June 2006

jurassictone    News    

STEWART SAMPLE

It is with great sadness that we report the death of our friend, Stewart Sample.  Although he had suffered illness for the past few years, Stewart’s death was, nevertheless, sudden and tragic and a great shock to all of us that knew him.

Stewart was one of the fathers that played at the famous gig at Stoke College (see here).  Although he was never a member of Jurassic Rock, Stewart made an important contribution in the formative years as he played in a number of the band’s early incarnations.  A naturally talented guitarist, Stewart had a superb sense of rhythm and, although his rather bizarre musical experiments were a source of exasperation at some rehearsals, he was always rock solid and dependable during performances.

Intelligent, articulate and occasionally controversial, Stewart had lived in East Anglia for many years, but remained proud of his roots and retained much of his North East accent.  An accomplished and highly qualified builder, part of his legacy will be the alterations, extensions and new houses that were built by his company, Sample Construction Ltd.  Faced with a number of business setbacks, Stewart earned the respect of his friends and colleagues alike for his resilience in the face of adversity and his capacity for hard work as he strived successfully to maintain his family’s standard of living by working long hours when many would have found the going too tough and just given up.  It is, therefore, especially sad that illness prevented him from maintaining quite the same high standards in recent years.

One of life’s characters that will be greatly missed, Stewart leaves behind a wife and two children, both young adults.  A close family, there is no doubt that they will support one another during this distressing and difficult time and our thoughts and good wishes are with them.

ROCKING ON

On a much happier note, we are pleased to report that Jurassic Rock is an international phenomenon!  Far from being extinct, or even an endangered species, recent discoveries in Germany and Texas, U.S.A. suggest that this particular dinosaur is making a comeback.  There is an indication that there may be a sub-species in France, but our lack of success in establishing communication suggests that this branch may have died out.

Adaptation to local conditions has brought about the inevitable regional variation (it seems that some even have keyboard players!), but similarities in repertoires, line-ups and, in particular, age prove beyond doubt that Jurassic Rockers contacted so far are the same species as the English variant.  The search for more examples continues in the far reaches of the planet and we will let you know if this meets with any success.  In the meantime, links to the presently known varieties can be found here.