Paul Buckmaster, String Arranger to Rock Royalty, Dead at 71

Paul Buckmaster, whose arranged the strings heard on records by Elton John, David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, and many others, has died. The death was tweeted by his management company, McDaniel Entertainment.

 

His dense, emphatic arrangements—which could split the difference between Phil Spector and Elmer Bernstein—gave songs such as Elton John’s “Levon,” David Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” and Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain” heft and majesty. But we are especially fond of his work on the Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers, especially “Moonlight Mile,”  which adds to the song’s moody sense of exhaustion.

 

 

 

 

 

Steven Mirkin

Steven Mirkin’s diverse career has taken him from politics to pop culture to high art, offering him a front row seat to some of the most fascinating events and personalities of our time: writing speeches, fundraising appeals and campaign materials for Ed Koch, John Heinz and independent presidential candidate John B. Anderson; chronicling the punk/new wave scenes in New York and London; interviewing musicians such as Elton John, John Lydon and Buck Owens; profiling modern masters Julian Schnabel, Paul Schrader and Jonathan Safran Foer; and writing for TV shows including 21, The Chamber, Let's Make A Deal, and Rock Star: INXS.

Leave a Reply

Notify of
avatar
1000
wpDiscuz