Gaynel Hodge and others RIP

It's time to catch up on some recent music deaths which, sadly, continue to be plentiful.
The latest is Gaynel Hodge, formerly of the Hollywood Flames and the Turks, at the age of 83. Gaynel co-wrote the Penguins' 'Earth Angel', with Jesse Belvin and Curtis Williams, and was on the original version of the Platters' 'Only You'. A long time resident of the Netherlands, I first saw him at the Rhythm Riot in 2015 and he was one of the stars of the Tales From The Woods doowop show two years ago. On both occasions, backed by Spanish doowop group the Four (Velvet) Candles, he was excellent. When I chatted to him at the record shop in Rye during Rhythm Riot (pictured below) he came across as a delightful guy who had a fund of stories about the west coast music scene in the 1950s and whose importance in pop music history has been under-appreciated.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJcGi4-n_Yw

Gaynel at the 2018 TFTW doowop show.

Another recent death is that of extrovert blues man Lucky Peterson, aged 55, who was equally at home on both keyboards and guitar. A true showman, I saw him several times, including at Jazzfest in 2007 and the King Biscuit Festival in 2015 (pictured). Lucky started his career young, when he was discovered at his father's club in Buffalo by Willie Dixon at the age of five and appeared on prime Time US TV singing a cover of James Brown's 'Please Please Please'.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gruI4_C4MQA

New Orleans produced many great R and B artists in the fifties and sixties and one of its less well
known singers, but clearly one of the best, was Raymond Lewis, who has died. Raymond was a member of Huey's Smith's Clowns and recorded several 45s for Instant in the sixties, with superb backing from Allen Toussaint, including 'I'm Gonna Put Some Hurt On You' and 'Miss Sticks', both of which are quite brilliant examples of the genre.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_Yay8tV0so    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8bzhPntBLA
It's a few weeks ago now but I cannot let the death of Earl Green, one of the UK's few authentic blues singers, go unremarked. Originally from Jamaica, Earl was a member of Otis Grand and the Dance Kings before starting his own band in the 1990s. He was a regular on the UK blues scene and one of the best. He's pictured here on stage with Eddie Floyd and Vaneese Thomas at the Half Moon in Putney in 2011.

It's farewell too to Phil May, singer with the Pretty Things who were in many ways the biggest challengers to the Rolling Stones in the 1960s with their in your face style of R and B. Their 1968 album 'S F Sorrow' is much admired and singles such as 'Rosalyn', 'Don't Bring me Down', 'Honey I Need' and 'Midnight To Six Man' brought them chart success. They continued to play well into the 2000s.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOgjEZJokvc