The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars (236 page)

Thursday 19

Judy Clay

(Judith Guions - St Paul, North Carolina, 12 September 1938)

(The Drinkards)

The day after the death of Mimi Fariña, the R & B world said goodbye to Judy Clay, a fine but ultimately ill-fated vocalist whose career was initially hampered by the USA’s sluggishness in coming to terms with the race issue. Originally a gospel singer with The Drinkards, Clay teamed up with white artist Billy Vera, the pair becoming the first integrated act to make any kind of impact. Despite their fine records, because of some pretty backward decision-making in 1968 the duo could not be seen together on television and sales foundered. The same year, Clay did achieve a major hit with the classic ‘Private Number’, her version with William Bell riding into the UK Top Ten. Although she gained many credits as an anonymous backing singer to the likes of Ray Charles, this success was to be a one-off. As a solo artist, Clay was not to flourish as many of her contemporaries did, leading her to become embittered and her marriage to fail. In 1979, Judy Clay’s career hit rock bottom when an album that had taken some considerable time to complete remained unreleased, added to which the singer was then diagnosed with a brain tumour which almost ended her life.

Perhaps understandably, Clay then returned to the gospel singing of her youth, where she would remain until her death from injuries sustained in a major car accident near her home.

Clay’s sister Sylvia Shemwell - with whom she performed in The Drinkard Singers - died in January 2010.

Friday 27

Leon Wilkeson

(Jacksonville, Florida, 2 April 1952)

Lynyrd Skynyrd

The Rossington-Collins Band

(Various acts)

The bizarre life of Leon Wilkeson took its first unlikely turn when the 14-year-old bassist was approached by the sister of singer Ronnie Van Zant, who needed a new man for his fledgling blues rock band, The Collegiates. However, Wilkeson’s parents were not keen for him to continue what was fast becoming a full-time hobby, to the detriment of his studies. After a stint with a local band, King James Version, Wilkeson – by now one of the state’s best bass guitarists – once more took the call from Van Zant, as Lynyrd Skynyrd were signed to MCA. Wilkeson eventually became a fully fledged member of Southern rock’s fastest-rising band, his stage gimmick of wearing outrageous headgear leading to his nickname ‘the Mad Hatter’. By 1977, Lynyrd Skynyrd had reached their critical and commercial zenith, a series of gold albums now in their wake – but tragedy was just around the corner. As they prepared for the tour based on their album
Street Survivors,
band members Steve and Cassie Gaines, plus among those road manager Dean Kilpatrick, were killed in a horrific air crash that stands as one of rock’s most significant. For Wilkeson, a very fortunate survivor himself, the death that hit him hardest, however, was surely that of his old buddy Van Zant (
October 1977).

For the next few years, Leon Wilkeson (and other surviving Skynyrds) turned to other projects as they attempted to rebuild their lives. In 1980, three of the group reunited to form The Rossington-Collins Band (why the bassist’s name didn’t feature isn’t known), although this failed to last beyond one album, the band members clearly still burdened by the effects of the tragedy. Amazingly, a new Lynyrd Skynyrd then emerged for the tenth anniversary of the crash, with Johnny Van Zant replacing his elder brother on vocals. Resultant tours were, according to Skynyrd diehards, fairly hit-and-miss affairs, although not without drama. During the early nineties, Wilkeson was allegedly woken by guitarist Ed King one night on the tour bus to find himself drenched in his own blood, an assailant having attempted to slit his throat as he slept. In the aftermath of this incident accusations flew between King and Wilkeson’s wife Rhonda, with whom he had had something of a turbulent relationship. No charges were ever pressed, and this latest grisly chapter in Lynyrd Skynyrd’s history remains unsolved. But, for Wilkeson, his time was running out: back at home during a swift break from a lengthy tour, the bass legend was found dead in his Ponte Verdra Beach hotel room. His death was put down on this occasion to natural causes.

Due to a legal agreement made with Ronnie Van Zant’s widow on her husband’s death that the band
must
contain at least three original members to be able to perform under the name, suddenly, in mid-tour, ‘Lynyrd Skynyrd’ were no longer viable! The solution came forward, however, in the shape of replacement bassist Ean Evans, who had at least played a few times in the band’s earlier incarnation.

See also
Allen Collins (
January 1990); Hughie Thomasson (
September 2007); Billy Powell (
January 2009); Ean Evans (
May 2009)

AUGUST

Thursday 2

Ron Townson

(St Louis, Missouri, 20 January 1941)

The 5th Dimension

(Wild Honey)

At a time when black recording artists in the USA were trying to make serious political points, the biggest-selling popular soul act was, by contrast, the bright ‘n’ breezy 5th Dimension. Formed as vocal troupe The Versatiles in 1966, the group – Ron Townson, Marilyn McCoo, Florence LaRue, Billy Davis Jr and Lamont McLemore – swept out of St Louis to international fame with a consistent run of Billboard hits between 1967 and 1973. Many dismissed their output as muzak, finding the heavily orchestrated harmonies a little trite, but there was no denying the commerciality of songs like ‘Up, Up and Away’ (1967), Laura Nyro’s ‘Stoned Soul Picnic’ (1968) or the brace of 1969 chart-toppers, ‘Aquarius’ and ‘Wedding Bell Blues’. By the seventies, the group concentrated more on placing one voice to the fore (usually McCoo’s), which prompted Townson to work on his own project, Wild Honey, at the same time. Eventually, McCoo and Davis left to work as a duo, Townson, LaRue and McLemore keeping The 5th Dimension alive on the tour circuit. The original roster was in place for a nineties reunion, but due to his failing health Townson dropped out permanently in 1999. For two years, he had battled kidney disease: two years on again, renal failure was to claim his life.