KENNY RANKIN: 1940-2009

Musician-songwriter Kenny Rankin, who played guitar on Bob Dylan's landmark 1965 album 'Bringing It All Back Home', died on Sunday (June 7) in Los Angeles. He was 69. Kenny Rankin was a brilliant pop vocalist and highly regarded musician-songwriter whose stylings ranged from jazz to pop to the world music influences he picked up as a child in living in the Washington Heights area of New York.

In addition to being a renowned songwriter he also wrote songs for Peggy Lee (“In The Name Of Love”), as well as "Haven't We Met," performed by Carmen McRae and Mel Torme. Rankin also reworked Beatles tunes, which reportedly impressed Paul McCartney so much he asked him to perform 'Blackbird' when he and John Lennon were inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame. Rankin wrote and recorded the pop standard "Peaceful." Rankin had been preparing to record an album of new material when he became ill a few weeks ago. Recording sessions scheduled with producer Phil Ramone were canceled as his health began to deteriorate.

Kenny Rankin signed with Decca in the late 1950s he released a handful of singles before moving on to Columbia Records, also the home of Dylan. There, he took part in the recording of "Bringing it All Back Home," the album in which Dylan moved firmly from an all-acoustic folk music sound to an electric mixture of pop and rock 'n' roll. Soon after, he made his first appearance on "The Tonight Show," where he impressed host Johnny Carson so much that Carson contributed liner notes to Rankin's first album, 1967's "Mind Dusters." Other albums included "Family," ''Like a Seed," ''Inside and "Silver Morning:" He would go on to appear as Carson's "Tonight Show" guest more than 20 times. Rankin spent much of the past 20 years touring, although he returned to the studio in the mid-1990s to release a pair of albums, "Professional Dreamer" and "Here In My Heart." He also released a Christmas album in 1999.

Rankin is survived by his son, two daughters and granddaughter. A memorial service in Los Angeles is expected to take place within the coming days. Here is a list of his recordings: Mind-Dusters (1967); Family (1970); Like a Seed (1972); Inside (1975); Silver Morning (1975); The Kenny Rankin Album (1976); After the Roses (1980); Hiding in Myself (1988); Because of You (1991); Professional Dreamer (1994); Here in My Heart (1997); A Christmas Album (1999); A Song for You (2002); Peaceful: The Best of Kenny Rankin (1996)