Death
McPhatter returned to America in 1970, making a few appearances in rock 'n roll revival tours, but remaining mostly a recluse. Hopes for a major comeback with a Decca album were crushed on June 13, 1972, when Clyde McPhatter died in his sleep at the age of 39 from complications of heart, liver, and kidney disease, brought on by alcohol abuse - abuse that had been fueled by a failed career and the resentment he harbored towards the fans he felt deserted him. In a 1971 interview with journalist Marcia Vance, McPhatter told Vance "I have no fans." Clyde McPhatter died at 1165 East 229th Street, Bronx, N.Y. He was living with Bertha M. Reid. They traveled together as he was trying to make a comeback.
McPhatter was a resident of Teaneck, New Jersey at the time of his death. He was buried at George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus, New Jersey.
Ruth Brown acknowledged in her later years that McPhatter was the actual father of her son Ronald, born in 1954. Ron now tours occasionally with a show of Drifters songs.
Read more about this topic: Clyde McPhatter
Famous quotes containing the word death:
“Lo! Death has reared himself a throne
In a strange city lying alone
Far down within the dim West,
Where the good and the bad and the worst and the best
Have gone to their eternal rest.”
—Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849)
“For death is not the worst, but when one wants to die and is not able even to have that.”
—Sophocles (497–406/5 B.C.)
“A rat crept softly through the vegetation
Dragging its slimy belly on the bank
While I was fishing in the dull canal
On a winter evening round behind the gashouse
Musing upon the king my brother’s wreck
And on the king my father’s death before him.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)