Recently, I've begun to think that maybe the Mayans—or more accurately, some interpreters of the Mayan calendar—were right. I've seen a great deal of personal loss this year. Musically, I learned that a guitarist I had played with had died. Before we worked together he had played with the early group, The Music Machine, and had one hit, "Talk, Talk." Later, he had played with Ike and Tina Turner, and claimed to me that it was he who had convinced Ike to play "Proud Mary." More recently, the far-better known Jon Lord, keyboard player for the original Deep Purple, passed on. His playing had greatly influenced my own. More personally, several people, including relatives, have passed on