The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars (306 page)

Kleinow returned to his film roots, picking up major credits on such films as
The Empire Strikes Back
and
Terminator
- and gaining an Emmy for work on a television miniseries.

The call of the cold steel didn’t desert him, though: Kleinow’s favoured instrument was heard once again in the new millennium with a ‘supergroup’ featuring The Band’s Garth Hudson and Jeff Davis of Amazing Rhythm Aces - and named Burrito Deluxe.

From this point, though, the artist’s health began a slow decline. Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2006, Sneaky Pete snuck away forever in a Petaluma, California convalescent home on 6 January 2007.

Saturday13

Michael Brecker

(Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania, 29 March 1949)

The Brecker Brothers

Dreams

(Various acts)

Latterly respected as a leading jazz composer, Michael Brecker also had a grounding in funk and R & B, his distinctive saxophone work marking his copious projects. Brecker learned his craft on the piano, however, embracing rock ‘n’ roll as genre boundaries began to blur at the turn of the seventies.

More than adept at most instruments, Brecker, with similarly-gifted older brother Randy – a brass virtuoso – at his side, joined early jazz/rock fusion band Dreams in 1970, though this project was shortlived, perhaps due to the fact that the line-up was very talent-rich: other band members included drummer and bandleader Billy Cobham (who continued to work with Brecker after the split) and pianist/composer Don Grolnick.

In 1975, Michael and Randy teamed up once again as The Brecker Brothers, finding an unlikely hit single during the disco boom with the great ‘East River’ (1978). Brecker was still highly sought-after by pop artists, as well, appearing on countless albums as a session artist, including several by James Taylor and Paul Simon. He also worked alongside John Lennon, Steely Dan, Lou Reed and Bruce Springsteen in the rock domain – plus Jaco Pastorius, Herbie Hancock and Pat Metheny in the jazz-crossover world, though this short list barely touches the bewildering array of credits Brecker gained during a career that saw him appear on some five hundred recordings.

It was while performing at the 2004 Mount Fuji Jazz Festival that Michael Brecker discovered he was suffering from MDS, a serious blood disorder generally recognised as a precursor to leukaemia. Two years of searching for a matching stem cell donor were to prove forlorn: despite undergoing an experimental part-match, Brecker died from his condition in New York City. The delayed release of brother Randy’s
Some Skunk Funk
recording – the first collaboration with his sibling for some years – saw Michael Brecker earn two posthumous Grammys, the industry then awarding two more for his final solo album
Pilgrimage
and its standout track ‘Anagram’: Brecker won a remarkable fifteen such accolades in all.

See also
Jaco Pastorius (
September 1987). Don Grolnick passed away from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1996.

Wednesday 17

Gary Phillips

(Gary Philippet - California, 5 February 1947)

Greg Kihn Band

Copperhead

Earth Quake

(Various acts)

Many had high expectations when the mercurial John Cipollina emerged in late 1970 with his post–Quicksilver Messenger Service outfit Copperhead, a vast San Francisco amalgamation that eventually trimmed down to the guitarist/singer, plus Hutch Hutchinson (bass), Jim McPherson (ex-Stained Glass, keys) – and a gifted young singer and guitarist named Gary Philippet, formerly of local heroes Freedom Highway.

But despite some acclaimed performances, Cipollina lost interest in the daily grind of leading a band – and Copperhead split in 1973, soon after the release of their self-titled Columbia debut. Philippet, however, used this experience to find himself a berth in bluesy Bay Area powerpop unit Earth Quake; by now, he was using the more easily-remembered version of his name. Having been ‘a band most likely to’ while signed to A&M, Earth Quake were now early signings to manager Matthew King Kaufman’s Beserkley, Phillips contributing greatly – as both guitarist and lead vocalist – to four albums for the label between 1975 and 1979. (The group also backed future label hero Jonathan Richman on an early recording of his signature hit ‘Roadrunner’.)

Phillips finally saw fulfilment in his next berth. Another Beserkley signing, singer/guitarist Greg Kihn had been on the road with his band for a decade before success came their way – he’d known and played acoustically with Phillips during Copperhead days. With Phillips now as his keyboardist – alongside Dave Carpender (guitar), Steve Wright (bass) and Larry Lynch (drums) – The Greg Kihn Band now enjoyed millionselling US singles with ‘The Breakup Song (They Don’t Write ‘Em)’ (1981 – co-written by Phillips) and ‘Jeopardy’ (1983), the latter of which was only kept from the top spot by Michael Jackson.

‘Gary was a musician’s musician. We were as close as brothers.’

Greg Kihn

After three years – and three platinum albums – with Kihn, Gary Phillips pared down his professional life, although he still played with a number of touring groups until quitting music to run a farm in Washington. Phillips died after some months battling cancer – he was just three weeks short of his sixtieth birthday.

See also
John Cipollina (
May 1989). Dave Carpender passed away from heart failure just eight months after Phillips.

Thursday 18

Brent Liles

(Fullerton, California, 7 September 1963)

Social Distortion

Agent Orange

(Various acts)

Brent Liles was a key member of two of the SoCal punk scene’s most influential acts during the eighties. At eighteen, the disillusioned bassist hooked up with the up-and-coming Social Distortion – the band formed by front man Mike Ness back in 1978 – many considering the then roster of Ness, Liles, Dennis Danell (guitar) and Derek O’Brien (drums – who later played with him in Agent Orange) as the band’s definitive line-up.

Liles played on Social Distortion’s notable debut
Mommy’s Little Monster
(1983). The pre-release tour (and the group’s near breakup) is well documented on Adam Small and Peter Stuart’s
Another State of Mind
‘road movie’. The bassist didn’t hang about for long, though – by New Year 1984, he and his fretless Rickenbacker were gone.

After a largely forgettable few years playing with bands such as Easter (guitar) and The Harlots (bass again), in late 1988 Liles joined Mike Palm’s band Agent Orange, which had been around since the late 1970s. This group was altogether more ‘up’ in its outlook, being one of the first punk units to mesh in a surf-rock sound; they influenced the skatecore scene that threw up acts like NOFX and Suicidal Tendencies. Liles left in 1992 (replaced by Sam Bolle), with
Real Live Sound
(1990) his only released contribution to Orange. (Both Social Distortion and Agent Orange continue performing to this day.)

With a child to bring up, Brent Liles eschewed the punk scene in the early nineties, finding a more placid environment to work in a Placentia convalescent home. The former bassist was riding his bicycle close to there, near Freeway 57 in Orange County, when hit by a semi truck. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Other former members of Social Distortion to have passed on are original bassist Mark Garrett, producer/organist Cha% Ramirez (d 1993), Dennis Danell (d 2000) and drummer Randy Carr (d 2002).

Golden Oldies #42

Denny Doherty

(Halifax, Nova Scotia, 29 November 1940)

The Mamas & The Papas

(Various acts)