Musician Larry Tamblyn of the Standells has died at age 82. He was the brother of Hollywood star Russ Tamblyn, who has starred in movies such as Django Unchained and Drive, and the uncle of Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants and Joan of Arcadia actress Amber Tamblyn. His nephew Dennis Tamblyn confirmed his death in a Facebook post. Paying tribute to his uncle he wrote: “A few years ago, The Standells played at Hotel Congress here in Tucson and Larry stayed with me. It was so great to hang out with him and catch up. He was still making music well into his later years. You will be missed, Uncle Larry.” His cause of death was not disclosed.
Fans were quick to pay tribute to the star upon hearing the news. "I can't think of a more iconic garage rock anthem than The Standells Dirty Water. It's defintiely one of the most memorable tunes of the era and personally I've always loved dancing to it... I was very said to hear the news... Heartfelt condolences to his nerest and dearest," one wrote. "RIP Larry Tamblyn... too many people leaving the room…" another said on Facebook.
"I was a fan of Larry Tamblyn's music with the Standells back in the day... So sorry to lose Larry. He was a a great guy," a third commented.
A fourth chimed in: "I was saddened yesterday to learn of the passing of Larry Tamblyn of the Standells... He was the living embodiement of the maxim that sometimes good guys don't wear white - and that they never wear red hats... Sincere condolences to Larry's wife Glenda and all of his friends, family and fans."
A fifth said: "Stunned by the sudden passing of rocker Larry Tamblyn... My heart goes out to his close friends and family including his wife, children, older brother Russ, nience Amber and nephew Dennis... you will be deeply missed."
Meanwhile a sixth commented: "Very saddened to hear about the passing of Larry Tambyln of the Standells. Rock on Larry, thank you for the music."
Born on February 5, 1943 in Los Angeles, California he formed the Standells in 1962 after enjoying some success as a solo artist in the late 1950s and early 1960s with songs such as Dearest, Patty Ann, This Is The Night, My Bride To Be and Destiny.
Their biggest hit Dirty Water came in 1966 and later took on a new life as the anthem of several Boston sports teams. It is played following every Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins home win. It is listed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll".
In an interview with Classic Bands he admitted the bands look was influenced by The Beatles. "We were one of the first groups to have long hair in 1963. We had seen photos of The Beatles in London before they became big here (America) and we grew our hair out. When they started to break here, we had the long hair and we were doing the same schtick at this club called The Peppermint West. They had a big sign out in front saying Beatlemania," he recalled.
In the 80s he was also responsible for a children’s album he produced for K-Tel records called “The Lolliwinks”. In 2018 he recalled the work on Facebook writing: “The Lolliwinks is a concept I created for K-Tel Records. I developed all of the characters, produced the album, wrote most of the songs, sang all of the character parts and wrote and produced the national TV commercial in 1981. Each song is a lesson, like 'Planning Ahead', sung by Blinky Thinkertinker and 'Listen if you can', sung by Farfi Fiddlefast". The Lolliwinks were almost picked up for a Saturday morning cartoon series. But alas, that fizzled out. There's not accurate account of how many albums it sold, but today there seems to be a cult following of my album.”
