Although his recording career remarkably spanned roughly one year, Robert Johnson is considered by many to be the most influential blues artists of all time. And although his entire catalog of recordings fill just two compact discs, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him #5 on their list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. He minimal recording output couldn’t deny the considerable vocal, guitar-playing and songwriting talent he possessed. And that fact that not much is known about his history coupled with the fact that only two photographs of him even exist, add to a legend that is as big as any in popular music. Even the most respected historians of music could, at best, find sources who claimed they heard “this” or “that” about Johnson’s life in and around Clarksdale, Mississippi. A popular legend has it that he went to a darkened Mississippi crossroad with his guitar and met a man representing the devil who tuned his guitar and played a few songs on it, there bequeathing Johnson phenomenal guitar skills in exchange for is soul. True or not, Johnson has been called the “grandfather of rock ‘n roll,” a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and has been cited as a direct influence on the likes of Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan and Jeff Beck to name just a very few. Robert Johnson’s death is as mysterious as his life,with the most popular, though disputed story being that he drank whiskey that had been laced with strychnine by the jealous husband of a woman Johnson is said to have flirted with at a juke joint. He allegedly died a slow and painful death from the poison a few days later, at the age of just 27. A further testament to the overall mystery surrounding Johnson’s life is the fact there there are three tombstones said to mark his place of burial.
Mia Zapata was the powerful lead singer of the highly influential Seattle punk band, the Gits. As a child growing up in Louisville, Zapata was exposed to music by some of the greatest voices in America, Hank Williams, Ray Charles, Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday. While at an Ohio college during the mid ’80s, Zapata co-founded the Gits. In 1989, the band moved to Seattle to be closer to what was quickly becoming a scene of like minded bands like Nirvana and Mudhoney. The band quickly built a local following partly due the release of a handful of solid singles and their critically acclaimed debut album, Frenching The Bully. Things appeared to be on the verge of taking off for the band when tragedy struck. In the early morning hours of July 7, 1993, Zapata left a friends apartment to presumably walk or catch a cab home. She never made it. Police reports indicate that she was beaten, raped and strangled at approximately 2:15 am, her body left in a “Christ like” pose in the middle of the street. Her murder would go unsolved for ten years until a DNA match linked a Florida man to the crime. He was convicted of Mia Zapata’s murder on March 25, 2004
As the charismatic front man for the Doors, Jim Morrison exemplified all that is rock music. In life and in death, his impact on popular culture cannot be denied. Moving to Los Angeles in 1964, Morrison enrolled in UCLA’s film school where he met Ray Manzarek. The following year they formed the Doors with Robbie Krieger and John Densmore. In 1967, the Doors signed with Elektra Records and were soon invited to perform on the Ed Sullivan Show where Morrison’s use of the lyric “higher” instead of “better” maddened Sullivan enough to forever ban them from the show. If anything, that only added momentum to the Doors’ ascent, and by the time of their second release, they were one of the most popular bands in the world. The Doors continued to record several now-classic rock albums and blow away concert audiences along the way. By 1969 though, Morrison’s physical appearance had dramatically changed…the once leather-wearing rock god was now a husky bearded mountain-of-a-man more closely resembling a lumberjack than a rock star. And his performances were becoming more erratic as well. One concert in Miami ended with a warrant out for Morrison’s arrest on indecent exposure charges after he tried to incite a riot out of the crowd. He was later exonerated of those charges. Morrison moved to Paris in April of 1971 with long-time companion Pamela Courson. On July 3, 1971, Courson found Morrison dead in his bathtub, but under French law, no autopsy was conducted. The coroner claimed to have found no evidence of foul play and ruled it heart failure. Of course, there have been numerous articles and books written about Morrison’s mysterious death. Some say suicide, while others claim that Courson was responsible either accidentally or intentionally. While still others believe he staged the whole thing and is alive and well somewhere.
Brian Jones was a multi-instrumentalist who is most famously known as founding member and guitarist for the Rolling Stones. By the age of 17, Jones was already adept at the clarinet and saxophone and had taken up the guitar. While in high school, Jones got his then 14 year-old girlfriend Valerie Corbett pregnant and was forced to leave the school in shame. When he announced to Corbettthat he wanted her to have an abortion, she refused and broke up with him for good. After the child’s birth, Corbett gave him to an infertile couple who apparently never learned the identity of the boy’s father. Corbett later married a friend ofJones. By the early ’60s, Jones was in London where he became immersed in he local blues scene, playing with the likes of Alexis Korner, Jack Bruce and Bill Wyman. In a short time, he was forming the nucleus of what would become the Rolling Stones who played their first gig on July 12, 1962. When the group eventually began recording, it was Jones’ exceptional abilities on various instruments that would help define the Rolling Stones sound. As the band’s fame and fortune grew, tension between Jones and the other members followed the same trajectory. By all accounts, his growing addiction to various drugs and alcohol didn’t help. By the summer of 1968, Jones was barely contributing to the band’s recordings, his final participation being on Beggars Banquet before parting ways the following year. By all appearances, his life was on a downward spiral due to his drug dependency, his estrangement from the band that he had created, as well as his growing legal and financial troubles. On the night of July 3, 1969, Brian Jones was found unconscious (and perhaps dead) at the bottom of his swimming pool. As expected, there are many theories about the mysterious death of Brian Jones. Was it suicide? An accident? Did his bad heart or liver simply give out as the coroner stated? Or was he perhaps murdered by a worker at the house? Years later, that builder, Frank Thorogood allegedly confessed to the murder on his deathbed. Although that “confession” was made to one-time Rolling Stones driver, Tom Keylock, many doubt its validity since there were no witnesses to the “murder” or the “confession.”
Kristen Pfaff was a late bloomer when it came to playing the bass. Although she studied piano and cello in college, it wasn’t until after she graduated that she taught herself how to play the bass. Pfaff soon co-founded Minneapolis local faves, Janitor Joe who would eventually sign to hip indie label Amphetamine Reptile Records. While on a west coast tour with Janitor Joe, Pfaff was approached by Courtney Love and Eric Erlandson to join their band, Hole. Pfaff reluctantly agreed and packed her bags and moved to Seattle, where she helped ignite the grunge movement. While in Seattle, Pfaff struggled with herion addiction just as the band was becoming popular outside the Northwest. And then in April of 1994, close friend Kurt Cobain was found dead of what was ruled a suicide and everything changed. Pfaff packed up and moved back to Minneapolis to rejoin Janitor Joe. Sadly, Kristen Pfaff was found dead of an apparent accidental heroin overdose.
Besides being a respected producer, Pete de Freitas was best known as the drummer for the popular ’80s band, Echo & the Bunnymen. It was with Echo & the Bunnymen that de Freitas reached an international audience, thanks to such post-punk hits as “The Cutter” “Lips Like Sugar,” and “The Killing Moon.” They took the US by storm in 1984 with the release of Ocean Rain thanks in part to heavy video rotation on MTV. Sadly, de Freitas passed away on June 14, 1989 of injuries he sustained in a motorcycle accident while on his way home from filming Julian Cope’s “China Doll” video.
Jeremy Michael Ward was best known for his work with progressive alternative rock band, The Mars Volta, with whom he worked as a sound technician. The band’s 2003 De-Loused in the Comatorium benefited from Ward’s obvious talent. When not working with the band or its splinter projects, Ward was a pen and ink artist. On May 25, 2003, roughly one month after the release of De-Loused, Jeremy Michael Ward was found dead in his apartment of an apparent heroin overdose. He was 27 years old.
Les Harvey was the guitarist for the Scotland blues-rock band Stone The Crows. Despite being Glasgow pub favorites and having the support of Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant as their producer, they were never able to attract much more than their loyal cult following. On May 3, 1972, while performing at Swansea Top Rank, Harvey grabbed an ungrounded microphone with wet hands and was electrocuted to death.
Helmut Kollen played bass and sang for the German prog-trio, Triumvirat during the mid-’70s. With a sound akin to Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Triumvirat attained modest commercial success which pretty much peaked with the 1975 release of Spartacus, an album that many consider a prog rock essential. After leaving the band after Spartacus, Kollen embarked on a solo career. Sadly that career was cut short on May 3, 1977 when Kollen went into his car to listen to some new tracks he had recorded. With the motor running and the car parked in his garage, Kollen died of carbon monoxide poisoning at age 27.
Pete Ham was the singer and by some accounts, primary songwriter for the British rock band, Badfinger who were signed to the Beatles’ Apple Records in 1968. You may not know his name, but you likely know his biggest hit, “Without You,” which would not only be a #1 smash for Badfinger, but also a #1 hit for Harry Nilsson, a #3 hit for Mariah Carey, and go to #28 for Clay Aiken. They had six albums and no fewer than four hit singles, but by the early ’70s the band were caught up in a legal nightmare with their former management that left the members broke. It all became too much for Pete Ham who hanged himself in his garage on April 23, 1975 at the age of 27. In his heart breaking suicide note, he mentioned the love of his girlfriend and included the post script, “Stan Polley is a soulless bastard.” Stan Polley was Badfinger’s manager who was accused by many of his clients of corruption. He would later plead nolo contendere to unrelated embezzlement and money laundering charges.
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