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| Claydes Charles Smith From The Kool & the Gang Is Dead Claydes Charles Smith, the lead guitarist and the co-founder of the group Kool & the Gang has died on Tuesday, June, 20 in Maplewood Township, New Jersey. He was 57. Born on Sept. 6, 1948, in Jersey City, N.J., he began to study jazz guitar in the early 1960s. Kool & the Gang, his most famous group, grew from a cool jazz band in the 1960s to become one of the major groups of the 1970s, blending jazz, funk, soul, R&B and pop. The group made a major comeback in the '80s.Smith wrote the hits "Joanna" and "Take My Heart, " and was a co-writer of others, including "Jungle Boogie, " "Celebration, " and "Hollywood Swinging. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Jazz News :: home page |