The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars (334 page)

Golden Oldies #65

Micky Waller

(Hammersmith, London, 6 September 1941)

The Flee-Rekkers

Joe Brown & The Bruvvers

The Cyril Davies R & B All Stars

Marty Wilde & The Wildcats

Brian Auger & The Trinity

The Steampacket

Jon Mayall’s Bluesbreakers

The Jeff Beck Group

Rod Stewart

Long John Baldry

(Various acts)

Before he’d even spent a decade in the business, picking the bones out of Micky Waller’s resumé was already one serious task. A powerful drummer, Waller - and his trademark ‘wallop’ - featured with just about every major name in British R & B and rock ‘n’ roll during the 1960s. Waller first charted, however, with The Fabulous Flee-Rekkers. This instrumental group, fronted by saxophonist Peter Fleerakkers, registered an unlikely hit with the Joe Meek-produced ‘Green Jeans’ (1960), an update of the traditional folk tune ‘Greensleeves’. Waller - sensibly, some might say - didn’t hang around for success to be repeated here, and instead joined Joe Brown & The Bruvvers, then, in quick succession, The Cyril Davies R & B All Stars, where the percussionist first met future colleague Long John Baldry.

It was customary at the time for a more anonymous band member to flit between acts, but stints as a member of Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames, Marty Wilde’s Wildcats, Brian Auger & The Trinity and Steampacket (featuring Baldry, Julie Driscoll and a young Rod Stewart) meant that Waller was becoming as renowned as many of his bands’ front men. He even once played a one-off gig in Kent replacing Charlie Watts in the Rolling Stones. (Guitarist Brian Jones later had Waller earmarked for a project that was scuppered only by his untimely death (
July 1969).)
In 1967 Waller worked on the debut album for The Jeff Beck Group before eventually reuniting with Stewart for his first record,
An Old Raincoat Will Never Let You Down
(1969). The drummer appeared on many of Stewart’s subsequent albums, including
Every Picture Tells a Story
(1971), which, of course, spawned the transatlantic number one ‘Maggie May,’ with Waller on backing vocals. (One of Waller’s beloved pet dogs even contributed an intro on Stewart’s 1974 album
Smiler.)
And that’s not to mention his work with The Walker Brothers, Cat Stevens, Chicken Shack, Eric Clapton, Dusty Springfield …

A canny individual from the outset, Mickey Waller earned a law degree later in life, which enabled him to win court claims for unpaid royalties from his musical career (which must have amounted to a reasonable bounty). The former drummer died from liver failure at his London home on 29 April 2008.

See also
Long John Baldry (
July 2005); Bobby Graham (
Golden Oldies #100)

MAY

Golden Oldies #66

Leo Jackson

(George Jackson - Meridian, Mississippi, 22 October 1934)

Jim Reeves’ Blue Boys

The passing of guitarist Leo Jackson on 4 May 2008 continued a remarkable sequence of Meridian-born artists’ deaths. The musician began his career at the very top: the teenage prodigy, following a chance meeting with country star Jim Reeves, was snapped up for backing band The Blue Boys (originally The Wagonmasters). As a result, Jackson escaped the comparative poverty of his upbringing and went on to play his trusty Gibson ES-5 behind Reeves on almost all of the legend’s recordings - including the timeless classic ‘Distant Drums’. This relationship was a fine one until, of course, tragedy struck.

Jackson’s close call came in 1964, when - having promised to meet his girlfriend - he turned down the opportunity to travel in Reeves’s Beechcraft Debonair to Arkansas where the singer wished to view some land. Pianist and friend Dean Manuel took the vacant seat, and he, Reeves and the aircraft flew into a storm - and subsequent oblivion (
Pre-1965).
Somehow, The Blue Boys rallied to release four albums on their own, and Jackson went on to find much work as a session man, most notably with George Strait, Moe Bandy and Hank Williams Jr.

Jackson had been diagnosed with cancer in 2002, and it is possible that his pain medication may have caused an imbalance in his mental state. Depressed that a rare skin ailment in his hand prevented any future guitar playing, Jackson ended his life by gunshot at his home in Goodlettsville, Tennessee.

Sunday 11

John Rutsey

(Willowdale, Toronto, Ontario, 14 May 1953)

Rush

Many will be surprised to learn that Canadian powerhouses Rush began life in the early sixties, drummer John Rutsey having met guitarist Alex Lifeson while the pair were at school. By 1968, the duo was playing and writing with original front man and bassist Jeff Jones before a change of line-up altered matters in their favour.

It was in 1971 that the fledgling group of Lifeson, Rutsey and distinctive new singer Geddy Lee took those first, tentative steps toward rock stardom, Rush (paradoxically) pacing themselves until a debut single – the band’s cover of Buddy Holly’s ‘Not Fade Away’ – emerged in 1973. Now, of course, it’s a rarity that changes hands for hundreds of dollars, but at the time the record suffered from under-exposure and did not fare well for them. This prompted Rush to start their own label, Moon, and finance an eponymous debut album (1974). After a slow start, the record – initially disregarded as a poor Led Zeppelin copy – began to gain airplay, which then necessitated an extensive US tour.

Rutsey, originally Rush’s chief songwriter, had already caused consternation among his bandmates for having failed to deliver lyrics just ahead of recording, and now was reluctant to go out on the road. This was the final straw, and he departed Rush soon after, to be replaced by permanent sticksman Neil Peart. Some time later, it was learned that Rutsey suffered from diabetes and had been worried about this undermining his performance. Subsequently, the percussionist – believing that the group was headed nowhere – gave up music entirely, and concentrated for a time on his love of amateur bodybuilding. As for Rush, the sky was the limit, and they went on to become one of the biggest acts in the world by the 1980s.

Despite his dedication to fitness, John Rutsey was unable to overcome the disease that dogged his early years and suffered a heart attack, brought on by complications of diabetes, in his sleep. Lee paid the following tribute to his erstwhile friend: ‘Although our paths diverged many years ago, we smile today, thinking back on those exciting times and remembering John’s wonderful sense of humour and impeccable timing.’