Chas Chandler wore many hats throughout his music career. During the early ’60s, he co-founded the Animals with Alan Price and Eric Burdon, playing bass for the band. After the group broke up, he got into artist management, his famous client being Jimi Hendrix. Later, he produced records for Slade and Nick Drake while running his own recording studio and eventually starting his own label, Barn Records. In his later years, Chandler helped develop the Newcastle Arena, which opened in 1995. Chandler died of a heart condition on July 17 of the following year.
Mickie Most was an English producer and label owner who had a run of Number One hits with a stable of artists that included theAnimals, Donovan, Suzi Quatro and Herman’s Hermits. Most started his career as a performer in London coffee houses where he met future partner and Led Zeppelin manager, Peter Grant. He had a semi-successful run during the late ’50s and early ’60s but grew tired of the touring so he explored opportunities on the business side of music. He started out in sales and merchandising and soon landed a gig in production at Columbia Records. His first act was a little band he found called the Animals who he helped record a worldwide hit with “House Of The Rising Sun,” and in turn received a Grammy for Producer Of The Yearin 1964. Then came Herman’s Hermits who had a string of hits that at one time rivaled theBeatles. Other artists he recorded included Lulu, Jeff Beck, the Seekers, Nancy Sinatra, the Yardbirds and Brenda Lee. In 1968, Most partnered with Peter Grant to open RAK Management and a year later, RAK Publishing and RAK Records. Artists signed to RAK Records included Suzy Quatro, Sweet, Hot Chocolate, and Chris Spedding. By the ’80s, he had discovered Kim Wilde and produced her worldwide smash, “Kids In America.” And later appeared as a harsh judge on a British television talent program called New Faces, which no doubt helped create a future television star by the name of Simon Cowell. Most died of mesothelioma, a cancer generally associated with the exposure to asbestos.
Sonny Boy Williamson II (Born Rice Miller)
December 5, 1899 or May 11, 1908 – May 25, 1965
There’s likely only one person who could say they played alongside not only Robert Johnson, but also Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Eric Burden, and Robbie Robertson; that person was Sonny Boy Williamson II. Born on a plantation, Williamson worked along with his father as a sharecropper until he decided to head out on his own in the early ’30s with a harmonica along for the ride. He would meet up and play with the likes of Elmore James, Robert Lockwood Jr., and the great Robert Johnson. Besides having tremendous skills on the harmonica, Williamson learned a few tricks to dazzle his audiences, like playing it with no hands or playing it while nestled between his upper lip and nose. I should point out that around this time, there was another harmonica-playing Sonny Boy Williamson gaining popularity throughout the blues world. So to distinguish the two, this one (Rice Miller) was referred to as “Number 2” or “The Second,” even though he claimed to have started using the stage name first. Williamson made his first recordings for Trumpet Records in 1951, but when the label went bankrupt in 1955, his contract became the property of the renowned Chess Records who helped him achieve much greater success. By the ’60s he was being embraced by the new British blues-rock artists as a main influence affording him the opportunity to record with the Animals and the Yardbirds. Williamson recorded some 70 songs during his career, many of which are considered blues staples and have been covered by Aerosmith, the Who, Led Zeppelin, Van Morrison, Nick Cave, the New York Dolls, and the Allman Brothers to name but a few. Sadly, as Williamson was gaining a new fame and fortune, he was found dead in his room on May 25, 1965 of an apparent heart attack.
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Chas Chandler wore many hats throughout his music career. During the early ’60s, he co-founded the Animals with Alan Price and Eric Burdon, playing bass for the band. After the group broke up, he got into artist management, his famous client being Jimi Hendrix. Later, he produced records for Slade and Nick Drake while running his own recording studio and eventually starting his own label, Barn Records. In his later years, Chandler helped develop the Newcastle Arena, which opened in 1995. Chandler died of a heart condition on July 17 of the following year.
There’s likely only one person who could say they played alongside not only 