Ethan James (1946 - June 19, 2003) was a musician

Musician

A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

, record producer

Record producer

A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

, and recording engineer best known for his work on the Minutemen's seminal album Double Nickels on the Dime

Double Nickels on the Dime

Double Nickels on the Dime is the third studio album by American punk trio Minutemen, released on the Californian independent record label SST Records in 1984...

. He also produced and engineered albums for such acts as Black Flag

Black Flag (band)

Black Flag was an American punk rock band formed in 1976 in Hermosa Beach, California. The band was established by Greg Ginn, the guitarist, primary songwriter and sole continuous member through multiple personnel changes in the band...

, The Bangles

The Bangles

The Bangles are an American all-female band that originated in the early 1980s, scoring several hit singles during the decade.-Formation and early years :...

, Rain Parade

Rain Parade

The Rain Parade was a band active in the Paisley Underground scene in Los Angeles in the 1980s.-History:The band was founded by college roommates Matt Piucci and David Roback in 1981, originally as The Moving Sidewalks. David's brother Steven Roback joined the band shortly thereafter...

, Dos

Dos (band)

Dos is an American punk group composed of Mike Watt and Kira Roessler, who both sing and play bass guitar. Critic Greg Prato describes their unusual instrumentation as "a haunting yet intriguing and original sound."...

, and many others. Many of these recordings were undertaken at Radio Tokyo Studio, the recording facility he founded in the early 1980s.

Under his real name, he was a member of the heavy metal

Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

 band Blue Cheer

Blue Cheer

Blue Cheer was an American psychedelic blues-rock band that initially performed and recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was sporadically active until 2009...

 not long after they released their hit cover of "Summertime Blues". He was considered a master of the hurdy gurdy

Hurdy gurdy

The hurdy gurdy or hurdy-gurdy is a stringed musical instrument that produces sound by a crank-turned rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to a violin...

, a medieval instrument, and was also noted for playing the symphonium. He returned to performing in 1989. He performed with the San Francisco Mozart Festival Orchestra, among others.

James died of complications from liver cancer

Hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common type of liver cancer. Most cases of HCC are secondary to either a viral hepatitide infection or cirrhosis .Compared to other cancers, HCC is quite a rare tumor in the United States...

 in San Francisco.