Max Crook

Max Crook
Birth name	Maxfield Doyle Crook
Also known as	Maximilian
Born	November 2, 1936 (1936-11-02) (age 75) Lincoln, Nebraska
Origin	Ann Arbor, Michigan
Genres	Pop
Occupations	Musician, composer
Instruments	Keyboards, Synthesizer
Labels	Dot Records, Double A Records
Associated acts	The White Bucks, Charlie Johnson and the Big Little Show Band, Del Shannon, The Maximilian Band, The Sounds of Tomorrow

Maxfield Doyle Crook (born November 2, 1936) is an American musician, a pioneer of electronic music in pop. He probably remains best known as the featured soloist on Del Shannon's 1961 hit "Runaway", which he co-wrote and on which he played his own invention, the Musitron. He also recorded as Maximilian.

Biography

Early life and career

Crook was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, moving as a child to Ann Arbor, Michigan. He first learned to play the accordion, before taking up the piano, and by the time he was fourteen he had already built his own studio. In 1957, after studying at the University of New Mexico, he enrolled at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo where he formed a rock and roll group called The White Bucks, who released a single, "Get That Fly", on Dot Records in 1959.^[1]

In the same year he built a monophonic synthesizer, which he called the Musitron, out of a clavioline enhanced with additional resistors, television tubes, and parts from household appliances, old amplifiers and reel-to-reel tape machines. Crook was unable to patent the Musitron because most of its components were already patented products. He first used it for recording at a session at Berry Gordy's studio in Detroit, on an unreleased version of "Bumble Boogie" (the tune later recorded by B. Bumble and the Stingers) for which he also used a crude self-made four-track tape recorder. The sound of the Musitron was influential on other musicians and producers, including Gordy, Joe Meek, Ennio Morricone, John Barry and Roy Wood.^[2]

Later in 1959, he met Charles Westover, yet to take the stage name Del Shannon, who asked him to join his band, "Charlie Johnson and the Big Little Show Band", as keyboard player. They signed a recording contract in 1960, and Crook began playing the Musitron onstage for the first time soon afterwards. During a live set one night, Crook hit an unusual chord change going from A-minor to G, and he and Del Shannon developed the lick into a song, which became "Runaway". In January 1961, Shannon and Crook recorded "Runaway", which soon became an international hit.

Crook also recorded a series of instrumentals, credited as Maximilian. These included "The Snake" (a hit in Argentina), and later "The Twistin' Ghost" and "Greyhound" (both hits in Canada). For a time he took over as leader of Shannon's old band based in Battle Creek, Michigan, which became "The Maximilian Band", but he left the group in late 1962 for a solo career. He also set up his own record label, Double A, in Ann Arbor. Later in the 1960s he worked as an electronic duo with Scott Ludwig, billed as "The Sounds of Tomorrow", performing instrumental versions of current hits.^[3]

Later career

In the late 1960s he moved to California and worked as a burglar alarm installer and firefighter, before returning to recording with Del Shannon and Brian Hyland. Hyland's version of Curtis Mayfield's "Gypsy Woman", featuring Crook's keyboards, became a hit in 1970. Crook also wrote the score for James Sturgen's movie Time and Beyond. In the 1980s he began performing gospel and spiritual music, recording an album Good News!.

In 2003, he was featured on Joe G & The Zippity Doo Wop Band's remake of Del Shannon's "So Long Baby" playing the honking Musitron riff from Shannon's recording, as well as a solo in the higher "Runaway" register that would have replaced the kazoo solo in the 1961 record had they not run out of tracks. He can be seen in the group's music video of the song filmed in Shannon's hometown of Coopersville, MI. In September 2004, he also performed at a tribute show to the late Del Shannon in Saratoga, NY with Joe Glickman (Joe G), only his second time in the Empire State since recording "Runaway" over 40 years earlier.^{[citation needed]}

He now lives in Deming, New Mexico.^[4]

References

1. ^ Maximilian (Max Crook)
2. ^ MAXCROOK.COM - The Musitron
3. ^ The Sounds Of Tomorrow - The Sounds of Tomorrow (Mood Mosaic Vol. 9)
4. ^ MAXCROOK.COM - Biography

External links

• Maxcrook.com
• Max Crook at the Internet Movie Database
• Black Cat Rockabilly site

Persondata
Name	Crook, Max
Alternative names	Crook, Maxfield Doyle; Maximilian
Short description	Musician, composer
Date of birth	November 2, 1936
Place of birth	Lincoln, Nebraska
Date of death
Place of death