FULLER UP HOME GRIM REAPER PAGE CAUSES OF DEATH SEARCH BY NAME GET IN TOUCH SHAMEFUL DISCLAIMER    Fuller Up The Dead Musician Directory    Don Harris  Don "Sugarcane" Harris November 30, 1999 Age 61   Pulmonary Disease    OBITUARY  BIOGRAPHY   LINKS  DISCOGRAPHY

OBITUARY 

Don 'Sugarcane' Harris; Pioneering Rock Violinist                                              By RICHARD CROMELIN, LA Times Staff Writer                                                     Don "Sugarcane" Harris, a pioneering rock violinist who played                                              with artists ranging from Little Richard to Frank Zappa to John                                              Mayall, died last week. He was 61.                                                                Harris' body was discovered Tuesday night in the room he                                              rented in South-Central Los Angeles. His longtime musical partner                                              Dewey Terry said he died of natural causes after a long struggle                                              with pulmonary disease.                                                                The Pasadena native's career began with doo-wop and rhythm                                              and blues groups and went on to encompass early rock 'n' roll, jazz                                              and underground rock.                                                              "He really put rock 'n' roll violin on the map, and I think he's still                                              probably the best rock 'n' roll violinist there's ever been, Papa John                                              Creach notwithstanding," musicologist Barry Hansen, a.k.a. radio                                              personality Dr. Demento, said Thursday.                                                                      Harris, who was given his nickname by bandleader Johnny Otis,                                              started out in the doo-wop group the Squires, which included his                                              childhood friend Terry. The two began playing rock 'n' roll in 1956                                              as Don & Dewey. Signed to the Los Angeles label Specialty                                              Records, home of Little Richard and Lloyd Price, they wrote and                                              recorded a series of singles that included "Justine," "Farmer John,"                                              "Big Boy Pete" and "I'm Leaving It All Up to You."                                                                         None were nationally successful, but versions of the songs                                              recorded later by the Olympics, the Premiers, Dale & Grace and                                              the Righteous Brothers became hits. In addition, Harris and Terry                                              played in Little Richard's backing band on tour in Europe, along                                              with a young guitarist named Jimi Hendrix.                                                                      The Beatles-led British invasion dried things up for groups such                                              as Don & Dewey, who went their separate ways in the mid-1960s.                                              Later in the decade, Harris found an unlikely niche, contributing to                                              four albums by rock renegade Zappa and then joining English                                              rock-blues founding father Mayall. He also recorded his own                                              albums of jazz-influenced improvisation, and in the early 1970s with                                              another Mayall sideman, guitarist Harvey Mandel, in the blues-rock                                              group Pure Food and Drug Act.                                                                  "As a violin player, he really was in a category all of his own,"                                              Mayall said this week. "He played with an aggressive, electronic                                              [style], the same sort of vitality that an electric guitar would have."                                                              Harris also contended with a drug habit for much of his career.                                                              "He had a wonderful sense of humor, a very gentle sort of                                              person," said Mayall, who had sought Harris out after being                                              impressed by his playing on the Don & Dewey single "Stretchin'                                              Out."                                                                                  "The only thing that stood in his way was his unreliability with the                                              drug thing, which was sort of his downfall," Mayall added.                                              "Occasionally he would disappear. You just had to take that as it                                              came. . . . He never had a phone number. You usually had to leave                                              a message for Dewey's mother or something like that and somehow                                              the word would get back and he'd call in."                                                                       Harris and Terry got back together in 1975 and played together                                              until a year ago, when Harris' health declined. Terry had made new                                              recordings of the duo in recent years in his home studio, but none                                              have been released.                                                                    Harris, who is divorced, is survived by a daughter and two sons.                                              Services are scheduled for Saturday at 3 p.m. at Rose Hills                                              Memorial Park in Whittier.                   NY TIMES          Don Harris, 61, a Versatile Master of Rhythm and Blues           By JON PARELES                Don (Sugarcane) Harris, a violinist, singer and songwriter who                played blues, jazz and rock, was found dead on Dec. 1 in his Los           Angeles apartment by his landlord, Agence France-Presse reported. He           was 61.            His longtime collaborator, Dewey Terry, said Harris had suffered from           pulmonary disease for the last few years.            As Don and Dewey, Harris and Terry made a string of brash           rhythm-and-blues singles for Specialty Records, featuring Harris on guitar           or electric violin. Harris went on to join Frank Zappa's group in 1970           and was featured on the albums "Hot Rats" and "Weasels Ripped My           Flesh."            Harris was born in Pasadena, Calif., and studied classical violin. He also           learned guitar, harmonica and piano.            His first group, the Squires, recorded for Vita Records. But he made           more memorable recordings with Terry as Don and Dewey,           rambunctious rhythm-and-blues songs with titles like "Jungle Hop" and           "Koko Joe."            They toured the West Coast with the Johnny Otis Revue in the late           1950's, and Otis nicknamed Harris "Sugarcane," reportedly for his           reputation as a ladies' man. Other performers picked up Don and           Dewey's songs, including "Justine" (the Righteous Brothers), "Big Boy           Pete" (the Olympics), "I'm Leavin' It Up to You" (Dale and Grace) and           "Farmer John" (the Premiers and, later, Neil Young).            The duo dissolved in the early 60's, and Harris toured with Little Richard.           He joined Zappa in 1970 and then toured and recorded with the English           blues bandleader John Mayall. In recent years he reunited with Terry,           performing as Don and Dewey in the United States and Europe.

 

 

BIOGRAPHY

All-Music Guide  Born: June 18, 1938 in Pasadena, CA Died: December 1st, 1999 in Los Angeles, CA    Beginning his career as the guitar playing half of the 1950s rock duo, Don & Dewey, Don "Sugarcane" Harris, put down the guitar and picked up the violin after the lack of success for Don and Dewey (oddly enough the group's songs became hits for other artists such as the Righteous Brothers and the Premiers). Classically trained as a violinist, Harris' skill at improvisation began attracting attention from the rock world and soon he was appearing on records by John Lee Hooker, Frank Zappa and Johnny Otis. In 1970 Harris joined forces with British Blues musician John Mayall when the latter was forming his first all American backing band. In addition to joining the backing bands of Mayall, Zappa and others, Harris has also recorded a series of albums for labels such as Epic and Polydor. -- Steve Kurutz, All-Music Guide

 

 LINKS

Resmo official DSH site                  "What ever happened to"...wins.uva.nl/~robbert  "What ever happened to"...splat