Recent music deaths

There have been quite a few music deaths recently - not big names perhaps, but still a loss to those like me who value soul and blues. Carnell Butler appeared only a few weeks ago at the Detroit A Go Go weekend in Cleethorpes as lead singer of Detroit group the Dynamics. I saw them two years ago at the similarly named festival in his home city (pictured above) and enjoyed the group's performance. The Dynamics first attracted attention in 1963 with 'Misery', a song which was copied by the early Who incarnation the High Numbers and renamed 'Zoot Suit'. When I saw them the Dynamics sang a couple of numbers from their early seventies LP 'Final Landing' and Carnell was excellent as lead vocalist. But a check of the album reveals that he didn't play any part in the original recording and wasn't a member when 'Misery' was recorded either. Another example of groups reinventing themselves I guess.

Another death is that of blues singer Willie Cobb (or Cobbs), aged 89, who recorded in Chicago with the likes of Little Walter. His 1960 recording 'You Don't Love Me', recorded for Mojo in Memphis, was a minor hit but went on to be covered by various artists including John Mayall, Junior Wells, Ike and Tina Turner, Albert King and Sonny and Cher. A reggae version by Dawn Penn recorded in 1967 went on to become a major hit in the nineties. Willie later recorded for various labels including 'Worst Feeling (I Ever Had)' for his own Riceland label.

Birmingham band UB40 played a big role in bringing some of the great rocksteady and early reggae songs of a decade earlier to a wider audience and Astro (Terence Wilson), who was one of the main vocalists in the band, was central to that. He has died at the young age of 64, just a few weeks after the death of another member of the band, sax player Brian Travers. UB40's many hits included attractive reworkings of 'Red Red Wine', 'Please Don't Make Me Cry'. 'Many Rivers To Cross', 'Cherry Oh Baby', 'I Got You Babe' and 'Breakfast In Bed (with Chrissie Hynde) and 'Can't Help Falling In Love'. Successful albums included 'Signing Off', 'Present Arms', 'Labour of Love' and 'Rat In the Kitchen'.

Another early reggae artist of note who has died is Jamaican ska and reggae singer Ernest Wilson who was a founder member of the Clarendonians who had a number of successes in the mid sixties with records produced by Coxsone Dodd. Ernest went solo enjoying hits with 'Money Worries', 'Storybook Children' and 'Private Number' and duets with Freddy McGregor on 'Let Them Talk' and 'What You Gonna Do About It'. There are a couple of other deaths which shouldn't be overlooked. Bob Fisher was well known to many blues and soul fans in the UK for his work with Motown in the seventies and later Fantasy, Charly and Sequel, which he founded, as well as his love for the Four Seasons. He will be much missed as will several other others associated with the UK music scene including Nick Sands, a record executive with CBS in the seventies and possessor of an excellent collection of records and posters, who died a few months ago. Also R and B historian Peter Grendysa, who wrote sleeve notes for many releases by Bear Family, Atlantic, Rhino and Columbia among others. The Vinyl Word wishes RIP to them all.