Felix Pappalardi is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known for his work with the band King Crimson.
Felix Pappalardi was a singer and songwriter. He had a long career in music, which spanned from the 1960s to the 1990s. He died on December 24, 1995 at the age of 58.
Felix Pappalardi is most known for being the producer of Cream and the bassist for Mountain, one of the first American hard rock bands; unfortunately, he is also remembered for the terrible shooting that took his life at the age of 43. Pappalardi was born in the Bronx on December 20, 1939, and studied classical music at the University of Michigan. When he returned to New York, he couldn’t find employment as a conductor, so he ended up in the Greenwich Village folk scene. He quickly established himself as a talented arranger, then transitioned to record production, first focusing on folk and folk-rock artists such as Tim Hardin, the Youngbloods, Joan Baez, Richard & Mimi Farina, Ian & Sylvia, and Fred Neil. However, it was Pappalardi’s late-’60s work with Cream, beginning with their second album, Disraeli Gears, that cemented his reputation; Pappalardi occasionally added additional instrumentation to his imaginative studio arrangements, and he and his wife, Gail Collins, co-wrote “Strange Brew” with Eric Clapton.
In 1968, Pappalardi was invited to produce the Vagrants, an Atlantic Records band headed by a teenage guitarist named Leslie West. He produced West’s solo album Mountain the next year, and when Cream split, he and West created the hard rock band Mountain, whose smash song “Mississippi Queen” is still played on classic rock radio. Mountain split in 1972, reformed in 1974, and disbanded again in 1975; as a result of partial hearing loss induced by Mountain’s high loudness, Pappalardi was compelled to retire from performing for the most part. He was able to return to producing, and he also recorded an album with Creation, a Japanese hard rock band who had opened for Mountain on their Japanese tours; Felix Pappalardi & Creation was released on A&M in 1976. Don’t Worry, Ma, Pappalardi’s first proper solo album, was released in 1979 and featured a large supporting cast, including bassist Chuck Rainey and drummer Bernard “Pretty” Purdie. It reflected Pappalardi’s growing interest in funk, jazz fusion, and reggae, and featured a large supporting cast, including bassist Chuck Rainey and drummer Bernard “Pretty” Purdie.
On the night of April 17, 1983, disaster struck: Pappalardi was murdered by his wife, Gail Collins, who shot him once in the neck. Collins was aware of his long-term romance with a younger lady; nevertheless, a jury agreed with Collins’ assertion that the shooting was an accident that occurred while Pappalardi was teaching her how to handle the pistol. Collins was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide rather than the much more severe allegation of second-degree murder, and she was sentenced to four years in prison.
Felix Pappalardi is a musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was born in 1959 to Italian immigrants in New York City. He began his career as a drummer for the band Kiss. He has also worked with artists such as David Bowie, Lou Reed, Madonna, Iggy Pop, and Billy Idol. Reference: valerie merians.
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