Joe Yamanaka
September 2, 1946- August 7, 2011
Japanese rock singer, Joe Yamanaka, passed away yesterday after a battle with lung cancer. Yamanaka was 64 years old. Yamanaka was best known as the lead singer for psychedelic hard rock band, Flower Travellin' Band. While not entirely popular, the band has somewhat of a cult following. The band's best known album would probably be 1971's Satori. The album wasn't released in the US until 2003. Rolling Stone's David Fricke is quoted to saying that Satori is his "favorite Japanese rock album of all time". The band had reunited in 2007 and released an album. The band planed to tour in 2010 but news of Yamanaka's cancer put everything to a halt.
I just ordered myself a copy of Satori. I read about these guys and they sound really cool. It's a shame that Joe has passed away and that most music magazines probably won't bother mentioning. Even when I Google his name, there's barely any news. Shame. There should be.
RIP Joe.
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