Sue Thompson RIP + others

I was sorry to hear of the death of Sue Thompson, who had several catchy girl group flavoured pop hits in the sixties. She was 96 when she died and was a good 15 to 20 years older than many of her female contemporaries in the pop charts, but a string of songs written by John D Loudermilk gave her a strong run of success. Her first hit 'Sad Movies (Make Me Cry)' reached number five in the US in 1961 and follow ups such as 'Norman', 'James (Hold The Ladder Steady)' and 'Paper Tiger' were equally successful in the US and Australia. In the UK her songs faced inevitable competition from cover versions, in particular Carol Deene, who recorded no fewer than three of the above. When her pop success came to an end Sue moved into the country field, including several records with Don Gibson.

Another artist who has died is sax man Pee Wee Ellis, aged 80, who played on and co-wrote a number of James Brown hits including 'Cold Sweat' and 'Say It Loud I'm Black And I'm Proud'. In the seventies he was musical director for Kudu records, working with artists such as George Benson and Esther Phillips, and later played with Van Morrison's band for several years. Pee Wee appeared at Porretta in 2019 playing with Australia's Sweethearts group and also bringing some credibility to the act by Swiss group Re:Funk.

Another recent death, at the age of 77, is that of George Frayne IV, better known as Commander Cody, whose band the Lost Planet Airmen played an exciting mix of Western swing, rockabilly and country rock. The band got a record contract with Paramount on moving to California in 1969 and produced a series of excellent albums with eye catching comic strip covers, including 'Lost In the Ozone', 'Hot Licks, Cold Steel and Truckers Favorites' and 'Live From Deep In The Heart of Texas.'

It's farewell too to Sarah Dash, who was a member of the Blue Belles which became Patti LaBelle and the Blue Belles and eventually LaBelle. The groups' first hit 'I Sold My Heart To The Junkman' in 1962 was followed by others such as 'Danny Boy', 'All Or Nothing'. 'Over The Rainbow' and 'Take Me For A Little While' and Labelle had a huge hit with 'Lady Marmalade'. After the group broke up Sarah had considerable solo success and also toured with the Rolling Stones and developed her own one woman show. The Vinyl Word raises a glass to them all.