The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars (303 page)

Golden Oldies #38

Ruth Brown

(Ruth Alston Weston - Portsmouth, Virginia, 12 January 1928)

Depending on one’s standpoint, she was either ‘Miss Rhythm’ or ‘The Girl with the Tear in Her Voice’. Either way, Brown was a pioneer in singlehandedly bringing R & B to the masses during the fifties with a series of powerful, emotion-laden recordings.

Ruth Weston was the eldest of seven children, a reluctant leader whom the others wanted to look up to, though this became impossible after the headstrong young woman ran away from home to pursue her dream. She began her career married to trumpeter Jimmy Brown (who was believed to have committed bigamy to take her hand) and played the club circuit with him. Her professional appointments were soon overseen by manager Blanche Calloway (sister of jazz legend Cab Calloway), while other soon-to-be legendary names surrounded her: Ahmet Ertegun (who, like James Brown, died just a month after her
(
Golden Oldies #39))
and Herb Abramson of Atlantic signed her to their increasingly influential label in 1949, despite a nine-month delay as Brown recuperated from a serious car accident.

Having hit with the torch song ‘So Long’ (1949), in October 1950 Ruth Brown smashed onto the scene with the eleven-week R & B chart-topper ‘Teardrops from My Eyes’ (which, of course, prompted one of her nicknames) from the slightly ambiguously titled
Rockin’ with Ruth
album. This was the first of five such number ones and sixteen Top Ten hits over the next decade. Such was her personal success that Atlantic itself became known for some time as ‘The House That Ruth Built’.

Later in life Ruth Brown withdrew into domestic and child-rearing duties, though she did briefly return during the seventies in comedic acting roles perhaps a little beneath her immense talent. In 1987, Brown instigated the formation of The Rhythm & Blues Foundation, which oversees artists’ rights to their royalties.

Blues Hall of Fame inductee Ruth Brown - who was married a total of four times and had a child with The Drifters’ Clyde McPhatter - died in a Las Vegas hospital on 17 November 2006 following a stroke suffered during surgery.

‘One of the most important and beloved figures in modern music.’

Bonnie Raitt

DECEMBER

Saturday 2

Dave Mount

(Carshalton, Surrey, 3 March 1947)

Mud

(The Remainders)

(The Mourners)

He was the quiet drummer boy of glam/pop/rock revivalists Mud, but Dave Mount nonetheless enjoyed indulging in the era’s customary costume changes as his band rose to become Britain’s top singles act in 1974. A teenage percussionist, Mount had begun as a member of The Remainder (sometimes The Apaches) alongside talented guitarist Rob Davis and was shortly joined by Trolls bassist Ray Stiles. Having ‘borrowed’ Surrey skiffle vocalist Les Gray for a few gigs, the other three decided to join his band, The Mourners, on a full-time basis in 1966. This group was to succeed as Mud, the name they decided upon because it would look bigger on flyers. The band was prepared to play any dive to get work, but it wasn’t until 1972–73, when they finished second on ITV talent show
Opportunity Knocks,
that Mud was picked up by svengali Mickie Most, who partnered them with songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. This successful marriage spawned a series of disposable anthems, most of which charted well – in particular, a hat-trick of number ones in the infectious ‘Tiger Feet’, Elvis pastiche ‘Lonely This Christmas’ (both 1974) and a cappella Buddy Holly cover ‘Oh Boy!’ (1975).

After Mud’s sense of fun had worn thin on a pop audience tiring of glam, Mount found work harder to come by, though he did drum for a while with Les Gray’s touring version of the band during the eighties. When this failed to bring home the bacon, he moved into insurance, an occupation that was to last until his untimely death at age fifty-nine. Mount, a father and keen rugby fan, attempted to take his own life at home after a lengthy illness. Efforts to resuscitate him at Carshalton’s St Helier’s Hospital proved unsuccessful.

See also
Mickie Most (
May 2003); Les Gray (
February 2004)

Sunday 3

Logan Whitehurst

(Los Banos, California, 15 November 1977)

The Velvet Teen

Little Tin Frog

(Various acts)

Logan Whitehurst wasn’t even thirty when he died, though he’d already come a long way in proving himself an accomplished talent in the altrock and indie genres. The drummer was just eighteen when he joined Little Tin Frog for five years, teaming up with guitarist/singer Judah Nagler, with whom he then formed The Velvet Teen in 2000, adding bass player Josh Staples. Signed to Slowdance, the band worked with Death Cab for Cutie’s Chris Walla on a well-received debut
Out of the Fierce Parade
(2001). For this, accomplished graphic artist Whitehurst also designed the sleeve – as he was to do for many other acts, including his sister Emily’s punk outfit, Tsunami Bomb.

Logan Whitehurst had worked on a number of solo projects by the time of Velvet Teen’s second album proper,
Elysium
(2004), but the release of this set coincided with complaints of dizzy spells and headaches. The drummer’s worst fears were realised when he was diagnosed with brain cancer – a condition that saw his music career put on hold for what was to be the remainder of his life. Whitehurst passed away at his home in Los Banos just two years later.

Wednesday 6

Darren ‘Wiz’ Brown

(Farnborough, Hampshire, 18 January 1962)

Mega City Four

Doughboys

(Ned’s Atomic Dustbin)

(Various acts)

Always a popular live draw, pop-punkers Mega City Four should have sold far more records; the band combined pulsating music with lead vocalist/guitarist Darren ‘Wiz’ Brown’s often inspired lyric writing. When they emerged with a debut single ‘Miles Apart’ in late 1987, MC4 – Brown, his brother Danny (vocals/rhythm guitar), Gerry Bryant (bass) and Chris Jones (drums) – seemed the band most likely to break through in 1988. However, despite world recognition for their visceral live performances, hits were few – the biggest being the UK Top Forty-bothering ‘Shivering Sand’ (from their best album,
Sebastopol Road,
1992). Instead, other bands from a similar genre took the spoils – most notably Carter USM, The Wonder Stuff, Senseless Things and Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, for whom Wiz stepped in as guitarist as MC4 began to wind down in 1995.