Larry Fuller was a bluegrass guitar picker who was well known in and around the Kentucky music community. Fuller began his music career during the 1970s when he was working as a coal miner. A job injury in 1986 forced him out of the mines and into music full time. A traditionalist, Fuller’s music was rooted deep in the mountain music he grew up hearing around him. Larry Fuller’s life came to a tragic end when he died in a fire that engulfed his tour bus. For reasons unknown, Fuller was inside the bus as it was parked in his driveway around 2 am. He was 58 years old.
Ilari Peltola was known as simply, Claude when he was the lead singer of Finnish rock band, Smack. Smack were a glam-punk band who were active between 1982 and 1990. The band, who were not dissimilar to the New York Dolls, were very popular in and around Finland, but never achieved much more that a cult following here in the US, despite moving to Los Angeles in 1989. In 1990, Peltola left the band to move back to Finland where he formed a new band, the Fishfaces. He died of heart failure on September 22, 1996.
John “Jaco” Pastorius
December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987
One of the most influential bassists of all time, Jaco Pastorius was arguably the greatest modern jazz bass player of all time. Regarded as a gifted athlete growing up, Pastorius began to focus on his second love, music following a football injury to his wrist at the age of 13. At the time he was playing to drums, but the injury was bad enough that he had to give up the sticks and find another instrument to excel at. It was then that he picked up the bass. As he developed, his interests began to lean toward jazz and R&B. He began playing with then-unknown Pat Metheny, with whom he made his first recordings. He got is break in 1975 when Bobby Colomby, then of Blood, Sweat & Tears helped him get a deal with CBS Records who released his self-titled solo debut in 1976. With a stellar cast that included David Sanborn, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, many consider Jaco Pastorius to be the best bass album ever recorded. Shortly thereafter, Pastorius was invited by Joe Zawunilto join the great fusion band, Weather Report. Though his contributions to Weather Report were undeniable, his tenure with the band was rocky at time due to his increasing abuse of alcohol coupled with his then undiagnosed bipolar disorder. He parted ways with the band in 1981 and continued his downward spiral. Although diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1982, and receiving treatment for it, things weren’t getting much better. By mid ’80s he was living on the streets of New York City and in 1986, he moved down to Florida where he continued to be homeless. On September 11, 1987, Pastorius was kicked out of a Santana concert after sneaking up on stage. He found his way to a local club and after being refused entry, he became violent and confrontational with the bouncer. A fight ensued during which Pastorius sustained head injuries severe enough to require a visit to a hospital where he soon fell into a coma. He died ten days later at the age of 35. The bouncer at the club later served eight months in prison for manslaughter.
Sam Carr (Born Samuel McCollum)
April 17, 1926 – September 21, 2009
Sam Carr was exposed to the blues at a very young age. His father was blues great, Robert Lee McCollum who performed under the names Robert Lee McCoy and Robert Nighthawk. As a child, Carr would dance in front of the stage during his dad’s breaks. By the time he was a teenager, he was filling in on bass once in awhile. Carr also played the harmonica and guitar, but it was his drumming that got him noticed. Over the years he’s played with Buddy Guy, T-Model Ford, Frank Frost and Big Jack Johnson. Sam Carr passed away in a nursing facility at the age of 83.
Raymond “Boz” Burrell
August 1, 1946 – September 21, 2006
Boz Burrell is best remembered as a singer for King Crimson during the early ’70s and as the bassist for Bad Company from 1973 until 1999 (on and off). But before all that, Burrell was pegged to replace the Who’sRoger Daltrey when the other band members decided to fire him in the mid ’60s. That never came to be, and Burrell went on to record several singles on his own. Boz Burrell suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 60.