Gene Rockwell

Gene Rockwell
Birth name Gert Smit
Born (1944-12-27)December 27, 1944
Died July 3, 1998(1998-07-03) (aged 53)[1]
Occupation(s) Musician
Instruments Singer
Years active 1950s – 1990s

Gene Rockwell (1944–1998) was a South African singer. His 1965 rendition of "Heart" went directly to the top of the LM Radio Top 20.

History

Gene was born Gert Smit in 1944 in the town of Krugersdorp in the then Transvaal province of South Africa. He died at the age of 53 years, on July 3, 1998.

He won his first talent competition at the age of 15, in Durban's "Little Top". Still in his teens, Gene formed The Blue Angels, later to become The Falcons, in 1963, with whom he played guitar and sang his famous gritty-blues-style songs. The original line up of the Falcons were George Usher (lead guitar), Jannie Heynes (bass guitar), Clive Swegman (rhythm guitar), Frank Rickson (drums). They played many packed out shows, becoming a staple of the dance scene in South Africa, particularly Durban.

Discography

Date Title (A-side/B-side) Label Notes
1967 "Cold Cold Heart" / "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" Continental PD-9279

References

Notes

  1. "About Roodepoort". Roodepoort Info. Retrieved 2009-05-08.


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 4/21/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.