SCORCHER Guitarist Terry Baker On Passing Of BONHAM's Daniel MacMaster - "Jason Bonham Could've At Least Called His Fuckin' Family And Said 'Sorry About Your Loss'"
Fans of former
BONHAM singer
Daniel (Stewart)
MacMaster are still in shock after his death on Sunday, March 16th at the age 39 years. He was a resident of Thunder Bay, Ontario and passed away in Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Center following complications from pneumonia, after a strep A infection entered his bloodstream.
A tribute concert was held on May 11th at The Foundation Nightclub in Barrie, Ontario and featured members of
HAREM SCAREM and MacMaster's bandmates in SCORCHER, the five-piece that put the singer on the map and helped him become one of Canada's famous hard rock exports.
Bonham - led by drummer
Jason Bonham, son of late/great
LED ZEPPELIN skin-pounder John Bonham - released their first record, The Disregard Of Timekeeping, in September 1989, which was certified gold, and featured the hit single 'Wait For You'. The follow-up, Mad Hatter, was released in 1992 and the band dissolved.
BW&BK recently spoke exclusively to Scorcher's Terry Baker and Chris Fumo (an old high school friend of BW&BK's
"Metal" Tim Henderson) about the late singer.
Describe the feelings around the event?
Baker: "It's one of those things that it's unbelievable what's happened, but it's also unbelievable the amount of people we've had remember. It's cool how everyone has got together, all these people that have been part of his success in some way. It wasn't only a tribute, but to recognize friends that tried to help him move forward. There's been a lot of good people - it's a team thing. A lot of people did their bit to help him move forward.
What did Jason Bonham see in him?
Baker: "He just had raw talent. It was kind of untapped and unharnessed. He had charisma, good looks. He had everything at the time. He was a star at that time. Unfortunately, the genre of music didn't last. A lot of new music had come in and they didn't do as well as they should've.
Fumo: "Everybody labelled them as a Led Zeppelin cover band, but he didn't really sound like Robert Plant. He was a mixture of
Plant, David Coverdale,
TESLA (Jeff Keith)."
Baker: "He sang Zeppelin-esque, but he didn't really like Zeppelin. Not to disrespect, but he didn't like Robert Plant's voice.
Any word from Jason during this tragic time?
Baker: "He could've at least called his fuckin' family and said 'sorry about your loss'. Ian Hatton (Bonham guitarist) called, I know Johnny Smithson (Bonham bassist) did, but Jason dropped the ball. I email Phil Carson (Jason Bonham's Manager) and he said he'd get it out to people. I think that's wrong. He could've at least sent his regards. Here's a guy that gave three years of the best of his life to the cause. He respected Jason - he could've said something, sent him flowers. Something ... I don't mean to disrespect the guy, but please."
Tell us about the time Daniel received word he got the Bonham gig.
Fumo: "We always talked about that - if anything happens to anybody in the band, just go. We never wanted to hold anybody back. And Dan was the guy that grabbed it. You can't say no."
Baker: "He was a very loyal guy. I was at his house when Brian Howe from BAD COMPANY called and said that there was an opportunity for Dan. He didn't want to go, but I told him he was crazy."
Fumo: "When he got the gig, Bonham did a few dates up here in Canada and we opened and had a blast."
Baker: "I remember going to the CNE when they opened up for Whitesnake and he was getting hounded for autographs. At that point in time I realized he was famous. He also did a world tour with THE CULT and he opened up for METALLICA."
Is there anything in the vaults?
Baker: "I have the original masters for the demo that basically got the deal for Dan. We also have some recordings and Chris has some basement tapes. We're going to put a package together and donate half the money to his family. We're also going to maintain a website in his honour."
What other memories of Dan can you share?
Baker: "You couldn't say no to Dan, that's why he got where he was. He knew what he wanted and he went for it. He didn't stop until he got what he wanted. He had a lot of conviction. If he would've got hooked up with a manager like Ozzy did. Dan needed somebody to point him in the right direction and he didn't find that person. Somebody that had some capital to nurture that talent. I remember Dan sitting on a couch with me teaching him guitar and he's telling me that he's going to tour the world and be famous. And he fuckin' did it. He did it, we didn't (laughs). End of story."
Bonham -
'Wait For You': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bO6reG68jAM&eurl=http://www.bravewords.com/news/90576 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTnnnphTi-w&eurl=http://www.bravewords.com/news/90576 
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