It’s Friday night, the night I often post a Friday night song/video to Facebook and other social media.

I haven’t started listening yet tonight, just poured a glass of wine and began reflecting on all the deaths over the last months in the music world.

I’m not going to start listing them, for I’m sure to miss some major names, but, yeah, it’s been tough on us who grew up in the ’60s and ’70s. . .

I’m younger than that, but as with many of us, I got a steady diet of music from older family members and friends, so my popular music education and tastes date from the ’60s.

The rock and blues and pop and folk and country heroes of our youth are steadily getting up there into their ’70s, ’80s, and older, eh? More are leaving us at an increasing rate.

The guitar gods of the rock development era decades ago are giving in to mortality.

Social Media has an impact on this too, of course. Now it’s easy to share, to reminisce with folks who are not only our local “real” friends, but people around the world.

On the upside, there are many “bad boys” and “bad girls” of those days who are still playing, still having fun.

As Neil Young wrote: “It’s better to burn out than to fade away. . . ”

Or as the amazing Buddy Guy, who influenced generations of blues and rock guitarists, and who is still performing at age 86, writes:

“I’m gonna keep on playing
And on my dying day
A polka-dot guitar will be resting on my grave. . . “