Ricky Williams (October 4, 1956 – November 21, 1992), also known as Ricky Tractor, was an American musician based in San Francisco. He is best known as a vocalist and lyricist, but also played drums and guitar. He was the second drummer for

Crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

(1976–1977), the original singer for Flipper (1979) and the Sleepers (1977–1981), and vocalist for Toiling Midgets (1981–1983). He has been credited with giving Flipper their band name, although he was fired before they made any recordings. Williams died at the age of 36 on November 21, 1992, of a heroin overdose.

Early life

Williams was born in

Palo Alto Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

, California, on October 4, 1956. His father was Robert Williams, and he had one sister, named Kathie Lee. He was also known to indulge in

substance abuse Substance misuse, also known as drug misuse or, in older vernacular, substance abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods that are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder, differing definition ...

throughout his life, including

speed In kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a non-negative scalar quantity. Intro ...

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly known as LSD (from German ; often referred to as acid or lucy), is a semisynthetic, hallucinogenic compound derived from ergot, known for its powerful psychological effects and serotonergic activity. I ...

and

alcohol Alcohol may refer to: Common uses * Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds * Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life ** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages ** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...

Career

In 1976, Williams was the drummer and an early member of

(where he was called "Ricky Tractor"), until he was kicked out in 1977 for his "inconsistencies" both on his instrument and in his personality. In 1979, he was a founding member of Flipper. He sang vocals, and was the one who named the band, but was fired "for being too weird" before the band had released any recordings. He was invited that year by Michael Belfer to become the vocalist for The Sleepers, which released one EP, one single and one album before breaking up in 1981. After the breakup of The Sleepers, he joined Toiling Midgets as vocalist from 1981 until 1983.

Personal life

Towards the end of his life, Williams lived with his mother in

Mountain View, California Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. Named for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, the population was 82,376 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Mountain V ...

. His mother was killed in a car accident, and a year and two months later, Williams himself was dead. At the time of his death, he was

remaster A remaster is a change in the sound or image quality of previously created forms of media, whether Mastering (audio), audiophonic, Cinematography, cinematic, or Videography, videographic. The resulting product is said to be remastered. The term ...

ing his recorded work for re-release. He had been suffering from

respiratory disease Respiratory diseases, or lung diseases, are pathological conditions affecting the organs and tissues that make gas exchange difficult in air-breathing animals. They include conditions of the respiratory tract including the trachea, bronchi, ...

and died in his sleep on November 21, 1992. He was survived by his father, sister, and a son named Zachary; Zachary later performed with his father's former bandmates in Negative Trend, performing some of his father's songs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Ricky 1992 deaths Deaths by heroin overdose in California American punk rock singers American punk rock drummers American male drummers Musicians from Palo Alto, California 1956 births American male singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from California Writers from Palo Alto, California 20th-century American singer-songwriters 20th-century American drummers Flipper (band) members 20th-century American male singers The Sleepers (San Francisco band) members Drummers from California