John Rhys Eddins RIP

[ralpht]

An odd thing happened. For some reason John was on my mind last Friday. We have been out of touch for a few years. I sent him an email to see how he was doing. Today while, scrolling Facebook, I came across a piece saying John died the other day of lung cancer. Such a shocking coincidence to learn the demise of an old friend.

I first met John when he became the producer of The Sunliners, when we first signed contracts with Golden World Records. He would produce, in my opinion, the best song ever recorded by the group. "Heart Of The City" written by John and Edwin Starr. And the song never got released. Label owner Ed Wingate was reluctant to release the record due to a recent hit by some group that had the word "city" in the title.

Jumping ahead a few years, I would get to know john very well when he was producing for Harry Balk's Impact record label. He was responsible for the hit "Oh How Happy" by the Shades of Blue. His biggest record for Impact.

John was an interesting guy possessing an abundance of talent. In later years he created the popular website Blue Power, which is how I tracked him down the other day.

Rest well John, You made the world a better place. I will always think fondly of our good friendship.

[motony]

Condolences to family & friends. Rest in Peace, John Rys Eddins, you were another piece in our Musical History.

[Motown Eddie]

An odd thing happened. For some reason John was on my mind last Friday. We have been out of touch for a few years. I sent him an email to see how he was doing. Today while, scrolling Facebook, I came across a piece saying John died the other day of lung cancer. Such a shocking coincidence to learn the demise of an old friend. Rest well John, You made the world a better place. I will always think fondly of our good friendship.

Sorry for your loss Ralph. I've never heard of John Rys Eddins before but I do remember "Oh How Happy" by the Shades Of Blue from 1966 so I salute his contributions to Detroit Soul Music. RIP Mr. Eddins.

[jsmith]

A big song in the UK that he wrote with friends ... TOBI LEGEND's "Time Will Pass You By".
It's a pity he didn't survive long enough to see the BBC Proms TV show broadcast in the UK on Saturday ... his old song was a main feature on the show ...
Back in 2010, a whole newspaper article all about the lyrics & their meaning was published by top UK newspaper, THE GUARDIAN.
AS OF TODAY, no clip of this part of the BBC show has yet been posted up on YOUTUBE ... so this will have to do ... Tobi [[Legend) Lark performing the song live in the UK ...

[jsmith]

A song John wrote with Edwin Starr & Dennis Coffey. I don't know of any recorded versions of it though ... I guess it was penned during the Golden World / Ric Tic era ...

[jsmith]

John talking about writing TIME WILL PASS YOU BY ... the song sat around for a year unfinished, then Nick Zesses & Dino Fekaris came along to complete the job.

[StuBass1]

I remember meeting John when he went with us to a Funk Brothers performance here in Los Angeles... He and I were the only smokers in the group at the time and visited over smokes on the patio area and stayed in touch shortly thereafter ... Sorry to hear about his passing... In the end, smoking has done few of us much good...

[JAITCH]

Here we go,



A great vocal performance of a great song, with a fantastic band and arrangement!