When legends of rock and roll pass into greener pastures, it’s hard for fans to take. We have to remember them from the music they left behind because they won’t be releasing anything else. This time it hits twice as hard as we have lost not one but two of the greats. It’s a sad report to announce that Kim Simmonds of Savoy Brown and Dino Danelli of The Young Rascals have passed away within only days of each other.
Kim Simmonds was a legend in blues from the U.K. who gained his fame in the U.S. when his band, Savoy Brown, arrived at the tail end of the ’60s British Invasion. He kept it that way, rocking with the likes of Rod Stewart and The Faces.
Simmonds had always been a proud custodian of the Savoy Brown name through their myriad personnel changes, which saw some 60 musicians pass through their ranks. He was born in Newbridge, Caerphilly, in Wales, on December 5, 1947 and became an early aficionado and champion of the blues, forming the Savoy Brown Blues Band in the autumn of 1965.
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, Dino Danelli was one of the founding members of The Young Rascals. Born in 1944, he came out of New Jersey to polish his talents by playing around in New York, New Orleans, and Las Vegas before joining forces with Felix Cavaliere, Eddie Brigati, and Gene Cornish.
He was with the Rascals for seven years (1965–1972) and performed on three No.1 hits. His percussion virtuosity was a key to the band’s many hits of the late 1960s, including the chart-topping “Good Lovin’,” “Groovin’” and “People Got to Be Free.”
RIP, Legends.
