Fazal Prendergast

FAZAL PRENDERGAST

FAZAL PRENDERGAST

KILLED IN AN AUTO ACCIDENT. Fazal Prendergast used to say he would die

with his beloved guitar. It nearly saved the well-known North Coast

reggae musician, who swerved off Highway 101 into the swollen, roiling

Eel River on Friday April 1, while driving to a gig in Arcata to back

Don Carlos. In his final act, Prendergast climbed out of the wreckage

of his 1991 Mercedes, clutching the guitar case that held his Fender

Stratocaster, and began making his way to shore, the CHP said.

Prendergast thrust his guitar case into the outstretched arms of

several would-be rescuers, who stood on the riverbank and tried to

pull him out of the water, the CHP said. But Prendergast, 46, lost his

grip on the guitar case and was swept away in the raging river. Rescue

teams recovered his body two hours later, a quarter-mile downstream

near the Humboldt-Mendocino county line, the CHP said.

It's unclear whether Prendergast intended to save his guitar or use it

to save himself, the CHP said. His wife of 11 years, Colette McGeough,

thinks it may have been both. "He always said he would die with his

guitar," she said. Prendergast was on his way from performing at a San

Francisco club to another concert in Arcata at the time of the 1:10

p.m. Friday accident, said his manager, Robert Oyugi. He most recently

led a group called Yellow Wall Dub Squad, but had played all over the

world with just about all the great reggae musicians during his

30-plus year career, Oyugi said. "It's a big loss. He's a legend in

reggae," Oyugi said. In 1977, he performed with Israel Vibration as

the opening act for Bob Marley and the Wailers at the International

Year of the Child Festival in Jamaica, he said. Prendergast also had

backed the legendary Augustus Pablo, Hugh Mundell, Jacob Miller,

Sister Carol and many others, Oyugi said. He was scheduled to play

with Don Carlos last weekend, he said. Prendergast began his recording

career in Kingston, Jamaica, in the 1970s, Oyugi said. "If you look

back at the old vinyl, you'll see his name," said Sister DJ Yasmin,

who spins reggae music Sunday nights at radio station KMFB on the

Mendocino coast. "He was a pioneer. And he was a super nice guy. A

devoted father and husband," she said.