Born Alan Caldwell in Liverpool in 1942, he took the name Rory Storm when he formed his own rock band, Rory Storm & the Hurricanes. Rory stuttered badly but was totally fluent when singing, as is the case for many people. All accounts of Rory describe his speech problem as being severe.
Rory Storm & the Hurricanes was the most popular band in
Liverpool and " at one point " even had more fans than their friends The Beatles. Rory's blonde hair and blue eyed good looks made him quite popular
with young women in Liverpool.
Ironically, Rory Storm & the Hurricanes played in the
same club in Hamburg with the Beatles for a year. Ringo Starr had to fill in
many times for original Beatle drummer Pete Best and it always went well. When
the Beatles canned Best just prior to recording their first record in 1962,
Ringo was the unanimous choice to replace the popular Best.
Rory was sorry to lose Ringo but wished him well. Unfortunately
for Rory, he and the Hurricanes would never see any glory days. With
Beatlemania in England, other groups out of Liverpool, such as Gerry & the
Pacemakers, achieved some success. However, Rory and his band fell on hard
times and were constantly passed over for a recording contract
Rory had to deal almost on a daily basis with the Beatles'
success because his sister Iris was Paul McCartney's girlfriend for awhile,
both before and after the Beatles" success. She was Paul's last Liverpool
girlfriend, and even after their break-up, Paul kept in touch regularly with
Rory's mother, Violet Caldwell. In fact, when Paul wrote Yesterday, the first
person he called was Violet Caldwell to sing it to her over the phone.
It was difficult for a talented person like Rory to be passed over during the Liverpool craze in rock history. He found it most difficult to adjust to a life in which he had to speak rather than sing.
Another hardship would come later. While known on the club scene throughout England, his trademark moves on stage coupled with his blonde hair and good looks were legendary. It is widely believed that an upstart singer Rod Stewart, who saw Rory perform many times in the early days, "stole" the singer's trademark persona and found success of his own with well-choreographed moves on stage and flaunting his blonde hair.
Rory successfully treated his speech problem and became a
fluent disc jockey for several years. However, tragedy would follow. In 1972,
shortly after the death of his father and down on his luck, Rory took an
overdose of pills and whiskey to end his life. His distraught mother died hours
later of a heart attack. The post mortem revealed that Storm had alcohol and
sleeping pills in his blood (as had his mother) but not enough to cause his
death, which was ruled accidental. Although it could not be proven, it is
thought that his mother had committed suicide after finding Storm's body (Info
mainly from stutteringhelp.com)
Rory had to deal almost on a daily basis with the Beatles'
success because his sister Iris was Paul McCartney's girlfriend for awhile,
both before and after the Beatles" success. She was Paul's last Liverpool
girlfriend, and even after their break-up, Paul kept in touch regularly with
Rory's mother, Violet Caldwell. In fact, when Paul wrote Yesterday, the first
person he called was Violet Caldwell to sing it to her over the phone.It was difficult for a talented person like Rory to be passed over during the Liverpool craze in rock history. He found it most difficult to adjust to a life in which he had to speak rather than sing.
Another hardship would come later. While known on the club scene throughout England, his trademark moves on stage coupled with his blonde hair and good looks were legendary. It is widely believed that an upstart singer Rod Stewart, who saw Rory perform many times in the early days, "stole" the singer's trademark persona and found success of his own with well-choreographed moves on stage and flaunting his blonde hair.
No comments:
Post a Comment