Died On This Date (May 3, 2011) Odell Brown / Jazz Musician; Wrote Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing”
themusicsover Odell Brown Jr.
1938 – May 3, 2011
Odell Brown was a jazz organist who is best remembered for penning the Marvin Gaye hit, “Sexual Healing.” Brown was just 4 years old when he began playing the keyboards – mostly old classical pieces – until he found his groove with jazz. By the mid ’60s, he had settled in Chicago where he formed Odell Brown & the Organizers which was touted by no less than Billboard magazine as the Best New Group in 1966. He built a sizable following during the late ’60s and early ’70s for his live performances at which he played what could be classified as soul-jazz or jazz-funk. One such audience member was Gaye who couldn’t get one of his numbers out of his head, so he put some words to it, and “Sexual Healing” was born. Released in 1982, the single was a Top 5 hit around the world and has since been covered by the likes of Michael Bolton, Phish, Soul Asylum, and Sarah Connor. Sadly however, Brown was bottoming out at the time – he watched his song win a Grammy at a Skid Row bar in Los Angeles. He eventually got his life and career back on track and moved to the Minneapolis area where he continued to record and perform. Over the course of his career, Brown worked with Johnny Nash, Minnie Riperton, and Curtis Mayfield. Odell Brown was 70 when he passed away on May 3, 2011. Cause of death was not immediately released.
Known as the “Godfather Of The Bass Guitar,” Robert Wilson was the founding bassist for influential funk group, the Gap Band. Formed in 1967 by brothers Robert Wilson, Charlie Wilson, and Ronnie Wilson, the Gap Band went on to have several R&B hits throughout the ’70s and ’80s and helped define what we now call funk. Their hits include “You Dropped A Bomb On Me,” “Burn Rubber On Me (Why You Wanna Hurt Me),” and “Early In The Morning.” In recent years, their music could be heard as samples in songs by the likes of Nas, Snoop Dog, 
Isaac Hayes was a Tennessee-born musician, singer, songwriter and producer who had a hand in some of the greatest soul songs ever produced. Hayes began his music career as a session musician for Stax Records in Memphis where he began writing songs for the label’s roster of artists. With songwriting partner, David Porter, Hayes co-wrote such R&B staples as “You Don’t Know Like I Know,” and “Soul Man,” which has been called one of the most influential songs of the 20th century. By the late ’60s, Hayes started making his own albums, which included the monumental, Hot Buttered Soul, Black Moses, and most famously, the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film, Shaft!. Then title song would become one of the most beloved songs of the era. In later years, Hayes found a new audience as the voice of Chef in the popular animated series, South Park. In 1998, “Chocolate Salty Balls” as performed on the show by Chef became a #1 hit in the UK. And in 2002, Hayes was elected into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. Isaac Hayes died of an apparent stroke after being found by his wife lifeless on the floor next to his treadmill which was still running. He was 65 years old.
Catfish Collins is best remembered as the rhythm guitarist on several influential recordings by P-Funk, Parliament-Funkadelic, and Bootsy’s Rubber Band, which was lead by his brother, Bootsy Collins. During the late ’60s, Collins and his brother, Bootsy, and