Welcome back to the Randomizer!
To my slight embarrassment, I was preparing an article all
nice and lovely. Unfortunately, I clicked the save button on too many documents
as my laptop is starting to become as slow as possible, and I lost it. So I
apologise for such a silly act to do without backing up my files more adequately.
I will attempt to complete this article in a month's time after this one and my
next article in a fortnight's time.
Now back to business. I haven't done music yet. I apologise
again for choosing something a little depressing. Who has heard of the 27 club?
The club is exclusive to those musicians who have died at
the young age of twenty-seven. So it's like a club in heaven with a very
difficult guest-list. On that guest list are such musicians as:
1. My lord Jimi Hendrix (I call him that because he
is a guitaring god)
2. Amy Winehouse
3.Kurt Cobain
4.Janis Joplin
5.Brian Jones (part of the original line-up for
Rolling Stones)
6.Jim Morrison of the Doors
And finally, the man who met the devil at the crossroads,
Robert Johnson
So in this article I will talk about how the 27 club was
formed and a little bit about some of these lesser known musicians. And hope
the 27 club doesn't creep up on me anytime soon.
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Origins:
The 27 club was first popularised after Kurt Cobain's
suicide in 1994, as people made age connections with fellow musicians who had
also died at the same age. Though I think its pure coincidence in ways, there
have been a number of theories discussing whether there is an actual curse.
According to some people, the curse began with Robert Johnson,
a legendary blues musician and his meeting with the Devil at the legendary
Crossroads and selling his soul for the price of being freaking awesome on a
guitar. I'm guessing the word 'practice' wasn't invented yet. Maybe many people
sold their soul to the lord of darkness. George W. Bush for one probs. Back to
Johnson, his talent apparently bolted out of nowhere and he recorded 29 songs
until his death in 1938 due to possible strychnine poisoning by the husband of
a wife Johnson was flirting with. He apparently had been told by a friend not
to drink from a whiskey bottle that he had not personally seen opened.
Should've listened to him. There is substantial debate as to where his body
actually lays.
The problem with that theory is that it was probably
augmented into the 27 club superstition and really just its one mythical story
in its own right, with Robert Johnson more remembered as a mythical man rather than
the famous blues character, becoming well-known in the early 60s and
influencing rock god Eric Clapton.
(Side note: You know what's tempting? There should like a Hierarchy
of Rock Gods. Like the Greek Gods and such. They'd all be living in a huge
mansion flat with a shitload of drink and drugs, strumming guitars and sex on
the side, you know? Best paradise ever!)
According to Wikipedia, the first member of the 27 club was
a Brazilian pianist called Alexandre Levy who died in the late 19th
century. But obviously the 27 club wasn't foresight, unless Levy decided on his
deathbed to create a club in heaven with said exclusive guest-list, just so he
wouldn't be lonely. Also for some reason the list on Wiki includes actor Jonathan
Brandis, where all the others are musicians. Why he's there is anyone's guess.
And also, if anyone actually knows who he is, I will be impressed!
I'd say the origins for the 27 club shouldn't be taken
seriously. The only recurring patterns is that some of the deaths involved
drink and drugs, but they have been synonymous with blues, rock and metal music
for a long time with differing effects for all concerned.
Here then is a list of the more famous members of the 27
club.
--------------------------------
Jimi Hendrix:
My lord Hendrix was obviously a master of the guitar and a
master of taking drugs. But it has been reported in the Seattle PI news that he
was also interested in astrology. He apparently predicted his own death at 27,
saying to an interviewer: "I'm not sure I'll live to 28 years old".
Whether he said that is true or not is debatable.
But there has been a recorded story in the same news that in
his last year, he and a close friend went to Africa and partook in a tarot card
reading, and the 'Death' card was drawn. From that point, Hendrix upped the
ante and started mixing pills and drinks, which led to his death from choking
on his own vomit.
Now I'm not sure whether to believe this, especially after
reading about his supposed mixing of drugs and drink already, and turning into
a bastard and smashing up hotel rooms that makes my room look pristine I
gather. Though to be fair, there are no smashed windows thanks to not throwing
the TV out of the room. Not the best idea, because then it'd be cold. But I
digress. Going back to the Tarot card, it made Hendrix very shivery for a time
and probably influenced a decision to push himself to the limit. But I'm not
entirely convinced by that story because it's the first time I've heard of it
and it's not exactly mentioned on his Wikipedia page before. So I will remain sceptical
of this unless more proof emerges. What won't remain sceptical is his
awesomeness of guitaring.
Amy Winehouse:
Famously refusing to go into rehab saying nooo, nooo, nooo;
Miss Winehouse's death came unexpectedly out of the blue in July 2011. It was
shocking of course, but not surprising considering her topsy-turvy lifestyle
with Blake-Fielder Civil, substance abuse and depression. According to Dean Piper
of the Mirror he says that; "In the end, it was Amy who predicted her own
death. In 2007, she told her mother: "I don't think I'm going to live very
long". Tragically, she was right". That's a gap of 3/4years from
prediction to actually dying.
According to her parents, it was the death of her
grandmother that set her down the road. But this is from Wikipedia so it's not
the best source of information. Still, she began gaining a reputation of drug
and drinking antics. I had seen a video of one of her concerts where apparently
she's taking a line of cocaine on stage using her hands. But it's really hard
to tell from the footage, I wonder how she would've hidden it in her dress as
well.
However, it was her addiction to alcohol that very, very
slowly grinded her down. I remember watching her being slightly intoxicated on Never Mind the Buzzcocks when Simon
Amstell was presenting and she being quite all over the place. Though it was
kinda funny, it did obviously show a woman in dire peril. Eventually she died
of alcohol poisoning, and I might be right in saying that she will be remembered
for everything.
Kurt Cobain:
Cobain's death in April 1994 sent shockwaves throughout the
music world. His band Nirvana had only exploded on the mainstream with their
second album 'Nevermind' three years beforehand and the initial success of
their signature song 'Smells like Teen Spirit' (I say signature song because
it's possible to be their best known song throughout the world). It has been claimed
that he had stomach pains since childhood which was never fully diagnosed and
he used heroin to alleviate the suffering.
It would make some sense as to how he became addicted in the
first place. In an interview he stated that "It started with three days in
a row of doing heroin and I don't have a stomach pain. That was such a relief'.
However it has also been knocking around that he regretted doing the drug, as
apparently an unwritten letter to fans while in rehab and suggesting that it
doesn't work.
Unfortunately, everything took their toll on the man and
when in rehab, he climbed over a fence to escape, hitched a plane to Seattle
and went to his Lake Washington home where he was found in his chair by an electrician.
What's interesting to note is his mother, Wendy O'Conner, being quoted as
saying "Now he's gone and joined that stupid club. I told him not to join
that stupid club". So this was the starting point of how the 27 club came
about, apparently referring to Hendrix, Joplin and Morrison since they had died
at the same age. And at the same time, that club had claimed another musician.
Janis Joplin:
If the death of Jimi Hendrix was devastating, it was made
worst 14 days later with the announcement that Janis Joplin herself had passed
away. Like Hendrix, Joplin rose to prominence in the middle of the 1960s when
she joined the band Big Brother and The Holding Company, husky voice and all.
But their actual big break came at the Monterey Pop Festival, which included a
rendition of the song 'Ball and Chain'. After leaving the band, she went on to
form a backing band called the Kozmic Blues Band and went on to play at
Woodstock and promoted as a headliner, though she didn't know it at the time. That
must've been awkward, to not know you're going to be headlining for a festival
you didn't know about.
When she moved to San Francisco in 1963, her drug intake
increased as she started to become a 'speed freak' and a heroin user. Also she
became a heavy drinker with Southern Comfort being her choice of tipple. I prefer
the Jack Daniels myself. However this image did clash with a reassessment from
her sister implored that in her private life, Joplin was intelligent and a shy
woman devoted to her family. Added with the fact that she was shunned at
school, she reportedly regretted going to her high school reunion in 1970.
In October of that same year, Joplin died from an overdose
of drugs and alcohol at the Landmark Motor motel room, I think a few days after
recording her well-known song, Mercedes Benz and a birthday greeting for John
Lennon. Her posthumous album, Pearl was released three months later. Unlike the
other three musicians I've talked about, there doesn't seem to be any talk of
her death being predicated in anyway, but according to the New York Times
reporting she has been quoted as saying, "Maybe I won't last as long as
other singers, but I think you can destroy your now worrying about
tomorrow". So on the contrary; I think she was saying to live life
everyday instead of worrying what will happen the next until the day you die. It's a really good quote!
Brian Jones:
A founding member of the Rolling Stones, Brian Jones was an accomplished
multi-instrumentalist, even using traditional and folk instruments in the music
of the band at first. But very slowly, he became phrased out thanks to a
combination of new management and the increasing use of the song- writing
combination of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. It wasn't the direction that
Jones had wanted, since he wasn't a song-writer himself and hoped to some
extent that the band would remain a blues cover band.
It's also possible that Jones slipped further into a
different world after losing the love of his life, Anita Pallenburg to Keith
Richards. His father claims it was the starting point where he became indulged
with drugs and drink. He was arrested at one point when caught with procession
of cocaine, marijuana and meth in his flat. Soon he became further estranged
from his band members and on 8 June 1969 he was let go in a meeting with the
other band members and replaced by Mick Taylor.
Only a month later, Jones was found drowned in his swimming
which was confirmed as a 'death by misadventure' after a cocktail of drink of
drugs. Although oddly, there have been claims by fan-sites that Jones was
actually murdered by a builder while he was splashing about. But I don't think it's true because apparently
a deathbed confession was made by the builder, yet it was never published. The
Rolling Stones had dedicated a concert to Brian a few days afterward, which was
considered to be their worst at the time. Jones's death came at a time when the
band was trying to move on, only to have their former member come back to bite
back from the grave.
Jim Morrison:
Lead singer for the Doors and known as the Lizard King (why?), Jim Morrison was involved with a number of rock star antics, such as
literally taking on the police and getting arrested for his trouble in
different situations such as making out with a girl in the bathroom shower, and
a drunken incident in a Miami converted airplane hangar. Yet the albums sold by
the bucket load, and the band have become a big influence in the decades since.
However, like Amy Winehouse over 40 years later, Morrison
was involved heavily with alcohol after The Doors became famous and also
developed a heroin addiction and also had a thunderous relationship with his
long-time girlfriend Pamela Courson, which involved lots of arguments and apparent
womanizing on his part. He even got involved in a clash with Janis Joplin.
That must have made the club pretty awkward to be in.
In 1971, Morrison flew out to Paris to be with Courson. On
July 3rd, he was discovered dead in his bathtub, under mysterious
circumstances. Sam Bennett claims he died in Bennett's nightclub toilet of a
heroin overdose and was taken by two drug dealers back to his home and placed
in the bathtub. Courson claims instead that the two of them had went to see a
movie and that after they went to bed, Morrison complained of chest pains and
went to run a bath. It was there she discovered him. What I find odd was that
no autopsy was ever carried out on Morrison. But the details of his death
remain sketchy and will probably be so for a longer time. He remains buried in
Paris, one of the most prolific rock stars to grace the world. Though I'm sure
Janis Joplin will say otherwise.
Robert Johnson:
The last person I will cover is almost as shadowy as his Wikipedia
page and is of course, the man who allegedly met the devil at the crossroads.
Robert Johnson was born on May 8th 1911 in Hazlehurst, Mississippi.
In his short life as I already mentioned, he wrote up 29 songs that included
now considered classics such as, "Crossroads", "Sweet Home
Chicago" and "Love in Vain".
Now is it possible to separate fact from the fantasy of his
life? Probably, but it take a hell of a lot more than just a few paragraphs and
a fuckload of research. According to Wikipedia, he was married at the age of 18
to Virginia Travis, who died from childbirth a short time later. Throwing
himself into music, apparently he was horribly bad at the guitar, as blues
musician Son House says. When Johnson left Robinsonville to Martinsville, it
was here that he managed to create his technique and here arose the 'pact with
the devil' legend.
Johnson travelled
through various places in the south of America and would play on street corners,
African-American juke joints (basically a pub for black people), and Saturday night
dances. He had a chance to record some of his own songs in 1936, continuing to
do so well up to his death at 27 in 1938. How he died obviously remains
unconfirmed, since there are many theories from different people. There's the strychnine
poison story which I've mentioned above, but there is a theory that his mother
came around and he passed her his guitar, claiming it to be" the devil's
instrument". As she hung it on the wall, he passed away.
It is also noted that his burial place is difficult to
locate too. One place could be in the Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist church. Another
could be the Payne Chapel near Quito after one of his ex-girlfriends suggest he
could be there. A third place researched by Stephen LaVere apparently shows him
to be buried under a pecan tree in the Little Zion cemetary, north of
Greenwood along the Money Road. But whatever his resting place, it's very much
as mythical as the man himself.
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The 27 club is a perplexing one at best. There are so many
mysterious to be solved with all sorts of members, like a Manic Street
Preachers member who had disappeared off the face of the earth and only
declared dead 13 years later. Magicians are rubbish sometimes.
If there was a curse, wouldn't all the members suffer the
same or a similar fate? Robert Johnson, as far as we know, wasn't an alcoholic
or drug addict, than died possibly due to flirting with another man's wife. Yet
all the others I mentioned on the list had used those substances to cope with
all sorts of problems in their life. The only real proof is they all died at
the same age, so really I still think it's a coincidence that they all died at
the same age, whatever condition they were in. Another point is some of them
had predicted their own deaths, though again that was because of the
circumstances they were in.
So finally, I believe it's all pure coincidence that the
club came into existed. It's obviously very sad that they died at a very young
age, but I don't fully think there is an actual curse. Maybe people were more
clever in the 1960s if they didn't bother making a connection because drugs and
drinking were all the rage back then. They would've thought the same thing,
that there was nothing going on with pacts. Just that they were all the same
age.
It might say something about their coping strategies, how
drink and drugs can take you away into a world away from reality. They become
escapism and allow to take the pressure away where you can be free in your own
mind, but sometimes at a cost of alienation and bringing more attention to
yourself, and eventually could lead to death.
But have they become more famous because of their short
lives or their music? Granted I like Jimi Hendrix's music because I love his
guitar playing. I'm sure doubtless if he were alive today, he'd still be
playing to millions of people. Though would the music have changed? It's a
difficult question to answer. But it might have been possible. Take Eric
Clapton for example. He started off as a rock musician, and now plays more
blues in his later life. Music styles can change throughout the years, but for
those the 27 club, it will not. We have their music to cherish forever.
Maybe then, that's what the 27 club is: Half unlucky
escapism, half remembrance for the music you achieved in your lifetime. It's
something that will inevitably continue but we will remember them regardless of
club or no club.
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That's it for this week's article. Next fortnight will focus on
GAME OF THRONES. Til 2 weeks mofos!
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