THEY ALSO SERVED
BRUSSELS-BORN harmonica master TOOTS THIELEMANS (b.1922) was turned onto jazz when he heard Louis Armstrong as a teenager. Also a guitarist and whistler, he would bring outstanding artistry to the humble mouth organ, and over a long career would play with Edith Piaf, Charlie Parker, Peggy Lee, Quincy Jones, Ella Fitzgerald, Bill Evans, Paul Simon and Jaco Pastorius. His best-known recordings remain the bittersweet theme to Midnight Cowboy and the title music for Sesame Street; he continued to play with his old finesse into his nineties.
N.W.A manager JERRY HELLER (b.1940) began as a promoter and agent, working with acts including The Who, Marvin Gaye and Elton John. In 1987 he co-founded Ruthless Records with Eazy-E, as a vehicle for the South Central Los Angeles gangster rappers. Dr. Dre and Ice Cube would later leave the group, citing financial irregularities. After his portrayal by Paul Giamatti in last year’s N.W.A bio-pic Straight Outta Compton, Heller filed a defamation lawsuit.
VIBRAPHONE player BOBBY HUTCHERSON (b.1941) was one of jazz’s finest exponents of the instrument: a professional player since his teens and a long-time Blue Note signee, the Los Angeles native made more than 40 solo LPs, and appeared on recordings by Les McCann, Jackie McLean, Eric Dolphy, Archie Shepp and McCoy Tyner, among others. He also acted in the films They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? and Round Midnight. In 2004 he brought his improvisational sophistication to the SFJAZZ Collective, and received a Jazz Master Fellowship Award in 2010. In 2014 Hutcherson returned to Blue Note once more for his elegant sign-off, Enjoy The View.
SONGWRITER, guitarist and keyboard player TOM SEARLE (b.1988) played with Brighton metalcore group Architects from 2004. He recorded seven albums with the band, including this year’s Number 15 entry All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us. Architects, whose drummer is Searle’s brother Dan, will continue, and called their September tour of Australia a celebration of their bandmate’s life.
KEYBOARD player JAMES WOOLLEY (b.1966) played with Nine Inch Nails from 1991 to 1994. He also played with Chicago industrial group Die Warzau and recorded with Rob Halford’s 2wo.
MANAGER DAVID
ENTHOVEN (b.1944) co-ran EG management with John Gaydon in the ’60s and ’70s, and handled the affairs of T.Rex, ELP, Roxy Music and King Crimson. After a lengthy retreat to overcome drug addiction, Enthoven returned to the fray in the ’90s to assist in the careers of Massive Attack and Robbie Williams. He was also involved with the Featured Artists Coalition and with Narcotics and Alcoholics Anonymous.
MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST PÁDRAIG DUGGAN
(b.1949) was a founder member of ethereal County Donegal folk family Clannad, whose Irish language theme for Yorkshire TV’s drama Harry’s Game reached Number 5 in 1982 and won an Ivor Novello. In 2005 Duggan and his twin brother Noel recorded Rubicon as The Duggans; he also wrote the famed Gaelic pop song Liza.
FOLK SINGER, guitarist and songwriter FRED
HELLERMAN (b.1927) co-founded The Weavers in 1948. After they reached US Number 1 with their cover of Leadbelly’s Goodnight Irene, the group were derailed by anti-communist witch hunts, splitting in 1953. They reformed in 1955, influencing the folk boom that followed. After the group dissolved in 1964, Hellerman played with Joan Baez and Judy Collins, produced Arlo Guthrie’s 1967 LP Alice’s Restaurant,
wrote for the screen and took part in a Weavers reunion in 1980. His songs were covered by Bobbie Gentry, Harry Belafonte and Tony Bennett,
among others. In 2014 Hellerman appeared at a tribute event to his old Weavers bandmate
Pete Seeger in New York. GUITARIST MATT ROBERTS (b.1978) played with Mississippi chart rockers 3 Doors Down from 1996 to 2012, co-writing three US Top 5 singles in the early noughties. He had been suffering from prescription drug addiction.
SESSION vocalist FRED TOMLINSON (b.1926) led The Fred Tomlinson Singers. He recorded library music with his composer brother Ernest, and appeared with his ensemble on TV programmes including The Goodies, The Two Ronnies and Monty Python’s Flying Circus, on which he sang the Spam Song and the Lumberjack Song (which he co-wrote with Terry Jones and Michael Palin). The group also appeared as carol singers on the 1982 Only Fools And Horses episode Diamonds Are For Heather. Tomlinson was Chairman of the Peter Warlock Society, and recorded the occult-minded composer’s works.
BOY-BAND manager LOU PEARLMAN (b.1954) founded ’90s mega-sellers Backstreet Boys and NSYNC, plus other lesser-known acts. The majority would later sue him for misrepresentation and fraud. He was sentenced to 25 years in jail in 2008 for organising a $300 million Ponzi scheme, having been arrested while on the run in Indonesia in 2007. He died in prison in Miami. Former NSYNC member Lance Bass reflected, “He might not have been a stand-up businessman, but I wouldn’t be doing what I love today w/out his influence.”
MUSE MARIANNE
IHLEN (b.1935) began her romance with Leonard Cohen on the Aegean island of Hydra in 1960. Her inspirations for his songwriting would include So Long, Marianne, Bird On A Wire and Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye. She also appeared on the back cover of Cohen’s album, Songs From A Room.
She later returned to Norway and painting. Shortly before her death, Cohen wrote to her, saying, “Know that I am so close behind you that if you stretch out your hand, I think you can reach mine.”