FULLER UP HOME GRIM REAPER PAGE CAUSES OF DEATH SEARCH BY NAME GET IN TOUCH SHAMEFUL DISCLAIMER    Fuller Up, The Dead Musician Directory Butch McDade Butch McDade  Cancer             Nov. 29, 1998 Age 52 OBITUARY  BIOGRAPHY   LINKS

OBITUARY 

From the Aces Site   Butch McDade  1946 - 1998 FRIENDS, FANS MOURN ACES DRUMMER BUTCH McDADE                      David H. (Butch) McDade, a founding member of The Amazing Rhythm                       Aces, succumbed early Sunday morning, November 29, after                       a lengthy battle with cancer. A lifelong musician, Butch was a                       popular Nashville figure who, along with his work with the                       recently-reunited Aces, had toured or recorded with the likes of Leon                       Russell, Lonnie Mack, Roy Clark, Tanya Tucker and members of the                       Subdudes. Leslie, his wife of more than ten years, was at his side when                       he died at his home in Maryville, Tennessee. He was 52.                        Butch formed the legendary Rhythm Aces with singer/songwriter Russell                       Smith in the early 70s. Their debut album, Stacked Deck, was released                       in 1975. "I never had a brother until I met Butch," Smith said. "He and I                       saw eye-to-eye on a lot of things-really deep things that made the band                       and its music what it is. People have always said there's something other                       than the musical nuts and bolts that makes the Aces special, and a whole                       lot of that was due to him. You just couldn't beat his feel as a musician.                       Every time he hit a drum it sounded like he meant it. It's really not an                       exaggeration to say that there wouldn't have been a band if it hadn't been                       for him. He found Stick (bassist Jeff Davis), and I found (organist) Billy                       Earheart, and that was the nucleus. The thing Butch taught me-taught all                       of us, really-was to do what you believed in and stick to that. That's how                       he lived and that's how he played music."                        "Butch is responsible for me having a career in music," says Davis. "He's                       the one who gave me a chance to step up, to play in a professional                       setting. I came to Tennessee because of him, so it's hard to estimate how                       much I owe him."                        McDade appeared on all six of the Aces' 70s                       & 80s albums, drumming on hits like "Third                       Rate Romance," "Amazing Grace (Used To                       Be Her Favorite Song)" and the                       Grammy-winning "The End Is Not In Sight"                       and appearing with the group on TV's                       Saturday Night Live and Austin City Limits.                       He was also an accomplished songwriter; the                       band cut his "Same Old Me," "The Beautiful                       Lie," "Last Letter Home," "Pretty Words" and                       "Living On Borrowed Time" during their first                       period. He sang his own "Oh, Lucky Me" and                       "Get Down" on their 1997 release, Out Of                       The Blue. He toured with the Aces as they                       began their 1996 comeback, but illness kept                       him off the road for the past year and a half.                       "There was never a thought of naming a                       full-time replacement," Smith recalls. "Butch                        was a part of the band evenwhen he couldn't be there anymore."                        Butch McDade is survived by his wife, Leslie, son Gabriel, daughter                       Caralie, parents Hugh T. and Jane McDade of Maryville, sisters Jane                       Monroe of Cleveland, TN and Ruth Prudhome of Jackson, TN and                       several nieces and nephews.                        Memorial service will be held in Nashville on Thursday, Dec. 3, 1998 at                       3rd & Lindsley Bar & Grill (816 Third Ave South, 259-9891) from                       2-4pm. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to:                                 The Butch McDade Memorial Fund                                  PO Box 110551                                  Nashville, TN, 37222

 

 

BIOGRAPHY

Amazing Rhythm Aces Formed in 1972, the Amazing Rhythm Aces were a US sextet consisting   of Howard Russell Smith (guitar, vocals), Barry Burton (guitar, mandolin,  dobro), Billy Earhart III (keyboards), Jeff Davis (bass) and Butch McDade  (drums). Davis and McDade had previously backed singer Jesse Win-  chester. The group was a country/rock outfit which also incorporated   elements of R&B and gospel into its sound. They recorded their debut,   STACKED DECK, in Memphis in 1975, from which the single, Third Rate  Romance, was culled. It reached the Top 20 on both the pop and country  charts in the USA. The band later found success only in the country area,  where its second single, Amazing Grace (Used To Be Her Favorite Song)  was a Top 10 entry. They disbanded in 1980. Smith went solo and Earhart  joined Hank Williams Jnr.'s group, the Bama Band.  Music Central '96

 

 LINKS

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