Max Crook, Co-Writer of "Runaway" & Inventor of Musitron, R.I.P.

Max Crook, who co-wrote Del Shannon's 1961 hit "Runaway" on his Musitron - a forerunner to the synthesizer, passed away on July 1st. No cause of death was released. He was 83.

Crook met Shannon, then known by his birth name Charles Westover, in 1959 in Battle Creek, Michigan and soon joined his band Charlie Johnson & The Big Little Show Band. The following year they signed a recording deal with Big Top Records. At this point, Westover adopted the Del Shannon moniker while Crook began to perform under the name Maximilian.

"Runaway" would become Shannon's first and biggest hit in February 1961. Shannon's haunting voice and intense guitar drive the song, but Crook's Musitron on the bridge set it apart from other songs of the period and remains a rock 'n roll ornament.

Crook and Shannon would go their separate ways but would reunite in 1970 to collaborate on Brian Hyland's album which Shannon produced. Crook played organ on Hyland's cover of Curtis Mayfield and The Impression's "Gypsy Woman".

In a 2019 interview with Forbes, Crook said while "Runaway" didn't make him a wealthy man it did bring him about $25,000 a year. What Crook brought to "Runaway" can only be described as priceless. R.I.P.