Gone But Not Forgotten 2008

Died: November 1, Detroit, MI, age 64 (stroke)
Best known song: "Village Of Love" (1962)
Contributions to music: After his lone big hit, 1962's "Village Of Love," Detroit soulster Nathaniel Mayer reeled off a few follow-ups before disappearing so completely for decades that people began to wonder if he'd ever existed at all. His recent comeback as a growling bluesman on the Fat Possum label (with 2004's I Just Want to Be Held) was all the more remarkable for it.

Died: November 12, Portland, OR, age 61 (natural causes)
Best known song: "Manic Depression" (1967)
Contributions to music: Being Jimi Hendrix's drummer would be enough of a pass for anyone to get into Rock and Roll Heaven, but he'd also been a child actor long before that, and his tenure with the great man only furthered his invention and exploration of jazz-rock "fusion" drumming. Mitchell also played with Cream alumni for a while, and had also jammed with Lennon, Clapton, and later, Junior Brown.

Died: December 2, New York, NY, age 77 (heart disease)
Best known song: "Spiritual Trilogy" (1956)
Contributions to music: Essentially occupying a space in American folk music akin to Aretha Franklin's in soul -- no less than Martin Luther King dubbed her the queen of the genre -- Odetta also popularized a style of playing known as the "Odetta Strum," was a respected and notable voice in the civil rights movement, and had a voice that inspired everyone from Joan Baez to Janis Joplin to begin singing.

Died: September 1, Nashville, TN, age 71 (emphysema)
Best known song: "When You're Hot, You're Hot" (1971)
Contributions to music: A guitar slinger who got his start penning songs for Gene Vincent, Brenda Lee, and no less a personage than Elvis Presley, Reed soon became a country giant in his own right, scoring big hits with his funny, funky swamp-rock, then parlaying that into a respectable late-'70s acting career. As for his axe skills, Chet Atkins actually thought his own picking was inferior to Reed's, if that says anything.

Died: November 7, Palm Desert, CA, age 75 (liver cancer)
Best known song: "Endless Sleep" (1958)
Contributions to music: A true rockabilly hero who unfortunately only hit big once, and with a teenage disaster song at that (albeit the first and perhaps the best of the lot), Reynolds was a major influence on artists like Roy Orbison, John Fogerty, and Chris Isaak, being one of the first artists to invoke a spooky, swampy, haunting quality into his music. Later, Reynolds opened his own successful music store in California.

Died: October 24, San Francisco, CA, age 74 (heart disease)
Best known song: "Playing In The Band" (1972)
Contributions to music: A master of the Hammond B-3 organ, Merl Saunders was best-known for his late Sixties and early Seventies collaborations with the Grateful Dead, both as a band and individually, but this jazz keyboardist also gigged and recorded with Harry Belafonte, Frank Sinatra, Lionel Hampton, Miles Davis, B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt and Paul Butterfield, in addition to helping pioneer new age music and maintaining a constant presence in environmental activism.

Died: February 28, Buckinghamshire, England, age 64 (pneumonia)
Best known song: "Glad All Over" (1963)
Contributions to music: As lead vocalist for the Dave Clark Five, Smith made his name in rock history during the British Invasion with hits such as "Glad All Over," "Bits And Pieces," and "Because," most of which he co-wrote with drummer and leader Dave Clark. Smith also played organ on the DC5's big hits, and guitar; after the band broke up, he made a living writing commercial advertising jingles.

Died: July 16, Century City, CA, age 90 (natural causes)
Best known song: "You Belong To Me" (1952)
Contributions to music: One of the most popular female pop vocalists of the Fifties, Stafford began singing with her sisters and later with Tommy Dorsey before striking out on her own with a series of hits that highlighted her amazingly pure, opera-trained voice. She later branched out into comedy, becoming one of the first artists to record parodies of popular hits. "GI Jo," as she was known, was also a big hit with the troops during her many stints with the USO.

Died: January 19, San Diego, CA, age 69 (stroke)
Best known song: "Gold" (1979)
Contributions to music: As the second leader of the Kingston Trio, John Stewart helped bring the band wider acclaim by focusing on more original material and covering well-known folkies who'd crossed over to the pop charts; later, he wrote "Daydream Believer" for the Monkees; much later, he scored his only big solo hit with backup vocals from Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. "When the lights go down in that California town..."

Died: October 17, Detroit, MI, age 72 (heart disease, cancer)
Best known song: "Reach Out, I'll Be There" (1966)
Contributions to music: The big booming baritone behind the Four Tops' greatest hits, Levi was enough of an institution to get a tribute song from protest folkie Billy Bragg ("Levi Stubbs' Tears," a hit in England) and a gig voicing Audrey II, the "mean green mother from outer space" in the 1986 movie musical Little Shop Of Horrors, for which Stubbs was nominated for a Grammy. Still, it's his unerring sense of drama and the uncompromising majesty of his wails on the Motown hits for which he'll be remembered.