Friday, January 07, 2005

DROWN

Jeff Buckley:
Age 30

(b. 17 Nov 1966, d. 29 May 1997)
Since he was the son of cult songwriter Tim Buckley, Jeff Buckley faced more expectations and pre-conceived notions than most singer/songwriters. Buckley began playing as a high school student in New York. Eventually, he moved to Los Angeles to study music; while he was there, he performed with several jazz and funk bands, as well as playing with Shinehead, a leader in the dancehall reggae movement. Buckley began a solo career playing clubs and coffeehouses, building up a considerable following. Soon, he signed a record deal with Columbia Records, releasing the Live at Sin-e EP in November of 1993. It received good reviews, yet they didn't compare to the raves Buckley's full-length debut, 1994's Grace, received.
On the night of May 29, he and a friend traveled to the local Mud Island Harbor, where Buckley spontaneously decided to go swimming in the Mississippi River and leaped into the water fully- clothed. A few minutes later, he disappeared under the waves; authorities were quickly contacted, but to no avail -- on June 4, his body was finally found floating near the city's famed Beale Street area. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All-Music Guide


Johnny Burnette:
Age 30

(b. 28 March 1934, Memphis, TN
d. 1 August 1964, CA ).
Having attended the same high school as Elvis Presley, Johnny moved into the rockabilly genre by forming a trio with his brother Dorsey Burnette on string bass and school friend Paul Burlison on guitar. After touring with Carl Perkins and Gene Vincent, the trio underwent a change of personnel in November 1956 with the recruitment of drummer Tony Austin. That same month, the trio were featured in Alan Freed's movie ROCK, ROCK, ROCK. By the autumn of 1957, the trio had split and the Burnette brothers moved on to enjoy considerable success as songwriters. After briefly working as a duo, the brothers parted for solo careers. Johnny proved an adept interpreter of teen ballads. Both Dreamin’ and You're Sixteen were transatlantic Top 10 hits. A series of lesser successes followed with Little Boy Sad, Big Big World, Girls and God, Country And My Baby. With his recording career in decline, Burnette formed his own label Magic Lamp in 1964.
In August that year, he accidentally fell from his boat during a fishing trip in Clear Lake, California and drowned. Among the family he left behind was his son Rocky Burnette, who would subsequently achieve recording success at the end of the '70s.
~Music Central 96.


Randy California:
(my sister used to hang out with this guy - Suze)
Age 45
Spirit

(b. Randy Wolfe, 20 Feb. 1951, Los Angeles, d. 2 January 1997).
Guitarist/singer/songwriter Randy California is best known as the leader of Spirit, although he occasionally has made solo albums. A guitar prodigy, California played in Jimi Hendrix's pre-Experience group the Blue Flames in New York's Greenwich Village in the summer of 1966. It was Hendrix who named him Randy "California." Spirit, an eclectic band with rock, jazz, and folk tendencies, was formed in Los Angeles in 1967. After four albums, the original quintet split up in 1971. He rejoined Spirit in 1974 and has led the band ever since. (Spirit charted with ten albums between 1968 and 1976.) Several subsequent Randy California solo albums have been released in Europe.
Randy California died tragically in January of 1997, when he was gripped by an undertow when swimming on the coast of the Hawaiian island of Molokai. Before he died, he was able to save his 12 year-old son, Quinn.
~ William Ruhlmann, All-Music Guide

Jimmy Hodder:
Age 42

Steely Dan
(died June 15, 1990).
Hodder drowned but little else is known of his death.

Art Porter:
Age 35

(b.1961, d. 23 Nov 1996)

Pop-jazz saxophonist Art Porter drowned while in Bangkok on November 23. He was 35. Porter had achieved success in recent years with a series of jazz-pop releases on Verve.

Dennis Wilson:
Age 39

Beach Boys

(b. 4 December 1944, Hawthorne, California, d. 28 December 1983).

The former drummer with the Beach Boys started to develop as a notable songwriter during the late '60s when his elder brother, Brian, became less prolific. Dennis blossomed showing a hitherto unseen sensitivity which had always been clouded by his wild nature and legendary womanizing. Dennis, sadly became a tragic figure, his voice so badly wracked through drug and alcohol abuse ended as merely a painful croak. During a break from recording his unreleased BAMBOO in 1983.
Wilson drowned after diving from his yacht in the harbor at Marina Del Ray, California. As the only Beach Boy to have actually surfed, special dispensation was given to the Wilson family to bury Dennis at sea.
~Music Central 96

Brian Jones:
Age 27

Rolling Stones

(b. Lewis Brian Hopkin-Jones, 26 February 1942, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, d. 3 July 1969, Cotchford Farm, Sussex).

While the Stones were re- establishing themselves, Brian Jones was falling deeper into drug abuse. A conviction in late 1968 prompted doubts about his availability for US tours and in the succeeding months he contributed less and less to recordings and became increasingly jealous of Jagger's leading role in the group. Richards' wooing and impregnation of Jones' girlfriend Anita Pallenberg merely increased the tension. Matters reached a crisis point in June 1969 when Jones officially left the group. The following month he was found dead in the swimming pool of the Sussex house that had once belonged to writer A.A. Milne. The official verdict was ‘death by misadventure’.