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Posts Tagged ‘Rory Storm & the Hurricanes’

Died On This Date (November 26, 2011) Keef Hartley / Replaced Ringo Starr in Rory Storm & The Hurricanes

Posted by themusicsover on November 26, 2011

Keith “Keef” Hartley
April 8, 1944 – November 26, 2011

Photo by Jan Persson

Keef Hartley was a British drummer whose first notable gig came when he replaced Ringo Starr in Rory Storm and the Hurricanes when Starr was hired away by the Beatles.  It wouldn’t be a stretch in fact, to call Storm and his band equally popular as the Beatles throughout England – albeit during their early days only.  Following his tenure with Storm, Hartley went on to play with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers.  He can be heard on such Mayall albums as The Blues Alone and Crusade.   Hartley went on to form the Keef Hartley Band – a jazz rock combo in the vein of Chicago.  In 1969, the group played Woodstock, but unfortunately followed Santana who had just played one of their greatest sets ever, so needless to say, they didn’t leave as lasting an impression as they might have otherwise.  Hartley went on to release several albums that did moderately well over the years.  Keef Hartley was 67 when he passed away on November 26, 2011.  Cause of death was not immediately released.

Thanks to Henk de Bruin at 2+ Printing for the assist.

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Keef Hartley Band

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Died On This Date (September 28, 1972) Rory Storm / ’60s British Rock Star

Posted by themusicsover on September 28, 2009

Rory Storm (born Alan Caldwell)
September 21, 1939 – September 28, 1972

Rory Storm with Ringo Starr on drums

There was a time when Rory Storm & the Hurricanes were more popular than the Beatles.  Also from Liverpool at the time, Storm and his band offered up a rollicking show mostly covering the popular American early rock ‘n roll and rockabilly, much like the Beatles were doing at the time.  In fact, Storm’s drummer at the time, was Ringo Starr who left him to replace Pete Best in the Beatles.  Although the band were a great live act, generally opening for popular American rockers that came through town, they never were able to parlay that into a recording career.  They made just two singles during their run.  Storm broke up the band in 1967 after original member Ty O’Brien died of complications from appendicitis surgery.  He had collapsed on stage, from the appendicitis.  Storm went on to become a local disc jockey and ski instructor.  In September of 1972, Storm was living back to take care of his mother after his father died.  Battling a chest infection, he took sleeping pills to get a good night’s sleep.  The next morning, both he and his mother were found dead.  It is believed that Storm died of an accidental overdose since there was also alcohol in his system.  It was suggested that Storm’s mother, who also had sleeping pills in her system, may have committed suicide after discovering her son dead.  Rory Storm was 33 when he died.



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