A child of Hollywood and its strangely intersectional cultural landscape (her godfather was Igor Stravinsky), Babitz was first noticed in 1963, while in her early 20s, as the subject of a famous photograph, appearing nude while playing chess with the fully-clothed French artist Marcel Duchamp. (Her face was not visible, but her breasts certainly were.) She designed album covers for Atlantic Records, for Buffalo Springfield, The Byrds and Linda Ronstadt; hobnobbed with the rich and famous (introducing Salvador Dali to Frank Zappa); and dated a stream of celebrities (she convinced boyfriend Steve Martin to wear a white suit for his comedy act). And she wrote navel-gazing tell-alls with a disarming lack of pretension or self-censorship, contributing to such publications as Rolling Stone and Vogue.
But the four would butt heads with the show's music producer, Don Kirshner, who used outside session musicians to make The Monkees' first two albums. When the show's fictional band became a phenomenon, the producers finally allowed them to play; their third album, "Headquarters," was entirely their own.
Beginning in the 1970s, Sondheim teamed with director Hal Prince on some of his most innovative shows, including "Follies," "A Little Night Music," and "Sweeney Todd," the grimly delicious tale of a murderous barber seeking revenge, and the meat pie baker who helpfully disposes of his victims.
Their evolution as a prog-rock group began with their second album, "Days of Future Passed," which featured the Mellotron (an analog synthesizer which incorporated tape loops). The album included orchestral arrangements of classical compositions, interpolated with rock songs, and merged with the band on "Nights in White Satin." Though released in 1967 (including on quadraphonic reel tape), that song would not reach No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard charts until 1972, helped by heavy FM radio airplay, sparked by the playlists of iconoclastic DJs.
The group released several more albums in the 1980s and '90s, and had hits with the songs "The Voice," "Sitting at the Wheel," "Your Wildest Dreams," and "I Know You're Out There Somewhere." Their 1993 album, "A Night at Red Rocks with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra," was certified gold.
After performing with different mixes of musicians, Moloney hit upon what would become the lineup of The Chieftains in 1962, recording their first of 44 albums. Over the next half-century the group would broaden the appeal of traditional Irish music around the world, while receiving six Grammy Awards, with 21 nominations.
In 2012 Moloney collaborated with folk, rock and country artists (including Bon Iver, the Decembrists, Low Anthem, the Civil Wars, Punch Brothers, and Imelda May) on an album, "Voice of Ages," which celebrated The Chieftains' impact on other genres. He described to The New York Times their shared aesthetic: "What's happening here with these young groups is they're coming back to the melody, back to the real stuff, the roots and the folk feeling of them all. I can hear any of them singing folk songs."
Refusing to work in movies without control, Van Peebles wrote and produced several plays and musicals on Broadway, including the Tony-nominated "Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death" and "Don't Play Us Cheap." He also co-wrote the 1977 Richard Pryor film "Greased Lighting," about Wendell Scott, the first Black race car driver. He penned the screenplay for "Panther," adapted from his novel and directed by his son, Mario Van Peebles. He also recorded several albums.
As a jazz aficionado, Watts recorded several albums, beginning in 1986 with "Live at Fulham Town Hall." He toured and recorded with his own group, the Charlie Watts Quintet, and the expanded Charlie Watts and the Tentet.
Don recorded three solo albums in the '70s, but the duo reunited in 1983, "sealing it with a hug," Phil said. They continued with successful concert tours in the U.S. and Europe, and had late-career success with "On the Wings of a Nightingale" (written by Paul McCartney) and "Born Yesterday." They were inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.
Performing since age 12 at coffeehouses, clubs and folk festivals in her native Texas, Grammy-winning folk singer and songwriter Nanci Griffith (July 6, 1953-August 13, 2021) grew her sound from confessional folk singer to a country-folk storyteller in her 1986 album, "The Last of the True Believers," with such songs as "Love at the Five and Dime" (in which lovers slow-dance after hours at Woolworth's), "Lookin' for the Time (Workin' Girl)," and "More Than a Whisper." Her first major label album, "Lone Star State of Mind" (1987), featured "From a Distance" (which was later covered by Bette Midler), "Cold Hearts/Closed Minds" and "Trouble in the Fields," in addition to the title track.
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