A glittering career behind him

As Gary Glitter deservedly languishes in a Vietnamese jail after his guilty verdict, thoughts turn to other rather more significant musicians who have done bird in the past. Among the most famous are Chuck Berry (for alleegedly transporting an under age girl across a state line for prostitution, and later for tax evasion), James Brown (various times in his youth and most recently for domestic violence) and Ike Turner (drugs, rather than wife beating). Leadbelly carved out a career while inside for murder and other bluesmen to have seen the inside of a cell include Bukka White and Champion Jack Dupree (as a Japanese prisoner of war). One of the greatest R & B singers of the 50s Little Willie John died in 1968 while doing time for manslaughter. Several have been locked up for drugs offences including Wilson Pickett, Johnny Cash, John Phillips (of Mamas and Papass), Sly Stone and Steve Earl, while the great Jamaican ska trombonist Don Drummond died in an asylum in 1969, five years after being found guilty of murdering an exotic dancer. No doubt there are many other musicians (and I'm not counting those of the 80s onwards) who have been inside. Contributions are welcomed.