Two singers from opposite sides of the country both met untimely deaths, ending their promising music careers far too early. Decades later, these two talented vocalists can be heard in the season premiere of the Netflix miniseries I Will Find You.

In 1957, up-and-coming Arizona rockabilly singer Glen Morris stepped into Floyd Ramsey’s Phoenix recording studio, Audio Recorders, to record the haunting ballad “I’ll Pretend” for Floyd’s burgeoning Liberty Bell Records. The session’s driving rockabilly A-side, “I Got The Blues,” notably featured the early guitar work of a young, pre-fame Duane Eddy. Tragically, Morris never lived to see the record catch fire. Just three months after its release, he was killed in an automobile accident, transforming his lone vinyl pressing into a mythical, tragic ghost track of Southwest musical history.

Over a decade later, across the country, Boston R&B singer Frank Lynch brilliantly captured the vibe of the era with the soul-drenched pop gem “Young Girl,” which found release on Skippy White’s My Records. According to White and the song’s producer, Herschel Dwellingham, the song was an instant regional hit, climbing the charts on radio stations up and down the East Coast. But in 1970, as “Young Girl” climbed the regional charts, Frank’s rising star was brutally cut short. While Lynch was a patient at Boston City Hospital, the popular 24-year-old vocalist was shockingly gunned down by Boston Police Patrolman Walter Duggan. Lynch, an unarmed patient, was shot five times and left for dead on the hospital floor. One of the officer’s stray bullets also struck and ultimately killed another innocent patient in the ward, Edward Crowley.

The entire incident was witnessed and reported by Boston Globe columnist Robert Anglin, who happened to be a patient sharing the hospital room. The tragedy caused a justified furor within the Black community. It sparked massive local activism, leading community organizers and the Black Panthers to establish the Franklin Lynch People’s Free Health Clinic to provide safe, trusted medical care to Boston’s Black residents.

Although their lives ended abruptly, both artists’ musical legacies endure today through the archival work of Fervor Records, where we celebrate Frank and Glen’s contributions to American regional music. Stream I Will Find You on Netflix, and listen to Glen Morris and Frank Lynch at your favorite music destination.

– Liner Notes by David Hilker