Don Lee Van Winkle, Philly songwriter and guitarist for the American Dream, has died at 75.
"He was the rock, the foundation of the American Dream," his bandmate Nick Jameson said of the musician who was a fixture on the Philly scene for more than 50 years.
Don Lee Van Winkle, 75, the guitarist for the rock band the American Dream who had a career that spanned over 50 years as a working musician in Philadelphia, has died.
His sister-in-law Millie McDonnell said Mr. Van Winkle died on Feb. 28 at his home in South Philadelphia. The cause was liver cancer.
Mr. Van Winkle grew up in the Juniata section of Philadelphia and, encouraged by his grandmother, first took up drums and piano before settling on guitar.
He first made his mark with the American Dream, the quintet that played alongside counterculture era bands like Jimi Hendrix, The Who, and the Doors at Philly venues like the Trauma. They performed at the original Electric Factory at 22nd and Arch Streets so frequently in the late 1960s and early 1970s that Mr. Van Winkle said, in an interview with Philly Thing Radio, “it was almost like we were like the house band.”
The American Dream’s self-titled album was produced by Todd Rundgren and contained Mr. Van Winkle’s song “The Other Side,” a contemplation of the afterlife that has stood the test of time.
It also included “Frankford El,” an enduring regional hit that Mr. Van Winkle said was inspired by the group’s commute from Center City to band practice in a pizza shop in Northeast Philly. The song shared a hard-earned life lesson, learned on SEPTA: “You can’t get to heaven on the Frankford El!”
“It was a 20-minute write, and it was done,” Mr. Van Winkle said. The song was begun by his band mate Nick Jameson and finished by Jameson, Mr. Van Winkle and singer Nicky Indelicato. “I tell kids not to take themselves too seriously. We were a serious rock and roll band. We rehearsed 12 hours a day, six days a week. We wrote all our own material. And the one song that’s lasted is this little parody about the Frankford El.”
“They could hold their own with anybody,” said Electric Factory Concerts promoter Larry Magid, who booked the American Dream into the Factory, the Spectrum, Atlantic City Pop Festival, and many free “Be-Ins” on Belmont Plateau in Fairmount Park during the era.
“You could always count on them,” said Magid. “They could really play. They were just kids from the Northeast, but they were at the center of that community.”
Jameson, who played guitar in the American Dream and later would join Foghat and acted in the TV series 24, called his bandmate “one of the most beautiful people I’ve ever known.”
On Facebook, Jameson wrote that Mr. Van Winkle “was the rock, the foundation of the American Dream. Strong like bull, sweet like puppy dog … we were true Philly boys, living on cheesesteaks, Tastycake pies and Robitussin cough medicine.”
The band split after one album, but Mr. Van Winkle stayed busy as a solo artist and supporting player. A regular at South Street clubs like J.C. Dobbs, he fronted Winkle & the Wanderers and teamed with David Moore (who would later cofound Moore Brothers Wine Company) in a duo called Dave Rock & Don Roll.
Longtime Philly troubadour Kenn Kweder looked up to Mr. Van Winkle as a hero before meeting him in the late 1970s. “He had those Buddy Holly glasses, and when it came to that old time Chuck Berry rock and roll, Winkle had it down.”
Among players in the local scene, Kweder said, Mr. Van Winkle stood out because “he was extremely sturdy, responsible. He took it seriously. There are a lot of people who do it for four or five years, but then they kind of drift off.”
Not Mr. Van Winkle. “You might see him tending bar sometime,” Kweder said of Mr. Van Winkle, who occasionally worked at the Copacabana on South Street or Rouge on Rittenhouse Square. “But you kind of knew that somewhere on his back there was an invisible tattoo: ‘Life sentence: Musician.’”
“Being on stage with Winkle was like being with a great quarterback,” says David Uosikkinen, the Hooters drummer whose In The Pocket band project is devoted to breathing new life into classics from Philadelphia music history. “He would assess an audience quicker than anybody I’ve ever seen.”
In 2018, In The Pocket recorded “Frankford El” with Mr. Van Winkle on lead and backup vocals by Skip Denenberg and Charlie Ingui. On stage, Mr. Van Winkle would play “Expressway To Your Heart,” the 1968 hit by the Soul Survivors led by Ingui, who was also Mr. Van Winkle’s brother-in-law. This week Ingui called “Winkle” — as Mr. Van Winkle was referred to by friends — “the Dean of Philadelphia rock and rollers.”
In recent years, Mr. Van Winkle’s life was hit by tragedy. In 2017, his wife, Kathy McDonnell, a former Philadelphia assistant district attorney, died in her sleep in their home. Mr. Van Winkle channeled his grief into his 2019 album The Great Unknown, which he recorded in Nashville.
In 2020, the couple’s son, Major Van Winkle, a charismatic musician and rapper who often performed with his father, died by suicide at age 26 during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr. Van Winkle responded to the loss with grace. He was executive producer and an interview subject in This Is Major, a documentary film directed by Scot Sax and Leslie Mills, and devoted himself to telling his son’s story and speaking on suicide prevention efforts.
In This Is Major, Mr. Van Winkle talks frankly about the loss of his son, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and urges people to take steps to help their loved ones at risk.
“What I would say to people is to get the help when you first see it, to not avoid the signs that you’re seeing,” he said. “Do not think that just love and affection and protection will cure this.”
“We always knew that Winkle had inner strength,” said Stephen Fried, author and longtime family friend. “He had recovered from drugs when he was younger. But then, for him to lose his wife and his son, both of whom who everybody adored. How do you survive?”
“I talked to him the day Major died,” said Fried, the coauthor of the forthcoming book Profiles in Mental Health Courage with Patrick J. Kennedy. “And he said, ‘I’m going to become a mental health advocate. People need to know. People need to understand.’ He wanted to talk about mental illness. He wanted to talk about preventing suicide, and he started doing it the second that he lost his son. It was inspiring.”
Mr. Van Winkle is survived by his sister Gloria Van Winkle, daughter Lynda Cylc, and grandchildren Jaden and Jesse Cylc. A visitation will be held at Monti Rago Funeral Home, 2531 S. Broad St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19148 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. on March 9.
A musical celebration of Mr. Van Winkle’s life will be announced in the coming weeks. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to Gloria Dei Old Swedes Church, 916 Swanson St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19147.