The Stool Pigeon music newspaper

MR L. BULLEN & MS KT TUNSTALL. The engagement is announced between Luke and Kate

MR G. GATES & MS S. MOLE. The engagement is announced between Gareth, son of Paul Gates and Wendy Broadbent, and Suzanne

MR B MCFADDEN & MS D GOODREM. The engagement is announced between Brian and Delta, daughter of Denis and Lea

MURDOCH - PRIVITERA. On Monday November 26, in New York, Stuart Murdoch to Marisa Privitera

DOROUGH - BONIELLO. On Saturday December 8, in Orlando, Howie Dorough, son of Hoke Dorough and Paula Flores, to Leigh Boniello

RAYMOND. On Monday November 26, to Tameka Foster and Usher Raymond IV, a wonderful boy, Usher Raymond V

BRATMAN. On Saturday January 12, to Christina Aguilera and Jordon Bratman, a lovely boy, Max Liron Bratman

OBIKA. On Saturday January 19, to Charmaine and Lemar, a bonnie girl Nyiema Obika

The divorce is announced between Daniel Johns and Natalie Imbruglia.

Ally Lyall, former Rico guitarist, b. 11.01.1974, d. 21.11.2007, with love from Kato, Rico, Paulie, Tomaso, Rosie, Gail Tyrone Taylor, singer-songwriter, b. 1954, d. 01.12.2007

Chad ‘Pimp C’ Butler, rapper, b. 29.12.1973, d. 04.12.2007

Carlos “Patato” Valdes, musician, b. 04.11.1926, d. 04.12.2007

Karlheinz Stockhausen, Composer, b. 22.08.1928, d. 05.12.2007

Christie Hennessy, singer-songwriter, b. 19.11.1945, d.11.12.2007

Frank Morgan, jazz saxophonist, b. 23.12.1933, d. 14.12.2007

Daniel Grayling Fogelberg, singer-songwriter, b. 13.08.1951, d. 16.12.2007

Lydia Mendoza, singer-songwriter, b. 21.07.1916, d. 20.12.2007

Joseph Francis Robert Dolan, singer, 16.10.1939, d. 26.12.2007

Kevin Greening, broadcaster, b. 30.12.1962, d. 29.12.2007

Oli’n’Clive, band, b. 01.03.2006, d. 09.01.2008

Rod Allen (Rodney Bainbridge), Fortunes singer, b. 31.03.1944, d. 10.01.2008

John Coburn Stewart, songwriter and singer, b. 05.09.1939, d. 19.01.2008

Thomas Mossie McQuater Sr., trumpeter, b. 04.09.1914, d. 20.01.2008

Lady Barirolli (Evelyn Rothwell), oboist, b. 24.01.1911, d. 25.01.2008

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Ike claimed by accidental coke overdose
Words Izzy Molina

News of the death of Ike Turner on December 12 of an “accidental cocaine overdose” was met with contrasting feelings. He was always going to his grave as the ‘man who beat Tina’, but his enormous contribution to music was acknowledged too, as indeed it should be. Turner was a major player in twentieth century American music - a visionary with a super-tough approach that, time and time again, he was unable to keep to his professional life. Unsurprisingly, he was never forgiven for his violence - not by Tina or the public - and his legacy will be perpetually stained.

Turner, the son of a preacher, was born in 1931 in Clarksdale, Mississippi and showed extraordinary musical promise at a very young age. By 11, he was playing piano with Sonny Boy Williamson and in 1951 he had his first hit with ‘Rocket 88’ - a track that Sun Studios owner Sam Phillips recognised as being the original rock’n’roll record.

He worked relentlessly throughout the fifties, touring his fearsome R&B group, backing many of the great blues artists of the era in the studio and A&Ring for LA-based label Modern, to whom he brought BB King, Howlin’ Wolf and Junior Parker, among others. By the end of the decade, he’d turned his live show into a crowd-pulling review featuring multiple singers. His star attraction was the teenage Anna Mae Bullock. At Ike’s suggestion, Anna renamed herself Tina and the couple married in 1960.

The Ike and Tina Review became one of the legendary live attractions of the sixties, as a headline act and as support group for bands like the Rolling Stones. They backed up their success on the road with hits that sometimes broke the mainstream but often lingered in the R&B charts. Frustrated and hungry for more money, Ike tried a number of different and frequently successful ideas - matching Tina up with Phil Spector, with whom she recorded ‘River Deep, Mountain High’, and covering rock tracks like Creedence’s ‘Proud Mary’.

Throughout the sixties and seventies, Ike developed a gargantuan cocaine habit (he once said he’d spent $11m on the drug) that sent his already volatile character spinning out of control. Tina would later say he burnt her with cigarettes and beat her. They divorced in 1976. Between 1982 and 1990 he was arrested 11 times for drug-related offences, and was eventually jailed for four years. In 2007, he made his final comeback, winning a Grammy for his album, Risin’ With The Blues.

Ike Turner, R&B singer and songwriter, b. 05.11.1931, d. 12.12.08

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CLYDE OTIS
Words Huw Nesbitt

Clyde Otis, songwriter and producer, was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital in Englewood, New Jersey on January 8. He had been suffering from cancer. Although the 83-year-old was best known for collaborating with R&B singer Brook Benton in the fifties, it is perhaps his appointment as the first professional black producer in America that will leave the longest legacy.

According to legend, neither Otis nor his family had even owned a radio before he was enlisted in the Marine Corps during World War II. While serving, he met ‘Route 66’ writer Bob Troupe who inspired him to pursue songwriting himself.

Otis got his break in 1954 while employed as a cab driver in New York. He persuaded a fare to pass on one of his songs, ‘That’s All There Is To That’, to producer Sidney Kornhauser. It went on to become a hit for Nat ‘King’ Cole.

He subsequently had a number of hits at Mercury Records before leaving to start his own independent production company, which is still in operation today.

Otis was a pioneer, as a musician and businessman. His songs have been recorded by Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, and Johnny Mathis, and he did much to raise the profile of African-Americans behind the scenes in the US music industry.

Clyde Otis, R&B songwriter and producer, b. 1924, d. 08.01.08

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OSCAR PETERSON
Words Huw Nesbitt

Shortly before Christmas, jazz legend Oscar Peterson died of kidney failure at his home in Toronto, Ontario. He was 82. Despite suffering a severe stroke in 2003, the eight-time-Grammy-award-winning pianist continued to play concerts up until June 2007, when he had to withdraw from the Toronto Jazz Festival due to failing health.

Influenced by artists ranging from Nat ‘King’ Cole to classical musicians such as Rachmaninov, Peterson’s professional career spanned nearly 70 years. Although an arthritis sufferer for most of his life, he recorded over 200 albums and collaborated with many of the jazz greats, including Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, and Charlie Parker.

Peterson’s was renown for the speed and complexity of his playing. Outside of his career as an artist, he also taught at numerous universities, and held the position of Chancellor at the University of York, Toronto from 1991-1994.

He was awarded his nation’s highest honour, the Order of Canada, in 1972 and was due to be given a Founder’s Award by the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame this year. He leaves a vast musical legacy that continues to be discovered by a global audience. Peterson was married four times and is survived by six children.

Oscar Peterson, jazz pianist, b. 15.08.1925, d. 23.12.2007