His guitar pal Ray Russell posted this on Facebook:
"There wasn’t a gap of two days between either Mo or I calling each other. Once he was with Frieda of ABBA in Sweden, I was in Italy with Greg Walsh we spent evenings on the phone from music to surreal humour. Fifty years has gone by from playing with Jimmy Helms in Spennymoor to now waiting by a bedside of a man brave in death.
"I held his hand, kissed him, said my goodbyes and he fell into a deep sleep. Six hours later he had slipped away hopefully to join the famous others who have left us. From now on Thunder will be laughter and rain will be tears of joy. I know I will see him, the back of his head walking somewhere but I won’t shout out, it won’t be real.
"I feel confronted by a sea of exclusion, where to jump. The person that made trousers flap and out the groove right in the middle and facilitated strong melody lines as his own songs and what we wrote together prove. There will be posts of what musical heights Mo achieved and he was a master but also a master at making the most awful things funny.
"Most of all, he was the closet two only children have been brothers. I feel that a part of me has disappeared like a land slide, a voice I will remember I hope until it’s my turn. My Brother in arms, Fuzzy Bear, Mo-Jo. Two thirds of my life I have loved you and that will never change. On Earth you have educated people to the nature of musicians. And never suffered fools gladly. Your values and integrity were emblazoned on anything you wrote and played and composed. You said a death was like a library burning. Although this was symbolic, I can feel the heat from here. An empty chair, a lead waiting to be attached to the Bass and amp that will remain silent. But you will remain long past the song has ended."