Bettye Crutcher RIP

Sorry to hear of the death of singer and songwriter Bettye Crutcher at the age of 83, who, as a member of the We Three songwriting trio with Homer Banks and Raymond Jackson, was one of the few female songwriters at Stax. She was also a fine singer, as her sole 1974 album, 'Long As You Love Me', demonstrated. She wrote, or co-wrote all the songs on the LP as well as songs such as 'Somebody's Sleeping In My Bed' and 'Who's Making Love' for Johnnie Taylor and 'My Whole World Is Falling Down' for William Bell. Among the many artists who recorded her songs were Albert King, Barbara Mason, Carla Thomas, the Temprees, J Blackfoot, Etta James, Ann Peebles, the Mad Lads, the Staple Singers, Otis Clay, Sam and Dave, Little Sonny and the Sweet Inspirations. Some of her songs were recorded by Shirley Brown including 'Long As You Love Me', 'Passion' and 'It's Worth A Whippin''. After her time at Stax she set up an antiques business but was a frequent visitor to the Stax museum and foundation in Memphis and worked with students there.

Another recent death is that of rockabilly revivalist Robert Gordon, at the age of 75. He first recorded in 1964 with a group called the Confidentials and emerged in the seventies with punk rock band the Tuff Darts. A collaboration with Link Wray brought him greater attention, including 'Fresh Fish Special', which also featured the Jordanaires. He also worked with Chris Spedding extensively, including his solo album 'Rock Billy Boogie' and toured Europe several times. I only saw Gordon once - at the Rockin' Race in Spain in February 2020 (pictured below) when he appeared with Darrel Higham. It wasn't a great performance and I wrote at the time: 'Final act for me, were Darrel Higham and Robert Gordon. Darrel did three numbers, including 'Dark Haired Woman' and 'Ghost Of Love', and performed them well, before Robert Gordon came on stage, looking perhaps a little the worse for wear. He strutted around the stage grimacing and posing, but to be fair his voice came across strongly on numbers such as Jack Scott's 'The Way I Walk', 'I'll Be Your Lover Boy', 'I'm Coming Home' and 'Little Boy Sad'.

A final word, too, for California DJ and promoter Art Laboe (97) who owned Original Sound Records and had hits with Preston Epps, Sandy Nelson and Dyke & The Blazers plus 15 volumes of 'Oldies But Goodies' albums.