The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars (31 page)

The exact circumstances of Slim Smith’s death remain uncertain, but it
is
known that he died from loss of blood after putting his hand through a pane of glass. It’s possible that he took this measure because he was locked out of his home, but more likely that severe depression pushed him over the limit – it is believed that Smith had become obsessed by other performers receiving ‘better’ label treatment than he was.

NOVEMBER

Sunday 5

Miss Christine

(Christine Frka - San Pedro, California, 27 November 1942)

The GTOs

‘Miss’ Christine Frka – with partners-in-crime including Miss Cynderella (Cynthia Wells), Miss Linda (Parker), Miss Lucy, Miss Mercy (Fontentot), Miss Pamela (des Barres,
née
Miller), Miss Sandra (Leano), Miss Sparky, Miss Vicki (Budinger) and Suzi Creamcheese – created the notorious Girls Together Outrageously (Often/ Only/Occasionally, etc.). This ‘act’, originally dance troupe The Laurel Canyon Ballet Company, seemed as hell-bent on bedding rock stars as they were on making records. The GTOs did, however, cut a 1970 album, the conceptual part-song/part-spoken-word
Permanent Damage
for Frank Zappa’s Straight label, backed by a catalogue of top musicians. Frka became governess to Zappa’s daughter Moon Unit, initially in payment for squatting at his home. (The GTOs’ prefixes of ‘Miss’ had been given them by frequent visitor to the household Tiny Tim, who married Miss Vicki.) Frka kept Zappa’s wife, Gail, company and also introduced Zappa to her then boyfriend, the young Alice Cooper, whom she recommended the maverick acid rocker record. Zappa’s thanks to her included picturing her emerging from a tomb on the cover of his own
Hot Rats
album (1969). (The GTOs’ frequent recreational drug use had to be very much hidden from non-user Zappa, however.)

Despite her notoriety, Frka, at least according to des Barres, always claimed to be frigid, a fact immortalized on the Flying Burrito Brothers’ ‘Christine’s Tune’ (1969). One possible reason for this was that throughout her life she had suffered from curvature of the spine; it is believed that her death in a hotel room was as a result of an overdose of painkillers.

See also
Frank Zappa (
December 1993); Tiny Tim (
November 1996). Miss Sandra died in 1991, Miss Lucy a year later.

Monday 6

Billy Murcia

(Bogota, Colombia, 1951)

The New York Dolls (Actress)

Whether The New York Dolls actually invented punk rock is something of a moot point. That one of rock’s most self-destructive units has become one of the genre’s ‘deadest’ bands is beyond argument. The first to fall was unsung drummer Billy Murcia, a South American-born high-school dropout who had travelled to New York, joining founder Dolls Johnny Thunders (née Genzale, lead guitar) and Arthur ‘Killer’ Kane (bass) in the band Actress. Murcia suggested the name-change to New York Dolls and an image-change, to cross-dressing glam punks, and the band was completed by the addition of Sylvain Sylvain
(née
Mizrahi, guitar) and Mick Jagger-aping frontman David Johansen in 1971. Despite label diffidence, The Dolls’ trashy set became a cult must-see, packing the audiences in at ‘cooler’ New York venues like Max’s Kansas City and The Mercer Arts Center.

A no-nonsense percussionist, Murcia was driving the project when The New York Dolls toured the UK with The Faces in 1972. But, at a party during the tour, Murcia imbibed so heavily of alcohol and substances (mainly Mandrax) that his girlfriend felt the best way to sober him up was to put him in a bath. What happened to the drummer next remains unclear, although it seems likely that, never fully regaining consciousness, Murcia drowned – either in the bathtub or in the black coffee he was subsequently force-fed. The Dolls – today rated as one of New York’s most influential rock acts – continued for a few years without commercial success, the lives of Thunders
(
April 1991),
replacement drummer Jerry Nolan
(
January 1992)
and Kane
(
July 2004)
all since claimed.

DEAD INTERESTING!

WHEN TWIGGS SNAPPED

Stardate 30 April 1970: fast-tracking towards their own legacy of hard-living, hard-drinking, reckless oblivion, The Allman Brothers Band found themselves trumped by one of their own roadies. Not a man open to lengthy debate, Twiggs Lyndon reached the end of his tether when a club-owner in Buffalo, New York, refused to pay the band, seemingly because they were late for the gig. Lyndon settled the dispute by reaching into his pocket and fatally stabbing the owner three times with a fishing knife.

The subsequent murder trial proved farcical, with drugged-up witness Berry Oakley having to be removed from giving testimony three times in order to be sick. Somehow, the case was thrown out and Lyndon, deemed insane by the judge, faced no further prosecution.

Saturday 11

Berry Oakley

(Raymond Berry Oakley - Chicago, Illinois, 4 April 1948)

The Allman Brothers Band

(Tommy Roe & The Roemans)

(Various acts)

Berry Oakley was a natural musician, brought up on the blues. He’d moved to Florida as a teenager, finding himself a position in The Roemans – big-selling Tommy Roe’s touring band – when their bassist was drafted. Then came Second Coming, a politically charged rock band, before he claimed bassist position with the original Allman Brothers Band. Under this banner, Oakley helped to set new standards for inspired improvised rock. However, The Allman Brothers Band were soon shattered by the loss of Duane Allman, their undisputed jewel in the crown
(
October 1971
). And as if this weren’t enough, just over a year later, an incident of ghostly similarity befell its second self-imposed leader.