Died on this day ...

[Music Head]

That's a little tough. I'm not going to make the ludicrous claim that we only hear about the outliers, those outside the mainstream because in those days up until relatively recently, alcoholism and drug use was rampant...but that's the milieu, not the music. That age old question (How linked is genius and insanity?) has yet to be definitively answered. And a lot of lesser players thought to emulate the big dogs' lifestyle, thinking that had something to do with raising profiles and playing levels. Instead it produced burn-outs. These if anything were object lessons to a newer generation of players and hasn't been that much a problem for 30-40 years with jazzistas. Rockers on the other hand still haven't learned the lesson, not soul-deep anyway, 50-60 years later.

well said.