The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars (216 page)

The Grateful Dead-inspired Blues Traveler came together back in 1988, the brainchild of Bobby Sheehan and his close friend singer/harmonicaplayer John Popper – the band completed by Chan Kinchla (guitar) and Brendan Hill (drums). They were a hot live attraction and issued six albums to 1998, mainstay Sheehan playing on each of them. By 1994’s
Four,
Blues Traveler were starting to make serious inroads into Billboard’s charts; the single ‘Runaround’ was an unexpected smash the following year, racking up a near-record-break-ing run on Billboard’s hit parade. The group went through difficulties, however, particularly Popper, who suffered an injury that confined him to a wheelchair for most of 1993.

Worse was to come for the frontman in 1999: recovering from angio-plasty to clear a blocked artery, he learned of his friend’s death. Bobby Sheehan’s body was discovered by friends; it transpired that the bassist’s system contained traces of cocaine, heroin and Valium.

Wednesday 25

Rob Fisher

(Cheltenham, 5 November 1959)

Naked Eyes

Climie Fisher

The great outdoors was of much importance to Rob Fisher’s farming family, but a near disaster in his father’s yacht ‘changed everything’ for the young wannabe musician. Fisher left the wilds a few years later to study music and electronics – which pretty much shaped his future. Naked Eyes – Fisher (keys/synth) and singer Pete Byrne – began as Neon, working with Peter Gabriel towards an EMI deal; they made it in 1983, but in America as opposed to Britain. That year, the duo rode in with the second British invasion (Culture Club, Duran Duran, etc), scoring hits with ‘Always Something There to Remind Me’ and the catchy ‘Promises Promises’. This high didn’t last long, however, and, with no success back home, Naked Eyes split at the end of 1984. The following year, Fisher met singer Simon Climie while working with Scritti Politti, and thus a new duo was formed. This time, there was, conversely, greater success in the UK than the US, Climie Fisher scoring Top Ten entries with ‘Rise to the Occasion’ (1987) and ‘Love Changes Everything’ (1988). They also managed several lesser hits and penned songs for many major artists – Five Star, Fleetwood Mac, Jermaine Jackson, George Michael, Milli Vanilli and Jermaine Stewart among them.

By the end of the nineties, Rob Fisher had moved on from his partnership with Climie and was looking to reunite with Pete Byrne. Before their album could be completed, though, Fisher was rushed to hospital with a mysterious illness, rumoured to be cancer. He was admitted for emergency surgery – but did not recover. It could be argued that recording Climie’s songs is a bad omen. Fisher, Stewart (
March 1997)
and Rob Pilatus of Milli Vanilli (
April 1998)
have all died, while Five Star and Michael have since experienced highprofile scrapes with the law …

Saturday 28

Willie Williams

(Ervin Williams - Millinocket, Maine, December 1935)

Gene Vincent & The Blue Caps

(The Virginians)

Beginning with high-school band The Northern Lights, ‘Wee’ Willie Williams embarked on his career at the birth of rock ‘n’ roll, graduating via The Virginians (he was from New England) to Gene Vincent & The Blue Caps. The rhythm guitarist had the right ‘cheeky chappie’ look to complement Vincent’s lean, mean moodiness, but the relationship didn’t last long. Although he played on one or two genuine classics (1956’s ‘BeBop-a-Lula’ among them), Williams made way for guitarist Teddy Crutchfield, going on to a good career as a DJ with Virginia’s WCMS radio station and later as director of Tree Music Publishing.

Willie Williams was a keen shooter, often arranging target practice with his many friends. It was just before one of these occasions that tragedy struck in the most freakish of manners in the driveway of his Florida home. Williams was rummaging through a duffel bag on the back seat of his car when a rifle inside it fired accidentally. The former rocker was hit by a single shot just below the chest and confirmed dead on arrival at Blake Medical Center.

See also
Gene Vincent (
October 1971); Cliff Gallup (
October 1988); Max Lipscomb (
March 1991); Paul Peek (
April 2001). Other deceased Blue Caps are Grady Owen (1999), Jerry Lee Merritt (2001), Juvenal Gomez (2002) and founding bassist Jumpin’ Jack Neal (2012).

SEPTEMBER

Sunday 19

Ed Cobb

(California, 1938)

The Four Preps

A marked influence on The Beach Boys, vocal harmony quartet The Four Preps – Ed Cobb (bass), Bruce Belland (lead tenor), Glen Larson (baritone) and Marvin Inabnett (high tenor) – formed at Hollywood High School in 1955. After a slow start, the group racked up several hits through Capitol; the best remembered are probably ‘26 Miles (Santa Catalina)’ and ‘Big Man’ (both 1958), which earned them gold discs. Cobb, who had simultaneously co-arranged and produced the moderately successful British instrumental band Piltdown Men, left the fresh-faced group in 1966. Thereafter, he went on to further success as a producer (earning thirty-two gold records) and as a songwriter – his ‘Tainted Love’ was a massive success for that pair of crash-survivors Gloria Jones and Marc Almond (Soft Cell). Ed Cobb had formed a New Four Preps by the time he died from leukaemia while vacationing in Honolulu.