Latest music deaths

Here's a quick update on musicians who have died over the last few weeks, not all of them through COVID-19. The Vinyl Word raises a glass to them all.

There are a couple of bluesmen. One was Big George Brock who I saw several times at the King Biscuit Festival, in Helena, and in Clarksdale and also at BB's Jazz Blues and Soups in his adopted home town of St Louis. Always very smartly dressed in colourful suits and wearing a hat, Big George played with Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf in his native Mississippi in the fifties before opening the Club Caravan in St Louis, which was the title of a Blues Award nominated album recorded in 2005.
Another oversized bluesman to have passed away is New Orleans resident Big Al Carson, aged 66, who played at Jazzfest several times (pictured in 2007) and on Bourbon Street. I wrote at the time:  'Big Al Carson more than justifies his name. He isn't just big, he's huge, but he's got a great blues voice, as regulars in the bar on Bourbon Street, where he plays most nights, can testify. As he says in one of his songs, he's 'built for comfort, not for speed'.
Irishman Ronan O'Rahilly, who has died aged 79, can claim credit for one of the biggest developments in UK radio history: he launched Radio Caroline in 1964, which spawned other pirate stations such as Radio London, Radio Atlanta and Radio 390 and led to the revolution within the BBC which produced Radio 1 and Radio 2. Prior to that he managed The Scene in London, a club that I visited on several occasions, and later produced 'Girl On a Motorcycle' starring a leather clad Marianne Faithfull, and co-founded Major Minor Records. Radio Caroline survives, although no longer at sea.
A fifties singer who has been somewhat forgotten over the years, is Carl Dobkins Jr, who had a smash hit with 'My Heart Is An Open Book' in 1959 and followed up with 'If You Don't Want My Lovin', 'Lucky Devil' and 'Exclusively Yours. Originally from Cincinnati, Carl was 79.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmK4P3Shxt4
Hamilton Bohannon, 78, was a percussionist with Motown in the 1960s who then became leader of the Fabulous Counts, which included Ray Parker and Dennis Coffey. He made his name as a disco artist when he was signed to Dakar and released the album 'Stop and Go' in 1973. He had success, particularly in the UK, with 'South African Man' and 'Disco Stomp' and, after a move to Mercury, with 'Let's Start The Dance' featuring Carolyn Crawford.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIas_yxduDw
Other recent deaths include:
Ian Whitcomb, an English singer/songwriter who had a US hit with 'You Turn Me On' in 1965. He also had success with the blues based 'This Sporting Life' but later work featured his ukelele playing on ragtime records. He was also a successful writer, beginning with 'After the Ball' in 1972.
Eddie Cooley, R and B singer and songwriter who co-wrote 'Fever' with Otis Blackwell. He had a rockabilly style US hit in 1957 with 'Priscilla', as Eddie Cooley and the Dimples.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXfY9-v9g0k
Barney Ales, promotion manager with Motown during the sixties and president of the label in the late 1970s. He also founded the Prodigal record label.
A final word, too, for singer/songwriter John Prine, whose varied life has been celebrated in many obituaries including this one in The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/apr/08/john-prine-obituary

I've just heard that Young Jessie (Obediah Jessie) has died aged 83. A member of the Flairs and, for a while, the Coasters, he made some wonderful R and B records in the mid fifties as a solo performer, including 'I Smell A Rat', 'Mary Lou', 'Hit Git and Split' and 'Shuffle In The Gravel'. I saw him a couple of times - at the Rockin' Race in 2014 and Rhythm Riot the following year - and he was a great performer. At the Riot I wrote: 'The big name of the final day was Young Jessie, now not so young at 78. but still dynamic and with a good stage act. He was wearing a dark green velvet jacket. smart tie and and brown hat but his dapper look was slightly spoilt by a minor wardrobe malfunction which he dealt with in good humour. '24 Hours A day' was followed by 'I Smell A Rat and one of his big hits 'Mary Lou', all sung with great energy. Other numbers included 'Oochie Coochie, 'Lonesome Desert' (featuring some scat singing), 'Shuffle In the Gravel', and 'It Don't Happen No More, before finishing with his biggest record 'Hit Git and Split'. An Excellent set and much enjoyed.' RIP Obie.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2W_YWsQ2qU