The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars (261 page)

Another mysterious possible suicide – in this case, an apparent pact between two musicians – emerged just days later, this time in the world of country and bluegrass. Although never as successful as her mother, June Carter Cash, or legendary stepfather, Johnny Cash, Rosey Adams had made a living as a songwriter, as well as playing guitar and providing back-up vocals on many of Carter’s releases. As a child (her father was Carter’s previous husband, Edwin Nix), Adams apparently used to help her mother by hunting out Cash’s stash of pills.

For his part, Jimmy Campbell had played fiddle with timeless bluegrass acts such as Bill Monroe as well as his own group, The Sidemen; he’d enjoyed a level of success, but had undergone numerous courses of treatment for drug addiction. At the time of the pair’s death, friends had remarked that Campbell had seemed ‘worn out by life’. Rosey Nix Adams had also recently seemed distracted: those who saw her at the recent funerals of her mother and stepfather (
Golden Oldies #16)
had described the musician as depressed beyond the normal response to a loved one’s passing. Nevertheless, the discovery of her and Campbell’s bodies (apparently made by Adams’s husband) in a disused tour bus just a month later came as a further shock to grieving relatives. The pair had worked together for some years and were in the process of recording a new project. It was established that they had died from carbon-monoxide poisoning, faulty gas heaters being blamed. Authorities were thus quick to pronounce the death ‘accidental’. Although the exact nature of their relationship isn’t known, the presence of drug paraphernalia hints of other possibilities.

NOVEMBER

Wednesday 5

Bobby Hatfield

(Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, 10 August 1940)

The Righteous Brothers

(The Variations)

The soaring voices of Bobby Hatfield and Bill Medley – The Righteous Brothers – gave the world its first real taste of blue-eyed soul. Known as ‘The Blond Bomber’, Hatfield had recorded with Anaheim vocal group The Variations and on his own (with little success) by the time he met ex-Paramours singer Medley in 1961. The name ‘The Righteous Brothers’ was apparently coined by an African-American marine who watched an early performance of theirs in Santa Ana. The pair obviously possessed both range and vocal control, a fact not lost on Phil Spector, who offered to produce them. Following a series of modest hits, the duo – who had already opened for The Beatles – scored with a record destined to become the most-played radio hit of all time. In January 1965, the duo’s
twelfth
single, ‘You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin”, went to number one in both America and Britain (where Andrew Loog Oldham took out a press ad to ensure that the song beat Cilla Black’s version to the top) on its way to sales of several million. Those who didn’t believe The Righteous Brothers could pull off the trick again were then forced to eat their words as their rendition of ‘Unchained Melody’ climbed the world’s charts that autumn. (In the UK, the record only went to number one after its inclusion in the sappy 1990 movie
Ghost.)

After another US chart-topper with ‘(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration’ (1966), a sudden collapse in sales induced Hatfield to attempt another solo career – again with little success. Following a couple of different Righteous Brothers line-ups in which Medley and Hatfield linked up with other singers, the pair reunited for a number of albums in the seventies and enjoyed another big US-seller with the slightly cloying (though very
Dead Rock Stars
–friendly) eulogy, ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Heaven’ (1974). The Righteous Brothers continued to tour until Hatfield’s death late in 2003. As they prepared for a concert in Kalamazoo, The Blond Bomber died in his sleep – apparently from a cocaine-induced heart attack.

Righteous Brothers Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield: Rediscovered that lovin’ feelin’

Wednesday 19

Greg Ridley

(Cumberland, 23 January 1947)

Humble Pie

Spooky Tooth

Boxer

(Various acts)

Introducing himself to the music industry as the ‘Dino’ of Dino & The Danubes, bassist/guitarist Greg Ridley became a well-known figure in British rock with his twin stints in major groups Humble Pie and Spooky Tooth. The latter band came about after Ridley created The VIPs with school-pal singer/keyboardist Mike Harrison, the pair of them recruiting Luther Grosvenor (guitar, later of Mott the Hoople), Gary Wright (organ, later solo) and Mike Kellie (drums). This band made several albums, though Ridley was to leave after 1969’s
Spooky
Two: that year, the bassist received an offer he couldn’t refuse – to join ex-Small Faces legend Steve Marriott in a new supergroup called Humble Pie. The band – Ridley, Marriott (vocals/guitar), Peter Frampton (guitar) and Jerry Shirley (drums) – scored an immediate smash with ‘Natural Born Bugie’ (1969) but weren’t to achieve further hits. After the breakup of Humble Pie in 1977, Ridley took a break from music, a return to the game with the band Boxer not proving satisfactory. Greg Ridley died after a stroke on holiday in Spain had left him comatose.

See also
Mike Patto (
March 1979); Steve Marriott (
April 1991); Ollie Halsall (
May 1992)

Wednesday 26

Soulja Slim

(James Tapp - Gentilly, Louisiana, 9 September 1977)

Soulja Slim’s brief career – which saw him work with major names in the hip-hop world, including Snoop Dogg

– was at a low ebb at the time of his death. After success with a gold debut album,
Give It to Em Raw
(1998), Slim faded from the scene somewhat, though a lengthy spell behind bars for armed robbery didn’t help matters.