Rankin died Sunday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in
His career, which spanned more than five decades, almost defied categorization. A well-regarded guitarist, he played in
Rankin appeared on
As a singer with a velveteen tenor voice, he had highly successful covers of the Beatles' "Blackbird" and "Penny Lane" in the mid-1970s and in 1976 recorded an LP of standards, "The Kenny Rankin Album," with a large orchestra conducted by Don Costa.
In a review of a 2000 Rankin performance at a San Fernando Valley jazz club, critic Don Heckman wrote in The Times: "Rankin has been -- for a decade or more -- a singer whose unusual improvisational skills and innate capacity to deliver a melody with a strong sense of swing stamp him as a consistently appealing jazz artist."
In addition to Reddy's version of "Peaceful," jazz singers Carmen McRae and Mel Torme recorded versions of Rankin's and Ruth Batchelor's "Haven't We Met."
Rankin was born Feb. 10, 1940, and grew up in the
One of his major influences was
"She profoundly changed my musical life and affected it to this day, more than anyone or anything else," Rankin told the Globe and Mail newspaper in Toronto in 2007. "She was deep, dark and light, the spectrum of passion."
His peak recording years were in the 1970s, when he released the LPs "Silver Morning," "Inside" and "The Kenny Rankin Album."
Rankin is survived by his son, Chris; daughters Gena and Chanda; and a granddaughter.
A memorial service is being planned in Los Angeles.
jon.thurber@latimes.com