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Posts Tagged ‘White Stripes’

Died On This Date (June 16, 1999) Screaming Lord Sutch / Influential ’60s British Rock Singer

Posted by themusicsover on June 16, 2010

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.

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Screaming Lord Sutch

 

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Died On This Date (March 31, 1996) Jeffrey Lee Pierce / The Gun Club

Posted by themusicsover on March 31, 2010

Jeffrey Lee Pierce
June 27, 1958 – March 31, 1996

Photo by Hank Grebe

Perhaps best known as the front man for L.A. blues-infused rock band, the Gun Club, Jeffrey Lee Pierce also worked for Bomp Records, wrote for a handful of punk ‘zines, and ran the Blondie fan club.  With the Gun Club, Pierce made an influential though not commercial impact on music with their swampy blues punk sound that drew strongly from such blues giants as Charley Patton and Howlin’ Wolf.  Gun Club were a direct influence on the White Stripes, Screaming Trees and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.  By the ’90s, Pierce was struggling with personal demons and drugs, leading to a marked decline in his creative output.   He died of a brain hemorrhage on the final day of March, 1996.  He was just 37.

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Fire of Love - The Gun Club

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Died On This Date (January 1, 2006) Bryan Harvey / House Of Freaks

Posted by themusicsover on January 1, 2010

Bryan Harvey
April 27, 1956 – January 1, 2006

Bryan_HarveyBryan Harvey was the lead singer and guitarist for ’80s two-man indie rock pioneers, House of Freaks.   Johnny Hott played percussion.  Playing an energetic and remarkably full sound of folk and blues, House of Freaks were instantly embraced by college music fans around the country.  There unique sound was the blue print from which the White Stripes and Black Keys drew heavily from.  Besides with House of Freaks, Harvey could be heard as part of Gutterball, an indie supergroup of sorts that also featured Steve Wynn of Dream Syndicate.  Although the House of Freaks broke up in 1995, both Harvey and Hott continued to stay active making music ever since.  Harvey was also a beloved man throughout his community.  On January 1, 2006, Bryan Harvey, his wife and two young daughters were brutally murdered in the basement of their home, victims of an apparent botched robbery.  One perpetrator was later convicted to death while the other was sentenced to life in prison.

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House of Freaks

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Died On This Date (December 6, 1949) Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter

Posted by themusicsover on December 6, 2009

Lead Belly (Born Huddie Ledbetter)
January 20, 1888 – December 6, 1949

leadbelly

Huddie Ledbetter, or as he was better known, Leadbelly (which he spelled, Lead Belly) was a Louisiana-born folk and blues singer, songwriter and musician whose catalog of songs included many that have since become folk and blues standards.  That list includes, “Cotton Fields,” “Goodnight Irene,” and “Midnight Special.”  Those and others have been recorded by such divers artists as of the Weavers, the Beach Boys, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Johnny Cash, the White Stripes, Ministry and Nirvana.  From an early age, Lead Belly honed his skills by absorbing the field songs he heard as he traveled the southern states for work.  He also had first hand experience learning prison hollers by spending two separate terms incarcerated, once for murder, and the second, for attempted murder.  Each time he was pardoned by the governor by literally singing his way to freedom.  While in Angola Prison for his second crime, he was recorded by musicologists, John Lomax and Alan Lomax, who helped facilitate his pardon.   Lead Belly then moved to New York where the Lomax’s helped him land a contract with Columbia Records.  Although he found plenty of press as the “singing convict,” his records never sold much initially.  He did, however find an audience in Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie who helped introduce his music to new audiences during their careers.  Lead Belly continued to struggle financially, and in 1939, he found himself in jail for stabbing a man during a fight.  Alan Lomax again helped him by raising money for his defense.  He ended staying in jail for a couple of more years.  By the middle of the ’40s, he found himself immersed in New York’s blossoming folk scene, playing with the likes of Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry.  In 1949, Lead Belly, 61, was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease of which he died on December 6, 1949.

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Where Did You Sleep Last Night: Lead Belly Legacy, Vol. 1 - Lead Belly

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Died On This Date (October 19, 1988) Son House / Blues Legend

Posted by themusicsover on October 19, 2009

Eddie “Son” House
March 21, 1902 – October 19, 1988

sonhouseSon House was a pioneering Delta blues musician who was an immediate influence on the likes of Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters.  His innovative style of slide guitar playing and chain-gaing style of repetitive singing further influenced a slew of contemporary artists as well.  His songs have been covered by the White Stripes, John Mellencamp, and Gov’t Mule.  Born outside of Clarksdale, Mississippi, House’s early teens were filled with gospel music while he was a practicing Baptist minister.  He soon became intrigued by the blues and taught himself to play the guitar in his early 20s.  He set his sights on music as a career and started playing with the likes of Charley Patton and Robert Johnson from Clarksdale to Memphis.  In 1928, House served about one year of a 15-year sentence at the notorious Parchman Work Farm for shooting a man in what he claimed was self-defense.  The story goes that while House was performing at a juke joint, an unknown man came in and opened fire in an apparent random shooting spree. After being shot in the leg, House grabbed his gun and shot the man dead.  Upon his release, House made several recordings for famed musicologist, Alan Lomax.  But like so many of his contemporaries, House and his music fell out of favor as the ’50s dawned.  Fortunately, he was “re-discovered” like many of the others during the folk revival of the mid ’60s.  After years working on the railroad, House found himself touring again and playing high-profile gigs at the Newport Folk Festival.  Son House permanently retired in 1974 due to health problems and died from cancer of the larynx in 1988.

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Son House

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