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27 Club Musician Rock Singer Songwriter

Died On This Date (April 23, 1975) Pete Ham / Badfinger

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Pete Ham
April 27, 1947 – April 23, 1975

Member of the 27 Club

Pete Ham was the singer and by some accounts, primary songwriter for the British rock band, Badfinger who were signed to the Beatles’ Apple Records in 1968.  As a songwriter, Ham is perhaps best know for “Without You,” a song he co-wrote with Tom Evans and which was once called “the killer song of all time” by Paul McCartney. It went on to be a #1 hit for Harry Nilsson, a #3 hit for Mariah Carey, and go to #28 for Clay Aiken. The song was recorded more than 180 times through history.  Badfinger had six albums and no fewer than four hit singles, but by the early ’70s the band were caught up in a legal nightmare with their former management that left the members broke. It all became too much for Pete Ham who hanged himself in his garage on April 23, 1975 at the age of 27.  In his heart breaking suicide note, he mentioned the love of his girlfriend and included the post script, “Stan Polley is a soulless bastard.”  Stan Polley was Badfinger’s manager who was accused by many of his clients of corruption. He would later plead nolo contendere to unrelated embezzlement and money laundering charges.

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Badfinger

Musician Producer

Died On This Date (February 27, 2010) T-Bone Wolk / Respected Journeyman Bassist

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Tom “T-Bone” Wolk
1951 –  February 27, 2010

 

T-Bone Wolk was a brilliant bassist who, though likely not a familiar name, was a familiar presence on stage and television since the 1980s.  Born in Yonkers, New York, Wolk, like so many of our rock heroes, decided on the night he first saw the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show, that he was going to be a musician.  And within a few years, Wolk was playing in local garage bands.  His first break came in the early ’80s when he was asked to fill in for Will Lee in the Late Show With David Letterman band.  Wolk would later be the bassist for the Saturday Night Live house band. In 1981, Wolk was hired to play in the Hall & Oates band, with whom he spent over 20 years.  He also co-produced several of their records.  As a session player or producer, Wolk also worked with, among others, Carly Simon, Cyndi Lauper, Harry Nilsson,  Roseanne Cash, Elvis Costello and Billy Joel.  T-Bone Wolk died of a heart attack on February 27, 2010.

Thanks to Michelle Aquilato for the assist


Musician Rock Singer Songwriter

Died On This Date (January 15, 1994) Harry Nilsson / Iconic Singer-Songwriter

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Harry Nilsson
June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994

Harry Nilsson was a critically and commercially successful singer-songwriter who came to prominence during the 1970s.  He is best remembered for his hits, “Without You” (actually written by Pete Ham and Tom Evans of Badfinger)  and “Everybody’s Talkin'” from the Midnight Cowboy soundtrack.  Nilsson began his career as a songwriter in the early ’60s and by 1964, he was working for Phil Spector.  During those early years, his songs were being recorded by the likes of the Monkees, Glen Campbell, the Shangri-Las and the Yardbirds.  He began releasing records under his own name in 1966.  Nilsson’s profile was significantly raised when he was embraced and touted by Paul McCartney and John Lennon as their favorite American artist.  During the ’70s, Nilsson had a flat in London where he’d stay from time to time.  It is notorious for being the location where both Cass Elliot and Keith Moon died four years apart.  Nilsson began to slow his career down by the ’80s.  After Lennon was murdered in 1980, he devoted much of his time and effort to raising money for gun control organizations.  Harry Nilsson suffered a massive heart attack in 1993 and died of heart failure on January 15, 1994.  He was 52.

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Nilsson Schmilsson - Harry Nilsson

Club Owner

Died On This Date (December 3, 2008) Elmer Valentine / Co-founded The Whiskey a Go Go, The Roxy, The Rainbow Bar & Grill

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Elmer Valentine
June 16, 1923 – December 3, 2008

Photo by Art Streiber
Photo by Art Streiber

Elmer Valentine played a critical role in the growth of popular music in the Los Angeles area by co-founding the legendary Sunset Strip clubs, the Whiskey a Go Go and the Roxy.  Born and raised in Chicago where he worked on the police force, Valentine transplanted to the L.A. area in 1960.  In 1964, Valentine and three partners opened the Whiskey which would help define the west coast rock scene of the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s.  Acts like the Doors, the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield played some of their earliest gigs there during the ’60s, while the likes of Great White, Motley Crue and Guns ‘n Roses did the same during the ’80s.  And of course, there were countless others between and since.  In 1966, he and investers that included Lou Adler, opened the Roxy (and later, the infamous Rainbow Bar & Grill next door).  Like the Whiskey, the Roxy hosted its own share of legendary early shows.  That list includes Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, Warren Zevon, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Frank Zappa.  The Roxy’s small upstairs bar, On The Rox was also the site of some of rock music’s most notorious incidents.  In the mid ’70s, it played host to John Lennon’s infamous “lost weekend” gatherings with Keith Moon, Harry Nilsson, and Alice Cooper.  And in March of 1982, it was reportedly the last place John Belushi over-indulged before calling it a night and dying of an overdose in his hotel room.  Elmer Valentine sold his share of the Whiskey during the ’90s, but held on to his share of the Roxy and Rainbow until he passed away at the age of 80.



Musician Rock Singer Songwriter

Died On This Date (November 19, 1983) Tom Evans / Badfinger

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Tom Evans
June 5, 1947 – November 19, 1983

tomevans

Tom Evans is best remembered as founding guitarist and sometime vocalist for British rock band, Badfinger.  Evans had been Liverpool when, in 1967, he was asked to join the Iveys, a Welsh band fronted by Pete Ham.  Within a year the band was signed to the Beatles’ Apple Records. The Evan’s penned “Maybe Tomorrow” was the band’s first single and cracked the US top 100.  In 1969, the band changed its name to Badfinger to record The Magic Christian which included “Come and Get It,” written by Paul McCartney.  Evans sang lead on the track which became a top 10 single around the world.  One of Badfinger’s follow-up singles was “No Matter What,” another instantly recognizable hit.  As a session player, Evans played or sang on John Lennon’s Imagine, George Harrion’s All Things Must Pass, and Ringo Starr’s “It Don’t Come Easy.”   Perhaps Evans’ most famous song as a songwriter was the huge Harry Nilsson hit,  “Without You,” co-written with Ham.  In 1975, Pete Ham committed suicide, putting an end to the original Badfinger.  Evans continued on performing in other bands, including a couple of new versions of Badfinger.  On November 19, 1983, Tom Evans, 36, took his own life by hanging from a tree in his yard.  It has been speculated that he was overwhelmed by disputes over royalties and legal action that could have potentially destroyed him financially.

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No Dice (Remastered) - Badfinger

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