Three more soul and blues artists pass on

Sadly it's time to pay tribute to a trio of soul and blues artists who have died recently. Bobby Hendricks, who has died at the age of 84, had success in both the rock and roll and early soul fields. He was a member of the Crowns, the Swallows and the Flyers before joining the Drifters where he sang lead on 'Drip Drop' in 1958. He went solo and had a big hit with 'Itchy Twitchy Feeling' which reached number five in the US R and B charts. Further singles included 'Little John Green', backed with 'Sincerely My Lover', released in the UK on Top Rank, and 'I'm Coming Home' on Mercury. For over 40 years he toured with Bill Pinkney's Original Drifters but made a rare solo appearance at Viva Las Vegas in 2016 (pictured above) and made a big impact. I wrote at the time: 'First up was Bobby Hendricks, looking great in a smart dark suit, brown shirt and white hat, who was backed by Lil Mo and the Dynaflos. Kicking off with Clyde McPhatter's 'A Lover's Question', he continued with 'Drip Drop', a song he sang lead on while with The Drifters. Then it was Drifters material with 'Fools Fall In Love' and 'Money Honey', the ballad 'A Thousand Dreams' and his big solo hit 'Itchy Twitchy Feeling'. Mesmerising stuff from a singer who I thought I would never get to see.'

Another recent death is that of Baton Rouge blues guitarist James Johnson, aged 82, who played with Slim Harpo and whose guitar playing was behind the 'chicken scratch' on 'Baby Scratch My Back'. He played on many of Harpo's classic sides including 'Rainin' In My Heart' and made regular appearances around Baton Rouge. James appeared at the Ponderosa Stomp in New Orleans in 2011 (pictured below) alongside Warren Storm and Lazy Lester in an Excello tribute.

The third recent death is that of Jimmy Thomas (83) who was a vocalist with Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm and later with the Ike and Tina Turner Revue. Jimmy recorded several solo singles for Sue and two of Ike Turner's labels and met up with Denny Cornell and Tony Visconti when Ike and Tina's Revue toured the UK in 1966 who encouraged him to learn production. He recorded 'Where There's A Will (There's A Way)' for Mirwood and relocated to London in 1969. His 45 'The Beautiful Night' was released on Parlophone in 1969 but withdrawn and later became a Northern Soul favourite, making the original single highly collectable. He wrote and produced an album called 'Abyss' for John Abbey's Contempo label in 1973 and went on to form his own Osceola label in 1979.

Guitar Shorty and Art Rupe RIP

With thoughts of going to my first Porretta Soul Festival in three years later this year very much in mind I was sad to hear of the death of yet another artist who has appeared at the festival. This time it's Guitar Shorty, who was one of the stars of the 2014 line up (pictured above with me). Guitar Shorty (real name David Kearney) was 87 years old and got his nickname when, aged 16, he appeared on a billboard reading 'The Walter Johnson Band featuring Guitar Shorty'. He joined the Ray Charles band and recorded his first record in 1957 for Cobra called 'You Don't Treat Me Right' produced by Willie Dixon. He appeared at the Dew Drop Inn in New Orleans and then moved to Los Angeles to play with Sam Cooke. After some years away from the business he recorded for JSP, Black Top and Alligator and appeared on a Bo Diddley tribute album in 2002. I first saw Guitar Shorty at the Black Top night at Jimmy's club in New Orleans in 1993 (see bottom photo). He was noted for his gymnastic approach and I remember him performing forward somersaults while still playing his guitar. I don't recall any such athleticism at Porretta but I do recall that, good though it was, Shorty's heavy blues didn't really fit in there. I wrote: 'First on was Guitar Shorty who provided some heavy blues with 'The Blues Has Got Me' and 'It's Too Late', during which he toured the audience and carried on playing as he went behind the stage. He followed with 'Born Under A Bad Sign' but in the end his set was just too heavy as he strayed into Jimi Hendrix territory with 'Hey Joe'. Shorty's a great showman but not really right for the festival.' Later that year I saw Shorty at the King Biscuit festival where he also impressed and certainly fitted in there.

A final word too for Art Rupe, founder of Specialty Records, who has died at the grand old age of 104. Art was responsible for overseeing the transition of R and B and gospel music into full blooded rock and roll with an incredible line up of artists, including Roy Milton, the Soul Stirrers, Lloyd Price, Guitar Slim, Sam Cooke, Larry Williams and Little Richard. He originally founded Juke Box Records which had success with Roy Milton's'R M Blues' and eventually formed Specialty in 1946 with early success with Jimmy and Joe Liggins and Percy Mayfield as well as gospel with the Pilgrim Travellers and the Soul Stirrers. Art's move into rock and roll began with 'Lawdy Miss Clawdy' by Lloyd Price, with Fats Domino on piano, before breaking out on the world stage with Little Richard, plus Larry Williams and Roddy Jackson. When Sam Cooke began his solo career Art missed out as he thought that 'You Send Me' didn't fit with his other artists and Sam ended up recording for the Keen label. But there was no doubting Art's enormous influence on the development of rock and roll. He had a reputation for not paying royalties (as did most label owners of the time) but objected to payola and eventually left the recording business to concentrate on oil and gas interests. But he remained in the business as a music publisher and enjoyed success in the reissue business during the rock and roll revival of the early seventies. The UK Specialty label produced a number of excellent compilations and LPs by the likes of Frankie Lee Sims, Don and Dewey and Clifton Chenier. He eventually sold Specialty to Fantasy Records in 1991.

Fred Johnson of the Marcels

Several times in previous years at around this time I have been to the Long Island Doowop weekend to enjoy fifties sounds from surviving doowop groups. It was a rare occasion that we were among the younger people in the audience, despite being well into our late sixties or early seventies at the time. It was a great weekend and I'm glad to say it is continuing next weekend, although this time I won't be there. There are fewer and fewer original members of doowop groups still alive so the line up this year is augmented by several pop singers of a slightly later era including Brian Hyland, Chris Montez, Ronnie Dove, Little Peggy March, Dickie Lee and Joey Dee. There are still some genuine doowop acts on show including Herb Reed's Platters (despite Herb and all original Platters no longer being around), Cleveland Still and the Dubs, Jimmy Gallagher of the Passions, Norman Fox and the Rob Roys, Jay Seigel's Tokens, the Capris and the Eternals. One doowop group that sadly I did not get to see was the Marcels, who have the distinction of recording what must have been the biggest doowop hit ever in the UK, 'Blue Moon' in 1961. All original members of the Marcels have now passed away, the last being the bass singer Fred Johnson who died two weeks ago at the age of 80. Fred's booming voice was a key part of all the group's hits including follow up successes such as 'Summertime', 'You Are My Sunshine', 'Heartaches' and 'My Melancholy Baby'. I loved all of these and have the UK issues on Pye Internional. But their sole LP, 'Blue Moon', eluded me until I came across it at 'Island Sound', a record shop on Long Island during one of our trips. Our visit there was pretty memorable as we stumbled on a Saturday morning meet up of veteran New York doowop fans who treated us to a stream of reminiscences about the old days and even a bit of doowop harmony. As for the Marcels, the original group was multi racial, with two white members, Richard Knauss and Gene Bricker alongside black members Fred Johnson, lead singer Cornelius Harp and Ronald Mundy. Unfortunately the two white members left the goup after racial problems in the south to be replaced by Allen Johnson and Walt Maddox. The group became a quartet following the departure of Mundy although the original group reformed briefly in 1975 and Fred Johnson formed his own version of the group in the nineties leading to a lawsuit brought by Maddox. I hope next weekend's show goes well and I wish I was there. But at least I have now booked flights for a US trip in September taking in music in Austin and Nashville which will be my first to the US since 2019.

Bobby Rydell passes on

Another major music figure of the early sixties has died, this time the 'wild one' himself Bobby Rydell at the age of 79. Bobby won a talent show in his home town of Philadelphia in 1950 and appeared on 'Paul Whiteman's TV Teen Club' before signing a record deal with Cameo records. His first hit was 'Kissin' Time' in 1959 and he followed this up with a string of pop hits including 'We Got Love', 'Wild One' (his biggest hit reaching the number four position in the UK), 'Swinging School' (said to be an infleunce on Lennon and McCartney when writing 'She Loves You'), a cover of 'Volare', 'Sway', 'Good Time Baby', 'That Old Black Magic', 'I've Got Bonnie', 'I'll Never Dance Again', 'Forget Him', 'The Cha Cha Cha', 'Wildwood Days' and 'Butterfly Baby'. He recorded several duets with fellow Cameo Parkway artist Chubby Checker and appeared in the movie version of 'Bye Bye Baby' with Ann Margret and Dick Van Dyke. In 1964 he signed for Capitol but by this time the British invasion had taken its toll on American solo acts and a later move to Reprise failed to bring him any significant hits. In later years he toured with fellow Philadelphians Frankie Avalon and Fabian under the name of the Golden Boys. Bobby's hits were well produced and his distinctive voice helped make them highly commercial yet he suffered from being accused by hardcore rock fans of being one of the 'Bobbies' who helped to kill original rock and roll. Despite that he made his mark and it's no coincidence that the high school in 'Grease' was named Rydell High. Bobby's records made regular appearances in my personal top ten in the early sixties with 'Good Time Baby', 'That Old Black Magic', 'I've Got Bonnie' and 'I'll Never Dance Again' making the top three. RIP.

Another recent death is that of New Orleans club owner and performer Chris Owens at the age of 89. Chris was a NOLA legend whose club on Bourbon Street was something of a landmark with its eye-catching photos of Chris in full flow. I remember seeing Chris at my first Jazzfest in 1989 (see photo).

Donald 'Tabby' Shaw RIP

Very sad to hear of the death in a drive by shooting in Kingston of Donald 'Tabby' Shaw, aged 67, lead singer of the Mighty Diamonds, one of Jamaica's finest harmony groups who made a series of excellent albums from the mid seventies onwards. Formed in 1969 the trio were influenced by soul groups such as the Temptations and the Impressions and after several successful records produced by Stranger Cole, Derrick Harriott and Lee 'Scratch' Perry they recorded their first LP 'Right Time' for Virgin in 1976. Their second album, 'Ice On Fire', was produced by Allen Toussaint in New Orleans and they went on to record some 40 albums over the following 30 years. I remember seeing them a couple of times in the nineties and being very impressed. One of these shows was in 1996 at the Rhythmic, a short lived venue in Islington where I also saw Rufus Thomas, Bo Diddley, Marlena Shaw with Jean Carne, and Teddy Royal with Hank Crawford. Does anybody remember that excellent music venue? And a second member of the Mighty Diamonds, Fitzroy 'Bunny' Diamond, has also died just four days after Tabby passed away. He was 70 and had been suffering from diabetes. Another Jamaican artist to have died is Nathaniel Ian Wynter, (67) also known as Natty Wailer, who was best known for his work with Bob Marley and the Wailers. RIP to them all.