The 27’s – Roger Lee Durham 1946 - 1973

Part 15 in a series on “The 27’s” – notable musicians who have passed away in their 27th year.

In 1962, Kansas City high school friends, Ronald Bell, Ron Wilson, Harold 'Ivory' Williams, Charles McCormick, Charles Love, Willis Draffen Jr., and Roger Durham founded the doo-wop group named The Sinceres. By 1968 the band was working as a Las Vegas lounge act, and then in Los Angeles, California, where they learned to play instruments and changed their name to Bloodstone

After little success in California the band moved to London, England, where they teamed up with Mike Vernon, founder of the Blue Horizon Record Label and home to such acts as Fleetwood Mac and Otis Spann. Bloodstone’s sound was characterized as a mix of Jimi Hendrix style funk, doo-wop and gospel. The group soon found its niche in the black rock and funk movement of the seventies, opening for acts including Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye and Elton John.

Roger sang and played percussion on the group’s self titled debut album in 1972, which included “Natural High,” a single that landed on both the R&B and pop Top Ten charts.  Roger's success was short lived, on July 27, 1973 Durham was killed after he fell off a horse. A veteran of the Vietnam War, Durham had served with the United States Air Force as an Airman, and for his service, he was interred in the Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.