Some sad news from out Pittsburgh way...This is from Norman Nardini's latest email newsletter:
"Friday, January 29th was a sad day for Pittsburgh Rock & Roll. Guitar player extraordinaire, Warren King has lost his battle with cancer. He had been struggling with liver cancer for a couple of years now. Warren was the lead guitar player for Diamond Reo back in the early seventies. Diamond Reo used the strength of Warren’s guitar playing to establish them as Pittsburgh’s first original music rock & roll band. After 3 albums, Diamond Reo, Dirty Diamonds and Ruff Cuts, the band broke up in 1979. Warren played with Norman for a short time as The Eastside Tigers, then left to start The Silencers. It was in The Silencers that Warren, Frank Czuri and Ron ‘Bird’ Foster established themselves as lifetime Pittsburgh rock legends with 2 albums on CBS/Precision Records. He embraced the blues scene by joining Red, Hot & Blue and The Mystic Knights of the Sea. Warren was one of the pioneers of the Gene’s Blues Bar scene playing with numerous musicians, Jimmy King, Chizmo Charles, Don Hollowood, Gary Belloma, Gil Snyder, Mike Sweeney, Bob McKeag, Larry Seiffers, Kenny Blake, and Glenn Pavone. Norman and Warren remained friends over the years and he did short stints as Norman’s guitar player in the eighties and nineties. Warren also did short stints with The Houserockers and Torn & Frayed. He then moved to Orlando Florida for a 10-12 year period and worked as an engineer and session guitarist at Kingsnake studios. There he worked with some of the great rock and blues players in the country, Jimmy Thackery, Greg Allman, Kenny Neal, Bill Wharton, Ace Moreland, James and Lucky Petterson to name a few. Since that time he moved between Pittsburgh and Florida, and then finally settled in Pittsburgh in 2006. For the past couple of years Warren could be seen every Thursday night rippin it up with Wil E Tri. Last year Norman and Warren had the opportunity to work together once again on a studio project with mutual friends. The project was the Juke Joint Burners that we have mentioned in previous newsletters. Warren was there all through the recording, doing what he loved the most, making music. A memorial service will be held on February 6th at 1:00 PM at the H.P. Brandt Funeral Home, 1032 Perry Highway. Followed by a musical tribute hosted by Norman, Moondogs and The WPA Blues Society from 3-7 PM for friends and family at Moondogs in Blawnox. Food will be served and covered dishes & deserts will be welcomed, but not a necessity. This will be a non-profit event to honor our fallen guitar hero."
