Sheldon Zoldan is the creator of the Song of the Day project, daily music-related stories and yearly tributes to musical titans who passed away. In this episode, we present the first 20 of music greats who left us in 2023, beginning with Jeff Beck.

Most of the links go to YouTube videos, while the others take you to some of Sheldon's once-a-week posts on the website of WGCU, the NPR station in southwest Florida where he lives.

Here is a list of the tributes and featured songs in this episode. They're in chronological order according to the date of each person's passing. In the audio, the tributes are separated by original music created by sound engineer and musician Mike Villegas.

1. Jeff Beck, Jan. 10 "Beck's Bolero"
2. Lisa Marie Presley, Jan. 12 "Lights Out"
3. Robbie Bachman, Jan. 12, and Tim Bachman, April 28 "Roll On Down the Highway"
4. David Crosby, Jan. 18 "Déjà Vu"
5. Barrett Strong Jan 28 "Money (That's What I Want)"
6. Burt Bacharach, Feb. 8 "Walk On By"
7. David Jolicoeur, Feb. 12 "Me Myself and I"
8. Huey “Piano” Smith, Feb. 13 "Rockin' Pneumonia and Boogie Woogie Flu"
9. Wayne Shorter, March 2 "Footprints"
10. Gary Rosington, March 5 "What's Your Name"
11. Jim Gordon, March 13 "Layla"
12. Bobby Caldwell, March 14 "What You Won't Do for Love"
13. Clarence “Fuzzy” Haskins, March 17 "I Got A Thing, You Got A Thing, Everyone Got A Thing"
14. April Stevens, April 17 "Deep Purple"
15. Harry Belafonte, April 25 "Day-O"
16. Gordon Lightfoot, May 1 "If You Could Read My Mind"
17. Pete Brown, May 19 "Sunshine of Your Love"
18. Ed Ames, May 21 "Rag Mop"
19. Tina Turner, May 24 "Nutbush City Limits"
20. Cynthia Weil, June 1 "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling"

Sheldon sends his Song of the Day stories to an email list of subscribers. To get on the list, all you have to do is email shzoldan@comcast.net with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to The Gale Hill Radio Hour!

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