Grammy-winning musician Larry Knechtel dies in Wash.
YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) - Larry Knechtel of Yakima, an award-winning keyboard artist and guitarist who accompanied generations of leading musicians and combos, is dead at 69.
Knechtel died Thursday of an apparent heart attack. His death was confirmed by a spokesman for Valley Hills Funeral Home in Yakima.
Knechtel was born in Bell, Calif., and performed live and in studio recordings with a wide range of artists, including Neil Diamond, Randy Newman, Ray Charles, The Beach Boys, The Doors, Elvis Presley, Hank Williams Jr. and Elvis Costello.
He earned a Grammy award for his arrangement of Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water," played keyboard on the Dixie Chicks' Grammy award-winning album "Taking the Long Way" and performed on the Hammond organ for the group's tour of the same name.
Knechtel moved to Yakima in 2003.
Knechtel died Thursday of an apparent heart attack. His death was confirmed by a spokesman for Valley Hills Funeral Home in Yakima.
Knechtel was born in Bell, Calif., and performed live and in studio recordings with a wide range of artists, including Neil Diamond, Randy Newman, Ray Charles, The Beach Boys, The Doors, Elvis Presley, Hank Williams Jr. and Elvis Costello.
He earned a Grammy award for his arrangement of Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water," played keyboard on the Dixie Chicks' Grammy award-winning album "Taking the Long Way" and performed on the Hammond organ for the group's tour of the same name.
Knechtel moved to Yakima in 2003.