John Guerin - R.I.P.

[graypencil]

I heard this morning that drummer John Guerin recently died in LA
supposedly from complications from pneumonia ..

I 'll post more details as I find them out ..

John Was a real solid all around drummer on the LA scene for many years.

RIP John

Phil Kelly

[Gentle Giant]

Wow, that would be a bummer if it's true. I liked his work with the LA Express and Joni Mitchell.

[BFrank]

Didn't he play with FZ, as well?

[graypencil]

I just recieved a conformation of this from LA ..apparently he'd been in ill healthfor some time , and kidney failure was involved as well ..

really really sad ..he was 2 years younger than I am

[Ron Thorne]

That's very sad news, indeed.

I always felt that John was a very tasteful drummer, in many settings.

RIP, John Guerin~

[Valerie]

according to those who knew john, aside from all that was physically ailing him, he never "recovered" from his son's recent suicide either. very, very sad, all around.

[Bill Barton]

Oh my, very sad indeed, so sorry to hear this...

[gonzo]

very sad news. loved his work with joni. hundreds of sessions.

[Lois Gilbert]

John Guerin/ Obituary
Producer, composer, jazz artist John Guerin, one of the most prominent and
prolific drummers in the music community, died Monday, Jan. 5th of heart
failure at West Hills Hospital in West Hills, Ca. He was 64.

Guerin was born in Hawaii and raised in San Diego. He was a self taught
drummer and began performing with Buddy DeFranco in 1960. Following this he
moved to Los Angeles and since the late 1960s, Guerin recorded with many
musical legends such as Frank Sinatra, Frank Zappa, The Byrds, Thelonious
Monk, Lou Rawls, George Shearing, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Linda
Ronstadt, Nelson Riddle and countless others. In jazz and pop, he is one of
the most recorded drummers of all time. Among the many contributions to
motion picture and television scores his most celebrated work was on the
soundtrack for Clint Eastwood’s film biography of Charlie Parker “Bird” and
recently on the score of the Jack Nicholson/ Diane Keaton movie
“Something’s Gotta Give.” He also played on the original title theme from
the television series “Hawaii Five-O” and the original “Jeopardy” where he
was a long time associate of Merv Griffin. Others he worked with were Dave
Grusin, Jerry Goldsmith, John Williams and a long list of other fine composers.

Guerin performed just last week with artist Steve Tyrell at the Catalina
Bar & Grill in Hollywood. Tyrell said “He was an amazing spirit, a true and
valued friend and an awesome force in music. He was recognized by all who
truly knew music as one of the greatest drummers who ever lived.” This is a
feeling that has been shared by his many friends, colleagues and admirers
in and out of the music industry.

Guerin traveled all over the world founding and co-leading the L.A. Express
band and with artist Joni Mitchell. His songs included “The Hissing of
Summer Lawns” with Mitchell, “Don’t Be Blue” with Michael Franks and
compositions and productions with many other artists. He achieved
ProEmeritus status by winning the NARAS M.V. P. award for four years and
authored a drum book entitled “Jazz + Rock = John Guerin.”

In the past few years projects included work with Tyrell, Oscar Peterson,
John Faddis, Jimmy Heath, Ray Charles, Sonny Rollins, Justin Morell,
Andreas Pettersson, David Basse, David Garfield, Gary Lemel, Mike Melvoin
and producing a series of jazz CD’s for Japan. He was a current Clinician
for the D.W. Drum Company and appeared regularly with the trios of Roger
Kellaway and Mike Melvoin, two long time friends and fellow jazz performers.

Aside from music, Guerin was also known for his love of horses which he
continued to own and ride until his death and was an avid fan of sports and
history.

As one of the musicians who was responsible for what many consider the
Golden Age of recording in Los Angeles, Guerin had achieved the status of
world_wide legend with his unique sound on literally hundreds of the most
important records ever made, making friends with his musicianship, high
professionalism, good humor and generous spirit. He will be deeply missed
by those who were close to him and those who felt his musical presence.

Guerin is survived by his wife Michelle Palombi Guerin of Chatsworth, his
adopted son Scott Guerin (LA), sister Victoria Shoemaker (Oakland, CA),
brother Michael Guerin (Santa Rosa. CA), and grandsons Jonathan Michael
Guerin (Grand Prairie, TX) and Graeham Ian Guerin (Cleveland, OH). He was
recently preceded in death by his son Shaun.

The family requests that donations be sent “In Memory of John Guerin” to
his favorite charity, the Nevada S.P.C.A, 4800 West Dewey Drive, Suite D,
Las Vegas, NV, 89118. Memorial services are planned for Sunday, January
18th at 6 PM the Sportsmen¹s Lodge in Studio City.

[Capt. W./TX.]

John came to Dallas a few times during the 70's with members of the LA Express. He and others were booked to play music library recording sessions here. I was one of the writer-arrangers involved; I still have dubs of of tracks I wrote for some of the sessions we did back then.

On one date Victor Feldman played keyboards; it was a great thrill to work with both of them.

John had a very distinctive drum sound; the way he tuned his tom-toms sounded like no one else. A very solid and creative player in both jazz and pop stuff; lots of drummers copied his style back then. He was much admired.

Sad to hear he left us him so soon...

[Gentle Giant]

Originally posted by Lois Gilbert
John Guerin/ Obituary
Producer, composer, jazz artist John Guerin, one of the most prominent and
prolific drummers in the music community, died Monday, Jan. 5th of heart
failure at West Hills Hospital in West Hills, Ca. He was 64.

Guerin was born in Hawaii and raised in San Diego. He was a self taught
drummer and began performing with Buddy DeFranco in 1960. Following this he
moved to Los Angeles and since the late 1960s, Guerin recorded with many
musical legends such as Frank Sinatra, Frank Zappa, The Byrds, Thelonious
Monk, Lou Rawls, George Shearing, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Linda
Ronstadt, Nelson Riddle and countless others. In jazz and pop, he is one of
the most recorded drummers of all time. Among the many contributions to
motion picture and television scores his most celebrated work was on the
soundtrack for Clint Eastwood’s film biography of Charlie Parker “Bird” and
recently on the score of the Jack Nicholson/ Diane Keaton movie
“Something’s Gotta Give.” He also played on the original title theme from
the television series “Hawaii Five-O” and the original “Jeopardy” where he
was a long time associate of Merv Griffin. Others he worked with were Dave
Grusin, Jerry Goldsmith, John Williams and a long list of other fine composers.

Guerin performed just last week with artist Steve Tyrell at the Catalina
Bar & Grill in Hollywood. Tyrell said “He was an amazing spirit, a true and
valued friend and an awesome force in music. He was recognized by all who
truly knew music as one of the greatest drummers who ever lived.” This is a
feeling that has been shared by his many friends, colleagues and admirers
in and out of the music industry.

Guerin traveled all over the world founding and co-leading the L.A. Express
band and with artist Joni Mitchell. His songs included “The Hissing of
Summer Lawns” with Mitchell, “Don’t Be Blue” with Michael Franks and
compositions and productions with many other artists. He achieved
ProEmeritus status by winning the NARAS M.V. P. award for four years and
authored a drum book entitled “Jazz + Rock = John Guerin.”

In the past few years projects included work with Tyrell, Oscar Peterson,
John Faddis, Jimmy Heath, Ray Charles, Sonny Rollins, Justin Morell,
Andreas Pettersson, David Basse, David Garfield, Gary Lemel, Mike Melvoin
and producing a series of jazz CD’s for Japan. He was a current Clinician
for the D.W. Drum Company and appeared regularly with the trios of Roger
Kellaway and Mike Melvoin, two long time friends and fellow jazz performers.

Aside from music, Guerin was also known for his love of horses which he
continued to own and ride until his death and was an avid fan of sports and
history.

As one of the musicians who was responsible for what many consider the
Golden Age of recording in Los Angeles, Guerin had achieved the status of
world_wide legend with his unique sound on literally hundreds of the most
important records ever made, making friends with his musicianship, high
professionalism, good humor and generous spirit. He will be deeply missed
by those who were close to him and those who felt his musical presence.

Guerin is survived by his wife Michelle Palombi Guerin of Chatsworth, his
adopted son Scott Guerin (LA), sister Victoria Shoemaker (Oakland, CA),
brother Michael Guerin (Santa Rosa. CA), and grandsons Jonathan Michael
Guerin (Grand Prairie, TX) and Graeham Ian Guerin (Cleveland, OH). He was
recently preceded in death by his son Shaun.

The family requests that donations be sent “In Memory of John Guerin” to
his favorite charity, the Nevada S.P.C.A, 4800 West Dewey Drive, Suite D,
Las Vegas, NV, 89118. Memorial services are planned for Sunday, January
18th at 6 PM the Sportsmen1s Lodge in Studio City.

Always wondered who played drums on the Hawaii 5-0 theme. What a classic performance.

On another note, anyone else think it ironic that his charity is the SPCA, and the memorial service is at a place called the Sportsmen's Lodge?

He was also Joni Mitchell's numerous lovers for a while. Wonder why the press didn't mention that.

[Ron Thorne]

Unless I missed something above, it's amazing that his work with Tom Scott was apparently overlooked. In fact, that's when I became hip to John's immaculate drumming ... on Tom's album, Rural Still Life #26, apparently a very obscure recording.

I noted that John Guerin did things differently over 30 years ago, and I'm glad I did!