Deaths of Rock and Roll Artists Quiz

Answer: The Bar-Kays

The Bar-Kays were originally session musicians at Stax records. As a group they released a few singles for the label. In 1966 Otis selected the band to be his backing group. After he performed at Monterrey in 1967, Otis came to national prominence and he and the band toured steadily. Trumpet player Ben Cauley, guitar player Jimmy King, organist Ronnie Caldwell, drummer Carl Cunningham and sax player Phalon Jones accompanied him on the plane after they played a date in Cleveland, Ohio.
Bass player James Alexander was on a commercial flight because the chartered plane could not accommodate the whole band. Ben Cauley survived the crash, but Otis and the other members of the band perished. Alexander reformed the band. Crash survivor Ben Cauley later became the music director at the Longview United Methodist Church and played occasional dates in jazz venues around Memphis.
The MGs were Stax artist Booker T's backing band. The Marketts were a surf band from California that had a 1964 instrumental hit with "Out of Limits". The Mad Lads was a Stax R and B group.

Answer: Jackie Wilson

Berry Gordy, Jr. co-wrote Jackie Wilson's first hit, "Reet Petite", in 1957. Jackie went on to have success in the sixties with hits such as "Baby Workout", "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" and "Lonely Teardrops". Jackie Wilson escaped death when he was shot by a girlfriend in 1961. His assailant was never charged.
He was singing "Lonely Teardrops" when he suffered a heart attack while performing at a Dick Clark show in New Jersey. When Dick Clark learned that Jackie Wilson did not have insurance to pay for his medical care, Clark picked up the bill for his treatment.
Johnny Ace killed himself while playing Russian roulette backstage after a show in 1954. The following month he had a posthumous hit with "Pledging My Love". Hank Ballard passed away from complications of cancer in 2003. Brook Benton was 56 when he died from complications from spinal meningitis in 1988. He had several hits including "A Rainy Night in Georgia".

Answer: Wendy O. Williams

Wendy Orlean Williams shot herself in a wooded locale near her home. She left a note and her suicide was never in dispute. The Webster, New York, native dropped out of high school and drifted around doing odd jobs before connecting with Rod Swenson. Swenson assumed the stage name of Captain Kink and formed Captain Kink's Theatre.
Within two years Wendy was fronting a punk metal band called The Plasmatics. In 1984 Gene Simmons produced her "W.O.W." album and members of KISS played on the album. Her shows were controversial and Wendy was arrested or banned at several venues. Her final show with The Plasmatics was in 1988 but she continued to do solo projects and became involved as an animal rights activist. She was only 48 and still with Stewart when she took her life near her Connecticut home.
Felix A. Pappalardi, Jr. was shot by his wife, Gail, at their New York home in 1983. He was a founding member of Mountain.
Sam Cooke was shot by a hotel clerk in Los Angeles in 1964. She claimed he threatened her and the death was ruled a justifiable homicide.
Marvin Gaye was shot and killed by his father in 1984. The charge was reduced from First Degree Murder to Manslaughter when it was discovered that his father had a brain tumor. He served six years of probation.

Answer: Harry Chapin

In 1981 Harry Chapin was heading to a concert when he put on his flashers and began veering in his Volkswagen Rabbit. He eventually collided with a tractor trailer and the vehicle he occupied burst into flames. Although he was extricated from the vehicle, attempts to revive him failed. The medical examiner reported that he had a heart attack, but it could not be determined whether it was before or after the impact. Chapin's first album, "Heads and Tales" was released in 1972 and contained his Top Forty single, "Taxi".
Jim Croce, his guitarist Maury Muehleisen, his booking agent, comedian George Stevens, passenger Dennis Rast and the pilot all perished when the plane struck a pecan tree and crashed during takeoff. Croce had just completed a concert in Natchitoches, Louisiana, and was headed for Texas.
Kyu Sakamoto had a Number One US hit in 1963 with "Sukiyaki". In August, 1985, he managed to call his wife and say goodbye before Japan Airlines Flight 123 crashed.
Jiles Richardson, Jr., better known as The Big Bopper, was on board the same plane as Buddy Holly when it crashed in February, 1959.

Answer: Stevie Ray Vaughan

In 1990 Stevie Ray Vaughan was in one of four helicopters rented by the "In Step" tour manager to get the performers to their next venue in Wisconsin. Fog had set in and they wanted to avoid the heavy traffic. The pilot of the helicopter that Stevie Ray Vaughan occupied veered and struck a hillside, killing Vaughan, the pilot and three members of Eric Clapton's entourage. In 1991 the album, "The Sky Is Crying", was the first of many of Vaughan's successful posthumous releases.
John Denver was killed when a Long-EZ experimental airplane he was piloting crashed after taking off from the Monterey Peninsula Airport in 1997.
Dean Paul Martin, son of Dean Martin, had been a pilot since he was in his teens in a band called Dino, Desi and Billy. He died when his National Guard fighter jet crashed in California's San Bernardino Mountains in 1987.
Randy Rhoads was only 25 when he was a passenger in a Beechcraft Bonanza that struck a tour bus in 1982. Rhoads, pilot Andrew Aycock and hairdresser Rachel Youngblood were all killed instantly.

Answer: Berry Oakley and Duane Allman

Duane Allman was an in-demand session player when he was not involved with the Allman Brothers Band. He was in Macon on a hiatus from a recording and touring on October 29, 1971, when a truck made a left turn in front of him. While veering to the left, Duane contacted the truck and his bike fell on him, crushing his internal organs. He passed away from internal injuries a while later at the hospital.
On November 11, 1972, bass player Berry Oakley was involved in an accident with a bus while on his motorcycle. The accident was only three blocks from where Duane had his accident. Oakley actually walked away from the accident and declined medical treatment but died a few hours later from cerebral swelling caused by a skull injury.
Both of them were 24 years old when they passed away.
Jaimoe Johanson and Claude Hudson "Butch" Trucks still perform with Greg and other members of The Allmam Brothers Band.

Answer: Jim Reeves

Country singer Jim Reeves was at the controls of a Beechcraft Debonair in 1964 when he encountered a thunderstorm over Texas. He and his passenger, Dean Manuel, both perished when the plane impacted the ground. Investigators concluded that Reeves had likely become disoriented and believed he was actually climbing when he hit the ground. Manuel was his manager and the piano player in his band.
Reeves' flight instructor was the same one that taught the pilot of Patsy Cline's plane to fly.
Canaday, a member of The Ozark Mountain Daredevils, was killed when the vintage WW II plane he was a passenger in crashed into a tree.
Ronnie Van Zant and other members of Lynyrd Skynyrd died on October 20, 1977, when a Convair 240 piloted by Walter McCreary crashed in Mississippi.
Rick Nelson died in a plane crash in 1985. The two pilots of the DC3 escaped the crash through windows but Rick and six other passengers perished.

Answer: Eddie Cochran

Eddie Cochran achieved fame as a solo artist with "Summertime Blues", "Twenty Flight Rock" and other hits. In April of 1960 he was on tour in England. While a passenger in a taxi in Chippenham, Wiltshire, England, the vehicle struck a pole. Cochran was thrown through the windshield and sustained fatal head injuries. Singer Gene Vincent and songwriter Sharon Sheeley were injured but survived the accident. Gene Vincent would continue to be affected by the injuries for the rest of his musical career. The taxi driver was convicted of Dangerous Driving and sentenced to 6 months. Eddie was 21 when he died and was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in California.
Dave Prater of Sam and Dave died in a single car accident in Georgia on April 9, 1988.
Singer Jesse Belvin and his wife died in a car wreck after a performance in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1960.
Billy Stewart was known for his sixties hit version of "Summertime". Stewart was only 33 when he and three members of his band died when the car he was driving plunged into the Neuse River in Selma, North Carolina.

Answer: True

Keith's son found him lying on the floor with his headphones on in May, 1976. At first it was believed he had simply fallen asleep. He had been playing an electric guitar which was not properly grounded. Keith was a founding member of The Yardbirds. He was a singer and harmonica player. When the Yardbirds disbanded Keith and drummer Jim McCarty formed an acoustic-rock group called Together.
Relf was represented by his wife April and his son Danny when the Yardbirds were inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

Answer: Richard Manuel

On March 4, 1986, Richard Manuel of The Band drank a bottle of Grand Marnier and hanged himself in a hotel room in Florida. Manuel was one of the founding members of The Band and contributed four songs to their 1968 "Music From the Big Pink" album. Subsequent albums by The Band contained fewer songs composed by Manuel on them as he battled alcohol abuse. In 1973 the group backed Dylan on his "Planet Waves" album and backed him on tour. The Band played their final show at the Winterland Arena in San Francisco in 1976. The show was filmed for a documentary titled "The Last Waltz".
Following the dissolution of The Band, Manuel checked into rehab. He continued to perform at various venues and with a reformed version of the Band in 1983, but by the mid-eighties he had resumed his alcohol addiction. He had completed a gig with the reformed Band the evening before he died.
Del Shannon shot himself on February 8, 1990. Tommy Boyce of the songwriting and singing duo Boyce and Hart died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 1994. Drummer Clifford Davies died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on April 13th, 2008. He was a drummer for Ted Nugent.