By Tim Willette
I’m travelin’ down the road
I’m flirtin’ with disaster
“Lead singer Danny Joe Brown died on March 10, 2005 at his home in Davie, Florida. He was 53. The cause was kidney failure.”
I’ve got the pedal to the floor,
My life is running faster
“Bass guitarist Riff West died on November 19, 2014, at age 64, after a lengthy illness caused by severe injuries suffered in a car accident.”
I’m out of money, I’m out of hope,
It looks like self destruction
“Drummer Bruce Crump died on March 16, 2015, at age 57, from complications after a twelve-year battle with throat cancer.”
Well how much more can we take,
With all of this corruption
“On June 19, 2006 guitarist Duane Roland died at his home in St. Augustine, Florida at the age of 53. His death was listed as being of ‘natural causes.'”
We’re flirtin’ with disaster,
Y’all know what I mean
“Guitarist Dave Hlubek died of a heart attack on September 2, 2017, at the age of 66.”
And the way we run our lives,
It makes no sense to me
“Bass guitarist Banner Thomas, age 62, died from complications of pneumonia and rheumatoid arthritis on April 10, 2017.”
I don’t know about yourself
Or what you want to be, yeah
“Jimmy Farrar, who was frontman from 1980 to 1982, died of heart failure on October 29, 2018, at 67.”
When we gamble with our time,
We choose our destiny
“Singer Phil McCormack died on April 26, 2019 at 58.”
I’m flirtin’ with disaster every day
And you are too, baby
“Guitarist Steve Holland, the last original member of Molly Hatchet, died on August 2, 2020, at age 66.”
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Comments welcome.
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1. From Steve Rhodes:
Here’s how this post came about. A few days before my trip to the Wisconsin Dells last weekend, Tim sends me this:
This e-mail exchange follows:
STEVE: But these have like one original member, right? Not quite good enough or bad enough!
TIM: Hm, I’m kinda surprised – Night Ranger’s lineup is basically the original one. Molly Hatchet, not at all (most recent member joined in ’84 and he’s the keyboardist).
Esp. surprising to see Blades back with them from ’96 on. According to Wikipedia that’s when Nugent went solo again.
Current members
Kelly Keagy – drums, percussion, lead and backing vocals (1982-1989, 1991-present)
Brad Gillis – lead and rhythm guitars, backing vocals (1982-1989, 1991-present)
Jack Blades – bass, lead and backing vocals, rhythm and acoustic guitars (1982-1989, 1996-present)
Eric Levy – keyboards, synthesizers, piano, backing vocals (2011-present)
Keri Kelli – lead and rhythm guitars, backing vocals (2014-present; touring appearances in 2012 and 2013)
Current members
John Galvin – keyboards, synthesizers, piano, programming, backing vocals (1984-1990, 1995-present)
Bobby Ingram – lead, acoustic and slide guitars, backing vocals (1987-present)
Shawn Beamer – drums, percussion (2001-present)
Tim Lindsey – bass, backing vocals (2003-present)
Jimmy Elkins – lead vocals (2019-present)
STEVE: How can they even call themselves Hatchet? NO! Molly Hatcheted, more like!
TIM: Via Wikipedia, literally every original member is dead. Those guys lived hard.
Posted on July 14, 2021