Mark “Moogy” Klingman September 7, 1950 – November 15, 2011
Moogy Klingman was a keyboardist, singer, and songwriter who is perhaps best remembered as a founding member of Todd Rundgren’sUtopia. Klingman was still in high school when he was fronting such bands as the Living Few and Glitterhouse. At 16 he found himself playing in the Blue Flame with Jimi Hendrix and Randy California. In 1969, Klingman hooked up with Rundgren and began playing keyboards in his band. He went on to play on several Utopia albums as well as nearly a dozen Rundgren long-players. He also played on and produced the Bob Dylan/Bette Midler duet, “Buckets of Rain.” Other artists Klingman worked with include Eric Clapton, Linda Ronstadt, Cyndi Lauper, and Jeff Beck, to name a few. Moogy Klingman, who had been suffering from cancer, passed away on November 15, 2011. He was 61.
Terence “Jet” Harris July 6, 1939 – March 18, 2011
Photo by Harry Hammond
Jet Harris was a bassist who is perhaps best remembered as one of the founding members the English pop band, the Shadows. Originally a jazz musician, it is widely believed that Harris was one of the first, if not THE first English musician to start playing the electric bass. The year was 1958, and before long, Harris was playing in a group called the Drifters who were serving as Cliff Richard’s backing band. They soon changed their name to the Shadows who would ultimately go on to release nearly 70 charting singles in the U.K. Richard himself, would later go on to have a very successful solo career. In 1962, Harris left the Shadows due to friction within the group. He went on to release a handful of moderately successful solo records, and played briefly in the Jeff Beck Group, but by the early ’70s, he was out of the music business and working various manual labor jobs. He returned to playing in the late ’80s and continued to do so up until just prior to his death. In 1998, Fender Guitars recognized him with a Lifetime Achievement Award for popularizing the electric bass in Britain. On March 18, 2011, Jet Harris died following a two-year struggle with cancer. He was 71.
Although his recording career remarkably spanned roughly one year, Robert Johnson is considered by many to be the most influential blues artists of all time. And although his entire catalog of recordings fill just two compact discs, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him #5 on their list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. He minimal recording output couldn’t deny the considerable vocal, guitar-playing and songwriting talent he possessed. And that fact that not much is known about his history coupled with the fact that only two photographs of him even exist, add to a legend that is as big as any in popular music. Even the most respected historians of music could, at best, find sources who claimed they heard “this” or “that” about Johnson’s life in and around Clarksdale, Mississippi. A popular legend has it that he went to a darkened Mississippi crossroad with his guitar and met a man representing the devil who tuned his guitar and played a few songs on it, there bequeathing Johnson phenomenal guitar skills in exchange for is soul. True or not, Johnson has been called the “grandfather of rock ‘n roll,” a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and has been cited as a direct influence on the likes of Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan and Jeff Beck to name just a very few. Robert Johnson’s death is as mysterious as his life,with the most popular, though disputed story being that he drank whiskey that had been laced with strychnine by the jealous husband of a woman Johnson is said to have flirted with at a juke joint. He allegedly died a slow and painful death from the poison a few days later, at the age of just 27. A further testament to the overall mystery surrounding Johnson’s life is the fact there there are three tombstones said to mark his place of burial.
David “Screaming Lord” Sutch
November 10, 1940 – June 16, 1999
Screaming Lord Sutch was a vocally challenged ’60s era British rock singer who helped lay the foundation of what would be called garage rock. His recordings are mostly associated with famed UK producer, Joe Meek. On stage, Sutch’s performances included horror theatrics that likely influenced Alice Cooper to do the same. His songs have been covered by such bands as the White Stripes and the Black Lips, despite the fact that his Lord Sutch And Heavy Friends album has been called the worst album of all times in at least two places. The “heavy friends” in this case were Nicky Hopkins, Jimmy Page, John Bonham, Jeff Beck and Noel Redding. Reported to suffer from depression, Sutch hung himself on June 16, 1999.
Ronnie Lane was born in the east end of London, and from an early age, he wanted to be a musician. Meeting drummer Kenney Jones at 16, Lane formed his first band, the Outkasts with him initially on guitar, but quickly switching to bass. Lane soon met Steve Marriott and together with Jones and Jimmy Winston, they formed the Small Faces in 1965. In 1972, Lane broke from the Small Faces to embark on a solo career. During that time, he hooked up with Pete Townsend to record an album called Rough Mixthat was released in 1977. It was during the Rough Mix sessions that Lane discovered he was suffering from Multiple Sclerosis, which barely slowed him down for a bit as he continued to tour and record. In fact he spent most of those days as a gypsy minstrel, traveling the highways of England playing acoustically along the way. In 1983, Lane’s then girlfriend, Boo Oldfield helped arrange an MS benefit concert (A.R.M.S Concert) that featured performances by Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts, Jones and Andy Fairweather-Low. Joe Cocker and Paul Rodgers were added to a US tour. Suffering from the effects of MS, Lane moved to the better climate of Austin TX, where he continued to work with the likes of Alejandro Escovedo. Since he wasn’t earning royalties from his days with the Small Faces, friends like Jimmy Page and Rod Stewart generously helped with the medical bills. Kenney Jones and Ian McLagan were able to arrange Small Faces royalty payments to Lane, before he died of pneumonia as a result of the MS on June 4, 1997.
Moogy Klingman was a keyboardist, singer, and songwriter who is perhaps best remembered as a founding member of Todd Rundgren’s Utopia. Klingman was still in high school when he was fronting such bands as the Living Few and Glitterhouse. At 16 he found himself playing in the Blue Flame with Jimi Hendrix and Randy California. In 1969, Klingman hooked up with Rundgren and began playing keyboards in his band. He went on to play on several Utopia albums as well as nearly a dozen Rundgren long-players. He also played on and produced the Bob Dylan/Bette Midler duet, “Buckets of Rain.” Other artists Klingman worked with include Eric Clapton, Linda Ronstadt, Cyndi Lauper, and Jeff Beck, to name a few. Moogy Klingman, who had been suffering from cancer, passed away on November 15, 2011. He was 61.
Ronnie Lane was born in the east end of London, and from an early age, he wanted to be a musician. Meeting drummer Kenney Jones at 16, Lane formed his first band, the Outkasts with him initially on guitar, but quickly switching to bass. Lane soon met 