Kenny Rankin: Died of lung cancer

Kenny Rankin: Died of lung cancer

Kenny Rankin, a brilliant pop vocalist and famous musician-songwriter, has passed away due to complications related to lung cancer. His record company has made the announcement on Monday. He was sixty-nine.

Rankin died on Sunday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Mack Avenue Records spokesman Don Lucoff has revealed the news.

The musician, who first gained popularity as one of the guitarists on Bob Dylan's landmark 1965 album, titled "Bringing it all Back Home," had been preparing to record an album of new material when he became ill almost a few weeks ago. Recording sessions scheduled with producer Phil Ramone were canceled as his health started deteriorating.

In a statement Denny Stilwell, president of Mack Avenue Records added,  "That he was still at the top of his game is one of the saddest parts of his passing for me," "He performed the new material in our office over the last few months and his voice was still in its finest form he sounded absolutely amazing. Our hearts and prayers are with his family."

Rankin wrote and recorded the pop standard "Peaceful" and also wrote "In The Name of Love," which was recorded by Peggy Lee, and "Haven't We Met," performed by Carmen McRae and Mel Torme.

His own "The Kenny Rankin Album" was recorded live in 1976 with a sixty piece orchestra.

Rankin, who signed with Decca Records while still in his teens, once said that  his music career really started in the 4rth grade when he sang "O Holy Night" in a school Christmas play and his teacher walked up to him afterward, patted him on the head and said, "Kenneth, that was lovely."

He continued, "She set me on the path in music that I find myself on today”.

After signing with Decca during late 1950s he brought out a handful of singles before shifting to Columbia Records, also the home of Dylan. There, he participated in the recording of "Bringing it All Back Home," the album where Dylan moved firmly from an all-acoustic folk music sound to an electric mixture of pop and rock 'n' roll.

Afterwards he appeared  on "The Tonight Show," where he impressed host Johnny Carson so much that Carson contributed liner notes to Rankin's first album, 1967's "Mind Dusters." Other albums included "Like a Seed", "Family," and "Inside."

He would go on to appear as Carson's "Tonight Show" guest over twenty times.

Rankin's supple tenor voice on such recordings as "Spanish Harlem," "'Round Midnight" and a cover of the Beatles' "Blackbird" also brought  him the respect of fellow musicians as a singer's singer.

Mack Records commented that he impressed the Beatles' Paul McCartney so much that McCartney asked him to perform "Blackbird" when he and songwriting partner John Lennon were inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame.