Gypie Mayo, who first found fame chiefly with Dr. Feelgood in the late Seventies and much later worked with one of the many incarnations of the Yardbirds, has died at the age of 62.
Mayo, born John Phillip Cawthra, filled the Wilko Johnson shaped hole in Dr. Feelgood when his contribution to the hit single ‘Milk and Alcohol‘ especially showed a skeptical public that there was a future for the band beyond the departure of their hugely influential guitarist. Johnson himself announced the news today on Facebook with little detail, simply writing:
“Very sad to hear Gypie Mayo passed away this morning..RIP Gypie.”
His time with the Yardbirds after Jim McCarty and Chris Dreja had been persuaded to restart the group in the early Nineties was marked in 2003 with the album ‘Birdland‘ – it was their first for over three decades and featured guest appearances from several well renowned guitarists such as Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Slash and Brian May.