John Wetton of the band Asia
John Kenneth Wetton (12 June 1949 – 31 January 2017) was an English singer, bassist, and songwriter. He was born in Willington, Derbyshire, and grew up in Bournemouth. He rose to fame with bands Mogul Thrash, Family, King Crimson, Roxy Music/Bryan Ferry, Uriah Heep, and Wishbone Ash.
After his period with King Crimson, Wetton formed U.K., and later he was the frontman and principal songwriter of the supergroup Asia, which proved to be his biggest commercial success. Their eponymous debut album sold eight million copies worldwide and was Billboard magazine’s No. 1 album of 1982. He later formed the duo Icon with Geoff Downes (ex-Yes, ex-The Buggles), and from the 1990s had a successful solo career, releasing a large number of studio and live albums.
Wetton had a long career as an in-demand session bass player, and collaborated with many members of progressive rock bands such as Yes (including Steve Howe, Bill Bruford, Geoff Downes, Alan White, Billy Sherwood and Peter Banks), Roxy Music and Bryan Ferry and Genesis’ (Steve Hackett).
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Wetton died in his sleep at a hospice in Bournemouth, Dorset on January 31, 2017, from colon cancer. He was survived by his wife Lisa, son Dylan, brother Robert and mother Margaret (Peggy).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wetton
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Bobby Freeman
Robert Thomas “Bobby” Freeman (June 13, 1940 – January 2017) was an African-American soul and R&B singer, songwriter and record producer from San Francisco, California. He is best known for his two Top Ten hits, the first in 1958 on Josie Records called “Do You Want to Dance” and the second in 1964 for Autumn Records, “C’mon and Swim”.
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Freeman appeared on American Bandstand and toured with such musicians as Fats Domino, the Coasters, and Jackie Wilson. Several of his follow-ups on Laurie, including “Betty Lou Got a New Pair of Shoes” and “Need Your Love”, a ballad, also made the pop charts. He left Laurie in 1960 and signed with King Records, reaching the charts again with “Shimmy Shimmy”. However, several of Freeman’s later recordings for King in the early 1960s went unreleased, for unexplained reasons. He did not return to the charts again until 1964, after signing for the Autumn label, when he had his second top ten hit with “C’mon and Swim”. The song was co-written by label owner and radio DJ Tom Donahue (credited under his birth name, Thomas Coman), and 20-year-old Sylvester Stewart, later known as Sly Stone, and was produced by Stewart. Freeman’s final hit was “S-W-I-M”, later in 1964.
In 1964, Bobby Freeman played nightly at the Condor Club in San Francisco where Carol Doda performed her topless go-go dancing shows. Mainly supporting himself as a singer in clubs by the late 1960s, he continued to release singles on various small local labels through to the mid-1970s, but met with little commercial success. He performed at the Bay Area Music (“Bammy”) Awards in later years.
He died in January 2017.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Freeman
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Guitar Gable
Gabriel Perrodin (August 17, 1937 – January 28, 2017), known as Guitar Gable, was an American Louisiana blues, swamp blues and swamp pop musician. He was best known for recording the original version of “This Should Go On Forever”, and his part in the vibrant swamp blues and pop scene in Louisiana in the 1950s and early 1960s.
He was born in Bellevue, Bossier Parish, Louisiana, United States. His father was Creole. Guitar Gable was influenced by the music of Guitar Slim, and was self-taught in playing the guitar by his mid-teens. He formed a group called the Swing Masters, and was later introduced to King Karl (born Bernard Jolivette). “Guitar Gable had been playing jobs with some little guy out of Lafayette,” Karl recalled to swamp pop historian Shane K. Bernard. “Anyhow, there was this priest, Father Millet, and one day he said, ‘I was told you was fixing to be in a band. I got a good boy. I would like for you to get together with him ’cause I don’t like the company he’s with’.” King Karl met Guitar Gable at a Swing Masters concert, and afterwards Gable left them to join King Karl, Gable’s brother Clinton “Fats” Perrodin on bass guitar, and drummer Clarence “Jockey” Etienne, to form the Musical Kings.
Introduced to the record producer J. D. “Jay” Miller, the Musical Kings eventually became the heart of Miller’s preferred studio musical ensemble. They backed musicians such as Lazy Lester, Classie Ballou, Skinny Dynamo, Bobby Charles and Slim Harpo. “I’m a King Bee” was written by Slim Harpo under his real name of James Moore. The song was recorded in March 1957 and was originally released that year as the B-side to his debut solo single, “I Got Love if You Want It”. Its popularity led to Excello Records swapping the sides over. The other musicians on the recording were Gable (guitar); Fats Perrodin (bass); and Jockey Etienne (drums).
Guitar Gable and the Musical Kings had earlier recorded their own debut single for Excello in 1956. His first track was the pacy instrumental “Congo Mombo”, which relied on the melody of “Frankie and Johnny”. The A-side of the single was “Life Problem”, which featured King Karl’s vocals. The follow-up release included the swamp pop classic, “Irene”, which later influenced Jimmy Clanton’s “Just A Dream”.
Gable’s guitar work featured on Slim Harpo’s 2011 compilation album, Rocks.
Guitar Gable died in hospital at Opelousas, Louisiana, on January 28, 2017.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar_Gable
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Other Notable Musicians’ Deaths… January 2017
31: Deke Leonard, 72, Welsh rock guitarist (Man); Carsten Mohren, 54, German keyboardist, cancer; John Wetton, 67, British singer-songwriter (“Only Time Will Tell”, “Heat of the Moment”) and bass guitarist (Asia, King Crimson), colorectal cancer.
30: Walter Hautzig, 95, Austrian-born Israeli pianist; James Laurence, 27, American musician and record producer (Friendzone) (death announced on this date);
29: Elkin Ramírez, 54, Colombian singer-songwriter (Kraken), brain cancer.
28: Bobby Freeman, 76, American singer and songwriter (“Do You Want to Dance”); Guitar Gable, 79, American blues musician; Geoff Nicholls, 68, English keyboardist (Black Sabbath, Quartz), lung cancer; Alexander Tikhanovich, 64, Belarusian pop singer (Verasy).
27: Benny Collins, 68, American production and tour manager (Journey, The Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson), pneumonia; Henry-Louis de La Grange, 92, French musicologist, biographer of Gustav Mahler.
25: Ronnie Davis, 66, Jamaican reggae singer; Don Grilley, 88, American stage actor and singer; Mary Tyler Moore, 80, American actress, singer and dancer (The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Ordinary People), six-time Emmy winner and philanthropist (JDRF), complications from pneumonia and cardiopulmonary arrest