Recent music deaths

It's time to catch up on some recent music deaths. The latest is that of Doug Ingle, (78), founder, organist and vocalist with Iron Butterfly, whose recorded work was an influence on later hard rock and heavy metal bands. Formed in San Diego in 1966 their early albums included 'Heavy' and their best seller 'In-A-Gada-Da Vidda' in 1968. According to drummer Ron Bushy, Ingle wrote the song while drinking a gallon of wine. Bushy wrote down the words and the eventual title came about because Ingle was slurring his words. It was supposed to be 'In The Garden Of Eden'. Other albums included 'Ball' and 'Metamorphosis'. Ingle left the band in 1971 but returned for several reunions.

Another death is that of Randy Fuller, who was the brother of Bobby Fuller whose band the Bobby Fuller Four had great success with 'I Fought The Law' before Bobby's untimely death. Randy, who was the band's bass player, co-wrote several of the songs on their first album 'KRLA King Of The Wheels'. Originally from El Paso the band moved to LA in 1964 where they recorded with Bob Keane for his Mustang label. After Bobby's death Randy continued to record as the Randy Fuller Four without much success. He co-wrote a biography of his brother called 'The Life and Strange Death of Bobby Fuller' with Mirian Linna, owner of Norton Records.

Jimmy James, who has died aged 83, was born in Jamaica and formed his band the Vagabonds in 1960 before relocating to the UK four years later. Their first LP 'Presenting The Vagabonds' was released prior to that move on Island and when Jimmy and his band arrived in the UK they quickly established themselves, acting as support for the Who and Steampacket. They played several times on the same bill as Jimi Hendrix and released their first UK album 'The New Religion' in 1966 on the Pye label. Their live performance was captured on the 'London Swings - Live At The Marquee Club.' The band folded in 1970 but Jimmy formed a new band with white musicians and had disco and soul success in the seventies with 'I'll Go Where the Music Takes Me' and 'Now Is The Time'. The band had over 50 members at various times between 1960 and Jimmy's final appearance in 2021.

Just before I went to the US I heard of the death of the great guitarist Duane Eddy at the age of 86. Many tributes have been made about his sterling career, his relationship with producer Lee Hazlewood and his many hits. I was able to see him on several occasions, the most recent being in 2012 in Basingstoke when he was promoting his latest album 'Road Trip' which was recorded in Sheffield and produced by Richard Hawley. He was an ever present in the UK charts of the early sixties. He had eight entries in my personal chart between 1960 and 1962 and I own nearly all of his early records, including well over a dozen LPs.

Finally we say goodbye to Australian balladeer and yodeller Frank Ifield at the age of 86. I can't say that I was ever a big fan but he was undoubtedly a big star in 1962/3 reaching UK number one with 'I Remember You', 'Lovesick Blues', 'The Wayward Wind' and 'I'm Confessin'.

Photos from the US road trip

So we're back after our 3000 mile American road trip that started and ended in Minneapolis and took in Albert Lea, Clear Lake, Des Moines, Omaha, Kansas City, Memphis, Clarksdale, St Louis, Hannibal, Fort Madison, Davenport and Dubuque plus a lot of other towns along the way. Here are some music related photos from the trip. The above photo shows Los Straitjackets above and Wasted Major below, at the Turf Club in Minneapolis.

John Howard and me in Albert Lea.

Here's a photo of the rather understated memorial to Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper at the crash site in Clear Lake.

This is Ray Wylie Hubbard who we saw at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake.

Here I am at 12th Street and Vine in Kansas City.

This is Chris Cain at the Blues Jam at Alfreds on Beale Street, Memphis.

This is Terrie Odabi at the same show.

Here's a pic of me with Terrie.

This is Mr Sipp.

Me with Mr Sipp in Beale Street.

This is Tierinii Jackson, lead singer of Southern Avenue.

Singer at Wild Bill's in Memphis with Big Don Valentine playing some southern soul and blues.

Big A Sherrod at the Blues Caravan Festival in Clarksdale.

Guitar Frenchie and Stan Street at the Hambone Art Gallery in Clarksdale.

Watermelon Slim at the Bluesberry Cafe.

Here's Johnny Rawls playing with Bob Corritorre at the Hambone.

Here's one of me with Johnny Rawls.

Johnny Rawls with John Primer with Dave Keller on guitar.

Gunnar Samson of the Rockin' 88s at the Blues City Cafe in Memphis.

John Stowe dancing in the Blues City Cafe.

John McVey band in Hammerstone's in St Louis.

Chuck Berry display at the National Blues Museum in St Louis.

Jim's Journey museum in Hannibal.

John Primer in Davenport.

Back to Minneapolis

The American road trip is nearing its end and we are back in Minneapolis in readiness for the flight home tomorrow. But before the trip ended we had one more unexpected music experience. We were heading for Rock Island planning to spend the night there but the hotels were busy and expensive. So we went to nearby Davenport which is over the Illinois state border in Iowa. I picked up a free paper and saw that the great blues guitarist and singer John Primer was playing in town that very evening at the Redstone Room. We hurried along and he was every bit as good as we expected, playing with his Real Deal Blues Band. Numbers included 'Love Of A Woman', 'Before You Accuse Me', 'Real Mother For Ya' and 'Rainy Night In Georgia'. Supporting him was Iowa bluesman Kevin Burt who came back on to share 'Hoochie Coochie Man' with John. Now 79, John Primer's voice is as good as ever and his guitar playing was exemplary.

Next day we had a look around Dubuque in northern Iowa which is quite a pleasant town on the Mississippi close to where Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin meet. We drove towards Madison but ended up staying overnight in a small town called New Lisbon. On our final day we drove back to Minneapolis stopping off at its twin city St Paul, where the state capitol is located on my hunt for records. Finally we are staying in a rather expensive hotel, in contrast to the rather more modest places that have been our home for the last three weeks.

US road trip heads north

We arrived in St Louis in a rainstorm so didn't do much on our first night apart from having a meal at Chuck Berry's former club Blueberry Hill and checking out his statue opposite. Next day we went to the city's biggest landmark the Gateway Arch. I've been up before so gave the trip to the top a miss but it was a first time for Alan and John S. From there we drove to the cemetery out of town where Chuck's mausoleum is located.

In the evening we went to Hammerstones bar in the Soulard district for the John McVey blues band. John is a big man who plays and sings Texas blues and his band comprises bass player Tecora Morgan and her brother Riley who manages to combine drumming with playing keyboards at the same time, tucking a drum stick under his arm while doing so.

Before leaving St Louis next morning we did a tour of the National Blues Museum which is glitzy and colourful if a little superficial. On the road heading north again we went to Hannibal, boyhood home of Mark Twain where there are many touristy reminders of his time there. We also visited a small museum called Jim's Journey (organised by Alan). Founded and curated by a lady called Faye Dant it is devoted to the struggle for equality undertaken by African Americans and was featured on a Channel 4 series about the Mississippi with Nick Knowles.

The following day we continued our journey north stopping off at Fort Madison where the Chicago to LA railway crosses the river. There are up to 80 very long freight trains passing every day plus a couple of Amtrak passenger trains and a webcam showing the activity is viewed by hundreds of people every day. Two very enthusiastic ladies made us welcome and we had a good brunch at a newly opened restaurant and bar on the river front. Continuing alongside the river we stopped off at Burlington, Iowa, where there is another preserved loco and a curious road which is claimed to be the second most crooked street in the US.

The Road Trip continues

Travelling back north by an indirect route we had a look at Helena where the King Biscuit Festival is held and it was dead. So too was Brinkley, birth place of Louis Jordan. We had a Mexican style lunch in a small town called Palestine. Very peaceful compared with the real thing. Back in Memphis we headed straight to Silky O'Sullivans on Beale Street where Johnny Rawls was playing again, alongside the self styled 'Queen of Beale Street' Barbara Blue. She was OK and Johnny was excellent again, this time doing Stax material. His daughter Destini also did a few numbers. The band was very good featuring, as

it did, at least one member of the Bo-Kays. In the evening we made a return trip to Wild Bill's where Big Don Valentine was playing again, this time with a different guitarist. Next day we checked out the Overton Park Shell where Elvis made early appearances and soul and blues artists played in the 60s and 70s.

In the evening we had a real treat, especially for the two Johns, when we went to the Blues City Cafe to see the Rockin' 88s. They are a four piece who play Memphis rock and roll and feature Gunnar Sansom on piano, Brian Stuhr on guitar, Steve Clark on upright bass and Rodney Pole on drums. Gunnar - named he said after Ricky Nelson's son - has the look and style of young Jerry Lee Lewis and was note perfect on a wide selection of his songs. Steve meanwhile has a voice that's a dead ringer for Johnny Cash and Brian was great on songs made famous by Elvis, Carl Perkins, Gene Vincent and others. The bar was crowded and the bar manager Keith, the spit of Danny DeVito, kept things in order. He didn't repeat his feat of drumming on the counter as he did last time I was there. The Rockin'88s were great and deserve wider recognition I think. Next morning we headed north again, this time towards St Louis, stopping off at Osceola. There were markers there for musicians who came from the town including Reggie Young, Billy Lee Riley, Albert King, Jimmy 'Popeye' Thomas and Son Seals, but as ever there was a lack of people around. More on our road trip soon.

Mississippi at last

We continued south into Mississippi, the most southerly part of our road trip, driving through Sledge, birth place of Charlie Pride, and Tutwiler, where W C Handy first heard the Blues. The area around the murals near the train tracks is as derelict as ever. The same can be said of Clarksdale, where we visited next, although there are a few bars and restaurants there catering for blues tourists. After a quick look around the town, with its many blues markers, we went to Red's Juke joint, which has survived unchanged despite the death of its eponymous owner last year. The Blues artist performing was Terry 'Harmonica' Bean, who does some good hill country blues.

Next day we headed to the Delta Blues Museum which has some fine blues photographs and Muddy Waters' cabin. The Clarksdale Caravan Music Festival is on so we watched a bit of Randy Cohen and Big A Sherrod playing outside the Cathead store and much enjoyed Stan Street and Guitar Frenchie at the Hambone Gallery. The evening was one to remember and a real highlight of the trip. First we went to the Bluesberry Cafe to see Watermelon Slim. He's a colourful character who plays slide guitar and harmonica and has a strong gritty voice which he puts to good use on a variety of mostly blues material including

'Baby Scratch My Back' and 'Highway 61'. From there we went on to the Hambone again to watch singer/guitarist Johnny Rawls. This proved to be the gig of the trip so far and one of the best I've been to in years. He's an excellent guitarist with a soulful voice as he showed on songs such as 'Stoop Down Baby' and 'Stand By Me', but as the first of two sets went on it became more of an R and B Revue. There were songs by his daughter Destini, including 'I'd Rather Be Blind' and 'Chain Of Fools'. There were also songs from a couple of other excellent female blues singers including one who did a raunchy 'Get Your Black Draws On'. And he was joined on stage by guitarist Dave Keller from Vermont, blues Music Award artist harmonica player Bob Corritore, renowned bluesman John Primer and fellow blues man Billy Price who joined with Johnny on 'Can I Change Your Mind'. Johnny himself was great on southen soul songs such as 'Stroking' and 'Red Cadillac', the title of his 2008 album, which brought the house down and closed both sets. Brilliant stuff which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Memphis blues

We've reached Memphis on our road trip. After Kansas City we stopped off at Sedalia, something of a one horse town but with two record shops almost opposite each other. We stayed overnight in West Plains, a small town which was rocked by a mystery explosion which killed 37 people in the 1920s. When we arrived in Memphis I went to the Blues Foundation office to pick up a media pass which I had hoped would get us access to events surrounding the Blues Music Awards which are taking place. It didn't really work out that way although I did get into part of a reception at the convention centre where there were speeches being made. One was about a book about early blues women by Angela Davis and another about early blues singer Lil Green. In the evening we went to a blues jam fundraiser at Alfred's on Beale (the media pass saved me $5 on entry). There was a long list of blues artists taking part, many of them nominees for awards, interrupted by auctions and raffles. The highlights included Terrie Odabi, looking fabulous as she always does, who sang just two numbers including one called, l think, 'Justice for All'. Other good acts included guitarist Chris Cain, the very popular Mr Sipp who did only one number, and a local group called Southern Avenue with an exciting lead singer called Tierinii Jackson. Other artists included Beale Street regular Vince Johnson and younger blues rock artists Mattias Lattin, Dylan Triplett and Tony Holiday. There was also Canadian band the Blackburn Brothers.

Next day we paid our respects at some of Memphis's iconic music locations. The Stax museum and academy complex is looking great these days and I recalled my visit in the 90s when there was just a marker and waste ground. Sun Studio was busy as usual but I hadn't realised that the cafe there closed down some years ago. Royal Studio was closed but still operating I think, but Aretha Franklin's childhood home is still in the same state of disrepair as it was the last time I was here. A disgrace really.

I n the evening we went to Wild Bill's Juke joint which I was pleased to see was as authentic as ever, if slightly larger than I recalled. Playing there was Big Don Valentine with left handed guitarist Miss Chloe. They were excellent as were a couple of female singers who did a few numbers each. A great evening once again.