The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars (304 page)

The workaholic Brown moved to Montreal to become a full-time member of Doughboys, writing significant material on the group’s two studio albums. (One of his tunes, ‘Shine’, had already given the band a sizeable Canadian hit as they toured with Offspring in 1993.) This stint was, however, also fairly shortlived, and Brown subsequently split his time between the UK and US. For the final seven years of his life, the musician fronted the bands Serpico (with Bryant) and Ipanema.

Having collapsed during an Ipanema rehearsal, Darren Brown was rushed to hospital, where he was pronounced dead from a blood clot on the brain. (In a strange irony, Brown passed away at St George’s in Tooting, London, where his friend and ‘rival’, The Wonder Stuff’s Martin Gilks, had died some months earlier.) Few had any idea of the artist’s condition before his death.

Wonder Stuff/Mega City Four contemporary, singer/drummer Tony Ogden of the much-vaunted World of Twist, died in July 2006.

Golden Oldies #39

Ahmet Ertegun

(Istanbul, 31 July 1923)

There’s a strong argument to be made that Ahmet Ertegun was the most important behind-the-scenes figure in twentieth-century recording. As a middle class Turkish immigrant, he opened the door to a mass market for music that was until then considered the preserve of ‘poor’ black America. Born in Istanbul, Ertegun was the son of politician Munir Ertegun, whose post as Turkish ambassador to the US saw the family move to Washington during the thirties. The young Ertegun’s interests were some distance from his father’s, however; he was encouraged by his elder brother Nesuhi (who died in 1989) to listen to jazz, and the ambitious twenty-somethings organised concerts by stars such as Lester Young in mixed-audience settings. Both then elected to stay in the US after the death of their father, but when Nesuhi left for California, Ahmet opted to remain in Washington, seeing the music industry as a ‘stop-gap’ to help him pay his way through school. He was unaware he was about to make history.

After meeting dental student Herb Abramson, Ertegun formed the Atlantic record label in 1947 (funded by a $10k loan from
his
family dentist), and the duo set about promoting jazz, gospel and R & B music. In 1949, they achieved their first ‘seller’ in Granville ‘Stick’ McGhee’s ‘Drinkin’ Wine Fo-Dee-O-Dee’ - a record sometimes touted as rock ‘n’ roll’s first release. During the fifties, the company (now with Ertegun’s brother on board) was to shift several million more records with releases by Ruth Brown, The Coasters, The Drifters and, of course, Ray Charles. The following decade saw Ertegun and Atlantic - with the help of sharp-eyed producer Jerry Wexler - encourage the growth of soul music in the US by promoting acts such as Aretha Franklin, Ben E King, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding and Stevie Wonder. Meanwhile, Ahmet also showed his shrewd understanding of rock ‘n’ roll’s development by signing the young Led Zeppelin in 1968. (Among Ertegun’s many other achievements at this time was the co-founding of the New York Cosmos soccer team with his brother - a money-spinning set-up that saw the football-mad brothers attract top players such as Pelé and Franz Beckenbauer to the city.)

By now, though, the Erteguns had sold Atlantic’s stock to Warner Bros for $17 million (a sizeable figure for the era). Ahmet remained on the executive board, though limited his input to just the music (before, he’d produced and even penned a few songs under the reverse pseudonym ‘Nugetre’). Later, the entire company was sold to Time Warner, though Ertegun still managed to pull off the coups for which he’d become well-respected. One such coup was a label distribution deal with The Rolling Stones that severely undercut those offered the band by rival companies.

It was at an October 2006 concert by the hoary English rockers that Ertegun - who at age eighty-three was perhaps the only attendee older than the band themselves - suffered a serious fall backstage. The veteran executive was expected to make a full recovery from the head injuries sustained, but sadly deteriorated soon afterward. Slipping into a coma, Ahmet Ertegun passed away on 14 December 2006 in a Manhattan hospital.

Among the many tributes paid over the years to this undisputed music-business titan was the naming of the main Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame museum hall in his honour, while the late Frank Zappa - who always cited Ertegun as instrumental in his career - also named one of his sons after him.

Sunday 17

Denny Payton

(Walthamstow, London, 11 August 1943)

The Dave Clark Five

(Various acts)

Another ‘British invasion’ band arguably bigger in the US than at home were The Dave Clark Five, a happy-go-lucky team that introduced the world to the ‘Tottenham Sound’ in 1964. The band was certainly unique in that its leader Dave Clark was actually the drummer/manager; vocal duties were performed by Mike Smith (who also oversaw keyboards), with Lenny Davidson (lead guitar) and Rick Huxley (bass) providing the strings. At the heart of this group was sax player Denny Payton, a veteran of numerous beat combos who also contributed guitars, harmonica and back-up vocals to the DC5’s many hits. (There has always been considerable doubt as to who else
actually
played on the group’s records.)

The band’s chart domination began in the UK with ‘Do You Love Me?’ in 1963, but it was that year’s charttopping stompalong ‘Glad All Over’ that really placed them on the map, topping the charts in Britain and making the band only the second UK beat group (after The Beatles) to hit big in the States when issued the following year. In all, The Dave Clark Five managed nine Top Twenty hits at home and fourteen in America, where ‘Over and Over’ reached Cash Box number one at Christmas 1965 (remarkably, this record hadn’t even pierced the UK Top Forty). The DC5’s longevity (in popularity terms) was probably down to their disposable, clean-cut image, which contrasted with that of The Stones or The Who, the latter of whom they easily outsold in the US at the time. (Indeed, it’s reported that the Dave Clark Five shifted over 100 million units during their career.)

After all the fun was over, Denny Payton left the music business and was working as a partner in a Bournemouth estate agency when diagnosed with the cancer that was to claim his life in 2006. The former sax man was still good friends with Clark and understood to be thrilled with his old band’s nomination for induction into the US Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame the previous year – though well aware he’d be unable to see this accolade come to pass.

See also
Mike Smith (
February 2008)

‘Denis was extremely brave - and unafraid of death.’

Dave Clark

Golden Oldies #40

James Brown

(Barnwell, South Carolina, 3 May 1933*)

The Famous Flames

(Various acts)

It seems somehow appropriate to end this edition of
The Encyclopedia
with James Brown, one of the undisputed revolutionaries in popular music. Whether

(*This is the date most often quoted by Brown himself. Although there is suggestion that he may have been born in 1928, no documentation can be found to support this.)

The Godfather of Soul or The Hardest Working Man in Show Business, Brown was a near-mythical character who fought his way from a Jim Crow background to dominate his field and inspire artists from a variety of races and genres. It’s hard to say whether Brown was more influential in the development of soul music than, say, Ray Charles or Sam Cooke, but his relentless energy and insatiable appetite certainly kept him in the headlines longer than even these giants of the game.

Only-child James Brown Jr was born in the Deep South during the Depression, living in considerable poverty with his father after a rift in his parents’ relationship saw his mother leave when her son was just four years old. Moving to his aunt’s Georgia home, the young Brown was exposed to prostitution and hustling while still a boy, often picking cotton, shining shoes, racking pool balls and - of course - singing to earn a few cents, whiling away the many hours he’d spend alone. One visitor to Brown’s aunt’s ‘house’ was blues guitarist Tampa Red, who taught the young man guitar (he’d already learned harmonica and piano), though it was the stage presence of his idol Louis Jordan that prompted Brown’s desire to be the front man himself. When convicted of petty crimes in his late teens, though, it appeared that even a conventional career might never happen for the headstrong youth. While in a detention centre, however, Brown showed his resourcefulness by fashioning a gospel quartet from the few inmates who could hold a tune and crafting ‘instruments’ from whatever odds and ends he could pilfer. In prison, Brown also met musician Bobby Byrd, a visiting baseball player - and future Famous Flame - destined to have considerable influence on his career (Byrd hastened Brown’s release by offering him a place to live on the outside). This combination of questionable behaviour, creative brilliance and rare good fortune was to prove merely a taster for Brown’s life thereafter.

‘He was dramatic right to the end - even dyin’ on Christmas Day!’

US civil rights leader and friend of James Brown, Jesse Jackson