It's been a long time since we've seen such a large number of musicians pass away in such a short period of time. Just in the last week, we've lost Teena Marie as previously mentioned and the following five artists.
Dorothy Jones, a founding member of the Cookies, passed away on Christmas Day in Columbus, Ohio from Alzheimer's Disease. She was 76.
The Cookies were originally formed in 1954 by Jones, "Ethel" Darlene McCrea and Beulah Robertson. While performing at the Apollo Theater the next year, Atlantic's Jesse Stone spotted them and brought them to the label for recording sessions. One of the sessions produced In Paradise, a 1956 hit that went to number 9 on the R&B charts.
They continued to sing backup for some of Atlantic's greatest artists until 1961 when a new version of the group emerged with Jones, Earl-Jean McCrea and Margaret Ross. They did backup for a number of artists coming out of New York's Brill Building including Neil Sedaka on Breaking Up is Hard to Do and Little Eva on Loco-Motion.
Finally, in 1963, they had the second lineups first national hit with Chains (R&B #6/Pop #17). They followed up with Don't Say Nothin' Bad (About My Baby) (1963/#3 R&B/#7 Pop) and Girls Grow Up Faster Than Boys (1964/#33 R&B/#33 Pop).
As the British Invasion hit the American shores, hits started drying up for the girl groups and, even though they continued to record under names like the Palisades, the Stepping Stones, the Cinderellas and the Honey Bees, they never managed another hit and broke up in 1967.
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Bernie Wilson of the Blue Notes passed away on Sunday at Kresson View Center in Voorhees, NJ after a stroke and a heart attack. He was 64.
Wilson sang baritone in what is called the "classic" version of the Blue Notes with Harold Melvin and Teddy Pendergrass. The group signed with Philadelphia International in 1972 and recorded a string of major hits including If You Don't Know Me By Now (1972/#1 R&B/#3 Pop), The Love I Lost (1973/#1 R&B/#7 Pop), Bad Luck (1975/#4 R&B/#15 Pop) and Wake Up Everybody (1976/#1 R&B/#12 Pop).
In 1976, tensions over billing began tearing the group apart and Pendergrass left to go solo. The remaining members moved to ABC Records but Wilson departed in 1977. In the years into the 90's, Wilson continued to perform in various versions of the Blue Notes that included other members of the group from over the years.
Lloyd Parks is now the only surviving member of the 70's version of the Blue Notes.
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Bob Demon, who was the rhythm guitarist in the group the Astronauts, passed away back on December 18 in Coronado, CA at the age of 71.
Demon formed a group known as the Stormtroppers while still in Boulder (CO) High School in 1956. They stayed together, playing at local establishments, until 1961 when they changed the name to the Astronauts in a salute to local hero Scott Carpenter.
A year later, they released their first single, Come Along Baby, on the tiny Palladium label. The record caught the eye of RCA and they were signed to the label where they released their biggest hit, Baja, in early 1963. The record, written by Lee Hazlewood, reached 94 on the Hot 100, the highest the group ever made it on the charts.
They actually had more success as album artists, releasing four LPs in a nine month stretch during the height of the Surf music boom, three of which made the album chart (Surfin' With the Astronauts (1963/#61), Competition Coupe (1964/#123), Everything is A-OK! (1964/#100)). The group also appeared in a number of teen oriented films of the time including Wild on the Beach.
Their real success, though, came in Japan where they outsold the Beach Boys, scoring five top ten albums and three top ten singles. Demon left the group in 1967 and became a school teacher.
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Myrna Smith of the Sweet Inspirations passed away last Friday at a hospice near Los Anageles at the age of 69.
Smith joined the already established Sweet Inspirations in 1965 after member Dee Dee Warwick left to pursue her solo career. The group was used extensively for backup in recording sessions for Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Solomon Burke and Van Morrison on Brown Eyed Girl.
In April of 1967, the group did their first recording session as a separate entity for Atlantic Records. Their first charted hit came in June of that year with Why (Am I Treated So Bad) (#36 R&B/#57 Pop) but it was their next release one month later, a version of the Everly Brothers and Betty Everett & Jerry Butler hit Let It Be Me that established them with the record going to 13 on the R&B singles chart.
In early 1968, the group had their biggest hit with the song Sweet Inspiration which peaked at 5 on the R&B and 18 on the Pop charts. They also continued doing backup work including singing on the track Burning of the Midnight Lamp for Jimi Hendrix and working with Dusty Springfield on Dusty in Memphis. They also began touring with Elvis Presley in 1969 as his backup singers and as the opening act.
The group stayed together for most of the intervening years, singing with Frankie Valli (Grease), the Bee Gees and many others along with working with Elvis tribute acts. It was while touring with Elvis: In Concert in Japan last March that Myrna came down with pneumonia from which she never totally recovered, deteriorating into kidney failure and a severe stroke.
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Bill Maddox, who has played drums with Eric Johnson in three different bands since 1974, was killed during a burglary in his home on Monday. He was 57.
A law enforcement officer has said that the police received a call on Monday morning from what is believed to have been Maddox's wife Rhonda saying that their was a burglar in the house. The 911 operator reported hearing two shots during the conversation, one of which killed Maddox and the other wounding the intruder, the couple's neighbor John Debrecht.
Maddox and Johnson first worked together in 1974 as part of the group the Electromagnetics in Abilene, TX. Over the years, he would also play with Johnson's main group along with his side project, Alien Love Child. His last album with Johnson was 2005's Bloom.
VVN Music