Rock 'n' Roll in Orange County

by Chris Epting

  Although he only released one album during his lifetime, that didn’t stop Cochran from being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and with good reason. He was just that profound. He was killed on April 17, 1960, after the taxi in which he was a passenger crashed on the way to a London airport at the end of one of his British tours. Rocker Gene Vincent and Cochran’s fiancée, Sharon Seeley, were also injured in the crash. Interestingly, Shealy was a songwriter who had written Rick Nelson’s number-one smash hit “Poor Little Fool.” Vincent broke his leg in the crash and, as a result, had a limp for the rest of his life. Ironically, just before his death, Cochran released “Three Steps to Heaven.” He may not be as famous today as his counterparts Buddy Holly, Rick Nelson or Gene Vincent, but that’s probably only because of how young he was when he died.

  Listen to his music today, and the rock ’n’ roll rebellion played with a rockabilly verve is more than evident. Today, his legacy is probably larger in Britain than it is in the United States, which is probably because the UK is where Cochran died. That tragedy still resonates over there, and hopefully someday, the United States will embrace Cochran’s legacy as forcefully as those around the world. As Peter Townshend said, “Eddie Cochran was a primal influence on me. He had a short career, and therefore so few songs, but his acoustic guitar playing was seminal—we played Eddie Cochran. It was all rooted in the blues of course, to some extent, but Eddie is my main man and always will be.”

  BRADLEY JAMES NOWELL

  Westminster Memorial Park, Westminster

  He’d recently been married, just become a father and his band was on the verge of releasing its major-label debut. That’s when Bradley James Nowell, the founder, lead vocalist and guitarist of the band Sublime, died from a heroin overdose. His death occurred on May 25, 1996, and he was just twenty-eight years old. The death occurred at the Oceanview Motel in San Francisco, where the band had just begun a short northern California tour to be followed by a trip to Europe and then a tour along the East Coast of the United States.

  Born and raised in Long Beach, California, Nowell co-founded the band in 1988, along with drummer Bud Gaugh and bassist Eric Wilson. From the beginning, their sound incorporated many elements including ska, funk rap and pop. They also had been heavily influenced by the 1980s and ’90s rap scene in Los Angeles and New York, pulling styles from many bands, including Public Enemy, NWA and the Beastie Boys. The bass-driven groups and island-style reggae rhythms proved an immediate hit with many people who saw the band play. They played at many parties and in backyards and released an independent album called 40 Ounces to Freedom in 1992. In 1994, Robbin’ the Hood came out, and the song “Date Rape,” which was released in 1995, garnered a lot of airplay on Southern California’s radio station KROQ. Given the amount of buzz surrounding the band, it was soon signed to MCA Records, and all of a sudden, the future looked bright for Sublime. The band’s self-titled debut would become a huge mainstream success, going six times multiplatinum and influencing many bands around the world. But Nowell never got a chance to savor any of the success.

  After his untimely death, Novell was cremated, and his ashes were distributed over one of his favorite coastline areas near Surfside, California. However, a headstone was placed at Westminster Memorial in Orange County in his memory.

  Although the band broke up shortly after Nowell’s death, in 2009, it began performing again with singer and guitar player Rome Ramirez fronting the band. The collaboration became known as Sublime with Rome.

  BOBBY HATFIELD

  Pacific View Memorial Park, Corona Del Mar

  Better known as one of the Righteous Brothers, Bobbie Hatfield was born on August 10, 1940, in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. As a young child, Hatfield’s family moved to Anaheim, where he would sing in the choir and play baseball at Anaheim Union High School. Despite being a talented player considering a professional career, Hatfield decided to pursue a career in music.

  After graduating from high school, Bobby Hatfield attended California State University–Long Beach, where he would meet his future singing partner Bill Medley. The two began performing as a duo in 1962 while in a band called the Paramours. Many fans noted the duo’s similarity to African American vocal groups, and after one fan complimented them by saying, “That’s righteous, brothers,” they adopted the name that they would achieve fame with.

  After a string of early hits, such as “Little Latin Lupe Lu,” the Righteous Brothers teamed up with producer Phil Spector in 1964 for the number-one song “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’.” This song, which featured an unknown Cher on backing vocals, received more radio airplay than any other song during the twentieth century.

  The success of the Righteous Brothers continued throughout the next several years with another number-one single, “(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration.” However, as the decade came to a close and their success declined, the Righteous Brothers split up in 1968; Hatfield continued to tour under the Righteous Brothers’ name, but success was limited.

  After six years apart, the duo reunited for The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour and had several fairly successful hits over the next several years. However, it would not be until the song “Unchained Melody” was used in the 1990 film Ghost that the Righteous Brothers would be back in the limelight.

  In 2003, the Righteous Brothers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by longtime admirer Billy Joel. A television special followed several years later in 2008.

  During the early part of his career, Bobby Hatfield was briefly married to Joy Ciro, a dancer on the T.A.M.I. Show, during which time he had two children: Kalin and Bobby Jr. He married his second wife, Linda, in 1979, and fathered two more children: Vallyn and Dustin. Linda Hatfield passed away in 2010.

  On November 5, 2003, hours before the Righteous Brothers were scheduled to perform in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Bobby Hatfield died in his sleep at the Radisson Hotel. A toxicology report showed that he had overdosed on cocaine in addition to having advanced coronary disease that had already caused a significant amount of blockage.

  At the time of his death, Hatfield had lived in Newport Beach for over thirty years. His memorial service was held in Irvine, and he was buried at Pacific View Cemetery in his hometown of Newport Beach.

  SANDY WEST

  Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Cypress

  She was the drummer and co-founder of the Runaways and was born in Long Beach on July 10, 1959. It was while living in Huntington Beach that she first began playing drums at the age of nine.

  In late 1975, Sandy West was given Joan Jett’s phone number by producer Kim Fowley. After an initial meeting, Jett and West were soon assisted by Fowley in finding other girls for their band. After several lineup changes, Cherie Currie, Lita Ford and Jackie Fox completed the band’s core members.

  Although together from only 1975 to 1979, and never experiencing much mainstream success, the Runaways were an extremely influential band and helped break new ground for female rockers. Their debut self-titled album in particular was praised for its raw style and proficient playing.

  On this first album, as well as subsequent releases, West shared the writing credit on some songs with her fellow band members, although she was never responsible for the group’s most successful songs, such as “Cherry Bomb” and “Queens of Noise.”

  Following the band’s breakup, West attempted to start a new project with Lita Ford. When the new band quickly fell through, she was left to start the Sandy West Band. However, West would never go on to see the mainstream success of Ford or Jett, and her solo band only released one extended play.

  Her drug and alcohol addictions plagued her for much of her life, and apart from a one-off reunion show with Currie and Fox in 1994, she never found much success in music. She toured California for much of the 1980s and 1990s, became a drum teacher and played with the Who’s John Entwistle at various times. Sources say she often pined for a full Runaways tour, hoping to capitalize on the fame of her younger days.

&n
bsp; In 2005, after years of struggling to make ends meet, West was diagnosed with lung cancer. Despite numerous treatments, she passed away in October 2006. A memorial tribute concert was later held in Los Angeles, featuring former Runaways band mate Cherie Currie. She was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Cypress, not far from where she grew up.

  In 2010, a film adaptation of the band’s career, simply titled The Runaways, was released. Sandy West was portrayed by actress Stella Maeve, who starred alongside Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart. The film was both a commercial and critical success.

  DANIEL FLORES

  Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Cypress

  In 1929, Daniel Flores was born to Mexican field workers in Santa Paula, California. His fame would not come, however, until the late 1950s. In 1957, Challenge Records, owned by Gene Autry, signed a rockabilly singer named Dave Burgess. Not having produced a hit single, Burgess assembled a band in Hollywood on December 23, 1957.

  The band, which featured Burgess on guitar, also featured Danny Flores on saxophone. Although the band had simply been assembled by studio executives to record a B-side for Burgess’s “Train to Nowhere,” they recorded an instrumental jam that Flores had written.

  “Tequila,” as Flores’s song was known, quickly began receiving accolades. It hit number one in three weeks and went on to win a Grammy Award in 1959 (the first rock ’n’ roll song to do so). Although many people know Flores’s trademark “dirty sax” solo on the song, few realize that he is also the man who yells “Tequila!” three times throughout the track. Because of a contract with another recording studio, he was credited as “Chuck Rio” on the release.

  Following the release of the song, which was recorded in three takes, the band that Challenge Records had put together began playing together under the name the Champs. “Tequila” was recorded by countless other artists and has been featured in numerous movies and television shows. Over fifty years after its release, it remains an enduring song that is still instantly recognizable to millions.

  Flores died in 2006 in Huntington Beach after falling ill with pneumonia. Until the time of his death, he retained the worldwide rights to the song, although he signed away the rights within the United States. He was known to many as the “Godfather of Latino Rock” and continued performing well into old age. He is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Cypress.

  JIMMY SULLIVAN

  The Good Shepherd Cemetery, Huntington Beach

  Born on February 9, 1981, James Owen Sullivan (better known as “The Rev”) was the drummer and founding member of the Huntington Beach–based heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold. His father, Joe, recalled that from a young age, “he was desperately into music…in the bathtub when he was tiny he’d be banging away on things. Then, pots and pans—anything and everything.”

  His main influences when he was young ranged from Metallica to Dream Theater to Pantera, which coincided with his first serious drum kit at the age of ten. It was while attending school in Huntington Beach that he met the four other members of Avenged Sevenfold—M. Shadows, vocals; Zacky Vengeance, guitar; Synyster Gates, guitar; and Johnny Christ, bass.

  The band’s first release, Sounding the Seventh Trumpet, failed to attract much attention, but its sophomore album, Waking the Fallen, was both critically and commercially a success. The band was skyrocketed into stardom, however, with its 2005 LP City of Evil.

  Their popularity only grew from there, with 2007’s Avenged Sevenfold being named Kerrang! magazine’s best album of the year. The band performed with such legends as Metallica, sold out world tours and quickly became one of the most prominent heavy metal bands in the world.

  While working on the band’s fifth full-length, Jimmy Sullivan was found dead in his Huntington Beach home on December 28, 2009. An autopsy performed two days later was inconclusive, but toxicology results revealed to the public in June that he died from an overdose of Oxycodone, Valium, alcohol and other substances. An enlarged heart was also found to have contributed to his death.

  The band’s fifth album, Nightmare, featured Mike Portnoy (one of Jimmy’s idols) of Dream Theater on drums. The lyrical content of the album revolved around his passing and featured Sullivan’s vocals on the song “Fiction,” recorded just days before his death. Embracing Jimmy’s legacy, the band has continued to grow, with both Nightmare and its follow up, Hail to the King, reaching the top of the Billboard charts.

  Fans can still hear Jimmy’s drumming on Avenged Sevenfold’s first four albums, and his background vocals are prominently heard on such songs as “A Little Piece of Heaven,” “Afterlife” and “Critical Acclaim.” He is buried not far from his childhood home.

  KAREN CARPENTER

  Forest Lawn Memorial Cemetery, Cypress

  Karen Carpenter was born in New Haven, Connecticut, but in the early 1960s, she moved with her family to Downey, California. In 1966, she and her brother, Richard, won a battle of the bands at the Hollywood Bowl, which landed them a recording contract. Nothing ever came of that, however, and it wasn’t until 1969 that the Carpenters, after shopping a demo with several of their songs on it, got a contract from A&M Records.

  Karen and Richard Carpenter would go on to become one of the most successful groups of the early 1970s, with Karen on the drums and singing lead vocals and Richard on the piano and providing backup vocals. Songs like “Close to You, “We’ve Only Just Begun” and “Rainy Days and Mondays” remain pop staples to this day. After winning three Grammy Awards, they eventually had their own television variety show.

  Tragically, Karen developed depression and an eating disorder, and in February 1983, while at her parents’ house in Downey sorting through some old clothes, she collapsed from cardiac arrest. Doctors soon determined that her longtime battle with anorexia had weakened her heart to the point that it could not go on. She was just thirty-two years old.

  Originally, Carpenter was interred in Orange County at Forest Lawn Cypress Cemetery in Cyprus. However, in 2003, her remains were moved to a new location in the Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks Memorial Park. However, at the Sea Breeze Pet Cemetery in Huntington Beach, Richard and Karen Carpenter’s German shepherds are laid to rest.

  PAMELA COURSON

  Fairhaven Memorial Park, Santa Ana

  Born December 22, 1946, in Weed, California, Pamela Courson would go on to be best known as the longtime companion of Jim Morrison. As a child, she was shy and reclusive, and by junior high school, she was often truant. In high school, her family moved to Orange County, where she attended Orange Union High. She then left for Los Angeles and rented an apartment with her friend.

  There exist multiple accounts of how Pamela Courson and Jim Morrison met in 1965. The most commonly accepted source states that it was at a Sunset Strip nightclub called the London Fog, while Courson was an art student at Los Angeles City College. Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek recalled that Courson did indeed see the band at the London Fog, but it was Arthur Lee of Love who was interested in her first. It was Lee who would make Elektra Records aware of the Doors.

  By all accounts, the relationship between Courson and Morrison was tumultuous. Fights and arguments between the two were numerous, and both had affairs outside their relationship.

  However, their relationship would be cut short on July 3, 1971, when Courson found Morrison dead in the bathtub of their Parisian apartment. While the coroner listed his cause of death as heart failure, no formal autopsy was conducted, and there still exist many questions about the circumstances surrounding his death.

  There also existed many questions regarding the state of Courson and Morrison’s relationship. While Morrison’s will said that he was unmarried, he named Courson as his heir and left his entire fortune to her. Legal battles would persist for years regarding his estate.

  After Morrison’s death, Courson broke off contact with the three remaining members of the Doors and returned to Los Angeles. She became a heroin-addled recluse, and some say that she even resorted to prostitution to fund
her drug addiction.

  It was on April 25, 1974, not even three years after Morrison’s death, that Courson succumbed to her addiction. She died in her Los Angeles apartment of a heroin overdose, but before her death, she had spoken to neighbors about seeing Jim again soon, suggesting that she knew the end was near.

  Initially it was Courson’s wish to be buried with Jim in Paris, but due to legal complications, she was interred at Fairhaven Memorial Park in Santa Ana, not far from where she attended high school. Her grave reads “Pamela Susan Morrison,” even though her name was never legally changed.

  Courson’s parents inherited the Morrison estate, although this led to a legal battle with Jim Morrison’s parents for several years. Courson’s family argued to the State of California that Courson and Morrison were legally married under Colorado’s common-law marriage statute (Colorado was one of eleven states at the time that still had such a law). The court sided with Courson’s parents, and they retained the rights to most of Morrison’s estate.

  LEO FENDER

  Fairhaven Memorial Park, Santa Ana

  Leo Fender was born near Anaheim in Orange County on August 10, 1909. An electronics enthusiast and radio repairman, he got involved with guitars after customers kept bringing him their external pickups that needed repairs. Before Fender got into the business, guitar players would amplify their instruments simply by attaching pickups to the surface of their hollow bodied guitars. What Fender figured out how to do was design and market an instrument that became the first successful solid-body guitar.