Today's Blind Items - Soul Of Death
In the late 1950's there were a string of serial killings in a large Midwestern city. They never were "solved." At the time, the police had no suspects and the victims were all prostitutes. They were mostly high school aged. The victims had one other thing in common. They all had been runaways so had no family locally. At the time, there was no suspect for the police to chase and with relatives of the murdered distant in miles or uncaring, they were moved to a cold case file. About a decade later, there were two other prostitutes killed in similar fashion as to the victims in the late 1950's.
This time the police had a suspect. The problem was for them, the suspect was an A list singer. A singer who had powerful friends behind him who were all making a lot of money because of the singing. A huge sum of money was paid to certain police officers and city officials. The singer was never charged, let alone questioned by police.
When that happened, the singer stopped his killing for a number of years. Later in his life, the pattern emerged again. Always desperate for drugs, he would pay for prostitutes and then send them out for drugs. When they came back with the drugs, he would beat them. A few times, under the influence of drugs, he would take it too far and they ended up dead. Again, nothing was done. A couple of the women who survived the beatings and heard rumors that others were killed, tried to say something and report the now icon to the police but, instead, would be arrested on drug charges and told to let it go or they would face long jail sentences.
This time the police had a suspect. The problem was for them, the suspect was an A list singer. A singer who had powerful friends behind him who were all making a lot of money because of the singing. A huge sum of money was paid to certain police officers and city officials. The singer was never charged, let alone questioned by police.
When that happened, the singer stopped his killing for a number of years. Later in his life, the pattern emerged again. Always desperate for drugs, he would pay for prostitutes and then send them out for drugs. When they came back with the drugs, he would beat them. A few times, under the influence of drugs, he would take it too far and they ended up dead. Again, nothing was done. A couple of the women who survived the beatings and heard rumors that others were killed, tried to say something and report the now icon to the police but, instead, would be arrested on drug charges and told to let it go or they would face long jail sentences.
Jerry Lee Lewis
ReplyDeleteElvis Presley
ReplyDeleteI'll throw in Chuck Berry.
ReplyDeleteSinatra?
ReplyDeleteJerry "The Killer" Lee Lewis?
ReplyDeleteI was thinking someone associated with Motown, but Chuck Berry in STL is good guess.
ReplyDeleteDon't let is be Elvis!But he met Priscilla when she was a teenager, just like all the victims.So it makes sense...
ReplyDelete+1 DonnaMarie. He’s had a lot of probs with drugs and a known a-hole, womanizer.
ReplyDeleteJames Brown or Ike Turner. Toime periods and drug usage both match up.
ReplyDeleteMakes me think of Monster Icon.
ReplyDeleteThe idea that the police would cover for an african american artist in the 50's is funny. JLL, elvis or sinatra.
ReplyDeleteRight...especially if the victims were white.
DeleteExactly. I was going Chuck B from St.L but thought no way because of his race. But maybe $ trumps race even back then. Elvis is A+ so I'm thinking next is Detroit and Motown.
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ReplyDeleteThis screams Jerry Lee Lewis to me. And to echo what @longtimereader said, there's no way any African American artist would get a coverup from the cops in the midwest or south in the 1950s.
ReplyDelete@BoldBlonde-read Enty's reveals about Elvis & teen girls.
ReplyDeleteMy first thought was Sinatra for this. Enty has revealed he was Michelle Pfeiffer's pimp even after she was a star & she got married to her 1st hubs so he wouldn't make her "work" anymore.
I thought Robert Evans as the guy that got Michelle Pfeiffer transitioned from call girl to movies.
DeleteVictoria Principal as the girlfriend he pimped out to friends
JLL for the win. His nickname was "The Killer" for Pete's sake!
ReplyDeleteJLL and Elvis are from the South, and Sinatra from New Jersey, so it makes no sense that they could be serial killers in a large Midwestern city in the late '50's, especially since they all had active careers nationally at that point and would never have been in a single city where they didn't live for an extended period of time.
ReplyDeleteDetroit makes sense, and the timeline points to someone who because big in the 60's, and later an icon. Someone with a drug problem.
I'd guess Marvin Gaye.
I think Sinatra would have been described as at least A+
ReplyDeleteBut Jerry Lee Lewis was always based in Nashville, and the Southwest. This is a series of killings that occurred in a "Midwestern city". No way Nashville is considered "Midwest". So if you think it's JLL, are you saying he traveled to this specific same city repeatedly to do drugs and hook up with prostitutes - and that he only did it in that city?
ReplyDeleteI think whoever the artist is has to be based in/around that city to be able to have connections with cops and politicians - or know someone who does.
Also, the BI is titled "Soul of Death", which suggested that the singer was in the soul/R&B field.
ReplyDelete@Joe True! I think the big clue here is the title of the blind. James Brown is considered the Godfather of soul. Maybe him. Either way I agree with you that this is an R&B singer
DeleteJerry Lee Lewis had two wives that died mysteriously. He also had strange deaths in his family.
ReplyDeleteJerry Lee Lewis married his 13 year old cousin..? Well, in that case must be him.
ReplyDeleteElvis was in the Army in the late 50s
ReplyDeleteHow about James Brown? Definitely into drugs, and jailed for domestic abuse.
ReplyDeleteBig Joe Turner from Kansas City,MO or someone steeped in the Blues...(hence “Soul”
ReplyDelete+1 for Marvin Gaye Joe. I think it has to be Detroit as well, and it doesn't say the singer is alive. He's quoted as saying he "needs" prostitutes as they "protect him from passion. Passions are dangerous. They cause you to lust after other men's wives."
ReplyDeleteBrown also has long been said to be responsible for the beatings that may have caused the death of legendary singer Tammi Terrell, whom he dated for three years in the 60s. And he has a lifelong history of allegations of violence against women.
ReplyDeleteI think you mean Gaye. Never heard about her and JB
Delete@thursdaynovember Yes! I know he liked them. Reason why I said don't let it be Elvis! :(
ReplyDeleteIt is entirely possible that the cops would have covered up for a well known African singer back then. The blind points out that the people who stood to make money off him, i.e. the manager, the label owner, etc, are the ones who pulled strings and paid people off. So those are the people the cops were kowtowing to.
ReplyDeleteThat said, rock and roll singers toured a lot then. So whether they were based in one area of the country isn't necessarily relevant.
@Boldblonde —
ReplyDeleteElvis may have met Priscilla when she was a teen, but JLL married his 13-yo cousin and it scandalized the nation. If we're just going by that, he'd be
a more likely candidate.
But neither one, as others have pointed out, was rooted in the MidWest.
I'm reading that Chuck Berry "was a bankrobber, statuatory rapist, child abuser and installed cameras in a women's restroom at his restaurant"
ReplyDeleteCreep af, but no idea if he could murder someone.
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ReplyDeleteJLL had an album called Soul My Way
ReplyDelete@longtimereader - THe BI says the cops covered for him in he late 1960s, not 50s. Huge difference.
ReplyDeleteBlack artist were still despised in the 60s. JLL is a mean old man who married Myra and that last wife Kerry when they were teens. Good ok southern boy
DeleteMarvin Gaye didn't become a known singer until the 50s.
ReplyDeleteLeaning towards JLL!
ReplyDelete@Sd Auntie - It doesn't say they were white at all ;)
ReplyDeleteSd Auntie - are you referring to my post about Tammi Terrell? - Gaye was only her singing partner - Tammi had a 3 year dating relationship with Brown.
ReplyDeleteReally??? Did not know that....thanks for the correction. I'll have to look that up. Believe me, no cop would cover up for any black man in the 60's.
DeleteMoney talked, miscreants walked. Of all colors.
ReplyDeleteIf they were mob protected I think you need to look a crooners not rockers.
ReplyDeleteI'm Guessing Eddie Fisher. Lots of problems with drugs.
I think there would be large cities where a cop would, with the right amount of money, or right connections, cover up for a black man - especially a popular singer.
ReplyDeleteOne other thought - Curtis Mayfield. Definitely an A, from Chicago, kids say he was very abusive toward women.
I think it has to be a soul type singer, so that leaves Eddie Fisher out.
ReplyDeleteAlexandria Anna, I agree with you on Chuck. Based in St. Louis in the 50s, just can't find the unidentified serial killings yet for that time frame.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.riverfronttimes.com/musicblog/2011/12/27/videotape-allegations-stung-berrys-legacy-22-years-ago-today
https://nypost.com/2017/03/21/the-dark-past-of-chuck-berrys-scandal-filled-sex-life/
@MadHominem-Elvis isn't my guess, I was just stating to read Enty's past reveals about him & teen girls. Yes, I know about JLL marring his 13 year old cousin, she still used to do talk shows in the 80's/90's about him.
ReplyDeleteBeyond EMF, maybe murders were covered up? Or very hard to find, when I was looking for murders for "Monster Icon" blind I couldn't find anything either.
ReplyDeleteNow I'm looking into Chuck Berry, he was even bigger pervert than I thought.
The police wouldn't then, nor now, protect or even look into the deaths of prostitutes either. Many have died and gone relatively unnoticed, even now with known serial killers they are only reffered to as "prostitutes" not even worthy of a name. I'm sure they all had mothers, sisters, brothers, lovers, friends who loved them. Its a shame
ReplyDelete+@rosie riveter,if the victims were black prostitutes,covering up for a famous black performer is possible. I didn't know some of the things about James Brown,it could well be him after all.
ReplyDeleteAhhh, I'm thinking of the wrong Jerry Lewis...OK, Jerry LEE Lewis, I can believe rumours about HIM...
ReplyDeleteJerry lewis was disgusting too but i dont think its him.
DeleteMy initial guess was Sinatra, but Jerry Lee Lewis is also a good guess, as some mentioned above.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it's a soul singer based on the title. The singer's race or wealth at the time (or now) isn't important. It's the people who he was making a lot of money for (agents,producers,label execs,etc) who paid off the police and city officials.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Barry Gordy/Motown/Detroit was powerful enough during the late 50's early 60's to pay off people at that level.
I think this is Chicago, I would say Sam Cooke, but he didn't exactly have a "later in life"
Smoky Robinson or one if the Isleys
ReplyDeleteWAIT.....Jerry Lee Lewis had an album name Soul My Way
ReplyDelete@Don Kieballs - Cooke died in 1964. That sort if rules him out if the second wave of killings happened "about a decade after" the late fifties.
ReplyDeleteI wondered about Bobby Womack, who married Cooke's widow 10 days after Cooke died. Womack was a big singer/songwriter, with drug and women issues. But he would have only been in his early teens in the late 50s.
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ReplyDeleteChuck Berry was a Glenn Quagmire---hopelessly perverted, but not especially violent.
ReplyDeleteThe drug-addled endgame sounds 100% like Marvin Gaye, but the rest of his life doesn't fit.
James Brown came from an utterly depraved background, was a boxer and violent man, and struggled with a PCP addiction, which can lead to mayhem.
But Brown wasn't a Midwestern star, was he?
I was raised around racists, and I'm telling you they would not cover for a black man. They'd use him as an example.
ReplyDeleteMy bets are Jerry Lee Lewis or Elvis. Both of them had an Entourage of people cleaning up after them. Both of them had heavy history with drugs.
Andy Williams - FTW!
ReplyDeleteLOL. Andy seemed like a nice guy. Loved watching his TV specials!
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRJdPM0TRJQ
ReplyDeleteI don't think Marvin Gaye was an addict in the 50's, that came later. Jerry Lee Lewis was my first guess, he married his 13 year old cousin, FFS. He wasn't from the midwest, but he may have performed there alot, being on the road all the time.
ReplyDelete@Easy D - Brown was born in the South, but relocated to Ohio in his teens with a band he was performing with.
ReplyDeleteI wish this were easier to research, but since the dead girls seem to have been ID'd (how else would they know they're not local/all runaways?) and the police seem to have covered it up, I don't expect to find much.
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ReplyDeleteNaw. He did pot and was pretty chill. His career was ruined when he sliced his hand getting some kid out of his car trunk.
DeleteElvis was A+ in the late 50s, and was in the Army in Germany.
ReplyDeleteMust be Marvin Berry, raging at how his cousin Chuck became famous while Marvin was stuck playing high school proms.
Except after JLL married his 13 year old cousin, the music industry fed him to the wolves of the tabloids. He was not protected or covered for at all. So if there were murders by JLL in the 60s (which was a touch past his prime) I don't think he would have had the powerful support to bury them.
ReplyDeleteJames Brown though? No, though it fits his character in some ways, I can't see any LEA covering for him or anyone powerful enough backing him to make that happen.
Johnny Cash?
ReplyDeleteNashville would have loved to bury Cash in some maximum security prison. Cash was never liked by those powerful enough to protect him. That's kinda why his drug habits were so apparent. No one helped him with good publicity...which is probably just as Cash would have it.
ReplyDeletemarvin gaye's first hit was 1961 so it can't be him.
ReplyDeletejames brown, the "godfather of soul" was from georgia and worked there and in south carolina during his period.
marvin gaye's first hit was 1961 so it can't be him.
ReplyDeletejames brown, the "godfather of soul" was from georgia and worked there and in south carolina during his period.
i'll say jackie wilson. he was from detroit, had hits as early as the 50's.
Not Johnny Cash. He was based in Nashville. The blind says "Midwest", that's anything west of Ohio - ie. not Nashville, so that leaves out Elvis, Cash, Lewis, and all of those players. It also leaves out Sinatra.
ReplyDeleteSammy Davis, Jr.
ReplyDelete+1 his friends were well connected to pay off cops ans he has a nefarious side if you believe the hype
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ReplyDeleteIt says money was made because of the singing. So it was someone known for their voice and not necessarily piano playing, or having a great backing band. Also agree that it had to be an African American due to the way it says his friends got the cops paid because of the money they made off of him. Not because he was famous or because he had buddies or because he possessed a great talent, which I’m sure he did.
ReplyDeleteJackie Wilson was the ultimate money-in-the-bank singer, a tenor with a 4-octave range. He was from Detroit, worked and died there. He started having hits in the early 50's. He virtually founded Motown with Berry Gordy, which was based out of his private studio. Because of his extraordinary voice "He was nicknamed 'Mr. Excitement', and was important in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. He was considered a master showman, and one of the most dynamic and influential singers and performers in R&B and rock 'n' roll history".
ReplyDeleteWasn’t here when I guessed but I reckon so, was a boxer and known alcoholic and his management were ruthless in their dealings and scamming him.
DeleteChuck Berry had a song titled "Soul Rockin". Formerly lived in STL for many years; a girl died at the Busch's (as in Anheiser, AB) from an overdose under shady circumstances within the last decade and nothing ever happened. Money talks there. Berry had a long standing monthly gig at Blueberry Hill right up until he died in 2016
ReplyDeleteTher AB involves death was a drug OD with Busch III present- nothing to do with Chuck. I saw Chuck at Blueberry Hill about 7 or 8 years ago and he was struggling then with remembering lyrics, etc but Chuck Jr was on stage with him as a guitarist and helped things along. He still put on a helluva show and stayed afterwards greeting every fan that lined up to shake his hand and get an autograph. He gave me a big smile and kissed my hand and told me I was beautiful. He wasn’t perfect but with all I’ve read I’ve read about him I find him hard to fit into this.
Delete@Unknown, I'm of STL origin, and I co-sign everything you said re: money talking there. The Busch family heirs have been connected to several suspicious and/or negligence related deaths, yet nothing ever arises. Hell, you don't even need to be a Busch or Lemp descendent to be granted leniency there where criminal matters are concerned. Who you KNOW is oftentimes as powerful. If you have a good "in" with the local courts, you might just find that the DUI you got arrested for last week will mysteriously find its way under a pile of paperwork on a pros atty's desk, and then curiously not be recovered until (*gasp*) a few days past the statutory deadline. Whoops! The statute ran out...guess this case isn't getting filed anywhere except the inside of this paper shredder! Lol
DeleteI know about Chuck's potty cams, which definitely point toward sexual deviancy, but for whatever reason, the locals forgave and continued to herald him as a local treasure. Would suck for this blind to be about him...but if it is, the truth should rightfully be brought to light!
Jackie Wilson?? Chicago
ReplyDeleteThis blind gave me the chills. Will we ever know who this is?
ReplyDelete"Jerry Lee Lewis: ‘I worry about whether I'm going to heaven or hell’
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/aug/08/jerry-lee-lewis-interview-heaven-hell
I'd guess James Brown. History of drug abuse and abusing women. I hate to say it, but if the prostitutes were black, the LE may have chosen the money over justice.
ReplyDeleteJackie Wilson, Motorhead? Sorry, I lost the trail. Isn't he primarily associated with Detroit? Going by his bio timeline and discography, plus the title hinting at his being a soul artist he seems the only one that fits. I think there's some extreme whiteness showing here, calling Chuck Berry a soul artist (not picking a fight, I'm white.) He's got the one song "Soul Rockin'" but I think we're supposed to be looking at Marvin, Jackie, Otis, etc.....
ReplyDeleteHmmm I am thinking James Brown the godfather of soul. Trying to find the Midwestern connection
ReplyDeleteAh Jerry Lee was mental as well and collected guns!
ReplyDeleteThis blind could use a bit more detail. Too vague. Still, I'm going with Sinatra as this killer. He was a lover of drugs, booze, sex, and had a violent temper. (Well, weren't they all).
ReplyDeleteOf all mentioned so far he is really the only big time A lister who had major connections to a large Midwestern city (Chicago). He performed there more than any other city throughout his career. The blind doesn't say that his singing career began in the late 1950s, only that the serial murders began around that time. A decade later (late 1960s) Sinatra was still an A lister and still very, very popular on the music charts.
The powerful friends behind him who were all making a lot of money because of the singing were the Rat Pack dudes (Dean Martin, Sammy Davis,.... They were seriously hot stuff back in the day. Other 'powerful friends' would be a reference to the mob, for which Sinatra was notorious. His Mafia buddies helped his career along on multiple occasions. His whole life was full of sex, drugs, and alcohol.
I did a lot of research and could not find anything significant about serial killings in the 1950s Midwest that fit this blind. I would be very surprised if this is any of the mid 1960s Motown people from Detroit. There were some A listers who came out of Motown but I wouldn't call any of them "powerful" people.
Neither Elvis nor Jerry Lee fit the circumstances. They came from the South and lived in the South most of their lives.
I like the James Brown guess since he does have a penchant for abusing women He never lived in the Midwest but he spent a lot of time there recording songs for his label. Chuck Berry might be an even better guess than James because Chuck loves underaged girls and drugs.
Sinatra is the first person I thought of straight away. I’m with you on this one
Delete@John Doe, Sinatra had well-known ties with mobster Sam Giancana, and also was very close to the Kennedys (including JFK). Apparently, it was the association that Sinatra had with Giancana that led to the Kennedys disassociating with Sinatra (as it would have been scandalous and harmful during JFK's bid for presidency. Sinatra was enraged and carried deep resentment toward JFK for ending their friendship.
DeleteYou're also correct that he loved booze, prostitutes, and pills (but not other harder drugs, and definitely not the recreational hallucinogens used by hippies). Sinatra is a great guess.
This song gives me life. Every time. I hope this blind's not about Jackie or Marvin. But I really think it's about Jackie.
ReplyDeleteCommodores - Nightshift
Sam Cooke? His cause of death is still debated. “200,000 fans lined up to view his body”~sorry he died in 1964.
ReplyDeleteOtis Redding? Very wealthy & revered for his song writing
Ike? Chuck B? James B? .....Is Chicago, St. Louis & Kanas City considered Midwest?
I keep going back to Soul Singers. I agree that it would be almost impossible for a black man in the south, in the 50’s & 60’s to get away with murder. What if the Singer was protected by the Mob or other wealthy individuals? There was a lot of money being made from R & B artists, I have to believe there were a lot of “silent” investors, back room deals & fixers to ensure the money train kept on rolling
All three cities you asked about are VERY Midwest. I'm from St. Louis.
Deletejust sayin’, I’ve always loved that song, too. The Commodores were The Shit!
DeleteI wanted to guess James Brown, Godfather of Soul- crazy police record and love of substances.... Sadly, I'm wrong, he is S. Carolina born and lived mostly in the South it seems ... But now I'm going "Criminal Minds... From wiki "Brown was married four times. His first marriage was to Velma Warren in 1953.[citation needed] Over a decade later, the couple had separated and the final divorce decree was issued 1969;". So, he killed up to when he married his first wife, they divorced and that being the stressor for the two killing a decade later. He also has a his of beating women to a pulp... Also in wiki kicked a pregnant girlfriend down the stairs... Could have been another victim had she died. Anyhoo...
ReplyDeleteSeems to have beaten several women badly.
ReplyDeleteWhy is no one else in for Jackie Wilson (except Motörhead, maybe?) Do you know something I don't? He was a solid A list singer and song writer. Google "jackie smith songs" and see what happens.
ReplyDelete*jackie wilson songs, duh
ReplyDeletePerry Como was a stone-cold killah.
ReplyDeleteDon't know who this is, but I Don't think it's Jackie Wilson. He suffered through childhood with an alcoholic father but was close to his supportive mother. He married his high school sweetheart and despite her divorcing him after his numerous affairs, it's reported he still treated her as his wife and supported her for years. These two relationships, with the most prominent women in his life, would suggest that despite his flaws, he was a lover of women not someone who had a deep seated hatred for them. While articles mention some issues with alcohol & drugs, it was believed to be his way of dealing with the grief of losing all 3 of his children (2 in separate violent attacks having nothing to do with him and 1 to a heart attack). His financial and legal problems were apparently due to being taken advantage of by his manager. As for "later in life", Jackie had a heart attack on stage in 1975 and spent the rest of his life in a coma until his death at age 49 in 1985. None of this proves it couldn't be him (and I'm not exactly a criminal profiler), but it doesn't seem he was violent towards women like some of the others mentioned. Very tragic life, regardless.
ReplyDeleteInteresting new perspective on Jackie Wilson there Jennerationb. He had at least 10 kids and doesn't seem to have ever beaten women that we know of.
ReplyDeleteI'm leaning towards James Brown, though It goes against how much I love his music. As TraciLyn said, if the prostitutes were black, the cops would probably take money over charges. That upsets me.
Good points, Jenb and plot. However, the Green River Killer was a very mild-mannered man who never lifted a hand against his wife or step-son (he was a prostitute killer too, of course.) BTK lived an exemplary church-going life. We gotta remember here, it's the same things as people saying, "No he can't be a pedophile/wife beater/child abuser because I never saw any behavior that was suspicious." He's the only one who fits the timeline and career path. His wife was pregnant and they were married when he was only 17 and it was a forced marriage. That kind of pressure at such a young age could have stunted him to being attracted to young girls, and very likely as pointed out earlier, teenage black prostitutes with no local roots were essentially disposable in the eyes of law enforcement. He did marry again, I think twice and had a ton of kids. And some people become monsters when they drink too much or take drugs, do things they wouldn't ordinarily. But I hope it's not him.
ReplyDeleteAnother name I plan to look into is Wilson Pickett, who fits the timeline, had an abusive childhood, never married, but I'm done for today. We'll solve this thing! And I suspect this is one we may get a New Year's Day reveal for, since he's only named as being a suspect for the 60's crimes and is probably dead.
* pardon all my typos
ReplyDeleteJust Sayin- very true about all the serial killers you mentioned- people can wear many masks!! I honestly knew very little about Jackie Wilson's life until I looked it up after reading the comments here. I was surprised to see how tragic it was. I look forward to your Wilson Pickett research as your posts are always interesting and you are one of the super sleuths around her!! :)
ReplyDeleteSinatra has the "dark triad" behaviors, but wouldn't he be an A+++ for Enty? Elvis as well?
ReplyDeleteRe-reading the blind, two details jump out (leading in two different diections).
---The emphasis on the girls being transported makes me think of Chuck Berry drivin untraceable 14 year olds from Mexico to his restuarant.
---Marvin Gaye absolutely went out in a painful drug and violence spiral as described.
Aw thanks, Jenb. Only one of so many, including you, which is why I love playing here, with other inquiring minds, lol. I know I write too much and too often, but if I'm not busy with other things I can't resist adding my 2 cents. Plot puts me to shame with his facts about political issues I've never even heard of... I'm opinionated but no scholar. We all should acknowledge again the supersleuth of the month -- poor Schneiderisnext, working day after day by himself in the "Church" room with very little help. He's run with all of the clues we came up with and has uncovered the entire freaking network, when we were still stumbling around in the dark trying to identify it at all.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking, based only on some photos, that Wilson Pickett may have been gay and probably not this murderer, but I have no gossip or facts to come up with a theory on him yet.
Goodnight guys.
Hi all. Long-time lurker, second time poster. If it's not Sinatra, I like David Ruffin of the Temptations for this one. Lots of regrettable, coked-up actions. Rest all their souls.
ReplyDeleteI call bs on this. You've gotta be careful about mixing those edibles with the sauce, Entern.
ReplyDeleteSinatra and Elvis are def A+
ReplyDeleteI lived in the next town over from Chuck Berry. His creepiness has already been discussed, but as a local I can say the following:
ReplyDelete1. Remember Ferguson, MO? STL is a VERY segregated city.
2. The actual City of St Louis was run via the bribe back in the day. I’m not sure about now.
3. The City if STL is heavily black
4. Chuck lived way out in the country for many years, but then the area grew to the point were he was no longer in the country.
5. The restaurant with the holes in the bathroom was (is) right at the intersection of I-40 and I-70 in St Charles County.
6. I knew a guy who did work around his house, he said it was extremely creepy.
7. A little piece of trivia, my nephew was the Firefighter/EMT who tried to resuscitate him when he died.
To clarify, we call the road that intersects I-70 in Wenzville, MO, I-40. It’s actually I-64.
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ReplyDeleteHendrix?
ReplyDeletethis is like monster blind. so damning it won't ever be officially revealed yet equally intriguing and vague. screams Detroit or Chicago. St Louis?
ReplyDeleteTotalBlamBlam, Ruffin of the Temptations is an interesting guess. He had a miserable childhood (pimped out by a guardian when he was a child), was a major drug addict throughout his life, and collapsed at a crack house before being dumped by his junkie buddies in front of a hospital where he died. He also abused women, and beat Tammy Terrell pretty severely.
ReplyDeleteSinatra would be too much of a stretch for me to believe. He was an ass, to be sure, but I don’t see him as desperate enough to go to those lengths to get his drugs. He had people to do that for him.
James Brown and Jerry Lee Lewis wouldn’t surprise me, either.
Burl Ives.
ReplyDeleteThis bothered me most of the night...
ReplyDeleteIt ain't Elvis or FAS.
When just sayin' mentioned Pickett, I got a huge chill. That fucker...as talented as he was was one twisted fuck. A dear friend of mine who is a famous engineer said he feared for his life when he recorded WP. He'd whip out a gun at a moments notice. This happened numerous times on numerous albums. They didn't call him "the wicked, wicked Wilson Pickett" for nothing.
BRAVO just sayin'!
If we think outside the box, Miles Davis, legendary Jazzman, famous midwesterner, beat all women severely within inches of their lives was a lifelong hardcore drug addict. SOUL compilation album, and Body and Soul a famous cover song he was known for?
ReplyDeleteMiles is a VERY interesting guess!
ReplyDeleteHe really wasn't known for selling blockbuster albums. It's not like he made any music house a ton of money. He was more of a talent (really a genius) than a financial success. Still, he was one screwed up individual and extremely violent.
Remember that you can't go on where an artist was based if they were of national/international status. I checked out one guy's wiki page (Ike Turner - no idea if this is about him but he was the one I looked up) and he was regularly in Detroit and Chicago, as well as St Louis and loads of other places in the late '50s because he had a lot of different interests and performing duties. If it's a big enough name then they would be nationwide - tours, tv spots, session musicians or writers at labels, radio show here, etc. They would most likely constantly be on the move unless they made a conscious decision to settle down and get off the promotional and touring side of things so they would see the same cities fairly regularly. Probably looking at someone born pre '38 too unless they were very young at the time. (I imagine a 30 year old but really it could be any age I suppose.)
ReplyDeleteI'm backing off my conviction that it's Jackie Wilson -- I read the blind wrong. I believed that the killer was already A list in the 50's. It doesn't say that at all. So this opens it back up. I like the Miles guess and Ike Turner too, and thatmemphissound's story about Wilson Pickett is very telling too.
ReplyDeleteDeluxe thanks to whomever mentioned 'Night Shift' -- just a line or two update regarding Prince would take it from sweet and calming to sweet and calming instant tear-jerker.
ReplyDeleteBut don't you dare do it, Commodores! I cry plenty now.
Patience - I know, it's the most beautiful, bittersweet song ever. I remember the day Michael Jackson died thinking they had to re-record it to include him. They did, but I never heard about it til googling for this video. It's not as good as the original. Also, I hate to be pragmatic about such a touching thought, but "Prince" only has one syllable, so it probably won't happen?
ReplyDeleteBing Crosby
ReplyDeleteWhat???i could’ve been him. He was a real jerk. Seriously I think it’s Jerry Lee Lewis.
DeleteBing lived in the Bay Area when I did. He also had a place in LA & would travel
ReplyDeleteto NY when needed. He being an A+...well, *could* have done it but he was born
in WA state and had nothing happening centrally located. And yes, Bing was almost
as big an asshole as Bob Hope.
To the Chuck Berry guessers, has anyone researched any missing prostitutes from the East St. Louis (Illinois) side of the Mississippi for these time frames?
ReplyDelete@TerriB, probably shouldn't have mentioned the overdose at the Buschs; I worked for a local business owner who had a close philanthropic relationship with STL police districts. Had some wild stories about how much corruption had been cleaned up since starting business 30 years earlier. There's a history there of underreporting and dismissing rape/violence against women. If a report gets trashed it has no paper trail. This blind doesn't fit Chuck Berry per say, but Missouri/Saint Louis, albeit incredibly racially charged, strikes me as a place where the cops might be inclined to help a beloved singer cover up indiscretions for the right price, black or white.
ReplyDeleteI love Chuck Berry and do not want this to be him, but one thing about him did always bother me. He had the squeakiest image, but zero patience for musicians who used drugs/alcohol to the point of sounding condescending. Which... if he actually was a great, amazing guy who never dabbled with substances, makes him an awesome authority on what artists can accomplish sober. Artists just usually aren't that morally one dimensional, esp. throughout a career that long
@Unknown. See my comment above, as it definitely supports what you say about crimes and rapes not getting formally filed or accurately reported. The City of St. Louis has been desperate to reunite with St. Louis County for decades, and almost entirely because reunification will mean less violent crimes per capita reported. The high crime rate has really served as thorn in the city's side, and has roadblocked a lot of city revitalization efforts. Oh, and it hurts tourism and deters big corps who may consider headquartering there amd bringing jobs...(cough, cough Amazon).
DeleteExcept Sinatra had no connections to Soul.
ReplyDelete@plot, Sinatra recorded a song called Body and Soul, so that may fit into the title here.
ReplyDeleteIf not, then yes you are correct, Sinatra is not considered a soul singer by genre.
Jackie Wilson
ReplyDelete@YummyBoogers
ReplyDeleteOh okay, that could work then.
My feeling is that Sinatra liked his women alive, decked out and draped on his arm for everyone to see - someone like Ava Gardner in full makeup and a dress that would slide right off. Frank probably slapped women around but I can't see him delivering a body blow. He just wasn't physical enough, and most of his life he was so scrawny.
Hell what do I know.
@Plot, I hope desperately this isnt Frank. He's a complicated chap, but I love him, and his Rat Pack gang. He meets the criteria of liking booze, pills and prostitutes, but then again - this would incriminate just about all of the male musicians of his generation. He's a good guess, but I'm hopeful he isn't the correct guess....
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that he was all about appearances. From the bios and tell-alls I have read, he had very high standards in terms of his physical appearance preferences for women. He also was a huge germophobe. He insisted on VERY classy looking prostitutes. He rebuffed Judy Garland due to her "not doing it for him" lookswise. One book I read said that he had the opportunity to hook up with Marilyn Monroe, but decided to "keep things friendly" after seeing the filty conditions she was living in, and learning her personal hygiene was not up to his high standards.
Ava Gardner was the love of his life, and while their relationship was tumultuous, he truly loved her and would have left any woman he was with after her to rekindle their relationship. He never got over her, and compared all subsequent girlfriends and wives to Ava. Also, he was known to have exes come back to him at various points in life (Ava, Mia, etc.). For women who could have their pick, it seems odd they would come back to Sinatra if he beat them to a pulp. Also, neither Ava or Mia accused him of being violent (at least not to my knowledge, anyway), and they both seemed to have spoken of him in a pretty endearing manner over the years. With this alk being said, there is good reason to suspect that Frank isn't the subject here.
If the years were different for this blind, a good alternate guess would be...drum roll....RICK JAMES, b#&ch! But he would have been like 10 years old for the first set of murders, so no go. Lol
I love Frank, too, mostly for his fierce loyalty to people like Ava, Mia and Sammy Davis Jr. He seemed like the kind of guy who would quietly make sure the people he loved never suffered, that he would move heaven and earth to protect them. I think that spirit is what audiences connected to, especially in his younger years when he drove women crazy. There has to be a light to people who can hold audiences in their thrall that way, a kind of magical giving that extends through their personality. I think that is why the mob never touched Frank, despite the Kennedy betrayal, because of that strong quality in him.
ReplyDeleteNothing to back this up or base it on, but how about Johnny Cash?
ReplyDeleteHere's a twisted theory. Maybe it's Ray Charles, and the local coppers weren't really paid off, but just too embarrassed to admit their prime serial killer suspect was a completely blind Black guy.
ReplyDeleteTom Jones or Englebert Humperdick
ReplyDelete@Plot, from the books I've read, Sinatra was definitely a passionate man - fiercly loyal, zealously enthusiastic, and equal parts stubborn. If he got hurt, he was capable of holding the longest grudges, icing people out and cutting the rug out...but then curiously would forgive others who did him wrong at the drop of a hat. Complicated man, for sure. Certainly not perfect, but he deserves credit where it's due. Frank went beyond being polite and congenial to Sammy Davis, Jr. In a time where it went against the grain (in terms of social acceptance), Frank not only publicly declared his awe and adoration for the talents of a black male entertainer, he also provided a rare career opportunity for Sammy to showcase his immense talents alongside other greats, as AN EQUAL. This was during an era wherein many white entertainers would simply just "borrow" musical and dancing styles from black entertainers they admired (and then deny said black artists rightful credit). Not Frank. He was an unapologetic and fearless proponent of civil rights and equality during a time when most of the nation was still very much "on the fence" about it. Very honorable.
ReplyDeleteHe also assisted Mia, giving moral support and making contacts where needed during her messy, public divorce from Woody. This was after his own very tumultuous marriage to Mia....so they obviously made amends.
Again, I hope he isnt the subject here, because history has shown that he could be considerably kind. Fiery at times, but very kind and extremely loyal also. Frank certainly wasn't an all around evil dude.
It’s Chuck Berry...I’m from St. Louis....and the stories my grandparents knew about him were haunting...he lived a close-hole life but when he was on the prowl it wasn’t anything good
ReplyDelete100% JLL
ReplyDeletehttps://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/the-strange-and-mysterious-death-of-mrs-jerry-lee-lewis-19840301
@Alexandria Anna, serious doubt on Chuck Berry. I spent several hours with him some years back in the 80's (I was young and pretty then), and he was never pushy or rude. When he informed me he was going to have sex with me, I noped the hell out of there. We were alone and he could have turned violent; all he did was stop talking to me as I gathered my coat. (He didn't take my picture, either, and it's doubtful he installed any peephole cameras in the hotel bathroom.)
ReplyDeleteMy guess is Ike Turner -- he beat the living hell out of Tina. Second would be Jerry Lee Lewis.