The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars (413 page)

After the release of
Rock Away
(1981), Snow was fighting the first of her own health battles, eventually returning to the studio in 1989. Despite never again reaching the heights of her debut recording, the singer earned several accolades including an NYC Cultural Achievement Award – and was known to be one of the favourite artists of former US president Bill Clinton, performing for him at Camp David in 1999.

At the start of 2010, Phoebe Snow suffered a brain haemorrhage and had remained largely comatose until her death at a New Jersey hospital.

MAY

Golden Oldies #136

John Walker

(John Maus - New York City, 12 November 1943)

The Walker Brothers

(John & Judy/Judy & The Gents)

Unlikely kid-prodigy John Maus cultivated his first ‘following’ as a child actor on relocation to California. The result of this was a regular part in television sitcom
Hello Mom
as well as small roles in several movies.

But, despite this promising start in acting, it was as a musician that the performer really excelled. The young multi-instrumentalist was a teen friend of singer Ritchie Valens, and, devastated by his pal’s death (
Pre-1965
), Maus acted as honorary pallbearer at the young pin-up’s funeral - making him the latest of many entries into
The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars
with whom there are connections to ‘The Day the Music Died’. Maus maintained his links with the great and the good by tutoring Carl and Dennis Wilson (The Beach Boys) in the rudiments of guitar, however the musician was to discover that his earliest steps to pop stardom were a little closer to home.

Alongside his sister in the duo John & Judy, Walker found an outlet for his playing, the guitarist now using the assumed identity as a passport to play in clubs for which he’d still have been underage. John & Judy recorded several 45s for a number of local labels including Aladdin and Dore, but fortunes changed for the act - and particularly Walker - on meeting bassist and singer Scott Engel (ex-The Routers). With Engel joining, the group briefly became ‘Judy & The Gents’, although it was apparent that Walker harboured greater ambitions than his kid sister.

John Walker finally found lasting fame with The Walker Brothers, the trio completed in 1964 by drummer Gary Leeds (ex-The Standells, replacing original percussionist Al Schneider). The new band spotted a clever showbiz gimmick, all taking on the surname ‘Walker’, though John was to relinquish his front role to the prouder-voiced Scott. The Walker Brothers finally won a deal with Phillips, enjoying massive, if intermittent success in their homeland. In stark contrast to the US charts where British bands were dominant, only a couple of Walkers records impacted; in the UK, ten of the group’s singles entered the Top Forty, with ‘Make It Easy On Yourself’ (1965) and ‘The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore’ (1966) both topping the charts. (It was claimed that in Britain, the group’s fanclub was at one point larger than that of The Beatles.)

The pressures of stardom affected Engel badly, his subsequent depression splitting The Walker Brothers during 1968. All three were to experience measurable solo success, John - who had cut his first solo sides before the group’s success - charting with the single ‘Annabella’ (1967, UK Top Forty) and issuing further recordings until 1973. A year later, the group reunited to work on the album
No Regrets
(1975). The title track - perhaps The Walker Brothers’s finest moment - became another major British hit (1976, UK Top Ten). However, it seemed that The Walkers’ day had come and gone when two further albums failed to sell, the group drifting apart again at the end of the decade. Maus/Walker (operating under both names by now) moved on to recording and producing, in his later life touring the oldies circuit before issuing two new collections of more mainstream material in 2007.

John Walker - who was married on four occasions - was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2010, succumbing to the disease on 7 May 2011 at his Los Angeles home.

Golden Oldies#137

Cornell Dupree

(Fort Worth, Texas, 19 December 1942)

The Kingpins

Stuff

(Various acts)

He played with everyone from Lena Horne to Bill Withers. In his lifetime, popular R & B/blues guitarist Cornell Dupree strapped on his Fender to record some 2,500 sessions with the great and the good.

Later known as ‘Uncle Funky’, Dupree had begun his career as a studio session man at Atlantic, touring with Aretha Franklin, for whom he also supplied that opening riff to ‘Respect’ (1967). Prior and simultaneous to this, Dupree had settled into a regular role with King Curtis Ousley’s dynamic band The Kingpins -the leader having been friendly with his guitarist since their school days in Forth Worth. However, after Ousley’s sudden and shocking death
(
August 1971),
Dupree took a little time out before forming the studio fusion group Stuff, with keyboardist Richard Tee. Alongside this and an impressive array of solo R & B/jazz recordings between 1974 and 1998, Dupree also played behind Brook Benton, Paul Simon, Joe Cocker and Donnie Hathaway.

In 1972, the musician had survived a near-fatal auto crash in Manhattan that also injured bass player Jerry Jemmott and Hathaway’s ‘muse’ Roberta Flack. Cornell Dupree had been awaiting a lung transplant when he passed away on 8 May 2011 from complications of emphysema: in his final years, the musician could be seen seated on stage while attached to his breathing apparatus.

See also
Donnie Hathaway (
January 1979). Stuff’s Richard Tee and Eric Gale both passed away during 1993-94.

Golden Oldies #138

Lloyd Knibb

(St Andrew, Jamaica, 8 March 1931)

The Skatalites

Tommy McCook’s Supersonics

The Count Ossie Group

(Various acts)

Veteran Jamaican drummer Lloyd Knibb graduated from a trap set made of wooden boxes, via slots with respected jazz acts (such as Val Bennett’s band), to helping create the revolutionary sound of ska before the form’s heyday in the 1960s. Knibb befriended Clement ‘Coxsone’ Dodd, recording for his Studio One label and also Dodd’s arch-rival Duke Reid (Treasure Isle). He played behind later ska great Count Ossie (Oswald Williams), before becoming a member of The Skatalites. This group, with its unique style and sound, was formed as early as 1955, recording a first album
Ska Authentic
for Studio One in 1964: this record is widely recognised as the first genuine ska release (although fans of Ossie might dispute this). After trombonist Don Drummond’s conviction for murder, the band split into two, Knibb joining sax man Tommy McCook’s Supersonics. The surviving Skatalites - including Knibb - reunited for Reggae Sunsplash in 1983, sustaining enough enthusiasm to reform permanently and record a series of further records, two of which were nominated for Grammy awards. The most recent Skatalites recording was the acclaimed
On the Right Track
(2007), profits from which the band donated to musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Lloyd Knibb - by now suffering from liver cancer and seriously ill -flew home to Jamaica from his base in Massachusetts on 12 May 2011: he passed away later that evening. A master of rhythm in many styles, the musician has been recognised with Jamaica’s Order of Distinction award, as well as earning a place in that island’s Music Hall of Fame.