The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars (149 page)

Continuing his session work into the nineties, Porcaro was all set to unleash the latest Toto meisterwerk
Kingdom Of Desire
on the public: it proved a swansong. After his body was found at his Hidden Hills, California, home rumour spread like knapweed that the drummer, a keen gardener, had died from an allergic reaction to the pesticide Dursban. It transpired, though, that Porcaro had no traces of the chemical in his body whatsoever and had suffered a heart attack brought on by the far-more-routine catalyst of long-term cocaine abuse.

See also
Jimmy Hodder (
June 1990)

Friday 14

Tony Williams

(Elizabeth, New Jersey, 5 April 1928)

The Platters

Part-Native American singer Tony Williams already had a following before his selection for the fifties’ bestselling vocal group. His smooth, swooping tones were much in evidence during time spent with the New Jersey Baptist gospel choir, where Williams was first noticed. After a spell with the US air force, Williams trained his voice diligently and relocated to Los Angeles, where The Platters – a struggling quartet fronted by future-Coaster Cornell Gunter – were transformed by his vocal input. The crucial break came with the close tutoring of new manager Buck Ram, who launched the group big time, initially via the Federal label. Although The Platters became the first black vocal band to outsell rival white versions of their songs, Tony Williamsled classics such as ‘Only You’ and ‘The Great Pretender’ (their first US number one in 1955) were actually initially disliked by a group keen to fit in with rock ‘n’ roll – the records’ huge sales made them think again. The hits continued – ‘My Prayer’ (1956), ‘Twilight Time’ and ‘Smoke Gets in Your Eyes’ (both 1958) remarkably all scaled the pop listings – with Williams contributing much to the songwriting, though if anyone could find evidence of this on the heavily Ram-doctored credits, they’d be doing well. After acquittal for a 1959 misdemeanour involving four of The Platters and a hotel room full of underage girls, it became tougher to place the once pure-as-snow group on radio stations anywhere – and by 1961 ‘The Voice of The Platters’ had had enough. The mercurial lead left his group behind (he was replaced by Sonny Turner) to attempt a solo career, but success without his group was virtually impossible to find. As focal point of The Platters’ sound, Williams’s voice still appeared on subsequent releases by the group, the Mercury label suing Ram over the lead’s departure. It was the start of much litigation that was to follow as The Platters splintered into various touring line-ups: Williams found himself the subject of another lawsuit when attempting to use the Ram-owned name during the early eighties. With his life disappearing into a black hole of alcohol abuse and financial difficulty, Williams was forced to join an authorized Platters line-up shortly before his death.

Like Mary Wells, Tony Williams had – despite his profession – been a heavy smoker in the years before enlightenment, paying a hefty price when stricken with emphysema and diabetes.

See also
David Lynch (
January 1981); Nathaniel Nelson (
June 1984); Paul Robi (
February 1989). Early members Cornell Gunter (
February 1990) and Elsbeary Hobbs (
May 1996) have also died, as has the later singer Randy Jones (2002). Buck Ram passed away eighteen months before Williams.

SEPTEMBER

Friday 18

Earl Van Dyke

(Detroit, Michigan, 8 July 1930)

The Funk Brothers

He was dubbed ‘The Chunk of Funk’ – and Earl Van Dyke was certainly no shrinking waif. The traditionally trained pianist and arranger had originally seen his future in the classical sector. His father had played violin but, when money was needed, had taken a job at the local Ford plant: for Van Dyke, moving into R & B was his way of making ends meet. While touring with Lloyd Price, he met bassist Jamie Jamerson, who was backing Jackie Wilson; the pair teamed up with ‘Benny’ Benjamin in 1961 to form Motown’s muchloved studio band, nicknamed the Funk Brothers. In this guise, the musicians backed many of the label’s top acts, among them The Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, The Supremes and The Temptations. The downside of this was that Van Dyke and his buddies were on call 24/7 – and really weren’t properly remunerated (or even credited) for their efforts. A disgruntled Van Dyke lead a musicians’ strike in 1965, which brought about a change in pay structures and an eventual opportunity for Van Dyke to cut his own records at the label.

The hits continued into the seventies, but Van Dyke had become weary of a music business that was leaving him behind. By the end of the next decade he was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome. After the deaths of Benjamin
(
May 1969)
and Jamerson (
August 1983),
Van Dyke’s passing from prostate cancer brought a remarkable story to an end.