Davey Jones died today, Wednesday, of a heart attack at 66 years old. The online story from the Associated Press, http://my.earthlink.net/article/top?guid=20120229/0db33b33-eecd-454d-a090-04640de922e3 gives more information on this and on the career of Jones.
The L.A. Times has a shorter announcement that adds the note that Jones was to be at a performance later this month in Cerritos performing songs that the and was known for. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2012/02/davy-jones-monkees-died-.html.
It looks like Jones was experiencing breathing problems and died by the time he arrived at the hospital. Difficulty in breathing is one of the main symptoms of a heart attack. This happened in Florida where Jones lived and I don't have any idea of what level of emergency care or paramedic response is available there. I have to wonder whether this could have been avoided by better services, but I don't think that this will ever be known.
Overall I am saddened as I see this loss of a personality who was part of a much younger time for me, mostly high school years and later, and one who, with other artists of the day, brought us entertainment over the years. When you heard songs then, it was hard to imagine that someday they would someday be called rock and roll "oldies."
We have had the loss of several persons in the last few months from the music scene, some better known than others, but all contributed in some part to the environment surrounding our younger days.
It always is a reminder to me how we have inevitably grown older, like it or not, when we see there is another death of the artists of our days. It is also another reminder of our mortality, although we don't like to admiti it, when we see the ages are close to our own, or even more an item when it's someone younger than ourselves.
Davey Jones was sort of lost for a long time and then I noticed him again on television in commercials about oldies and he still seemed the same. That presence was maintained by the commercials, maybe they were the Time-Life infomercials or some of the oldies shows televised on public television, but the death here seemed more like someone I knew about currently instead of just a name from the past. He always seemed as upbeat as he did on the episodes of the show back in the 60s, and that was something I liked about seeing him on t.v.
There should be another longer obituary coming in the L.A. Times published soon, and that will fill in more details for people who are too young to have a first-hand memory of the t.v. show and the craziness of the band that was very talented after all was said and done. As with most artists, we still will hear the music and it will stay as their legacy in history of music- pop, rock and roll, or whatever label anyone feels like using.
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