I wonder as well Dayo. How come he died in near penury though?
His Sweet mother song is said to have sold 13 million copies which is a great feat. I am not sure if he sold that many because he was on a great record label (which may have taken all his money) or because the song was so popular and he had some great distribution channels.
It seems Rocafil Jazz is still going strong with Louisiana Tilda et al.