>> generosity touched millions of lives over the years. Almost universally
>> loved by anyone who had any contact with him. That's one hell of a legacy
>> to leave behind.
>>
>> I'm sad that I won't be able to attend his funeral - it sounds like it's
>> going to be on Saturday, and I have a show to work at the casino and a
>> major thing happening at work. But I'm sure his friends will put together
>> one heck of a tribute concert, hopefully benefitting St. Jude's hospital,
>> one of his pet charities. You can bet I'll be there for that.
>>
>> Goodbye, my friend. Thank you for the music, the memories, the friendship.
>> I am a better person for having known you.
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Paul Braun
>> Certified Music Junkie
>>
>> "Music washes from the soul the dust of everyday life." -- Berthold
>> Auerbach
>> --
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>>
>
>
> --
> Tina Manley
> www.tinamanley.com
> tina-manley.artistwebsites.com
> --
> _________________________________________________________________
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