We note with sadness the following contributors to rock and pop music of the 50s through the 80s – the BEST music ever made! – who passed on last month:
March 01
● Gary Walker / (Gary Leeds) → Drummer, baritone singer, and one third of the American-born trio The Walker Brothers (none were brothers and none were actually named Walker); the group relocated to London in 1965 and achieved stardom in the UK during the mid-60s with blue-eyed soul, orchestral hits including “Make It Easy on Yourself” (UK #1, 1965) and “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore” (#13, UK #1, 1966); following break-up in 1967 launched a successful solo career in the UK and Japan fronting Gary Walker & The Rain and singing a version of the psych-pop single “Spooky” (1968); rejoined the “brothers” in the mid-70s to release the acclaimed country-pop albums No Regrets (1975) and Lines (1976); published a memoir with his “brother” John (Maus) in 2009; suffered a stroke in December 2025 and died from complications thereof on 3/1/2026, age 83.
March 02
● Len Garry / (Leonard Charles Garry) → Bass guitarist and co-founder, alongside John Lennon, of the Liverpool skiffle group The Quarrymen; was a core member of the group for its earliest performances at the Casbah Coffee Club and the Woolton Village Fête (where Lennon first met Paul McCartney in 1957); dropped away in 1958 with a serious bout of tubercular meningitis just as the band transitioned toward rock and roll; enjoyed a long career as an architect but rejoined his original Quarrymen bandmates to mark the 40th anniversary of the Woolton Fête in 1997 and then toured globally and recorded with the surviving members off and on for two decades; shared firsthand accounts of the birth of The Beatles through his memoir John, Paul & Me (2012); died from pneumonia on 3/02/2026, age 84.
● Mike Vernon / (Michael William Hugh Vernon) → Legendary Brit music producer, studio owner and record label executive at Decca Records and his own blues-rock label Blue Horizon; became a major influence on the British electric blues boom of the 60s, producing landmark albums by John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers (including the “Beano” LP featuring Eric Clapton), Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, Ten Years After, and many others, plus many non-blues albums such as David Bowie’s vaudevillian debut album in 1968; opened Chipping Norton Studios in 1971 and, over the next 28 years, engineered scores of recordings for nearly every major act of the day, including Focus, Status Quo, Cutting Crew, and Radiohead; found time in between to release a solo album in 1973 and sing bass vocals as a member of Brit funk band Olympic Runners (1974-1979) and doo wop/rock ‘n’ roll revival Rocky Sharpe & The Replays (1979-1983); retired when the studio sold in 1999 but came back in 2011 to produce more albums and his own LP Beyond The Blue Horizon in 2018; was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2020 and died at his home in Spain after a short illness on 3/29/2026, age 81.
March 03
● Roy Book Binder / (Roy Alan Bookbinder) → “Carolina style” fingerpicking acoustic blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, raconteur and five-decade fixture on America’s folk music circuit with a deep repertoire of old-time country and ragtime songs; was in the 60s folk revival scene in New York City and became a young protégé of the legendary Blind Gary Davis; from the 70s on appeared in countless fairs and festivals for 200 one-nighters every year, often playing from his tricked-out, custom camper van, the “Hillbilly Rolls Royce;” issued over a dozen acclaimed solo albums including Travelin’ Man (1971), Goin’ Back to Saluda (1979), and In Concert (2010); authored several instructional books and videos on the Rev. Gary Davis style, ensuring the preservation of the Piedmont blues tradition for future generations; died after a long illness on 3/3/2026, age 82.
March 07
● David Brigati / (David Michael Brigati) → Lead singer for New Jersey doo wop The Hi-Fives in the late 50s and frontman for pop-rock Joey Dee & the Starliters in the early 60s, singing lead on their hit version of “The Peppermint Twist” (#1, 1962); left in 1964 to join his brother, Eddie, in 60s blue-eyed soul group The Young Rascals as studio singer and “fifth member” of the group, providing backing harmonies on the band’s string of 60s hits, including “Groovin'” (#1, 1967), “How Can I Be Sure” (#4, 1967), and “People Got to Be Free” (#1, 1968); as a sought-after session vocalist, contributed to various projects throughout the 70s, including the album Soul Searching by The Average White Band (1976) and issued a lone studio album, Lost in the Wilderness (1976) as Brigati with his brother; joined in various Rascals and Starliters reunions over the years, and performed with Eddie, Donald Fagen, Phoebe Snow and others in the New York Rock & Soul Revue in the 90s; was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame with the Rascals in 2005; died from undisclosed causes on 3/07/2026, age 85.
● Country Joe McDonald / (Joseph Allen McDonald) → Singer, guitarist, and co-founder, in 1965 with Barry “The Fish” Melton, of the Berkeley-based psychedelic rock group Country Joe & The Fish; emerged as a leading voice of the 1960s counterculture and anti-war movement, most notably for his performance of his “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag” at the Woodstock Festival (1969); provided the satirical and socially conscious lyrics for the band’s landmark albums Electric Music For The Mind And Body (1967) and I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die (1967); following the group’s 1971 split, sustained a long solo career spanning over 30 albums, assembled an archival collection of documents related to nurse Florence Nightingale and advocated extensively for Vietnam Veterans; remained an vocal environmentalist and performer through the 00s and 10s, frequently reuniting with Melton for special projects and activist events; died at home from complications of Parkinson’s disease on 3/7/2026, age 84.
● Augie Meyers / (August Edmond George Meyer Jr.) → Keyboardist, singer, and co-founder, in 1964 with Doug Sahm, of the San Antonio-based, early country-rock group The Sir Douglas Quintet; provided the signature Vox Continental organ sound that defined the band’s hits “She’s About A Mover” (#13, 1965) and “Mendocino” (#27, 1969); as a highly regarded session musician, played on recordings by Tom Waits, John Hammond, and others, as well as Bob Dylan’s Time Out Of Mind (1997) and Love And Theft (2001) albums; reunited with Sahm, Freddy Fender, and Flaco Jiménez in 1989 to form the Grammy-winning Tex-Mex supergroup The Texas Tornados, contributing accordion and organ layers to the Grammy-winning hit “Soy De San Luis” (1990) and others; remained a prolific solo artist through his own SDQ and Texas Tornado labels, releasing over a dozen albums that blended polka, rock, and conjunto styles; died at home from pneumonia on 3/7/2026, age 84.
March 09
● Tommy DeCarlo → Forty-something Home Depot credit manager, wanna-be rock singer and huge fan of rock group Boston (“More Than A Feeling,” #1, `1976); recorded a self-penned tribute song to original Boston singer Brad Delp following Delp’s 2007 suicide, plus vocal covers of the band’s big hits, and posted them to a MySpace page; recruited by bandleader Tom Scholz for the group’s 2008 tour and spent the ensuing 18 years Boston’s principal vocalist and keyboardist on tours and on the 2013 album Life, Love & Hope; in between formed the melodic rock group DeCarlo with his son Tommy Jr., releasing the debut album Lightning Strikes Twice (2020), and issued a lone solo album, Dancing In The Moonlight in 2022; died from brain cancer exactly 19 years to the day of Delp’s suicide on 3/29/2026, age 60.
March 13
● Phil “Wizzo” Campbell / (Phillip Anthony Campbell) → Welsh guitarist and frontman for Cardiff-based heavy metal band Persian Risk before replacing Brian Robertson in British heavy metal Motörhead in 1984; remained the band’s primary guitarist for 31 years and 16 studio albums including Orgasmatron (1986), 1916 (1991), and the Grammy-winning Inferno (2004); co-wrote many of the band’s modern era classics, including the Grammy-winning cover of “Whiplash” (2005); following the death of frontman Lemmy Kilmister – the founder and only constant member of Motörhead – and the group’s subsequent dissolution in 2015, formed Phil Campbell & The Bastard Sons with his three sons, releasing hard rock albums including The Age of Absurdity (2018) and We’re the Bastards (2020); released his first solo project, Old Lions Still Roar in 2019, featuring collaborations with Alice Cooper and Rob Halford; died in intensive care from complications following a “complex” but unspecified surgery on 3/13/2026, age 64.
March 16
● Wayne Perkins / (David Wayne Perkins) → Guitarist, singer, songwriter and highly regarded session musician at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio (Alabama) and in Nashville recording studios; contributed to recordings by Joni Mitchell (Court and Spark, #2, 1974), Billy Joel, The Everly Brothers, The Wailers’ “Concrete Jungle” (1973) and the slide guitar on Leon Russell’s “Tight Rope” (#11, 1972); auditioned in 1975 to join The Rolling Stones following the departure of Mick Taylor, and for Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1977; turned both down but contributed the distinctive lead guitar to the Stones’ “Hand of Fate” and “Fool to Cry” (#10, 1976) on the Black and Blue (1976) album; released his own acclaimed solo debut Misfits in 1995; inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 2013; died from complications of a stroke and brain tumors on 3/29/2026, age 75.
March 17
● Naomi Eisenberg / (Naomi Ruth Eisenberg) → Singer, violinist and member of Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks in the group’s second and most successful incarnation in the 70s; along with Maryann Price provided the sophisticated harmonies and theatrical presence behind the all-acoustic band and its eclectic blend of swing, country, jazz and Hicks’ dry wit on iconic albums Where’s the Money? (1971), Striking It Rich (1972), and the gold-certified Last Train to Hicksville (#67, 1973); following the group’s 1974 dissolution, performed in various jazz and swing ensembles and appeared in occasional reunions with Hicks, including the 2000 album Beatin’ the Heat; issued a one-off live album with Price in 2004 and remained active in the San Francisco Bay Area music scene until dying from unspecified causes on 3/29/2026, age 77.
March 18
● David Wagner / (David Waggoner) → Lead vocalist, songwriter, and co-founder, in 1967, of Minneapolis blues-rock group Crow; co-wrote and provided the gritty, soulful lead vocals for the band’s signature hit “Evil Woman (Don’t Play Your Games With Me)” (#19, 1969), which was covered by Black Sabbath on that group’s debut album; as Crow‘s primary songwriter, authored much of the material for their three best-known albums, Crow Music (1969), Crow by Crow (1970), and Mosaic (1971); after the band’s initial 1972 split, pursued a solo career and released David Wagner (1973); toured and recorded as Crow by Crow or with original Crow members from the 80s through the 00s; inducted into the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame in 2005 and the Mid-America Music Hall of Fame in 2009; died from undisclosed causes on 3/18/2026, age unknown.
March 19
● Terry Cox → Drummer, singer, and co-founder, in 1967 alongside John Renbourn and Bert Jansch, of British folk-pop group Pentangle; provided the jazz-inflected percussion that defined the band’s sophisticated acoustic sound on landmark albums including The Pentangle (1968), Sweet Child (1968), and the UK Top 5 Basket of Light (UK #5, 1969); as a highly sought-after session musician contributed to many of the most influential British folk and pop recordings of the 60s and 70s, including David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” (#15, 1969), and albums by Elton John, The Bee Gees, Charles Aznavour, and Cleo Laine; later toured extensively as a member of The Shadows and participated in various Pentangle reformations through the three decades; honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2007; died in a care facility following a brief, unspecified illness on 3/19/2026, age 89.
March 23
● Chip Taylor / (James Wesley Voight) → Songwriter, singer, guitarist and composer of the garage-rock anthem “Wild Thing” (#1, 1966) for The Troggs and the ballad “Angel of the Morning” for Merrilee Rush (#7, 1968) and Juice Newton (#4, AC #1, 1972); as a recording artist, released several acclaimed country-rock albums in the 70s, including Last Chance (1973), before a prolonged hiatus to pursue a career as a professional gambler and thoroughbred racing handicapper; staged a musical comeback in the late 90s, recording and touring extensively with fiddler Carrie Rodriguez and producing his own albums plus those for others on his Train Wreck Records label; inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2016; died from throat cancer on 3/24/2026, age 86.
March 25
● Dash Crofts / (Darrell George Crofts) → Singer, multi-instrumentalist, and with Jim Seals, one half the soft-rock duo Seals & Crofts; provided the mandolin melodies and high-tenor vocals that defined the group’s breezy, folk-pop sound on genre-defining 70s hits including “Summer Breeze” (#4, 1972), “Diamond Girl” (#6, 1973), and “Get Closer” (#6, 1976); began his professional career in the late 50s as a member of The Champs, performing on the instrumental hit “Tequila” (#1, 1958) before forming the short-lived group The Dawnbreakers; became a prominent face of the Bahá?í Faith in popular music with Seals in their musical partnership, often incorporating spiritual themes in their songwriting and touring; following the duo’s 1980 split, pursued a solo career and various business interests before reuniting with Seals for several high-profile tours and the 2004 album Traces; died in a hospital from heart failure on 3/25/2026, age 87.
March 26
● “Ross the Boss” Friedman / (Ross Friedman) → Guitarist, songwriter, and co-founder of New York proto-punk The Dictators; the group provided the bridge between 60s garage rock and the burgeoning punk scene on three mid-70s albums, including Manifest Destiny (#193, 1977); pivoted to heavy metal in 1979 as a member of the French metal band Shakin’ Street, which opened for Black Sabbath on tours in the early 80s; co-founded power metal Manowar with Black Sabbath bassist Joey DeMaio and played on six albums, among them the metal classics Battle Hymns (1982) and Kings Of Metal (1988) before being fired in 1988; joined The Dictators’ spin-off group Manitoba’s Wild Kingdom later that year and played with the group and reformed Dictators line-ups for the ensuing 20 years, and thereafter fronted his own Ross The Boss and the metal supergroup Death Dealer; inducted into the Metal Hall of Fame in 2017 with Manowar; died from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) on 3/26/2026, age 72.
March 29
● Greg Elmore / (Gregory Dale Elmore) → Drummer for short-lived San Francisco garage rock The Brogues and co-founder of legendary psychedelic folk-rock Quicksilver Messenger Service; played with QMS from 1965 to 1979 on the group’s seven studio albums, all of which charted in the Top 100, and on the enduring psychedelic-era hit “Fresh Air” (#49, 1970); over the 40-plus years following QMS’s disbandment in 1979 played with former bandmate John Cipollina in Terry & The Pirates and Thunder & Lightning, among other projects, including stints with the Dinosaurs and Green On Red in the 80s; largely dropped from sight in the 10s and died from unspecified causes on 3/29/2026, age 79.
March 30
● Walt Maddox / (Walter Lee Maddox III) → Vocals in doo wop quartet The Marcels; joined during a lineup change just six months after the group’s big hit “Blue Moon” (#1, R&B #1, 1961) but in time to sing lead on the only other Top 10 hit, “Heartaches” (#7, R&B #19, 1961); left in 1963 for a solo career with several 80s singles before recording and touring as Walt Maddox & The Marcels in the late 80s; won a trademark lawsuit against former Marcel groupmate Allen Johnson in 1996 and used the Marcel name exclusively thereafter; appeared in the TV documentary Doo Wop 50 in 1999 and was inducted into the Vocal Hall of Fame in 2002; died after a long illness on 3/30/2026, age 89.
2026 ● Christopher North / (Christopher Reed North) → Frontman in several 60s psych-rock bands in San Francisco before co-founding prog-rock Ambrosia in 1970, played keyboards on their first two albums and first four charting singles, among them “Holdin’ On To Yesterday” (#17, AC #46, 1975); suffered a nervous breakdown in 1977 but returned for the now yacht rock band’s commercial peak in the late 70s and early 80s; dropped from sight when the band dissolved in 1982; rejoined for the 1989 reunion tour and continued to tour with the group until contracting throat cancer in 2024; successfully battled the disease but was hit by an out-of-control car on a sidewalk in Santa Monica, California in October 2025, died from pneumonia while recovering from the accident on 3/30/2026, age 75.
