Tributes paid to Simeon Coxe of electronic duo Silver Apples, who has died at 82

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Simeon Coxe, founding member of the electronic duo Silver Apples, has died at the age of 82.

According to the musician’s obituary on AL.com, Coxe died on Tuesday, September 8 in Fairhope, Alabama.

“He was an artist and a news reporter-producer for WKRG, TV, Mobile, AL in the 1970’s, as well as other out of state TV stations in the 70’s and 80’s,” the obituary reads. “He is famously best known worldwide for his seminal work in electronic music with his band, Silver Apples.”

“He is survived by a brother, David S. Coxe (Foster); a nephew, Aaron Coxe and family and long term companion, creative collaborator, Lydia Winn LeVert.”

A number of musicians and journalists have paid tribute to Coxe, including Geoff Barrow of Portishead, who called him “an inspiration not just musically but in life”. See his post and others below.

RIP Simeon Cox
What an amazing guy he was
an inspiration not just musically But in life as we hung out many times over the years
Hopefully now him and Danny can play as silver apples in the sky as they were supposed
very sad x
Thx to @adrianutley for introducing them to me pic.twitter.com/Ilc3hKP0zZ

— Geoff Barrow (@jetfury) September 9, 2020

Farewell to Simeone Coxe of experimental psychedelic rock band Silver Apples. You can hear their musical influence on Portishead to Beak, Suicide to Stereolab. Tripped out slippery electronic music of the future, for alwayshttps://t.co/rdjPWQej7b

— Robin Rimbaud – Scanner (@robinrimbaud) September 9, 2020

Rotten news to wake up to about the death of Simeon Coxe aka Silver Apples. Was lightyears ahead of people in what he was doing. Also, beyond lovely. I interviewed him several times – including just last year – and he was overjoyed at SA's legacy & still being able to make music. pic.twitter.com/2fkHw46MDs

— Daniel Dylan Wray (@DanielDylanWray) September 9, 2020

I’m very sad to hear about the death of Simeon Coxe of Silver Apples, who was a lovely guy and musical pioneer.

Here he is in conversation with Graham Sutton of Bark Psychosis. https://t.co/fbwuFZda2I pic.twitter.com/cNbkn1bIuI

— John Doran (@JahDuran) September 9, 2020

Coxe was born in East Tennessee in 1938 and raised in New Orleans. Silver Apples formed in the late ’60s after Coxe and drummer Danny Taylor broke off from their old band, the Overland Stage Electric Band.

The pair’s music was unprecedented at the time, with Coxe developing his own electronic rig dubbed “The Simeon” that according to Red Bull Music Academy comprised 16 oscillators, foot pedals, telegraph switches, wah-wah pedals, Echoplexes and more.

Silver Apples released their titular debut album in 1968, followed by ‘Contact’ a year later. Around that time, they were also jamming with Jimi Hendrix, with whom they recorded a version of ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ prior to his Woodstock performance.

“Yeah, the tapes would sometimes roll when we were playing together and some of that has survived,” Coxe said in a 2010 interview with Geoff Barrow. “We found a two-track dub of Hendrix and me working on the ‘Star Spangled Banner’.”

After the release of their second album, the duo split up in 1970, with Coxe enlisting keyboardist  Xian Hawkins and drummer Michael Lerner to restart the band in 1996. Coxe and Taylor later reunited, releasing ‘The Garden’ in 1998. Later that year, Coxe was severely injured in a car accident.

Taylor passed away from cancer in 2005, leaving Coxe to continue on solo. He recorded the last Silver Apples album in 2016, ‘Clinging To A Dream’.

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