I don’t want to seem like I’m speaking ill of Ms. Del Rio: that sequence was one of the few good things in “Mulholland Drive”. Unfortunately, as I’ve said before, much of the rest of the movie was pretentious crap.
Dave “Baby” Cortez. He did an instrumental, “The Happy Organ”, which was a hit in 1959. He also had a hit with “Rinky Dink” in 1962.
Then he became what the paper of record describes as “reclusive”, though it also states that he worked as a church organist, held down other jobs, and even recorded a new album in 2011. The way I read the obit, it seems like he was more “bitter about the music business” than genuinely reclusive.
Then again…
…one of the reasons I wanted to note this obit is that it is one of the NYT‘s odd ones. Mr. Cortez actually passed away in 2022, but his death was not publicly disclosed until recently.
I had to go and listen to Rinky Dink on Youtube because it seemed like I remembered that song from my youth. I was correct, I recognized the song right from the beginning.
The other one, The Happy Organ I didn’t recognize the song, but some of the riffs from it were stolen, I mean borrowed, by other musicians in the late 60’s if I am thinking right. Unfortunately I am old and can’t place any of the songs where I heard the licks.
As for his becoming disillusioned with the music industry, that must be pretty common, from what little I have experience in my limited amount of time doing a tiny bit of session work.
Respect for musicians is usually non existent, if you don’t like how they do things, there is the door, we can call up anyone of a dozen guys or gals and they will be here within the hour.
Sad that his obit was so delayed.
I’m the opposite of Pigpen–I remember “The Happy Organ” but not “Rinky Dink.” “The Happy Organ” sounds like something they would have played at the skating rink.
“The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side.”
–Hunter S. Thompson
The other thing that bothers me about this story is that he was buried in the potter’s field.
I’m hoping that this will stir up enough interest so that maybe someone does a GiveSendGo or some kind of fundraising campaign to get him reinterred somewhere with a real headstone.