The Passing of Music Icons 2017 - Don Markham – February 24, 2017 | Eastern NC Now

Don Markham - February 24, 2017

    Occasionally you hear about the passing of a musician you never heard of. One of the most remarkable things about the music business is that some of the most talented people are never front stage. Many are either session players or band members who just provide the foundation for the star to shine.

    Apparently, Don Markham was one of those mainstays that made Merle Haggard's career and life stable for many years. Here is an excerpt from Rolling Stone about his passing .

    To illustrate my point, it was most difficult to find a picture of him on the internet. A clip from a YouTube Video will have to suffice.He passed on February 24, 2017. He was 85 years old. I wonder if he and Merle are having a drink together again?

    Markham, who played on nearly every Haggard recording from 1974 on, played saxophone and trumpet. He had a jazz and pop background, previously performing with Sly & the Family Stone and the Ventures, as well as the Buck Owens-founded Bakersfield Brass. He spent six years as trumpet player at Bakersfield's legendary cub, the Blackboard. He first joined the Strangers while touring with Johnny Paycheck.
    Don Markham, longtime horn player in Merle Haggard's band, the Strangers, and one of the iconic entertainer's closest friends, died Friday, February 24th of undisclosed causes in Oildale, California. Markham's declining health led to his retirement in 2013, and he spent his remaining days in the same mobile home in which he had resided for some 50 years, with Haggard making regular visits until his death last April. Markham was 85.

    In a 2004 interview with Rolling Stone, Merle, a Country Music Hall of Famer recalled a conversation with Markham on the subject of their mortality, after the death of a mutual friend.

    "Don said, 'You know, we're gonna be doing that in the next few years,'" Haggard recalled. "I thought about that all night, Don. I thought you could have said the next few hours and probably been right."

    "Doin' what?" Markham replied. "I don't remember what I said."
    "Dyin'!" Merle shouted. "Everybody's doin' it!"
Rolling Stone Article    

   Markham is the one playing the Saxophone in the video at the bottom.