Tim Krekel was perhaps best known as part of Jimmy Buffett’s band for nearly ten years. Both on tour and on record, Krekel contributed to Buffett’s success, particularly on his Son Of A Son Of A Sailor. Over the years, Krekel also toured with Bo Diddley, the Eagles, and Delbert McClinton. As a songwriter, Krekel has been recorded by the likes of Canned Heat, Alan Jackson, Patty Loveless, Crystal Gayle and Martina McBride. Tim Krekel died of cancer at the age of 58.
Rory Gallagher was an Irish blues rock guitar great who sold more than 30 million albums and is considered one of the greatest musicians Ireland has ever produced. Gallagher first began making waves with his mid ’60s blues rock trio, Taste. The band began building a solid reputation in London and soon found themselves opening for such bands as Cream and Blind Faith. By the early ’70s, Taste had broken up and Gallagher was now leading a trio under his own name, making some of his best and most popular albums. In 1972, the trend-setting Melody Maker magazine named him Top Musician Of The Year. It was during this period that Gallagher was being strongly considered for the Rolling Stones, Deep Purple AND Canned Heat. By the ’80s however, Gallagher was falling deeper into drug and alcohol addiction, and his musical output suffered from it. He made his final performance in January of 1995, and was in such bad health, he soon needed a liver transplant. Unfortunately, an infection developed following the surgery, and he died at the age of 47.
Just the fact that he worked in a record store as a teen is enough for Bob Hite to get honored here, but he was also the lead singer of blues rock band, Canned Heat. In the early ’60’s, “The Bear” and fellow record junkie Alan Wilson got together and formed a band to play an electrified boogie version of the great blues albums they had collected. Canned Heat endeared themselves to both the psychedelic rock fans and the blues crowd by not only kicking ass at Woodstock AND Monterey, but by producing and recording with John Lee Hooker. The result was Hooker ‘n’ Heat. Although he was an intimidating hulk of a man, Hite couldn’t be nicer to his friends, fans and strangers. He had absolutely no problem with fans coming up to him on the street and sometimes even made the first move toward them to say hello. And that good-heartedness carried on to the stage as well, making Canned Heat concerts some of the most fun during the ’60s and ’70s. Hite suffered a fatal heart attack just before a show on April 6, 1981.
Hollywood Fats (Born Michael Mann)
May 17, 1954 – December 8, 1986
Hollywood Fats was a respected Los Angeles blues guitarist who began playing when he was just ten years old. As a side man, he played with the likes of Canned Heat, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters andAlbert King. Fats also fronted his own band who released an album in 1979. In 1986, he joined the Blasters, replacing the recently departed Dave Alvin. Later that year, Hollywood Fats died of a heroin overdose at the age of 32.
Robert Lucas was one of four lead singers to front Canned Heat since its inception in 1965. Popular for it’s boogie blues rock anthems like “Going Up The Country” and “On The Road Again,” the band never stopped after the early deaths of it’s co-founders, Al Wilsonand Bob Hite. Lucas fronted the band twice during recent years, first in 1994 for about six years, and then again in 2005 for three years. He left the group to further a solo career which saw the recording of seven albums. Throughout his career, Lucas lent his guitar and harmonica skills to such legends as Big Joe Turner, Pee Wee Crayton, and Lowell Fulson. On November 23, 2008, Robert Lucas, 46, died of an apparent drug overdose.