Some 1950's and 60's Rockers

Kieth Olsen ~ 74 ~ American bassist with 1960's Garage band the Music Machine ("Talk Talk") and later producer w/Rick Springfield, Fleetwood Mac, Ozzy Osbourne, the Grateful Dead, Whitesnake, Pat Benatar, Heart, Santana, Saga, Scorpions, Foreigner, Journey, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Joe Walsh, Eric Burdon, Joe Walsh, the James Gang, Fleetwood Mac, the Babys, Starship, Sammy Hagar, Kim Carnes, 38 Special, Bad Company, Night Ranger, Kingdom Come, Eddie Money

THE MUSIC MACHINE ~ "TALK TALK";


THE MUSIC MACHINE ~ "MASCULINE INTUITION";


THE MUSIC MACHINE ~ "CHERRY CHERRY";


Chris Darrow ~ 75 ~ Singer/Bassist/Mandolinist with 1960's US Psyche band Kaleidoscope and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

KALEIDOSCOPE ~ "LIE TO ME";


Jerry Slick ~ Drummer for San Francisco Psyche band The Great Society (who did the original versions of "Somebody To Love" and "White Rabbit") and husband of Grace Slick

THE GREAT SOCIETY ~ "SOMEBODY TO LOVE";


THE GREAT SOCIETY ~ "WHITE RABBIT";


THE GREAT SOCIETY ~ "FREE ADVICE";


Bo Winberg ~ 80 ~ Guitarist for the 1960's Swedish Instro band the Spotnicks ("Johnny Guitar", "The Rocket Man"

Bob Lander ~ 78 ~ Guitarist w/1960's Swedish Rock band The Spotnicks

THE SPOTNICKS ~ "THE ROCKET MAN";


THE SPOTNICKS ~ "JOHNNY GUITAR";



THE SPOTNICKS ~ "AMAPOLA";


THE SPOTNICKS ~ "SPANISH GYPSY DANCE";


THE SPOTNICKS ~ "LAST ROCKET TRAIN";


Ed Kookie Byrnes ~ 87 ~ American actor ("77 Sunset Strip" & "Grease") who had a 1959 hit novelty song "Kookie Kookie Give Me Your Comb" as a duet with Connie Francis

ED KOOKIE BYRNES & CONNIE FRANCIS ~ "KOOKIE KOOKIE GIVE ME YOUR COMB";


Leslie Cauchi ~ 77 ~ Singer & keyboardist with 1960's Doo Wop groups The Del Satins (w/Dion; "The Wanderer", "Donna The Prima Donna", "Drip Drop") and the Brooklyn Bridge

DION & THE DEL SATINS ~ "DONNA THE PRIMA DONNA";


DION & THE DEL SATINS ~ "THE WANDERER";


DION & THE DEL SATINS ~ "RUNAROUND SUE";


Wayne King ~ bassist for 1960's Louisville Ky band Tommy Cosmo & The Counts and the Uptown Band

COSMO & THE COUNTS ~ "A LITTLE MIXED UP";


COSMO & THE COUNTS ~ "SWEETHEART PLEASE DON'T GO";


Bobby Comstock ~ 78 ~ Singer with 1960's American rock band Bobby Comstock & the Counts ("Tennessee Waltz", "I Wanna Do It", "Let's Stomp")

BOBBY COMSTOCK & THE COUNTS ~ "I WANT TO DO IT";


BOBBY COMSTOCK & THE COUNTS ~ "LET'S STOMP";


Barbara Martin ~ 76 ~ Singer with the original Supremes

THE SUPREMES ~ "HE'S 17";


THE SUPREMES ~ "AFTER ALL";


Phil Phillips ~ 94 ~ 1950's New Orleans R&B singer ("Sea Of Love")

PHIL PHILLIPS ~ "SEA OF LOVE";


Steve Martin Caro 71 ~ Singer with 1960's US pop band The Left Banke ("Walk Away Renee")

Tom Finn ~ 71 ~ Bassist with 1960's Pop band The Left Banke ("Walk Away Renee")



Marty Grebb ~ 74 ~ Keyboardist for American progressive pop band the Buckinghams ("Kind Of A Drag", "Mercy Mercy Mercy", "Susan") and Chicago;

THE BUCKINGHAMS ~ "KIND OF A DRAG";


THE BUCKINGHAMS ~ "DON'T YOU CARE";


THE BUCKINGHAMS ~ "MERCY MERCY MERCY";


Bob Nave ~ 75 ~ Keyboardist with 1960's American Psychedelic band The Lemon Pipers ("My Green Tambourine")

THE LEMON PIPERS ~ "MY GREEN TAMBOURINE";


THE LEMON PIPERS ~ "NO HELP FROM ME";


Simon Posthuma ~ 81 ~ Dutch artist and musician with 1960's Psychedelic Art & Music collective The Fool

THE FOOL;


THE FOOL ~ "WONDERWALL";


THE FOOL ~ "ACTION PAINTING";


Moraes Moreira ~ 72 ~ Guitarist and singer w/Brazilian Folk Rock group Novos Baianos

NOVOS BAIANOS ~ "MISTEREO DO PLANETA";


NOVOS BAIANOS ~ "SAMBA DA MINHAS TERRA";


Barry Mayger ~ 73 ~ Bassist with 1960's British pop band Chicory Tip

CHICORY TIP ~ "SON OF MY FATHER";


Ljiljana Petrović ~ 81 ~ Serbian 1960's pop singer

LJILJANA PETROVIC ~ "NEKE DAVNE ZEDZVE";


Kamit Sanbayev ~ 78 ~ Kazakh singer with USSR 1960's &70's pop group Dos Mukasan

DOS MUKASAN;

Some Figures From The 1950's & 60's

GEORGE MARTIN (90);
Known as "The Fifth Beatle" Martin was record producer for them on all their recordings. Martin had been known for recording comedy acts including Peter Cook & Dudley Moore but he had also been recording Skiffle bands like The Vipers and was actively looking for a R&R combo when he was assigned to the Beatles by EMI with whom he would work for the rest of their careers. Martin is credited with introducing them to more sophisticated recording techniques and arrangements. He would also work with a number of other bands like Billy J Kramer & The Dakotas, Shane Fenton & The Fentones, Gerry & The Pacemakers, Cila Black and the young Gary Glitter in his pre-glam years. Martin would later work with America, Ultravox, Jeff Beck, Cheap Trick, UFO, Elton John, Neil Sedaka and Celine Dion.

THE BEATLES ~ "PENNY LANE";


BILLY J KRAMER & THE DAKOTAS ~ "FROM A WINDOW";


GERRY & THE PACEMAKERS ~ "I LIKE IT":


PAUL KANTER (74) & SIGNE TROLY ANDERSON (74);
Kanter was a singer/guitarist/songwriter and founding member of Jefferson Airplane, the iconic band of the San Francisco Psychedelic scene of the 1967 Summer Of Love. The Airplane were not the first Psychedelic band, The Charlatans and the Greatful Dead claimed that honour, but the Airplane were the first band of the scene to score serious international hits with the still classic "White Rabbit" and "Somebody To Love" off the album "Surrealistic Pillow".
Paul Kanter was one of the founding members although at first the band's leader was singer Marty Balin. One their first album, 1966's "Takes Off" the Airplane were a typical folk-rock band of the time, not as inventive or distinctive as The Byrds but solid enough. They also lacked a charismatic frontman. Balin and female singer Signe Troly Anderson had good looks and a strong tenors and but lacked the larger-than-life persona of a great frontman. That problem would soon be found when rival band The Great Society broke up and freeing up their singer (and former model) Grace Slick to replace Signe Anderson who had gotten pregnant and decided to retire from band life for motherhood. Slick would also bring two songs from her previous band, the afore mentioned "White Rabbit" and "Somebody To Love", along with a soaring ice queen voice and stunning looks.

JEFFERSON AIRPLANE ~ "WHITE RABBIT";


Kanter may not have appeared essential to the early airplane's sound. Balin had started the band and Kanter's rhythm guitar lacked the flash of Jorma Kauconen's leads or Jack Cassidy's rumbling bass. But Kanter contributed to the songwriting and after a few years Balin became dissatisfied with the band's direction and started to absent himself, eventually stalking out entirely leaving Kanter in charge. The Airplane became more focused on Kanter's favored themes of politics and science fiction. This led to later hit songs like "Volunteers", "Mexico" and "Have You Seen The Saucers".

JEFFERSON AIRPLANE ~ "WHITE RABBIT" & "SOMEBODY TO LOVE";


By the 1970's the band had changed their name to Jefferson Starship and they continued to score hits through the decade. Eventually Kaukonen and Cassidy left followed by Slick but Kanter continued to slog away for a time as the last original mamber before he too packed it in and went off to a low key solo career. A version of the band would carry on into the eighties, even luring back Grace Slick for a time and managed to score a couple of surprise hits in the late eighties with a bland ballad "Sara" and the much despised "We Built This City On Rock & Roll", a song on most people's lists of the worst top ten hits (and videos) of all time.

JEFFERSON AIRPLANE ~ "THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS LIFE";


DAN HICKS ~ 74;
The Charlatans were the fist San Fransico Psyche bands to get attention with their combination of Folk-Rock, Garage and Psyche along with their Victorian/Cowboy/Art Nouveau/Thrift Shop image in both their clothes and poster art. They didn't really score any major hits but they were a popular live act in California and Nevada from 1964 to 1966. Dan Hicks was not an original member but he joined in 1967 as a drummer then moving to guitar, vocals and songwriting. He left in 1968 with to form his own folk group Dan Hicks & Hot Licks which me would maintain on and off until recently.

THE CHARLATANS ~ "32/20 Blues";


Keith Emerson ~ 71 ~ Keyboardist with British 1960's & 70's Prog-Rock bands The Nice and Emerson, Lake & Palmer

THE NICE ~ "HANG ON TO A DREAM";


THE NICE ~ "AMERICA";


Gilli Smyth ~ 83 ~ Singer with 1960's Psychedelic Rock band Gong
GONG ~ "I NEVER GLID BEFORE";


GONG ~ "WITCH'S SONG/I'M YOUR PUSSY";


GONG ~ "DYNAMITE";


GONG ~ "DREAMING";


Teddy Rooney ~ 66 ~ Bassist w/Los Angeles 1960's Psychedelic Garage Band American The Yellow Payges

THE YELLOW PAYGES ~ "COPY THE BOUNCING BALL";


Gary Loizzo ~ 71 ~ Singer/guitarist with 1960's Pop band the American Breed

THE AMERICAN BREED ~ "BEND ME SHAPE ME":


Andy Thunderclap Newman ~ 73 ~ British singer of one-hit-wonder "Something In The Air" (1969) written & produced by Pete Townsend, guitarist Jimmy McCullagh later played in Wings

THUNDERCLAP NEWMAN ~ "SOMETHING IN THE AIR";


Sverre Kjelsberg ~ 69 ~ Singer and bassist with 1960's Norwegian rock band The Pussycats

THE PUSSYCATS ~ "GONNA SEND YOU BACK TO GEORGIA";


Tommy Brown ~ 84 ~ American 1950's R&B singer with The Griffin Brothers

THE GRIFFIN BROS & TOMMY BROWN ~ "WEAPIN' & MOANIN";


Lee Andrews ~ 79 ~ American doo-wop singer w/Lee Andrews & the Hearts ("Teardrops", "Long Lonely Nights" and "Try the Impossible")

LEE ANDREWS & THE HEARTS ~ "LONG LONELY NIGHTS";


Carlo Mastrangelo ~ 77 ~ American Doo-Wop singer w/Dion & The Belmonts

DION & THE BELMONTS ~ "A TEENAGER IN LOVE";


DION & THE BELMONTS ~ "I WONDER WHY";


Jack Hammer ~ 90 ~ American 1950's R&R performer and songwriter ("Great Balls Of Fire", "Fujiyama Mama" (for Wanda Jackson), "Rock & Roll Cal" (for Louis Jordan) as well as solo. Joined the Platters in the 60's.

JERRY LEE LEWIS ~ "GREAT BALLS OF FIRE";


WANDA JACKSON ~ "FUJIYAMA MAMA";


Dorothy Schwartz ~ 89 ~ American singer w/ 1950's Pop vocal group The Chordettes ("Mr Sandman" & "Lollipop")

THE CHORDETTES ~ "LOLLIPOP" & "MR SANDMAN"


Gogi Grant, 91, American pop singer ("The Wayward Wind")

GOGI GRANT ~ "IT'S A WONDERFUL THING TO BE LOVED";


L. C. Ulmer ~ 87 ~ American Delta blues singer/guitarist from the 1950's onward but did not actually record until 2011

L.C. ULMER ~ "CC RIDER";

RIPs to Micheal Davis of the MC5 and some other classic rockers

Michael Davis ~ Bassist for the classic late 1960's proto-punk band The MC, later joined with Ex Stooge Ron Asheton in The New Order (not the other one). There is literally not a punk, garage or grunge band alive or dead that has not been influenced by the MC5. Nuff said ~ 68

THE MC5 ~ "KICK OUT THE JAMS";



THE MC5 ~ "MOTOR CITY'S BURNING"; <



Levon Helm; Drummer with The Band and The Hawks from the 1950's on. Starting off as a backing band for Ronnie Hawkins on Roulette Records before Hawkins moved to Toronto. Helm later moved to Canada as well and rejoined Hawkins new all-Canadian group renamed The Band as they went on to play with Bob Dylan on his classic folk-rock records, still later the Band would go on to a solo career in the late 1960's and 70's with several classic albums. After the Band broke up Helm would continue with a solo career as well as acting, including a role as the father in "Coal Miner's Daughter". He had been battling cancer for years and died at age 72.

THE BAND ~ "I SHALL BE RELEASED";



Buggs Henderson, guitarist with the Nuggets era Texas garage band Mouse and Traps, best know for their blatant Dylan rip off "A public execution" as well as the excellent "Maid of Sugar Maid of spice" died of cancer last week at 68. He stared out with an R&B group called the Sensors and in later years recorded as a solo blues guy.

MOUSE ANT THE TRAPS ~ "MAID OF SUGAR MAID OF SPICE;




Freddie Milano ~ Singer with Dion and The Belmonts, one of the greatest white Doo Wop groups with hits lke "Runaround Sue", "Lovers who wander", "A teenager in love" ~ 72

DION & THE BELMONTS ~ "RUNAROUND SUE";




JERRY "BOOGIE" MCCLAIN ~ "TWIST 62";





Donald Duck Dunn; Bassist with Booker T & The MG's, the classic house band for virtually all the classic Soul and R&B hits put out by Stax Records in the 1960's. Hits by the likes of Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, William Bell, Eddie Floyd, Albert King, as well as several instrumental hits by the MG's themselves. Later worked with Wilson Pickett, Muddy Waters, Freddie King, Neil Young, Joe Walsh and Jerry Lee Lewis. Still later he played on Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks "Stop dragging my heart around". Appeared in the "Blues Brothers" movie as himself backing up the Brothers as well as Cab Calloway.

Booker T & The MG's ~ "Green Onions";


Herb Reed ~ Singer with 1950's Doo Wop group The Platters ~ 83

The Platters ~ "The Great Pretender" & "Only You";



Lloyd Brevett ~ Jamaican double bassist (The Skatalites) ~ 80

Chris Ethridge ~ Bassist with Gram Parson's International Submarine Band and The Flying Burrito Brothers. Also played with The Byrds and Emmylou Harris ~

The Flying Burrito Brothers ~ "Older Guys";


Robin Gibb ~ Singer with the Bee Gees, best remembered for their disco hits but originally known for a series of lush 1960's pop hits such as "To love somebody", "I started a joke" ~ 62 The Bee Gees ~ "I started a joke";




Vince Lovegrove ~ Co-lead singer (with Bon Scott) in 1960's Australian group The Valentines. The group broke up after a drugs bust and Lovegrove went on to be a producer and manager while Scott would later join AC/DC ~ 65

THE VALENTINES ~ "BUILD ME UP BUTTERCUP";




Richie Teeter ~ Drummer with late 1970's New York punk band The Dictators, later with 1980's hair band shockers Twisted Sister ~ 61


THE DICTATORS ~ "SEARCH AND DESTROY";



TWISTED SISTER ~ "WE'RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT";


Ronnie Montrose with 1970's hard rock band Montrose along with singer Sammy Hagar before Sammy went solo became a total twat. Ronnie later went solo ~ 66


MONTROSE ~ "BAD MOTOR SCOOTER";





Mike Hossack, one of many drummers of the 1970's stadium rockers Doobie Brothers most of whom were not brothers and none of whom were named "Doobie" ~ 65


THE DOOBIE BROTHERS ~ "CHINA GROVE";

RIP to Jerry Leiber

Exhibit A;
"Hound Dog" ~ Big Mama Thorton w/ Buddy Guy;




Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller were the greatest songwriters of the early rock & Roll/R&B era bar none. Their catalog reads like a how-to list for everything Rock & Roll, was, is and always should be. Which it is.

Exhibit B;
"Jail House Rock" ~ Elvis Presley;



How it took a couple of nice Jewish kids from New York to figure out how to take the the raw sounds of blues and doo-wop and modernize them for an new audience of white kids is one of those great unanswerable questions of pop culture history but Leiber and Stoller were there even before Phil Spector, Alan Freed, Bill Haley or Elvis. If not Sam Phillips. But while Phillips was a producer with a fine ear, he was no songwriter Leiber and Stoller were.

Exhibit C;
"Love potion number 9" ~ The Searchers;



The list of songs in their catalog includes no less than a hundred chart hits for a bewildering array of artists including, but not limited to;
The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Walker Bros, Rolling Stones, Ben E King, Drifters, Coasters, Wilbert Harrison, Beach Boys, Dion, Billy Thorpe, Searchers, Little Richard, The Crystals, Drifters, Brenda Lee, Bad Company, Tony Sheridan, The Hollies, Diamonds, Cheers, Freddie Bell, Big Mama Thorton, Jimmy Witherspoon, The Kinks, Lords, Groupies, Ronnie Hawkins, Dr.Feelgood, Otis Redding, Mickey Gilley, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Burnett, Gene Vincent, Albert King, Koko Taylor,Dave Clark Five, Manfred Mann, Paramounts, Del Shannon, Animals, Merle Haggard, Link Wray, Frankie Lymon, Carl Perkins, Wayne Fontana, Ventures, Freddie & The Dreamers, Sha Na Na (of course) and ...ummm...Alvin and the Chipmunks, several times.

Exhibit D;
"Poison Ivy" ~ Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs;




The Duo started out in the 1950's as writers with hits for such blues and R&B figures as Big Mama Thorton, Wilbert Harrison and Jimmy Witherspoon before they were surprised to find one of those songs, "Hound Dog", become a hit for a young largely unknown white kid named Elvis. They would write a series of other hit song for him including "Love Me", "Loving You", "Don't", "Jailhouse Rock" and "King Creole". However most of their time would be writing numerous hits for black artists like the Coasters and Ben E King throughout the 1960's.

Exhibit E;
"I'm a hog for you" ~ The Lords;




They would also also branch out into owning record label Red Bird Records, which issued the Shangri-Las' "Leader of the Pack" and the Dixie Cups' "Chapel of Love" which they did not write however. As producers they also acted as mentors to the young Phil Spector. They also won a ton of awards.

Exhibit F;
"Kansas City" ~ The Beatles;



As time went on their tastes went to more elaborate pop songs that would lead to hits for Edith Piaf and Peggy Lee. They would continue into the 1970's with hits for Stealer's Wheel, Earth Wind and Fire, Elkie Brooks, George Benson, Steely Dan and Mezzo-soprano Joan Morris and her pianist-composer husband William Bolcom, which had little to do with rock and roll.

Exhibit G;
"Ruby Baby" ~ Dion;



However they also lived to see their early Rock and R&B hots are still covered down to the punk era by the likes of Dr.Feelgood, The Lambrettas, Los Straitjackets, Mink DeVille, El Vez, Queen, Mötley Crüe, Brownsville Station, Patti Smith, ZZ Top, Twisted Sister, The Cramps, AC/DC, MDC, White Stripes, Flotsam & Jetsam, Motorhead, Pennywise and The Blues Brothers (This version was the ending song of the movie, performed with other musicians such as Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles and Cab Calloway), even Negativeland and John Oswald. They were usually good sports about that, if somewhat bemused.

Exhibit H;
"Searchin'" ~ The Coasters;




Jerry Leiber died at the age of 78 on August 22, 2011, from cardio-pulmonary failure.

Exhibit I;
"Stand by me" ~ Ben E. King;



Exhibit J;
"There goes my baby" ~ The Walker Bros.;



Exhibit K;
"Stand by me" ~ John Lennon;