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Lee Andrews R I P

Being reported on Facebook that Lee Andrews has passed away. No further details at present.

... OFF THE NET ............ 

We are stunned and saddened to report that Lee Andrews, frontman of Philly doo wop ensemble, Lee Andrews & The Hearts and father to our own founder Questlove, passed away last night at the age of 79. Though we don’t much in the way of details to share about the circumstances of his passing, it goes without saying that our hearts are with the Andrews and Thompson families. His son, perhaps the hardest working man in the music industry, paid fitting father in a touching note, posted to his Instagram last night:

The Greatest Teacher in my life, my dad Lee Andrews June 2nd 1936-March 16 2016. I love you. For every backstage experience. For every drum lesson. For giving me your tireless work ethic. For our father & son record binging expeditions. For our arguments over the summer I discovered#ItTakesANationOfMillions. For the look on your face when I told you “imma give this rap thing a try” (I waited til our 2nd album to have this convo btw) For the look on your face 5 years later when I told you “you don’t have to work no more. For the look on your face when a year later I was like “Seriously dad, you don’t have to work anymore!” For bringing my mom & my sister into my life. For the years we fell out. For the years we put it back together. But really, for the last 2 conversations we had. I understand why you were so hard on me praying I didn’t succumb to a fate not meant for a teenager in west philly in the mid 80s. I didn’t understand it at the time. But I appreciate it now. I hope Donn & I do you proud.#LeeAndrewsAndTheHearts”

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Geoff

Posted

Sorry to read about Lee's death but he had a long career. As far as I know he started recording in 1954 and carried on till the mid 60s. He made some lovely doowop sides, my favourites of the ones I know are Try The Impossible and Long Lonely Nights. Of his sides played on the Northern scene my favourite is Quiet as It's Kept.

RIP Lee.

Paul R

Posted

So sad, another hero with many great tracks played on "the scene".

I was once flying to the states for a job, and I was sat next to an American school teacher. We got chatting, and I don't know how the subject came up, but she mentioned that at her own school prom around 1967 there was a local Philly group called  Lee Andrews & the Hearts playing. She was amazed that a 40 something year old from the UK(it was about 15 years ago) got all excited about a group most people hadn't heard of! I then bored her to tears with stories about the scene, and played her a few Lee Andrews tracks off the compilation CDs I had done.

 

RIP Lee, Can't Do Without You, I've had it!

 

Paul

Benji

Posted

6 hours ago, Geoff said:

Sorry to read about Lee's death but he had a long career. As far as I know he started recording in 1954 and carried on till the mid 60s. He made some lovely doowop sides, my favourites of the ones I know are Try The Impossible and Long Lonely Nights. Of his sides played on the Northern scene my favourite is Quiet as It's Kept.

s:RIP Lee.

He carried on way beyond the mid 60s: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/lee-andrews-mn0000193202/biography

PS: The Congress Alley album is pretty good...

Tomangoes

Posted

A sad loss for his family and fans around the world.

'I've had it' an absolute dancers dream. His music will live on and be celebrated for a long time to come.

 

Ed

Guest Carl Dixon

Posted

And sadly Billy Jackson, who co wrote and produced some of his material is very ill too (the lead vocal on 'You little trustmaker' by The Tymes and member of The Revels). I guess this domain of our lives is seeing more and more of this. When I went over to Philly in 2003 with a couple of SoulfulDetroit.com chums, we were driving down a street with Bobby Eli and Weldon McDougall and they spotted Lee walking. We pulled over and met him. I never really knew about him until that moment. My two colleagues did, but I was no specialist then or now. 'Nevertheless', I know who he is now.




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