Thank you to all the friends and admirers of Art for permission to use the heartfelt comments and eulogies below from their FaceBook posts.
Facebook Fans and Friends
Art Fein, June 17, 1946 – July 30, 2025 by Randy Lewis
Art Fein: A Fan’s Notes by Neal McCabe
No Room for Squares by Skip Heller
Billboard Art Fein Obituary by Paul Grein
Los Angeles Times Art Fein Obituary by August Brown
Poker Party’s Freewheeling Ace by Bob Barker, Los Angeles Times
Rock’s in My Head, available now.
Art Fein Memorial Slide Show: Aug. 13, 2025, Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Video: Don Misraje Soundtrack: Art Fein, Don Misraje, Skip Heller
Art Fein Memorial: August 13, 2025, Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Video: Don Misraje
Dave Stuckey
So, the clearest way I can say it is; my 40+ years in LA would have been *vastly* different - not as fun and almost certainly not lasted 40+ years - without Art Fein.
Art was my gateway to making all the things I already loved (rock n’ roll and Old, Weird Hollywood) - a real, living happening. Even in encounters & involvements I sought out on my own (Lux & Ivy, The Cool & The Crazy radio show, the Korla Pandit episode, the Flesheaters audition, etc), Art was always still connected in one way or another.
Though it’s been so long I don’t even remember how or where I met him (probably at his Rockabilly Wednesdays at Club Lingerie), I know by the mid-late 80’s I was in his circle, and that meant falling into his “mondo” universe. I wasn’t working for a period of time in those days, so Art knew I was free to do his cable show just about anytime, so I did a bunch of “Lil Art’s Poker Party” shows (including playing Fly-Rite Boy for a day, backing the great Johnny Powers), without the Poker Party I wouldn’t have met Timothy Carey, Hank Penny, Dr. Demento, Mr Morrison, Tav Falco, Tommy Sands, Johnny Legend, Tony Conn, The Legendary Stardust Cowboy, Paul Body, Jimmie Maslon, Todd Everett and so many others. He was also an early supporter of the Dave & Deke Combo, putting us on the show when we had just formed a few months earlier. The Public Access show wouldn’t ever crack the Nielsen Ratings, but it wasn’t a tree-falling-in-the-forest thing either. I was at a Joe Clay show in NYC in the late 80’s and a guy came up and said “Hey, I’ve seen you on Art Fein’s Poker Party!” It was the original IYKYK.
His including me in the all-night record nerd parties at Phil Spector’s house are worthy of a chapter in itself - and as a matter of fact, it *is* in his book “Rock’s In My Head”. I recommend it if you want to get a flavor of the Crazy World of Art Fein.
I loved his writing voice, whether there or in his old blog “Another Fein Mess” (sofein.com)…contrarion? Yeah. Did I agree with everything? Naw. But I loved that his bottom line was the goes-without-saying fact that real Rock n’ Roll was IT. Accept no substitutes. Long Live Jerry Lee Lewis.
Pic is just another random lunch get-together with Art, me, Ronn Spencer (Cool & The Crazy), Nino Tempo and Howard Kaylan!
It’s just a fact - I’ll never be able to think of Los Angeles without thinking of Art Fein. So long, buddy.
Paul Body
This hurts. A very important part of me has moved on. Fein Art has been booked to play the party at the top of the stairs. Art was like that brother who knew just a little more than you did, especially about music. He was a major part of the last best 50 years. Met him in front of the Roxy, he pulled UP on a motorcycle. It was a Del Shannon record release party. So it was record company people inside. We couldn't get in. 2 true Del Shannon fans shut out. The friendship started that night and it never ended. Found out that he was into Rockabilly and that he also knew Chuck E. Weiss.,,,but for me the coolest thing is that I went to his crib in the Valley once and he had had chenille bedspread. I started collecting them. Crazy, wild nights at the Troubadour, he would pull UP in yellow VW with So Fein license plate and blast out all of this crazy music that we were rediscovering. Louis Jordan, ELVIS, jump music, Louis Prima and others. Every night was a night with Art Fein and his Rock and Roll musical knowledge. The he started giving out mixtapes, holy smokes. There was that crazy Sunday when we went to her Al Green preach and ended UP in choir closet because the place was packed back. Like I said he was/is part of my blood. Because of Fein Art, we got to hang with Uncle Phil Spector and Uncle Phil was fairly calm during those times. We even got to go to a Spector session with most of Wrecking Crew. Hung with Fein Art in Paris, he wasn't in element but I was. The public access show got his message out. One of the best music shows ever. Because of that show, he was known in Austin. In '93, he said..."Body, come down for SXSW, we are like the Beatles in Austin". Not quite like the Beatles more like Gerry and Pacemakers. Damn those were some glorious times. I can't write anymore. A part of me has left, see guys we don't tell our homies that we love them, never told Fein Art that loved him but I did. I will miss him every time I breathe and guess the next time we run into each other will be at the Twistin' Place.
Jim Dawson
To follow up, Art passed away in the hospital early this morning following hip surgery. His wife Jennifer was with him last night. Art was a friend of over 40 years. He was once the nexus of so much activity here in Los Angeles with his popular cable show, "Art Fein's Poker Party" (many clips can be seen on YouTube), and his annual Elvis birthday shows at clubs around Hollywood. It was Art who introduced many of us, personally, to Phil Spector, Dion, Dwight Yoakum, and other musical legends he had befriended over the years. His exploits are a matter of record in his wild & crazy 2022 autobiography, "Rocks in My Head" (Trouser Press), complete with photos and stories of his days as John & Yoko's PR guy in Hollywood. More recently, Diane Gurman and I routinely spent time with Art by taking him out to lunch and a visit to Atomic Records in Burbank. I'm really gonna miss this guy.
Brent Walker
I think the first time I ever saw the name Art Fein may have been this 1979 Los Angeles Times article about Ray Campi & the Rockabilly Rebels’ trip to England. I still have this clipping I cut out, which sent me looking for Sammy Masters’ “Flat Feet.” (I didnt find it, there were no reissues of his material yet, but a year or so later I got a clean 45 of Pink Cadillac/Some Like It Hot for not a particular lot of money—I didn’t have much—in a Goldmine auction. interestingly, the sidebar article by Kristine McKenna was the first I’d heard of the Cramps, and within a year I’d gotten their Human Fly/Domino 45.)
A month later, I saw Art’s name again on the unfortunate obituary of Dorsey Burnette of the Rock & Roll Trio. By the next year, the Blasters had become my favorite band, and Art would become their manager (he’d also manage the Cramps briefly), and he penned this 1980 article about them in the Times. (I’ve saved these articles that i clipped back then.) I subsequently would encounter Art Fein’s name in articles he would write for publications like Kicks Magazine. I also remember an article he did about Wally Cleaver’s cool shirts on Leave It to Beaver (!) in an early 80s Orange County rockabilly zine called More Mayonnaise.
I went to some shows Art put on at the Club Lingerie in Hollywood (he of course put out the LA Rockabilly compilation), and saw him DJing. But I never actually met him until the mid-90s, and found him to be an extremely nice guy who was eager to share tape and CD mix comps that he made. He was a true proselytizer for music that he loved, and wanted everyone else to hear. He also, with Ronnie Mack, co-founded and operated the annual Elvis birthday show. One year, a band I was in called the Fleagles got to play it (thanks Greg Wallace), which was a thrill.
Art passed away a day or two ago at 79, but leaves a terrific legacy (particularly with many clips and episodes of his “Lil Art’s Poker Party” which are on Youtube). Oh, if you have Swamp Dogg’s album “I’m Not Selling Out, I’m Buying In,” that’s Art Fein second from left in the blue suit playing one of the record executives. And if you watch the movie Eating Raoul, that’s Art’s apartment at the time (complete with Philco Predicta TV) used as a set. And look for his books, the LA Musical History Tour, and his memoirs Rocks in My Head.
Cindy Lee Berryhill
RIP Art Fein. He took me and my son out to dinner in 2017 a few months after the release of my album The Adventurist. He was a believer and that meant the world to me. He talked a lot about his troubles; health issues, stuff re his ex wife, and how it was hard for him to get around. I felt for him, he was really going through some stuff. I wish I'd known him in an earlier era when he was a kind of music biz kingpin in LA. Paul had tapes of Little Arts Poker Party and I'd watched the episodes Paul was on talking about Brian Wilson. What a great show. I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for Art and how he supported musicians he dug, and how he said my record release show was like a California version of Sergent Peppers. As Paul once said in his latter days "I want to go up in the sky where the music comes from" and I'm sure you are Art Fein.
Todd Gfeller
So sad to hear of the passing of Art Fein in Los Angeles recently. Art was a music journalist, history keeper, promoter, author, actor, scene maker, label guy, TV host, raconteur and all around good guy. He managed The Cramps and for a brief while in the early 90’s he also managed a band I was in called Terror Train. His public access TV show ‘Art Fein’s Poker Party’ aired over 900 episodes in the 80’s and 90’s and featured such musical legends such as Brisn Wilson, Joe Strummer, The Stray Cats and countless other roots and rockabilly bands. He released the seminal album ‘LA Rockabilly’ in 1983, capturing the explosion of that revival scene at the time. Maps to the stars homes? Fuggitaboutit! His book “The L.A. Musical History Tour” is literally where it’s all at for music lovers visiting Los Angeles.
His influence on my life has been immeasurable and I know countless others feel the same. In so many ways he gave so many of us what we were looking for, even if we didn’t know we needed it at the time. I’m proud to have known him and called him a friend. Condolences to his family and his many friends in the LA music scene and around the world.
Rest easy, partner.
Melony Scott Smith
Thank you Art Fein. You saved us. We knew what we loved but didn't know where to find it. Or that it even existed in our time. Thank you for Rockabilly Wednesdays at The Club Lingerie. Thank you for the L.A. Rockabilly album. Thank you for your TV show. Thank you for your support of my brother, and so many bands. Thank you for the Elvis Birthday shows. Thank you for being a friend to our family. Thank you for being you. You will be missed but never forgotten.
We love you.
R.I.P. Art
❤️
Please, when you get a moment watch this. So many friends, so many familiar faces. So many already gone
❤️🩹
R.I.P.
Art Fein
Dominic Golia
Candye Kane
Damon Kaye
Jason Gross
Honoring Art Fein, a great music nut and friend, who passed away. Spent many SXSW's with him, seeing and arguing about bands. Robin and I visited him in LA and hung out with him here in NY too. Learned a hell of a lot about music from him also. At the top of my desk, I have a customized check for $0 that he sent me with pics of Elvis, Chuck and Jerry Lee on it (see below). Head over to Discogs to see some of compilations and notes he did for albums by Jerry Lee, Carl Perkins, the Blasters, Louis Prima, Louis Jordan (had a "Jordan For President" bumper sticker on his car) and more: https://www.discogs.com/artist/1141182-Art-Fein ... Also see this article he did for PSF about his younger days in Chicago: https://www.furious.com/perfect/rockininchicago.html
Luann Williams
The first time I became aware of Art Fein, I had happened upon Art Fein's Poker Party, a long-running cable access TV program filmed in Los Angeles. This particular episode featured Tav Falco and The Panther Burns, who my friends and I used to go see at the Antenna Club in Memphis all the time, so it was eye opening to know that the rest of the world "got" them. So many interviews and crazy wonderful musical performances over the years on Poker Party, from Joe Strummer to Brian Setzer to The Paladins, and yes, even Brian Wilson (google them and you will be blown away). Art was a fount of musical knowledge, very opinionated and observant, sometimes curmudgeonly, very funny, a champion of artists he believed in. Art made me pay attention to the musical genius of the great Louis Jordan, turned me on to soul legend Howard Tate and the weirdly wonderful Swamp Dogg (look for Art in the recent hilarious doc Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted), and had a seemingly endless supply of musical stories and anecdotes. I mean, who invites you to lunch with Phil Spector and Doug Fieger (from The Knack)? Art did. So I went. I last saw Art in October 2024 in the company of dear Mr. Paul Body, Art’s longtime pal, whose friendship is a blessing. Fein Art, you lived a heckuva life and you made quite an impact on me, and on many others. Pretty gutted by this news. Big
❤️
to you, Mr. Fein.
Kip Brown
So sad and shocked to hear today that my friend Art Fein has passed on. The last time I saw Art was back on 1/13/2021 during those hazy, crazy days of Covid when he stopped by the record store where I work (CD Trader, Tarzana). Art once hosted a wonderful music-oriented public access cable TV talk show called Lil Art’s Poker Party. I was honored to guest in two episodes, first back in 1990 with my future pal Miss Pamela Des Barres and her longtime friend and Captain Beefheart cohort Victor Hayden, and the other time (7/31/90) with the legendary Arthur Lee and Love and writer Domenic Priore. The earlier pic of me and Art was taken back at my store Ear Candy on November 10, 1990. I’m holding the boss album he produced, LA Rockabilly. It was also Art who officially introduced me to the late Knack legend, Doug Fieger, at the Austin Record Show, on 3/15/97. Art took this pic of the two of us just after we met. Doug and I later found out we both shared a deep respect for James Dean. Art, we’re all gonna miss you buddy. Thanks for being a friend…
Geoff Vane
Art Fein passed away. The Paladins told me about him and since then I used to chat with him every once and a while via social media.
Art is somewhat less known in Europe but he had a TV show with live music in America called “Poker Party”, among other things. Even Brian Wilson was on that show in 1988. Art was a legendary Los Angeles music historian, promoter, collector of kitsch, producer, writer and rockabilly powerhouse, his impact on the LA music scene was enormous. In the early years of the Cramps, Art was their manager and promotor. He had an enormous amount of important archive material, world heritage that never got digitized. It might be lost.
Robert Williams
I'm deeply saddened to receive word of the passing of Los Angeles music promoter, producer, writer, documentarian, and all-around Rock & Roll aficionado Art Fein. I first came to know Art Fein in the early 80s when I used to sneak into his Rockabilly night at Club Lingerie in Hollywood. My first bit of music biz rejection came from Art, who turned down my demo cassette, but delivered the bad news with some solid advice: I was singing in all the wrong keys, just outside of my range. He was right. The release of his "L.A. Rockabilly" compilation LP in 1983 set the pace for so many of us young rockin' cats. By the end of that decade, Art started booking me and my band on his "Li'l Art's Poker Party" public access TV show, giving me some valuable performance and interview experience. That show still stands as an indispensable document of the L.A. Roots music scene of the 80s and 90s, thanks to the hundreds of episodes now available on YouTube. Not a week goes by without me dipping into several of those precious rockin' time capsules. Thank you Art for all you've done for me... for what you did for all of us. RIP.
Audrey Moorehead
I was taken aback to hear long time friend and mentor Art Fein has passed. He was the real deal, rock and roll all the way, more contrarian than Bob Dylan and funnier! Domenic Priore introduced me to him and he became such a wealth of information and the best stories!!
His public access TV show, “Little Arts Poker Party” was the must see show to watch and learn from the greats! Everyone did his show and enjoyed it emmensly! He didn’t beat around the bush, he wanted real stories and he got people to spill!! Domenic and I were on his show in Austin, I have to find my copy but it was so much fun and the cameraman keep panning my legs while we were talking!
😆
We enjoyed Arts stories so much, one I remember was him going off on Ricky Nelson because he didn’t marry Lorrie Collins of the Collins kids. “Why didn’t he marry Lorrie??!!! If he had, he’d would have two great rockabilly kids instead of those weak no talent sons of his, spewing out garbage!!”
😬
🤣
it was cringy, funny and true, he didn’t mince words!
We met Jimmy O’Neal from Shindig, through Art and he became a big fan of our show! He even guest hosted!
We met Willie Dixon on Arts Poker Party along with Paul Body! Willie was the sweetest and most humble man!
Art would invite us to Phil Spectors Bowling Parties in Montrose, what a trip!! Wrecking crew, KHJ djs, once I met Ike Turner! He was fresh out of jail with his overcoat, his “girlfriend” and his briefcase full of something because he insisted she look after it while he worked the room.
🤣
Art had the best curated 50s home I had ever seen, just so cool! He introduced me to Dick Blackburn who helped us with an Its Happening Intro, and record enthusiast with a quick wit! And to Gene Sculatti who is just the nicest man. Gene wrote the “Catalog of Cool”, and asked me to be on the cover of his sequel, “Too Cool”, the best photo I ever took!
I could go on how important Art IS in my career, but this will have to do for now. Thank you Art for being the awesome Rock and Roll documentarian you are!
Go to You Tube and check out his shows, really stellar stuff!
❤️
David J Watkins is 🙁feeling sad.
R.I.P. Art Fein.
So saddened to hear of Art's passing. Such a great guy and full of so much fantastic music history knowledge. I first became acquainted with him through his weekly cable TV public access program which ran from the late 1980s into the 2000s. Where else could you tune in and see guests such as Screaming Jay Hawkins, Joe Strummer, Dwight Yoakam, Ian Whitcomb, Dion, Burton Cummings, Steve Allen, Pat Boone, Joe Lutcher and many others. Always with his standard first questions: 1. What was the first record you bought for yourself? and 2. What was the first concert you attended? Later, I got to meet Art personally and even was fortunate enough when I lived in The Valley to meet up with him and a great group of folks for weekly breakfasts at Uncle Bernies. You will be missed. Aloha, Art.
Laura Jane Willcock
I loved Art Fein from the minute I met him. He's responsible for so many opportunities for musicians - took so many chances to promote Rockabilly music, California music, Roots Rock, & of course Elvis. He had so many crazy stories, so much passion for music & loved The Paladins with all his heart - which was huge. That devilish wink in his eye! The enormous insatiable brain capable of such wondrous endeavors to document and share the entire music scene - wow! Thanks for everything, Art. My heartfelt condolences to all who loved him and those whom he loved, especially his daughter. I will miss you forever.
Gåtor McRedrum
Rock In Paradise Art Fein!
Many moons ago I was not only fortunate enough to be Glen Glenn’s bass player, but we were on Art Fein’s Poker Party once.
I wish I could find the full episode, but this is all I can ever come up with.
I remember during the interview segment one of the questions Art asked me was... what was the first album I ever bought.
My answer, LA Rockabilly!
He liked that answer.

Keep rocking Art, and we'll keep going down here for a while!
😄
David Bash
I’m very sorry to hear that Art Fein has passed. He wore so many hats in the music business, but is probably best known for his Cable Access TV show, Art Fein’s Poker Party, on which he had so many notable music guests. I’ll also never forget him because it was he who invited me to lunch with Phil Spector, only a week before Spector’s second trial, where he was found guilty of murder.
You will be missed by so many, Good Sir. RIP.
Jorge Harada
What tragic news about Art Fein. I discovered so much music from watching Art Fein’s Poker Party. Here’s my Art Fein story, involving one of my most memorable gigs.
Back in the nineties-fifties, when living in Las Vegas and playing with DRAGSTRIP 77, I received a call from Art. At this point, DRAGSTRIP 77 was a fairly well known entity, we had played at VLV #2, had done some regional gigs in So.California and Arizona, and had done our first record for Rockin' Ronny Weiser on Rollin' Rock. So, Art rings me up and says, ‘hey Jorge, I got your name from Ronny Weiser and suggested you guys for the Elvis birthday tribute at the House Of Blues with Wanda Jackson, Ray Campi, Billy Swan, and The Sprague Brothers. You’d be the local opener’ I jumped at the chance.
Now, DRAGSTRIP 77 being a high-energy and very live band, I suggested the obvious choices from the SUN catalog that were our favorites and were already in our repertoire, and he told me ‘You can’t do any of the hits. The headliners are doing all the SUN stuff and the bigger ones from RCA, so give that some thought and get back to me’. After a conversation with the rest of the band, we settled on “Latest Flame”, “Paralyzed”, “Surrender”, and another which I can’t recall; I want to say, “It’s Now Or Never”. After we got Art’s approval, and since we were gonna be the opener, we wanted to do something different and we decided to strip the show down and do the performance in the round, sitting down, with acoustic instruments and just a snare drum and brushes, inspired by Elvis’ own ’68 Comeback performance, with minimal and dramatic lighting and all wearing black. More commentary about the performance later.
The gig went off great. Art Fein congratulated us after walking off stage, and then we went to watch the rest of the show. The Sprague Brothers, followed by Ray Campi, Billy Swan, and Wanda Jackson all backed by DJ Bonebrake (from X) on drums and Skip Heller playing guitar and acting as the musical director, were just incredible. I believe Rip Masters was on piano as well.
It was an unforgettable night. Thank you Art Fein for your support of the music we love, all those episodes of Art Fein’s Poker Party, and for giving DRAGSTRIP 77 a chance. Here's one of my favorite Art Fein’s Poker Party episodes featuring The Paladins doing "Daddy Yar". RIP Art Fein.
Bryan Thomas
Very sad to hear about the death of an old L.A. friend, Art Fein, who I've just read (here on Facebook) died today, Wednesday July 30, 2025. He was 79.
That's him on the right with Paul Body, in a photo taken by the late Kent Geib at the Echo during a Grand Ole Echo show, sometime back in 2010, I think.
Paul's one of his longtime friends, and there will be many of you reading this that knew him better than I did, but I'm just glad our paths crossed in this world a few times. It was always fun when that happened.
I guess I've known Art for thirty years, which is around the first time I tracked him down to speak to him about something related to Del-Fi Records.
His book L.A. Musical History Tour: A Guide to the Rock and Roll Landmarks of Los Angeles provided the reader with little-known and fascinating details of incidents that took place here in L.A. First published in 1991, it came back into print in 1998, but I'd had a copy since I discovered it in the early '90s. I knew he'd know the answers to my questions, based on that book, and he did.
We'd talk on the phone now and then, and then I began to see him at shows and parties, but only really got to know him personally at those Grand Ole Echo (GOE) shows and backyard parties and stuff like that, but I'm sad to say I haven't talked with him in over fifteen years.
I loved listening to his take on things. He had opinions!! We even exchanged mixtapes (well, CDRs) of music we loved that we were pretty sure the other guy wouldn't know too well.
He always surprised me with the variety of artists he enjoyed listening to. I always thought he was kind of an old school rock 'n' roll and rockabilly kind of guy but he knew about a lot of different genres.
He also posted really interesting tidbits, sometimes trivia, here on Facebook, including correcting common misconceptions and mistakes that people made, which irked some but I found it endearing, like the true meaning of the word "cover" when talking about cover songs, for instance. It always bothered him when the L.A. Times (and other publications) got info wrong, or used the wrong words, or were just really stupid.
I also asked him to contribute to a blog post I did for Night Flight, back in 2017, about the film Eating Raoul (1982).
Art's apartment — furniture and furnishings included — was used for the characters played by actor-director Paul Bartel and his wife, played by Mary Woronov.
"Think they paid me $100," he told me. "My lone film credit."
I got a lot of details out of him. That's what I'll remember most about Art. He was a details guy.
I hope — if you knew Art and have read about him here — that you'll chime in with your own memories.
R.I.P. Art.
Chris Bailey
I read this morning that Art Fein has passed away. Art was a true Hollywood heavyweight. He is best known for his cable access show "Uncle Art Fein's Poker Party”. I watched it regularly. I was able to worm my way onto a couple of the shows, since they were recorded in Santa Monica.
Art was also responsible for the annual Elvis Presley Birthday tribute show/ fund raiser, which had many different locales. I got to play a few of those with the Groovy Rednecks. He was also a music consultant for a few movies.
The last time I was able to talk with Art was when he had a book release party at Golden Apple Comics on Melrose, for his fast and funny book "Rock's In My Head". He didn't remember me at first, until I got to re-introduce myself to him. I think that day really wore him out.
Here is a video of Phast Phreddie and Thee Precisions with a few fill-in musicians on the Poker Party.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQmboxFsxWs
Deke Dickerson
I'm so sorry to wake up to the news of Art Fein's passing.
Art was a superhero when it comes to the music that we love (assuming you're on my FB page): rockabilly, classic honky-tonk, blues, doo-wop, surf, 60's rock, etc. He had a long career working for record labels in the 1970s and hobnobbing with people like John Lennon. In the 1980s he produced shows in Los Angeles and compiled the "L.A. Rockabilly" album, which was the first time I heard his name. He later released a seminal book, "The L.A. Musical History Tour: A guide to the Rock 'n' Roll Landmarks of Los Angeles."
I met Art for the first time in 1990 while on tour in California with the Untamed Youth. He seemed ecstatic and also bemused seeing a bunch of young kids from Missouri playing 1960s surf and garage and jumping around the stage like monkeys. When I moved to California in 1991 and formed the Dave and Deke Combo with Dave Stuckey, we were frequent guests on Art's cable access TV show, "Art Fein's Poker Party."
"Art Fein's Poker Party" ran for decades, with hundreds (thousands?) of episodes now available for you to see on YouTube. Art was simply an Indefatigable supporter of the music that we all loved, and did everything in his lifetime to help and promote the musicians (like myself, like so many of us) in the Los Angeles scene. Art also had great stories for days. Endless great stories about the old days and people he had hobnobbed with and shows he saw, many of which he tells on the Poker Party TV shows, which I strongly urge you to watch in his memory. They're all so great.
Art got scarce a few years ago, he didn't turn up to shows and events the way he always used to. We heard he was struggling with dementia. I'm sorry to hear of Art's passing, but I also take comfort in knowing that he's in a better place. I hope that somewhere he's hanging with Ray Campi and Tony Conn and Big Jay McNeely and they're all causing a commotion at a pizza joint in the sky. Thanks for everything, Art. Safe travels.
Attached to this post is an episode of "Art Fein's Poker Party" with special guest Mojo Nixon, who also left this granite planet last year. It's just one of a million slightly unhinged episodes of "Poker Party" that you can go and watch online.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-kblkucn_c
Facebook Fans and Friends
Art Fein, June 17, 1946 – July 30, 2025 by Randy Lewis
Art Fein: A Fan’s Notes by Neal McCabe
No Room for Squares by Skip Heller
Billboard Art Fein Obituary by Paul Grein
Los Angeles Times Art Fein Obituary by August Brown
Poker Party’s Freewheeling Ace by Bob Barker, Los Angeles Times