Wednesday, July 28, 2010

“Rock’n’Roll is here to stay…it will never die”. Those lyrics from the Danny & The Juniors 1958 hit are still true today. Rock’n’roll is still going strong. Unfortunately, rock’n’rollers do die….some tragically. This week, we’re looking at some of those souls who passed way before their time. As always, there are 10 questions, so score yourself 10 points for each correct answer – see how close you can come to 100%. Answers are below the questions, so let’s have a go, shall we?

1. This female singer was a member of The Mugmumps before joining the group that made her
world famous. She died in London, England. If it helps, her real name was Ellen Naomi
Cohen, but she hit the top of the charts under a different name. Who is this talented singer?

2. This singer made the successful transition from gospel to pop. He was the son of a Baptist
minister and sang in the church choir from the age of 6. His first number one hit
happened in 1957. Although he never hit the top of the Billboard singles chart again, he did
have 28 Top 40 hits. He was killed in 1964 under mysterious circumstances. Can you name
this singer?

3. His life ended just as his career was ‘taking off’. He was born in the Los Angeles area, but
died tragically in the midwestern United States. He may be the youngest performer to die in
rock history. He was a singer/songwriter who also played guitar. His nickname was ‘The
Little Richard of The Valley’. Who can this be?

4. She was a singer who also played an instrument not usually associated with females at that
time. She worked with a member of her family for most of her successful career and
won two Grammy Awards. She and her sibling had many charted hits which included four
number ones. This one should be easy if you love soft pop ballads. She was born in
New Haven Connecticut and died in Downey, California. She’s also the subject of a brand new
biography currently in stores by author Randy L. Schmidt. Can you name this
sensational singer?

5. He was a country singer who made the pop charts several times in the early 1960’s, usually
with songs about historical events. His only Billboard charted pop number one was
about a famous British/American skirmish in 1814, which won a Grammy Award in 1960 for
‘Best Country & Western Recording’. He’s a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
1960 was also the year of his death from a car crash. Who is this country/pop hitmaker?

6. This LA born singer met one of his future bandmates at film school. In fact, he’d planned to
become a filmmaker, but never got around to it after his groups’ musical career took off. He
was born in 1943 in Florida, but he later became a poster boy for the California lifestyle. His
career was steeped in controversy as drugs and alcohol played a large part in his life. He was
only 27 when he died. Can you name this singer?

7. This singer/songwriter practically grew up on television. His family had a hit TV show. His
first name was Eric, but he became world famous using a nickname for his real one. He
became a singer to impress a girlfriend and his career spanned several decades. He had two
number ones and over two dozen Top Twenty charted records. A ‘party’ at Madison Square
Garden gave him one of his biggest hits in the 1970’s. He died the age of 45 on New Years
Eve, 1985. Who is this TV star and recording legend?

8. This soul singer had his only number one hit after he died. He was born in Georgia and wrote
hits for other performers including Sam & Dave and Aretha Franklin. He was known as
‘The King Of Soul’ and became an international sensation after his tour-de-force performance
at the Monterey Ray Pop Festival in 1967. Sadly he died in December that same year. Can
you name him?

9. She was a hard drinking, hard livin’ sassy Texan who died at at the age of 27. Her ‘big
brothers’ helped her succeed in the music biz. She was a staple on rock album radio stations
This performer only had one number one hit, and, like Otis Redding, it came after her death.
Who is she?

10. This British musician was also 27 years old when he died. He was a member of one of the
worlds’ most famous rock groups, although he’d been kicked out of the group he helped
create. He could play practically any instrument, but got caught up in the world of drugs and
was found drowned in his swimming pool. Can you name this famous musician?

ANSWERS

1. Mama Cass Elliott was born Ellen Naomi Cohen in Baltimore,
Maryland on September 19, 1941. She was a member of The
Mugwumps, which also featured Canadians Zal Yanovsky,
who later joined The Lovin’ Spoonful and Denny Doherty who
was one of her bandmates in The Mamas And Papas. After
the group disbanded, she became a successful solo
performer, racking up her own Top Ten hits and starring in TV
specials. Cass died on a heart attack on July 29, 1974 after
performing several weeks of sold out concerts at the London
Palladium. She was only 32 years old at the time of her
death.

2. That would be Sam Cooke, who was a member of the gospel
group The Soul Stirrers before embarking on a successful
pop career. Sam’s only number one was 1957’s “You Send
Me”. Some of his other hits included “Chain Gang”, “Tiwstin’
The Night Away”, “Cupid”, “Only Sixteen” and “Shake”. Sam
was shot and killed by a Los Angeles motel owner on
December 11, 1964 under mysterious circumstances that
have not been fully explained to this day. Same Cooke was
33 when he died.

3. Ritchie Valens, real name Ricardo Esteban Valenzuela, was
only 17 years and 9 months old when he died in the plane
crash that also killed The Big Bopper and Buddy Holly as well
as the pilot Roger Peterson on February 3, 1959. After a
concert at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly
chartered a plane to take the trio to their next gig in Fargo,
North Dakota when their plane went down. The 1987 movie
“La Bamba” was the story of Ritchie Valens life. It starred
Lou Diamond Phillips. Ritchie was inducted into the
Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame posthumously in 2001.

4. Karen Carpenter is the singer we’re looking for. She was a
drummer, which she learned to play in high school. Karen
and her brother Richard, along with college friend Wes
Jacobs formed The Richard Carpenter Trio which played jazz
in various nightclubs around the Los Angeles area. In 1969,
A&M Records signed Karen and Richard to a recording
contract with almost instant success. Their hits included
“(They Long To Be) Close To You”, “Rainy Days And
Mondays”, “Top Of The World”, “Please Mr. Postman” and
“We’ve Only Just Begun”, which is still a song many couples
use as their wedding song. Karen had Anorexia Nervosa.
She died from heart failure on February 4, 1983 at the age of
32.

5. John Gale Horton, better known as Johnny Horton had hits
on the country charts as well as the pop charts. His songs
included his only number one, “The Battle Of New Orleans”,
“North To Alaska” and “Sink The Bismark”. Johnny loved to
fish and in his early years was known as ‘The Singing
Fisherman’. In 1953, he married country legend Hank
Williams widow, Bilie Jean. Horton died on November 5, 1960
after his car was struck by a drunk drive in Milano, Texas.

6. James Douglas Morrison, aka Jim Morrison was the singer
we’re looking for. Jim was attending UCLA film school when
a fellow student, Ray Manzarek, read some of his poetry
and though they’d make great songs. Ray was right. The
Doors became hugely successful around Los Angeles,
playing clubs like The Whiskey A-Go-Go. Elektra Records
signed the group and massive hits like “Light My Fire”,
“People Are Strange”, Hello, I Love You”, “Touch Me” and
“Love Her madly” followed. He achieved world wide
adulation with The Doors, but had several run ins with the
law. To escape his problems and get away from fans, Jim
and his wife Pamela moved to Paris, France where he died on
July 3rd, 1971 of a heart attack, although an autopsy was
never performed. He’s buried in Pere-lachaisse cemetery,
where, even today, his gravesite is one of the most visited
tourist attractions in all of Paris.

7. Ricky Nelson was born Eric Hilliard Nelson in 1940. He was a
cast member on his family’s TV show, “The Adventures of
Ozzie & Harriet”. His music career took off in 1957, thanks to
great songs and the fact that his father had Ricky sing many
of them on the TV series. His two number one hits were
“Poor Little Fool” in 1958 and “Travelin’ Man” in 1961,
although he charted 25 songs in the Top Twenty. Ricky
eventually got fed up with being a ‘teen idol’ and dropped the
‘y’ from his first name becoming Rick Nelson. His musical
styles changed to include country and a Rock Revival concert
at Madison Square Garden in New York that he performed on,
gave him his biggest hit of the 1970’s. “Garden Party” went
to number six in 1972 and gave his career a new boost. He
died in a plane crash in DeKalb, Texas on New Years Eve,
1985. Rick Nelson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame in 1987.

8. Otis Redding was ‘The King Of Soul’. His hits included “I’ve
Been Lovin’ You Too Long” and “Try A Little Tenderness”.
He wrote “Respect”, which became a number one for Aretha
Franklin. He co-wrote “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay with
guitar player Steve Cropper, who was a member of Booker T
& The MG’s and one of Stax Records session musicians. Otis
and four members of his back up group The Bar Kays, were
killed when their Beechcraft plane crashed into Lake Monona
in Madison, Wisconsin on December 10, 1967. Three months
later, in March of ’68, “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay” was
number one on Billboards’ Hot 100 chart. It remained there
for four weeks.

9. Janis Joplin was the lead singer for Big Brother & The
Holding Company. Their biggest charted hit was “Piece Of
My Heart” in 1968 which made it to number twelve on
Billboard. Janis died of a drug overdose in Los Angeles on
October 4, 1970. Her solo hit, “Me And Bobby McGee”,
written by Kris Kristofferson hit number one for two weeks on
March 20th, 1971. In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine gave
Janis the rank of 46th on their ‘100 Greatest Artists of All
Time” list.

10. Brian Jones helped create The Rolling Stones and was a founding member. He had un-rock like instruments like marimbas, flutes and sitars to the Stones records. Brian left the group in 1969 (although he was asked to leave by the other members of The Stones). Mick Taylor replaced him in the band. Brian’s body was found floating in his swimming pool in July of ’69. The official cause of death was listed as ‘death by misadventure’. There were claims that Brian was murdered, but no one was ever charged.

1 comment:

  1. Hello Mr. Thompson. Brad Howard here, retired publisher of The World Beatles Forum (we interviewed you about 13 years ago). Tried to email you (unsuccessfully) about Coca-Cola jingles - I currently have MORE than 260 Things Go Better With Coke jingles. I barely have any Canadian jingles and would love to trade with you, if possible.

    Thank you and warmest regards,

    Brad Howard
    twbf@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete