Gypie Mayo obit

Gypie Mayo

Gypie Mayo was a virtuoso guitarist who helped Dr Feelgood into the Top 10 and played with the re-formed Yardbirds 

He was not on the list.

Dr Feelgood and Yardbirds guitarist Gypie Mayo has died aged 62. The cause of death has not yet been announced.

"He had been ill for some time but when I last spoke to him retained his great sense of humour," Dr Feelgood drummer Kevin Morris told the Bath Chronicle.

News of Mayo's death broke on Thursday morning, when former Feelgood guitarist Wilko Johnson posted a message on his Facebook page stating: "Very sad to hear Gypie Mayo passed away this morning..RIP Gypie."

After performing in the blues outfit White Mule, Mayo replaced Johnson in Dr Feelgood from 1977 to 1981. In 1996, he joined the reformed Yardbirds, a phase of his career that lasted until 2004.

In addition to co-writing Dr Feelgood's UK top 10 single Milk And Alcohol, Mayo performed on six of the band's albums, including Be Seeing You, Private Practice, and As It Happens. Mayo's guitar work was also featured on the Yardbirds' 2003 album, Birdland.

Mayo, born John Phillip Cawthra, continued to play in a number of local bands in Bath, as well as teaching the guitar.

In 1997, responding to a questionnaire prepared by a Dr Feelgood fan site, Hammersmith-born Mayo explained his first steps into the music world. "I listened to classical music at an early age – my father played the records at home," he wrote. "Then I heard Apache by the Shadows which I thought was quite groovy, but when I saw them on TV with their Fender Strats I was instantly hooked. I bought all their records.

"Then the Beatles happened and the whole music thing changed. At about this time I acquired a cheap Russian-made acoustic (1964) and taught myself Beatles/Stones etc songs. I chose the guitar 'cos I'd always been fascinated with its sounds [and] looks ever since becoming a Shadows freak.