Remembering Pops, 1930-2010

Rock Turtleneck regrets to inform its readership that my father, Thomas J. Walsh, passed away a few days ago, a week shy of his 80th birthday.

Pops, as he was known to his grandchildren, had many admirable qualities, among them a love of music and and encyclopedic knowledge of the artists who created it. It's a passion he passed to me, along with a love of the written word, which manifests itself here in this world-class website.

As someone who came of age in the 1940s and 50s, my father's tastes ran towards Big Band and Bebop jazz. These artists, like Benny Goodman, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane, and Miles Davis. They were The Beatles, Dylans and Wilcos of their day: musically forward-thinking, but with a strong sense of melody and harmony.

About a year ago, I was hanging out at my parents' house and my Dad I spent some time on YouTube showing each other amazing clips from our favorite artists. I pulled up the this clip of The Beatles running through "Hey Jude" in the Abbey Road studios with Georges Martin and Harrison watching from the control booth.


Pops returned the favor by summoning the following cilp by Woody Herman. Woody and his Thundering Herd are largely forgotten now, but back in their day, they were one of the most powerful, popular groups on the planet. My dad explained that saxophonist Sal Nistico's solo on this track was well known and highly revered by Big Band afficionados, sort of like the way guitar geeks gush over Jimi Hendrix letting loose on "Machine Gun."


It was an important to remember that jazz and rock both derive from the blues and that Woody Herman's Thundering Herd is one path taken and Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue or "Hey Jude" is another.

Rock Turtleneck will be paying further tribute to our patriarch in the coming days. R.I.P. and TCB, Pops. Here's a little more Woodman called "After You're Gone" that seems incredibly appropos.