Cousaert had been part of a relatively small group of blues and soul aficionados in Western Europe in the era before the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the Animals exposed an entire generation to the genius of Little Richard, Chuck Berry, John Lee Hooker, and others. He had a nightclub in Ostend that was known for the spectacular quality of its jukebox, and he became a magnet for people who shared his taste.

When Eric Burdon was just 15 - years before he shot to fame as lead singer of the blues-oriented Animals - he went to Cousaert's club on his first trip outside England. The music he found there was a revelation, and he started a casual, on-again, off-again friendship with Cousaert that lasted for decades.

"We were attracted by the sounds on the jukebox," says Burdon of his first encounter with Cousaert. "It wasn't the normal top-10 stuff. He had Ray Charles and Charles Brown, blues people."

Burdon was not in Belgium when Gaye was under Cousaert's care - living in an apartment Cousaert rented, taking many home-cooked meals at Cousaert's house - but he said many musicians believe that Cousaert saved Gaye from self-destruction.

"What I heard was that Freddy really grabbed hold of Marvin and shook some sense into him, and told him he had to straighten out his life and get off drugs," says Burdon. "They started working out on the beaches of Ostend. When I met Freddy later, he told me that he had succeeded in getting Marvin off of any kind of hard drug. Marvin was totally clean. He was capable of stepping into the ring and going toe-to-toe with top amateurs. Freddy felt he'd done a great job in turning this guy's life around."