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DEATHS
REMEMBER THIS MONTH

December 1st
1959: Avery Parrish (41) American jazz pianist; he started in the Bama State Collegians, at the Alabama State Teachers College an ensemble led by Erskine Hawkins. He stayed with Erskine until 1941 and recorded with him extensively. He wrote the music to "After Hours", which became a jazz standard. He moved to California, but was involved in a bar fight in 1942 which left him paralyzed at age 24, and unable to play music for the rest of his life. In 1979 he was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame (unknown causes). b. January 24th 1917.
1969: Samuel "Magic Sam" Gene Maghett (32) American blues guitarist, singer-songwriter, born in Grenada, Mississippi. He learned to play the blues from listening to records by Muddy Waters and Little Walter. After moving to Chicago at the age of nineteen, he was signed by Cobra Records and became well known as a bluesman after his first record, "All Your Love" in 1957. He was known for his distinctive tremolo guitar playing, vocals and songwriting ability which have inspired and influenced many blues musicians ever since. In The Blues Brothers, Jake Blues dedicates the band's performance of "Sweet Home Chicago" to the "late, great Magic Sam". In 1982, Sam was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. (died suddenly of a heart attack) b. February 14th 1937
1986: Lee Dorsey (61) US pop/R&B singer during the 1960s. From 1965 to 1969 he had seven songs in the Hot 100, the most successful of which was "Working In The Coal Mine" in 1966. In 1970 he and Allen Toussaint collaborated on an album entitled "Yes We Can". He appeared on an album with Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, which led to more recordings on his own with ABC Records in the late 1970s. In 1980, he opened for English punk band The Clash on their U.S. tour. (emphysema) b. December 24th 1924.
1989: Billy Lyall (35) Scottish keyboard player and vocalist with Pilot and an early member of the Bay City Rollers. Born in in Edinburgh, Scotland, he also contributed to The Alan Parsons Project with fellow Pilot members. In addition, he released a solo album, titled Solo Casting in 1976.(died of an AIDS-related illness) b. March 26th 1953
1993: Ray Gillen (34) American singer, best known for his work with Badlands, in addition to his work with Black Sabbath in the mid-1980s. Born in New York, he started singing while in High School and played the New Jersey club circuit with various bands, most notably Vendetta and Harlette. In 1985 he joined Bobby Rondinelli's band, before his stint with Black Sabbath. He next played and recorded with Phenomena, "II Dream Runner" in 1987 and with Blue Murder on their demo "It's Too Late" in 1988, after which he joined John Sykes', Badlands, recording 3 albums. Just before his death Ray went to New York City and formed the band Sun Red Sun with old friends, releasing a self-titled album. He also worked with George Lynch on his 1993 "Flesh and Blood" album (sadly died from an AIDS related disease in a New York Hospital) b. May 12th 1959.
1997: Stéphane Grappelli (89) French self taught jazz violinist; he and Django Reinhardt founded the Quintet of the Hot Club of France during 1933-39 producing a sensational series of recordings & performances. He has appeared on hundreds of recordings including sessions with Duke Ellington, Oscar Peterson, Claude Bolling, Jean-Luc Ponty, Stuff Smith, L. Subramaniam, Gary Burton, Paul Simon, David Grisman, Yehudi Menuhin, André Previn, Bucky Pizzarelli, Joe Pass, Yo Yo Ma, Toots Thielmans and Mark O'Connor. He also collaborated extensively with the British guitarist Diz Disley, recording 13 record albums with him and his trio, and with now renowned British guitarist Martin Taylor. In the 1980s he gave several concerts with the young British cellist Julian Lloyd Webber. His music is played very quietly, on Pink Floyd's album "Wish You Were Here", he was not credited, according to Roger Waters, in order to avoid "a bit of an insult". He is an inductee of the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997 (died after undergoing a hernia operation) b. January 26th 1908.
1999: (or Nov 30) Don "Sugarcane" Harris (61) American Blues, jazz, rock violinist and guitarist born and raised in Pasadena, California; he was given the nickname "Sugarcane" by LA bandleader Johnny Otis. He started an act called Don and Dewey in the mid 1950s. In the 1960s he played exclusively the electric violin, as a sideman with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and Frank Zappa, most recognized for his appearances on the Mothers of Invention albums Hot Rats, Burnt Weeny Sandwich, and Weasels Ripped My Flesh. His lead vocal and blues violin solo on a cover of Little Richard's "Directly From My Heart to You" on Weasels, and his extended solo on the lengthy "Little House I Used To Live In" on Weeny are considered highlights of those albums. The 70's sees him fronting the Pure Food and Drug Act (pulmonary disease) b. June 19th 1938.
2007: Zayda Peña Arjona (28) Mexican lead singer; she headed a band known as Zayda y los Culpables – “Zayda and the Guilty Ones.” One of her songs was “Tiro de Gracia,” a reference to an execution-style gunshot. (she was shot in the back by a gunman at Mónaco Motel in Matamoros, Tamaulipas. This was not fatal, but the following day several assailants entered the hospital and shot her death. She was not involved with drugs on any level) b. 1981
2008: Mikel Laboa (74) Spanish Basque singer and songwriter. His music could be defined as a happy combination of tradition, poetry and experimentalism. He was a founder of the legendary ‘Ez Dok Amairu’ cultural group. After over 40 years devoted to music, he has influenced many of the younger generations and recorded 15 albums between 1964 to 2005 (?) b. June 15th 1934
2009: Ramses Shaffy (76) Dutch popular singer, chansonnier (singing songs from the late Middle Ages and Renaissance) and actor; born in Paris, after dropping out of high school in 1952 he attended the Amsterdam school of theatre arts. In 1955, he made his stage debut with the Nederlandse Comedie and in 1964, he founded the theatre group Shaffy Chantant. Ramses became popular as a singer in the 1960s, his noted songs include Zing, vecht, huil, bid, lach, werk en bewonder/Sing, fight, cry, pray, laugh, work and admire; We zullen doorgaan/We will go on; Pastorale/Sammy; and Laat me/Leave me be. He also frequently collaborated with Dutch singer Liesbeth List. By the early 80's he had returned to the stage, he played Don Quixote in the musical De man van La Mancha (The man from La Mancha) in 1993. Pieter Fleury made a documentary about him in 2002, titled Ramses, which won a Golden Calf, the award of the Netherlands Film Festival. (esophageal cancer) b. August 29th 1933.
2009: Donald Washington Sr (79) American jazz tenor saxophonist, born in West Philadelphia and raised in Southwest Philadelphia and graduated from Murrell Dobbins Career and Technical Education High School in 1948. He starting to play the saxophone as an elder statesman on Philadelphia's jazz scene in the late 1960s to the mid 1980s. As a leader, Donald founded the Marlboro Men, a group that toured Haiti, Jamaica and the Virgin Islands. He also performed with Donald Byrd, Jerry Butler, Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis, Jr., B.B. King, Diana Ross, Neil Sedaka and Horace Silver. When not on the road, he would jam regularly in Saturday Nights at Natalie's Lounge in West Philadelphia (lung cancer) b. ??.??.1930.

December 2
1950: Dinu Lipatti (33) Romanian pianist, born in Bucharest his playing was hailed as having reached the highest degree of integrity and pianistic technique, which he employed in the quest for musical perfection. Dinu is particularly noted for his interpretations of Chopin, Mozart and Bach, but he also made recordings of Ravel's Alborada del Gracioso, Liszt, Enescu, the Schumann Piano Concerto, and the Grieg Piano Concerto. His recording of Chopin's Waltzes has remained in print since its release and has long been a favorite of many classical music-lovers. (sadly his career was cut short by his death from Hodgkin's disease) b. April 1st 1917
1971: Ernest 'Punch' Miller (77) American dixieland trumpeter, born in Raceland, Louisiana. Punch was well known and based in New Orleans from 1919 to 1927 before he moved Chicago. In Chicago he worked with various bands including those of Jelly Roll Morton and Tiny Parham, and appeared on a number of recordings. His lifestyle and the decline New Orleans jazz led to his return to mostly doing festivals. This changed with the rising importance of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and he returned to national attention. He returned to New Orleans, playing at Preservation Hall and leading a band under his own name, in addition to playing with other groups. He toured Japan in 1963 Japan with George Lewis. He was the subject of the 1971 television documentary "Til the Butcher Cuts him down". (?) b. June 10th 1894.
1986: Desi Arnaz/Ricky Ricardo (69) Cuban singer, guitarist, percussionist, actor, comedian and television producer; he led own Latin American band and known to many as Ricky Ricardo with Lucille Ball in "I Love Lucy". In 1939, he starred on Broadway in the successful musical including Too Many Girls. He then went to Hollywood to appear in the 1940 movie version at RKO, which starred actress, comedian, and his future wife Lucille Ball. At the time, he also played guitar for Xavier Cugat (lung cancer) b. March 2nd 1917.
1990: Aaron Copland (90) American composer; he studied composition in Paris with Nadia Boulanger. In his early works he experimented with jazz rhythms and then with an abstract style influenced by Neoclassicism. He came to be unofficially regarded as the U.S.'s national composer. He is best known for his three ballets based on American folk material: Billy the Kid in 1938), Rodeo in 1942, and Appalachian Spring in 1944, for which he recieved the Pulitzer Prize. He also wrote film scores, orchestral works, and operas. He won an Oscar for his 1949 music to The Heiress and was nominated for Of Mice and Men in 1939, Our Town in 1940 and 1943's The North Star. In his later years Aaron refined his treatment of Americana, making his references less overt, and he produced a number of works using the experimental technique of serialism. He continued to lecture and to conduct through the mid-1980s (Alzheimer's disease and respiratory failure) b. November 14th 1900.
1997: Michael Hedges (43) US solo guitarist; covering a wide range of musical styles he was one of the most innovative and acclaimed solo guitarists of his era, self-described "violent acoustic" he rose to success on the strength of a unique performing style that utilized harmonics and picking to create the impression of multiple guitars playing simultaneously. He was discovered in the early eighties by William Ackerman who heard him performing in a Palo Alto cafe and signed him to a recording contract. His record Oracle posthumously won the 1998 Grammy Award for Best New Age Album (a car accident along State Route 128 near Boonville about 100 miles northwest of San Francisco) b. December 31st 1953.
1998: Robert Sherwood "Bob" Haggart (84) American Dixieland jazz double bass player, composer and arranger. He becamer a founder-member of the Bob Crosby Band in 1935, arranging and part-composing several of the band's big successes including "What's New?", "South Rampart Street Parade", "My Inspiration", and "Big Noise From Winnetka" As a studio musician and arranger he worked with the likes of Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong's and Ella Fitzgerald. He also worked and co-led with Yank Lawson The world's greatest Jazz Band as well as leading his own band (?) b. March 13th 1914
1982: David Blue (41) US folk singer; an integral part of the Greenwich Village folk music scene in New York, perhaps best known for writing the song "Outlaw Man" for the Eagles, on their 1973 Desperado album. Blue's original version of "Outlaw Man" was the lead track of his own "Nice Baby And The Angel" album. In 1975 he joined Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue and he appeared in Renaldo and Clara, the 1978 movie that was filmed during that tour. He acted in other films including, The American Friend, The Ordeal Of Patty Hearst and Human Highway by Neil Young. (heart attack) b. February 18th 1941.
2001: Valerie Jones (45) US singer, part of The Jones Girls, a female R&B trio of sisters from Detroit, Michigan.Their biggest hit was "You Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else". They were also backup singers for Lou Rawls, Teddy Pendergrass and Aretha Franklin and sang with Diana Ross and Le Pamplemousse during the late-1970s. (?) b. ?
2006: Dave Mount (59) UK drummer and founder member of the 1970's glam-rock group Mud. They first appeared on the Basil Brush show on BBC TV and were signed to Mickie Most's RAK label. They had an immediate Top 20 hit with "Crazy". At the peak of their career they enjoyed three British number one singles with "Tiger Feet", which sold over 500,000 copies in the UK alone, a million sales globally; "Lonely This Christmas", an affectionate Elvis Presley spoof which has now become an annual fixture on British radio and television at Christmas time and "Oh Boy". Mud disbanded at the end of the Seventies, after which he worked with Gray in an oldies act, Les Gray's Mud. He also appeared on an episode of Never Mind The Buzzcocks on BBC Two in November 2005, and featured in the "spot the pop star of the past" identity parade segment. The last performance by the four original members was on 3 March 1990, when they met and played Dave's wedding(he took his own life) b. March 3rd 1947.
2008: Odetta Holmes (77) African-American singer, guitarist, songwriter, human rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". She performed American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals. An important figure in the American folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s, she was influential musically and ideologically to many of the key figures of the folk-revival of that time, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Janis Joplin. In 1961, Martin Luther King Jr. anointed her "The Queen of American folk music". In 1976, she performed in the U.S. Bicentennial opera "Be Glad Then America" by John LaMontaigne, as the Muse for America. Many time Grammy Award nominee, on Sept 29, 1999, President Bill Clinton presented her with the National Endowment for the Arts' National Medal of Arts. In 2004, she was honored at the Kennedy Center with the "Visionary Award", and in 2005, the Library of Congress honored her with its "Living Legend Award". (heart disease) b. December 31st 1930.
2009: Aaron Schroeder (83) American songwriter, born in Brooklyn, New York; his first success, At a Sidewalk Penny Arcade one of the songs to introduce Rosemary Clooney as a solo recording artist, was followed by an incredible 1500 songs. He wrote seventeen songs for Elvis Presley including five that reached number one.. A Big Hunk o' Love, Good Luck Charm, I Got Stung, Stuck on You, It's Now or Never. Other song recordings to his credit, including major records by dozens of artists such as Roy Orbison, Duane Eddy, Sammy Davis Jr., Nat King Cole, Perry Como and Pat Boone. Aaron made a cameo appearance in the 1957 Warner Bros rock and roll movie Jamboree as a songwriter. He was also the founder and president of Musicor Records (1960-1965), and discovered, managed, produced and directed the career of Gene Pitney. He also worked on productions with with Blood, Sweat and Tears, and Hal David and Burt Bacharach among others (Alzheimer's disease) b. September 7th 1926.
2009: Eric Woolfson (64)Scottish singer, songwriter and lyricist, born in Glasgow he started composing music in his early teens. He moved to London in 1963, stopping off in Manchester to do a short stint as pianist with Hermans Hermits. Finally reachiing London he found work as a session pianist, before record producer Andrew Oldham, signed him up as a songwriter. Eric wrote songs for artists such as Marianne Faithfull, Frank Ifield, Joe Dassin, The Tremeloes, Marmalade, Dave Berry, and Peter Noone. His songs were recorded by over 100 artists both in Europe and USA. During the '60s he worked with two then-unknown writers, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. In the early '70s, Eric went into management, his first two signings were Carl Douglas and engineer/record producer Alan Parsons and in 1975 Eric and Alan joined forces to found the studio progressive rock group, The Alan Parson Project. From 1976 with their debut album Tales of Mystery and Imagination to 1987, they collaborated on the conception and lyrics for all ten albums by The Alan Parsons Project, which have achieved world-wide sales in excess of 40 million. Eric had been swaying more and more towards stage musicals, his first musical premiered in Vienna in 1990: Freudiana, about Sigmund Freud. The success led to his second musical in 1995, "Gaudi" about Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi, which ran for over five years. Other musicals include "Gambler" and "Edgar Allan Poe". His last musical "Dancing with Shadows" based on the anti-war play Forest Fire by the Korean playwright Cham Bum-Suk and with a book by Ariel Dorfman premiered in July 2007 in Korea (cancer) b. March 18th 1945.

December 3
1955: Charles Edward "Cow Cow" Davenport (61) American boogie woogie piano player, also played the organ and sang. His career began in the 1920s when he joined Banhoof's Traveling Carnival, a medicine show. His first fame came as accompanist to blues musicians Dora Carr and Ivy Smith. He also performed with Tampa Red. He recorded for many record labels, and was a talent scout and artist for Vocalion Records. He suffered a stroke in the early 1930s and lost movement in his hands. He was washing dishes when he was found by the jazz pianist Art Hodes in 1938. Hodes assisted in his rehabilitation and helped him find new recording contracts. He is a member of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, where Cripple Clarence Lofton called him a major influence (hardening of the arteries) b. April 26th 1894.
1972: Bill Johnson (100) US jazz musician considered the father of the "slap" style of string bass playing. He started "slapping" the strings of his bass, (a more vigorous technique than the classical pizzicato), after he accidentally broke his bow on the road with his band in northern Louisiana in the early 1910s. Other New Orleans string bass players picked up this style, and spread it across the country with the spread of New Orleans Jazz. He was founder and manager of the first jazz band to leave New Orleans and tour widely in the 1910s, The Original Creole Orchestra. He also played with King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, Bill Johnson's Louisiana Jug Band, and made many fine recordings in Chicago (died in New Braunfels, Texas) b.August 10th 1872.
1973: Emile Christian (78) American jazz trombonist from New Orleans; he also played cornet and string bass, he played both cornet and trombone with the Papa Jack Laine bands. He went to Chicago, Illinois in late 1917 to play trombone with the Bert Kelly Jass Band. In 1918 he went to New York City to play with the Original Dixieland Jass Band; he toured England with the O.D.J.B., contributed his tune "Satanic Blues" to their repertory, and made his first recordings with this band. Other songs he wrote include "Meet Me At the Green Goose", and "Mardi Gras Parade". After a brief time in the Original Memphis Five, he returned to Europe where he played with various jazz bands in Berlin, Paris, and other European cities into the mid 1930s. He played in both Black and White bands in Europe and India before returning to the US after the outbreak of World War II. He moved back to New Orleans in the 1950s where he played with the bands of Leon Prima, Santo Pecora, and Sharkey Bonano and his own band. In 1957 he toured with the Louis Prima Band. He continued playing in New Orleans into 1969, in his later years mostly playing string bass (?) b. April 20th 1895.
1998: Pierre Hétu (62) Canadian conductor and pianist, born in Montreal, Quebec. He studied in Paris.. piano with Marcel Ciampi and conducting with Edouard Lindenberg, then in 1961, following studies with Sergiu Celibidache, he won the Concours International des Jeunes Chefs d'Orchestre in Besançon. He subsequently studied under Charles Münch, Jean Martinon, and Hans Swarowsky. Pierre made his Canadian debut in 1963, conducting the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, and was appointed the orchestra’s Assistant Conductor under Zubin Mehta from 1963-1968. He was Music Director of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra in Michigan from 1968-1972, Associate Conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra from 1970-1973, and both Artistic Director from 1973-1979 and Principal Guest Conductor 1979-1980 of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (?) b. April 22nd 1936.
1999: Scatman John/John Paul Larkin (57) American singer born in El Monte, California; stuttering jazz musician who created a unique fusion of scat singing and house music, best known for his debut 1994 single "Scatman (Ski Ba Bop Ba Dop Bop)", a song he intended to inspire children who stuttered to overcome adversity, it sold over 6 million copies, making him a world star at the age of 52. He followed this with 10 more singles and 4 albums. His second album Everybody Jam! took off in Japan, he was so popular there that Japanese toy stores sold dolls of his likeness and he appeared on phone cards and Coca Cola cans. The Japanese version of Everybody Jam! included a total of five bonus tracks, including the hit singles there "Su Su Su Super Ki Re i" and "Pripri Scat", which were commissioned by Japanese companies for commercials for cosmetics and pudding respectively. (lung cancer) b. March 13th 1942.
2000: Hoyt Curtin (78) US composer and music producer, the main musical director for the Hanna-Barbera animation studio from its beginnings with The Ruff & Reddy Show in 1957 until his retirement in 1986. He composed many of the Hanna-Barbera cartoon theme songs, including The Flintstones, Top Cat, The Jetsons, Jonny Quest, Superfriends, Josie and the Pussycats, and The New Scooby-Doo Movies. He also wrote the controversial score for the science-fiction film Mesa of Lost Women and composed the music for the Sandy Frank cartoon Battle of the Planets, his last project, released in 2000 (died in L.A) b. September 9th 1922.
2001: Grady Martin (72) US guitarist; a noted session musician who played guitar on several hit songs including "Honky Tonk Man" by Johnny Horton, Marty Robbins hit songs El Paso and Don't Worry, and Roy Orbison's Oh, Pretty Woman. He played guitar on the records of country artist Loretta Lynn, Hank Williams, Bing Crosby, Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Joan Baez, Floyd Cramer, Patsy Cline, Brenda Lee, Ray Price, Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard and many others. He learnt the piano, guitar and fiddle, at 15 years old he joined the band of Nashville musician Big Jeff Bess and spent the next two years touring. In 1946 he worked with the Bailes Brothers performing on the Grand Ole Opry. As well as his extensive session career, in 1951 he formed a country-jazz band, Grady Martin and the Slew Foot Five, backing acts like Bing Crosby and Burl Ives after which he formed Grady Martin and his Winging Strings and from 1979 to 1994 he became lead guitarist for Willie Nelson's touring band. He was the 83rd inductee into the the Rockabilly Hall of Fame (heart failure) b. January 17th 1929.
2006: Logan Whitehurst (29) US drummer, also keyboards, guitar, accordion, concertina, piano, and provided his own backup vocals through multitracking. He began his career as the drummer for the band Little Tin Frog from 1995 until 2000, although he is best known as a founding member of Californian indie rock band The Velvet Teen and as a solo artist performing under the name Logan Whitehurst and the Junior Science Club He was also an accomplished graphic designer, creating numerous album covers for bands such as his sister's Tsunami Bomb, in addition to Dynamite Boy, Little Tin Frog, The Velvet Teen, 20 Minute Loop, Go Time, Shut Up Donny, Santiago, and labels such as Fearless Records, Restitution Records, Silent Records and Entertainment, and Double Helix Records (cancerous brain tumor) b. November 15th 1977.
2009: Torrie Zito (76) American pianist, music arranger, composer and conductor. Torrie is widely known for his hugely popular work with John Lennon on the classic album Imagine, as string arranger. But Torrie has worked with many recording artists of note, including Billie Holiday, Stan Getz, Perry Como, Billy Eckstine, Herbie Mann, Steve Lawrence, Edie Gorme, Nana Mouskouri,Bobby Short, Marvin Hamlish, Roberto Carlos, Sinead O'Conner, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Bobby Darin, Morgana King, Johnny Mathis, Clay Aiken, Liza Minnelli, Morgana King, O.C. Smith, Quincy Jones, and Carly Simon (emphysema) b. October 12th 1933.

December 4
1935: Johan Halvorsen (71) Norwegian composer, conductor and violinist. He was an accomplished violinist from a very early age and became a prominent figure in Norwegian musical life. As well as much theatre work, he conducted performances of over 30 operas and wrote the incidental music for more than 30 plays. Following his retirement from the theatre he finally had time to concentrate on the composition of his three great symphonies and two well-known Norwegian rhapsodies (?) b. 15 March 15th 1864
1976: Tommy Bolin (25) American-born guitarist; born in Sioux City, Iowa, he moved to Boulder, Colorado, in his late teens, where he played in a band called American Standard before joining Ethereal Zephyr, later called Ethereal Zephyr. In 1972 at the age of 20, Tommy formed the fusion jazz-rock-blues band Energy. At this time he also played on Billy Cobham's Spectrum album. 1973 found him in the James Gang recording two records with this band: Bang! in 1973 and Miami in 1974. He went on to do session work for numerous rock bands and also with a number of jazz artists. He featured on Alphonse Mouzon's (of Weather Report) album Mind Transplant and toured with Carmine Appice and The Good Rats. In 1975 he embarked on his solo career debuting with 'Teaser'. Also in 1975 he was contacted to replace Ritchie Blackmore in Deep Purple. The Deep Purple world tour that followed in 1975 and 1976 allowed Tommy to showcase one song per night from Teaser. In 1976 he began to record Private Eyes, his second solo record. This album was supposed to be a double album. Much more of his music was released after his death including 11 live albums. His final show, just hours before his death, he opened for Jeff Beck (alcohol and drugs overdose) b. August 1st 1951.
1976: Benjamin Britton (62) UK composer, conductor, violist and pianist; he showed musical gifts early in life, and began composing prolifically as a child. With his arrival on the international music scene, many felt that English music gained its greatest genius since Purcell. One of his best known works is The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, composed to accompany Instruments of the Orchestra, an educational film produced by the British government, narrated and conducted by Malcolm Sargent. (heart failure) b. 22 November 1913.
1993: Frank Zappa (52) American composer, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, he wrote rock, jazz, electronic, orchestral, and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album covers. Zappa produced almost all of the more than 60 albums he released with the band Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist. One of the most accomplished composers of the rock era, with terrific musical knowledge and an outrageous sense of humor (prostate cancer) b. December 21st 1940.
2002: Bernie Dwyer (62) UK drummer, founder member of Freddie & the Dreamers; although the band were grouped as a part of the Merseybeat sound phenomenon that The Beatles exploded around the world in the wake of Beatlemania, they came from Manchester, and were the first such non-Liverpool, non-Brian Epstein-managed band to break through in the UK. Their most famous hits were "If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody", "I'm Telling You Now", "You Were Made For Me", and "I Understand" (lung cancer) b. September 11th 1940.
2004: Elena Souliotis (61) Greece operatic soprano initially hailed as "the next Callas", her best known role is Abigaille in Verdi's opera Nabucco. Although her opera recordings were best sellers and she quickly achieved a busy career, unwisely, she took on certain demanding roles too early, and damaged her voice by denying it the time it needed to develop and strengthen by natural stages. After an absence from the stage that lasted several years, she began a second career in comprimario roles beginning in 1979, mostly in Russian operas (died of heart failure in Florence, Italy) b. May 28th 1943
2005: Gloria Lasso/Rosa María Coscolin (83) Spanish-born singer, long based in France. She found fame and success in the 1950s and 1960s, with songs such as Amour, Castagnettes et Tango, Etranger au Paradis (a French version of Stranger in Paradise), Buenas Noches Mi Amor, and Bon Voyage (heart attack) b. November 25th 1922
2007: Pimp C/Chad Butler (33) American rap artist, co-founder of the "Dirty South" style rap group UGK, and also co-owner of Trill Entertainment along with bandmate "Bun B". Born in Port Arthur, TX, his father played trumpet professionally with Solomon Burke, Chad studied classical music while in high school, and received a Division I rating on a tenor solo at a University Interscholastic League choir competition. He developed an interest in hip-hop when a friend of his gave him a Run-DMC album, after which he and his best friend Bernard "Bun B" Freeman, formed the rap group Underground Kingz aka UGK. Their 3rd album, Ridin' Dirty, reached No.2 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. January 2002 Chad was sentenced to eight years in prison after violating probation by ignoring the community service sentence he had received from an earlier aggravated gun assault charge. He was released in 2005 and his 1st solo album "Pimpalation" appeared in the summer of 2006. Bun B dedicated the final UGK album, UGK 4 Life, to Pimp C's memory. (Los Angeles County Coroner's office state he died from an accidental overdose of Promethazine /Codeine "syrup" mixed with a pre-existing medical condition, sleep apnea, which causes a person to stop breathing during sleep) b. December 29th 1973
2008: Richard Van Allan CBE (73) UK operatic bass singer; he sang varied repertoire at Covent Garden, English National Opera, and numerous important houses worldwide. With his distinctive profile and memorable stage presence, he made a powerful impression in many roles, from Wagner, Verdi, Mozart, to Gilbert & Sullivan. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2001, and his last performance was as Folz in Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the 2006 Edinburgh Festival (lung cancer) b. May 28th 1935
2009: Mary Virginia Curtis Verna (88) American operatic soprano, born in Salem, US, Mary is particularly associated with the Italian repertory and famed in the 50s and ’60s for stepping into the roles of ailing, or otherwise indisposed divas, often on only a few hours’ notice. She made her stage debut at the Teatro Lirico in Milan, as Desdemona, in 1949. She sang widely in Italy, as Maria Curtis Verna, and made guest appearances at the Vienna State Opera and the Munich State Opera. She made her American debut in Philadelphia, in 1952, and the same year at the San Francisco Opera, as Aida. She made her debut at the New York City Opera, as Donna Anna, in 1954, and at the Metropolitan Opera, as Leonora in Il trovatore, in 1957. She can be heard in a few Cetra recordings; Don Giovanni, opposite Giuseppe Taddei, Italo Tajo, Cesare Valletti, Un ballo in maschera, opposite Ferruccio Tagliavini and Giuseppe Valdengo, Aida, opposite Franco Corelli, Miriam Pirazzini, Giangiacomo Guelfi () b. May 9th 1921.
2009: William 'Liam' Clancy (74) Irish singer, born in Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Tipperary, Ireland. Clancy began singing with his brothers at fund-raising events for the Cherry Lane Theatre and the Guthrie benefits. He and his brothers relocated to New York in 1956, where a record breaking 16 minute long performance on The Ed Sullivan Show launched the group into stardom. The quartet recorded numerous albums for Columbia Records and enjoyed great success during the '60s folk revival. In these days, Liam was a close friend of Bob Dylan when they both were going out with two sisters in New York, also he performed live for President John F. Kennedy and played guitar in addition to singing and recorded several solo albums. In 1975 he was booked to play a festival in Cleveland, Ohio, where Tommy Makem was also playing. The two played a set together and formed Makem and Clancy, performing in numerous concerts and recording several albums as a duo, until 1988. Now back in Ireland, Liam re-joined the Clancy Brothers in 1996, which then included his brothers, Paddy, Bobby, and O'Connell, to record the album, "Older But No Wiser" and embark on a farewell tour. He continued to touring with his son, Donal, and O'Connell, as Clancy, O'Connell & Clancy. In 2006 Irish Television profiled Liam Clancy in a two hour documentary called "The Legend of Liam Clancy." In February 2007 the documentary won the award for best series at the Irish Film & Television Academy awards in Dublin (died from complications of lung disease) b. September 2nd 1935.

December 5
1791: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (35) Austrian composer; one of the heavyweights of classical music, generally placed in the top rank of composers along with Beethoven and Bach. Many consider Mozart to be the greatest composer of all time. His more than 600 compositions include works widely acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music, and he is among the most enduringly popular of classical composers.
(died of a mysterious fever) b. January 27th 1756.
1953: Jorge Alberto Negrete Moreno (42)Mexican singer, actor; considered one of the most popular Mexican singers and actors of all time. He started his career singing operatic parts on the radio in 1931 in Mexico City. In 1936 he signed with NBC for a television program with Cuban and Mexican musicians. He returned to Mexico in 1937 to act in the film "La Madrina Del Diablo" ("The Devil's Godmother") after which in 1938 he starred in "La Valentina" with Elisa Christy and then in "Juntos Pero No Revueltos" ("Together But Not Mixed"). After working in Havana and Hollywood he was called to act in "¡Ay Jalisco, No Te Rajes!" ("Hey Jalisco, Don't Back Down!") which made him an international Latin star and helped formulate the charro film genre (hepatitis) b. November 30th 1911.
1963: Karl Amadeus Hartmann (58) German composer, some have lauded him as the greatest German symphonist of the 20th century, although he is now largely overlooked, particularly in English-speaking countries. He voluntarily withdrew completely from musical life in Germany during the Nazi era, and refused to allow his works to be played there. An early symphonic poem, Miserae first performed in Prague, 1935, was condemned by the Nazi regime; but his work continued to be performed, and his fame grew, abroad. Beginning in November 1945, the concerts reintroduced the German public to 20th-century repertoire which had been banned since 1933 under National Socialist aesthetic policy. Karl provided a platform for the music of the young composers who came to the fore in the late 1940s and early 1950s, helping to establish such figures as Hans Werner Henze, Luigi Nono, Luigi Dallapiccola, Carl Orff, Iannis Xenakis, Olivier Messiaen, Luciano Berio, Bernd Alois Zimmermann and many others. Hartmann also involved sculptors and artists such as Jean Cocteau, Le Corbusier, and Joan Miró in exhibitions at Musica Viva (stomach cancer) b. August 2nd 1905.
1977: Rahsaan Roland Kirk/Ronald Theodore Kirk (42) American jazz saxaphonist, composer and multi-instrumentalist who played tenor saxophone, flute and many other instruments, born in Columbus, Ohio, but felt compelled by a dream to transpose two letters in his first name to make Roland. He became blind at an early age as a result of poor medical treatment. In 1970, after hearing it in a dream, he added "Rahsaan" to his name. Preferring to lead his own bands, he rarely performed as a sideman, although he did record with arranger Quincy Jones and drummer Roy Haynes and had notable stints with bassist Charles Mingus. One of his best-known recorded performances is the lead flute and solo on Jones' "Soul Bossa Nova", a 1964 hit song repopularized in the Austin Powers films (died from a second stroke) b. December 5th 1977.
1987: Fat Larry James (38) American drummer and vocalist of Fat Larry's Band; the band's biggest hits were "Act Like You Know", which later appeared on the soundtrack for Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and "Zoom", which hit number two in the UK singles chart. They had two other major hits in the UK: "Center City" with lead vocals by Grant and "Boogie Town". His opening drum break from "Down On The Avenue", has been sampled by many hip-hop artists, including NWA, Ice T, Jungle Brothers, and Run-DMC. (heart attack) b. August 2nd 1949
1987: Molly O'Day/LaVerne Williamson (64) American C&W, gospel singer, banjo; pioneering vocalist whose soulful, gut-wrenching performances helped redefine the role of the female country solo artist, whose C&W career was relatively brief, but her lasting influence has proven massive. Staring out in 1939 when she was hired to perform in a radio band: Ervin Staggs and His Radio Ramblers at WCHS, Charleston, West Virginia.She also joined the Radio Ramblers as a vocalist under the pseudonym Mountain Fern and worked with a banjoist called Murphy McClees and changed her name to Dixie Lee. She signed recording contract with Columbia Records and Molly O'Day and her band The Cumberland Mountain Folks made their first recordings on December 16th 1946 (cancer) b. July 9th 1923.
1989: John Pritchard CBE (68) English conductor, known for his interpretations of Mozart operas and his support of contemporary music. He joined the music staff of Glyndebourne Festival Opera in '47 as chorus master in '49. He remained associated with Glyndebourne for most of his career, as conductor, music counsellor and musical director. As well as this he appeared worldwide from the Far East to both American contenants to Europe with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Opera Covent Garden,Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Vienna State Opera, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Cologne Opera, the Théâtre de la Monnaie, and the San Francisco Opera to mention a few. John was appointed CBE in 1962 and knighted in 1983. The prestigious Shakespeare prize in Hamburg, was awarded him in 1975 (?) b. February 5th 1921.
1993: Doug Hopkins (32) American lead guitarist; he co-founded the Gin Blossoms, a popular modern rock band of the early 1990s. His writing credits included the hits "Hey Jealousy," "Found Out About You," "Hold Me Down," and "Lost Horizons." but he had to quit the band due to his depression and drinking. He started another band, The Chimeras, with brothers Lawrence & Mark Zubia. His role in the band came to an abrupt end during a show one night, he quit. It would be the last band he ever played with in public as a member, he was too tormented with bad depression. (committed suicide, self-inflicted bullet wounds) b. April 11th 1961.
2007: Karlheinz Stockhausen (79) German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important composers of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Another critic calls him "one of the great visionaries of 20th-century music". He is known for his ground-breaking work in electronic music, aleatory in serial composition, and musical. Some of his notable compositions include the series of nineteen Klavierstücke (Piano Pieces), Kontra-Punkte for ten instruments, the electronic /musique-concrète Gesang der Jünglinge, Gruppen for three orchestras, the percussion solo Zyklus, Kontakte, the cantata Momente, the live-electronic Mikrophonie I, Hymnen, Stimmung for six vocalists, Aus den sieben Tagen, Mantra for two pianos and electronics, Tierkreis, Inori for soloists and orchestra, and the gigantic opera cycle Licht (heart failure) b. August 22th 1928.
2008: Anca Parghel (51) Romanian singer, composer, arranger, teacher, band leader and conductor. She had a four octaves voice range and sang in different styles and genres of music including jazz, pop, classical, latin, French music, Italian music & Romanian folklore. She has recorded and performed with many great artists including Billy Hart, Archie Shepp, Claudio Roditi, John Engels, Larry Corriel, Jean-Louis Rassinfosse, Philippe Catherine, Eric Legnini, Peter Herbolzheimer, Peter Hertmans, Aldo Romano, Marc Levine, Gustavo Bergali, Claudio Roditi, Pierre van Dormael, John Ruocco, John Dankworth, played all the top jazz festivals and countless gigs in famous jazz clubs in Germany, USA, Holland, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, France, Bulgaria, Romania (?) b. September 16, 1957
2008: Rúnar Júlíusson (63) Icelandic bassist with Thor's Hammer; formed in Keflavik in 1963, they soon became popular in Iceland and by the mid-1960s they were recording in London on Parlophone Records, including the legendary EP Umbarumbamba, now a valuable collector's item. From these sessions also came the singles "Once" and "If You Knew". They recorded their single entitled "Stay" in the United States on Columbia Records, which was produced by John Simon, (cardiac arrest) b. April 13th 1945
2008: Dominic Mallary (24) American vocalist for Massachusetts hardcore outfit Last Lights, the band had just signed a recording contract two days before this fatal night. (brain anyeurism. He felt ill 2 hours after finishing a show at Boston University’s BU Central late night campus venue, he died soon after in Boston Medical Center) b.???
2009: Dr. Ragtime/Jack Rose (38) American guitarist, best known for his solo acoustic guitar work. He was also a founding member of the noise/drone band Pelt. It wasn't until the early 2000's he took up his solo career, releasing his debut album Red Horse, White Mule in 2002, this was followed by around a dozen more albums many of them in limited pressings. He was inspired and influenced by pre-1942 Cajun, country, blues, jazz music and composers like Terry Riley and La Monte Young. (heart attack) b. February 16th 1971.

December 6
1949: Lead Belly/Huddie William Ledbetter (64) US folk,sometimes blues musician, notable for his clear, forceful singing and his virtuosity on the twelve string guitar. Pre-dating blues, he was an early example of a folksinger whose background had brought him into direct contact with the oral tradition by which folk music was handed down. Around 1912, he met the young street musician Blind Lemon Jefferson, five years his junior, and the two teamed up to play around the Dallas area for several years. It was during this period, he switched from the six-string to the 12-string guitar. He was a profound influence on folk performers of the 1940s such as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and later Odetta and Dylan. He recorded extensively & worked with Woody Guthrie in the group the Headline Singers. He left a huge legacy with his songs, including "Old Cotton Fields at Home" “Goodnight, Irene,” “The Midnight Special,” and “Rock Island Line” just to mention a few (Lou Gehrig's disease) b. January 20th 1888.
1958: Danny Alvin (55) American jazz drummer; in a lengthy career he's played drums and recorded with many traditional jazz groups, he played with Sophie Tucker at the New York club Reisenweber's in 1919, then moved to Chicago in the early 1920s. He played in both cities over the course of his career, playing with Sidney Bechet, George Brunis, Buck Clayton, Wild Bill Davison, Wingy Manone, Joe Marsala, Art Hodes, Mezz Mezzrow, and George Zack. As a leader he recorded sparsely;; his best-known issue was his 1958 album recorded for Stepheny Records. Also he is the father of guitarist Teddy Walters (?) b. November 29th 1902.
1983: Lucienne Boyer/Èmilienne-Henriette Boyer (80) French female singer, born in the Montparnasse Quarter of Paris. In 1927, she sang at a concert by the great star Félix Mayol where she was seen by the American impresario Lee Shubert who immediately offered her a contract to come to Broadway. She spent nine months in New York City, returning to perform there and to South America numerous times throughout the 1930s. By 1933 she had made a large number of recordings for Columbia Records of France including her signature song, " Parlez-moi d'amour", the song won the first-ever Grand Prix du Disque of the Charles Cros Academy. Following the Allied Forces liberation of France, her cabaret career flourished and for another thirty years, she maintained a loyal following. At the age of 73, she sang with her daughter at the famous Paris Olympia and appeared on several French television shows (?) b. August 18th 1903.
1988: Roy Orbison (52) Grammy Award-winning American singer-songwriter, guitarist and a pioneer of rock and roll whose recording career spanned more than four decades. His many hits included "Ooby Dooby", "Only the Lonely", "In Dreams", "Oh, Pretty Woman", "Crying", "Running Scared" and "You Got It". He was known for his smooth tenor voice, which could jump three octaves with little trouble. He was rarely seen on stage without his trademark black sunglasses. In 1987, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 1988, he, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty and Bob Dylan formed the super group Traveling Wilburys who recorded two albums, but sadly Roy had died before the 2nd album and in 1989, he was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. (heart attack) b. April 23rd 1936. read more
1990: Pavlos Sidiropoulos (42) Greek singer, songwriter, composer; born in Athens, Pavlos formed the band “Damon and Phidias” with his friend Pantelis Delleyannidis in 1970. Soon after the two musicians joined the influential Greek musician Dionysis Savvopoulos and his group “Bourboulia”, recording the album “Damis The Tough” with them. It was through this group that Sidiropoulos first experimented with combining Greek and Rock music. He next collaborated with the Greek composer Yannis Markopoulos: he sang in his compositions “Oropedio”, “Thessalikos Kiklos” and "Electric Theseus". Then in 1976, he founded the band “Spiridoula” recording the album "Flou", considered by many the most important album in Greek rock music. He had the leading role in the film “O Asymvivastos”, directed by Andreas Thomopoulos, he sang all of the songs of the soundtrack. At the same time, he starred in another movie by Thomopoulos, “Aldevaran”. Sidiropoulos also made one appearance on TV in a series called “Oikogeneia Zarnti”. In 1980, Pavlos joined the band “Oi Aprosarmostoi”, where he remained until his death. In the summer of 1990, his right hand started getting paralyzed, as a result of his long term drug use that he was trying to overcome for many years. He continued his live performances but the deterioration of his health had serious psychological implications. Despite his early death, he remains one of the most popular rock musicians in Greece (died from heart attack, caused by heroin overdose) b. August 27th 1948
2002: David "Billy" Knight (55) US percussionist, brother of Gladys Knight (heart attack)b.??
2005: Danny Williams (63) South African singer; he spent most of his life in the UK, where he made a few moderately successful singles, mainly popular ballads, before hsving a No.1 hit with his cover version of "Moon River" in 1961. It led to his appearance in a film about a rock group, directed by Michael Winner, called Play it Cool which starred Billy Fury. "White On White" became popular abroad and was his only U.S. Top Ten hit, charting in 1964. He continued to record for HMV until 1967 while working the nightclub circuit. (cancer) b. January 7th 1942.
2006: Darren "Wiz" Brown (44) UK lead-singer and guitarist of English indie punk band Mega City Four in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the group were noted for their hard-working ethics and extensive touring. Later he worked with bands Serpico and Ipanema. He was known for his thought provoking lyrics (blood clot on the brain) b. January 19th 1962.

December 7
1960: Clara Haskil (65) Jewish Swiss classical pianist, renowned as an interpreter of the classical and early romantic repertoire. her playing was marked by a purity of tone and phrasing that may have come from her skill as a violinist. Transparency and sensitive inspiration were other hallmarks of her style. She played as a soloist under the baton of such conductors as Stokowski, Karajan, Beecham, Solti, Barbirolli, Boult, Jochum, Sawallisch, Kempe, Szell, Celibidache, Klemperer, Rosbaud, Monteux, Cluytens, Paray, Markevitch, Giulini, Ansermet, Münch, Kubelík, Fricsay and Inghelbrecht, among many others (died from injuries received through a fall in a Brussels train station) b. January 7th 1895.
1962: Kirsten Flagstad (67) Norwegian opera singer, one of the greatest Wagnerian dramatic, sopranos of the 20th century. A restrained and expressive stage performer, she was admired internationally for her voice's sheer tonal beauty, power, stamina, security and consistency of line and tone (bone marrow cancer) b. July 12th 1895.
1977: Peter Carl Goldmark (71) Hungarian-born, American engineer who, during his time with Columbia Records, was instrumental in developing the long-playing (LP) microgroove 33-1/3 rpm vinyl phonograph discs which defined home audio for two generations, Peter's vinyl long playing records remained the standard in the music industry until the CD replaced the LP in the late 1980s. In addition to his work on the LP record, and many other researches, Peter developed a technology for color television, using a rapidly rotating color wheel that alternated transmission in red, green and blue, transmitting on 343 lines. The color wheel system continued to be used for scientific research for several more decades, including the color lunar surface TV cameras during all the 1970s NASA Apollo moon landings.On November 22nd 1977, President Jimmy Carter presented Goldmark with the National Medal of Science "For contributions to the development of the communication sciences for education, entertainment, culture and human service" (car crash) b. December 2nd 1906.
1980: Darby Crash/Bobby Pyn/Jan Paul Beahm (22) US punk-rock singer, co-founder of the exteme punk band The Germs, who for a while dominated the L.A. punk scene. They started out as "Sophistifuck and the Revlon Spam Queens" and can be seen in the 1981 film The Decline of Western Civilization. He and The Germs are also the subject of the 2007 biopic film "What We Do Is Secret" which stars Shane West as Darby Crash (overdosed on heroin in a suicide pact with close friend Casey Cola, who ended up surviving) b. September 26th 1958.
1987: Richard "Ricky" Taylor (47) US baritone vocalist; founder member of The Manhattans back in 1962. Their first single was "For The First Time", released in 1964 by Carnival Records, In 1969the group received the award "Most Promising Group" by NATRA. After a few chart hits they enjoyed their first No.1 hit on both sides of the Atlantic in 1976 with "Kiss and Say Goodbye" (after a long illness) b. 1940
1990: Dee Clark/Delectus Clark (57) US singer born in Blytheville, Arkansas, and moved to Chicago in 1941. He first recorded in 1952 as a member of the Hambone Kids, scoring an R&B hit with the song "Hambone." In 1953, he joined the Goldentones, who later became the Kool Gents then The Delegates. In 1957 Dee went solo, his biggest hit was "Raindrops," this was followed by "Don't Walk Away From Me," "I'm Going Back to School" "Crossfire Time" and "Just Keep It Up". In 1975 he had another hit "Ride a Wild Horse" which also made the UK Singles Chart. After which Dee mostly performed on the oldies circuit. In 1987 he suffered a stroke which left him partially paralyzed and with a mild speech impediment, but he continued to perform until his death (heart attack) b. November 7th 1938.
1998: John Addison (78) British composer born in Chobham, Surrey, and trained at Wellington College, Berkshire and at the age of sixteen entered the Royal College of Music. He is best known for his film scores. He won an Academy Award for the music to the 1963 film, Tom Jones, BAFTA Award for A Bridge Too Far and Grammy Award in the Best Original Score from a Motion Picture or Television Show category for Tom Jones. He also composed the music for A Taste of Honey, Torn Curtain, Smashing Time, Sleuth, Swashbuckler and the television series Centennial. He also composed the theme music for the television series Murder, She Wrote, for which he won an Emmy. (?) b. March 16th 1920.
1999: Kenny Baker (78) UK trumpet, cornet, flugelhorn, vocals, bandleader, arranger, composer; as a teenager before the war, he met and began performing with the already well-known jazz musician George Chisholm. He went on to play with the likes of Manley's Orchestra, Jack Parnell, Ted Heath Band, as well as leading his own band who often performed on the first regular jazz show on British radio, the BBC Light Programme series 'Let's Settle For Music'. He was one of a handful of British jazz stars of the traditional and Swing era who seemed to offer genuinely international jazz credentials and was presented with the best trumpet player title for the third time at the BT British jazz awards in 1999. He was also awarded the MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 1999 (died after suffering from a viral infection for more than three weeks) b. March 1st 1921
2004: Jerry Scoggins (93) American singer; he sang and played guitar on the Dallas radio in the early 30's, in 1936 he formed his own group, the Cass County Kids. Ten years later, country music and cowboy legend Gene Autry changed their name to the Cass County Boys when he hired them to work on his Melody Ranch radio program. In 1962 he sing the theme song for a new sitcom called The Beverly Hillbillies with Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs playing guitar and banjo. He came out of retirement to sing the theme to the 1993 film version of the series. (natural causes) b. September 13th 1911.
2006: Jay McShann (90) American blues and swing pianist, bandleader, and singer; in Kansas City, Missouri in 1936, he set up his own big band, which featured Charlie Parker, Bernard Anderson, Ben Webster and Walter Brown, their most popular recording was "Confessin' the Blues." In 1945, Jimmy Witherspoon started recording with him and fronting McShann's band, they had a hit in 1949 with "Ain't Nobody's Business." He continued to perform well into his 80's. Crime-fiction writer Elmore Leonard featured Jay McShann as a character in his 2005 novel, The Hot Kid (died at St. Luke's Hospital in Kansas City) b. January 12th 1916.
2008: Dennis Yost (65) American lead singer with of the 1960s group the Classics IV; The Classics IV moved to Atlanta, Georgia in 1967 and were discovered by Bill Lowery who produced their first national hit in 1968 with "Spooky", it made No.3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the U.S., and No.46 in the UK. They changed the band name to Classics IV Featuring Dennis Yost and enjoyed two Top 10 hits, "Stormy" and "Traces" and a Top Twenty hit, "Everyday With You Girl" in 1969. They changed their name again, to Dennis Yost and the Classics IV, and had one last hit, "What Am I Crying For?" in 1972 (respiratory failure, he had been in nursing homes since suffering a brain injury sustained in a 2005 fall) b.1943

December 8
1967: John Mills Sr. (78) American singer; member of the Mills Brothers, a jazz and pop vocal quartet of the 20th century producing more than 2,000 recordings that sold more than 50 million copies and garnered at least three dozen gold records, including songs like "Chinatown, My Chinatown", "Baby Won't You Please Come Home", "Miss Otis Regrets", "Your Nobody Till Somebody Loves You", "Sweet Georgia Brown", "My Gal Sal", "Tennessee Waltz" and so many more. They recorded with the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby, Frank Munn, The Boswell Sisters, Louis Armstrong, Don Redman, Al Jolson, Connee Boswell, Fran Frey, Tommy Dorsey, Sy Oliver & His Orchestra, Sonny Burke & His Orchestra, Milton DeLugg & His Orchestra and Count Basie's Orchestra. It all began when John Mills Sr owned a barber shop and formed a barbershop quartet, called the "Four Kings of Harmony", his sons formed The Miller Brothers in 1928, John Sr. joined them in 1934. They were inducted into The Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1998, also in 1998 the Recording Academy recognized the Mills family's contributions to popular music with a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement. (?) b. February 11th 1889
1975: Gary Thain (27) New Zealand rock bassist; as part of the rock trio The New Nadir, with drummer Peter Dawkins, he travelled from New Zealand to London. He then joined the Keef Hartley Band and in 1971 they toured with Uriah Heep, who asked him to join them, replacing Mark Clarke in February 1972. He played on four studio albums: Demons & Wizards, The Magician's Birthday , Sweet Freedom and Wonderworld as well as the live album Uriah Heep Live. He stayed in Uriah Heep until February 1975. (died of respiratory failure due to a heroin overdose) b. May 15th 1948.
1980: John Lennon (40) English rock musician, singer, writer, songwriter, artist, actor and peace activist who gained worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles. Lennon along with Paul McCartney formed one of the most influential and successful songwriting partnerships and "wrote some of the most popular music in rock and roll history". In his solo career, he wrote and recorded many songs such as "Give Peace a Chance" and "Imagine". He also revealed his rebellious nature and wit on television, in films such as A Hard Day's Night, in books such as In His Own Write, and in press conferences and interviews. (shot five times by 25 year old Mark Chapman outside the Dakota building, New York, U.S. where John and his wife Yoko lived) b. October 9th 1940.
1982: Marty Robbins/Martin David Robinson (57) American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. One of the most popular and successful American country and western singers of his era, his songs were often eclectic, touching notably on an array of world music. For most of his nearly four decade career, he was rarely far from the music charts with hits such as "El Paso" and the Grammy Award winning "My Woman, My Woman, My Wife". He was named "Artist of the Decade" (1960-69) by the Academy of Country Music, was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1982, and was given a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1998 for his song "El Paso". He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1975 and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6666 Hollywood Blvd. He was also a NASCAR race car driver (due to surgical complications) b. September 26th 1925.
1984: Razzle/Nicholas Dingley (24) British drummer born in Royal Leamington Spa, England. He had played in UK-based bands Marionette, The Fuck Pigs, Demon Preacher along side of Nik Fiend of later Alien Sex Fiend fame, and The Dark, before joining the Finnish rock band Hanoi Rocks in 1982. He stayed with the band until his death. He was a huge influence upon Hanoi Rocks' music and even more so on their style. (Hanoi Rocks was on their first American tour. In a break in the tour, Razzle was out with Mötley Crüe's singer Vince Neil, when Razzle lost control of the car they were in and collided with an on coming car. He was taken to South Bay ER but was tragically declared dead on arrival. Vince dedicated Theater of Pain, Mötley Crüe's third studio album, to Razzle) b. December 2nd 1960.
1991: Buck Clayton/Wilbur Dorsey Clayton (80) American jazz trumpet player, fondly remembered for being a leading member of Count Basie’s 'Old Testament' orchestra. In the mid 30's he was a leader of the "Harlem Gentlemen" in Shanghai, where he worked closely with Li Jinhui, father of Chinese popular music in Shanghai. In the long run, his contribution changed the course of music history in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. He has worked with many leading artists and musicians including Billie Holiday, Lester Young, Sy Oliver, Benny Goodman and Harry James and became a member of Norman Granz’s 'Jazz at the Philharmonic' package, appearing in April in a concert with Young, Coleman Hawkins and Charlie Parker. In 1955 he appeared in the Benny Goodman Story, also working with Goodman in New York two years later. In 1958 he was at the World Fair in Brussels for concerts with Sidney Bechet, and toured Europe the following year and annually through the 1960s. (died quietly in his sleep ) b. November 12th 1911.
1994: Tom Jobim/Antonio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim (67) Brazilian composer singer, pianist, guitarist and arranger; a primary force behind the creation of the bossa nova style, he is acknowledged as one of the most influential popular composers of the 20th century. His songs have been performed by many singers and instrumentalists within Brazil and internationally. He acquired international fame with the release of the Grammy Award-winning album Getz/Gilberto, featuring his international hit "The Girl from Ipanema" sung by Astrud Gilberto. Notable performers of his songs include Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Toninho Horta, Andy Williams, Lambert, Hendricks, & Ross, Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, Sting, Diana Krall, Claudine Longet, Carlos Santana and George Michael (heart failure) b. January 25th 1927.
2003: Ruben Gonzalez (84) Cuban pianist; in 1940, he moved to Havana, where he played in the charangas of Paulina Álvarez and Paulín, with Arsenio Rodríguez, Kubavana and Senén Suárez and in the big bands Siboney and Riverside. In 1943, he released his first recording, together with Arsenio Rodríguez. In the early 1960s he became the pianist for the Orquesta de Enrique Jorrín, and would continue to play for him for the next 25 years. He started a second career in 1996 under Ry Cooder's wing, that same year he released the solo album "Introducing ... Rubén González". The next year, Ry Cooder produced the Grammy winning "Buena Vista Social Club", featuring Ruben González. He recorded and released his last album "Chanchullo" in 2000.(?) b. May 26th 1919.
2004: Dimebag Darrell/ Darrell Abbott (25) American guitarist. Best known as a founding member of the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan, he also performed in the country music band Rebel Meets Rebel. He frequently appeared in guitar magazines and in readers' polls, where he was often included in the top ten metal guitarist spots. In addition, he wrote a Guitar World magazine column, which has been compiled in the book Riffer Madness. (killed when a man stormed the stage during a gig at the Alrosa Villa Club in Columbus. Nathan Gale, aged 25, began firing at the band and crowd, killing 5 people) b. August 20th 1966.
2006: Martha Tilton (91) US singer best-known for her 1939 recording of "And the Angels Sing" with Benny Goodman. She was sometimes introduced as The Liltin' Miss Tilton. While attending Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, she was singing on a small radio station when she was heard by an agent who signed her and began booking her with larger stations. She then dropped out of school to join Hal Grayson's band, before joining The Benny Goodman Band. She was one of the first artists to record for Capitol Records in 1942, among her biggest hits as a solo artist were "I'll Walk Alone"; "I Should Care" and "A Stranger in Town"; and three in 1947: "How Are Things in Glocca Morra"; "That's My Desire"; and "I Wonder, I Wonder, I Wonder". She also worked on radio and in films including Sunny, Swing Hostess, Crime, Inc., and The Benny Goodman Story. Her last film appearance was as the band vocalist in the TV movie Queen of the Stardust Ballroom in 1975 (natural causes) b. November 14th 1915.
2009: Su Cruickshank (63) Australian jazz singer, writer, comedian, actor and entertainer, known as the 'Diva on the Hill' and 'The Queen of Jazz'; back in the 60's Su spent some time in the UK, where she sang in the jazz joints of London, after which she returned home to Newcastle, NSW, Australia, where she started singing at The Orient Hotel, and joined the Hunter Valley Theatre Company. Since 1979 her performances were many and varied, spanning the gamut of the performing arts from variety shows, jazz concerts and comedy to film, theatre, radio and television. One of her early successes and best-known film roles was as the mother of Yahoo Serious in Young Einstein. She also starred on the ABC's drama GP, was a regular guest on The Bert Newton Show and Midday with Ray Martin, and Su also hosted her own interview show in 1995 and 1996. For many years she hosted the Midsummer Festival of Jazz at Sydney's Domain for the Festival of Sydney(heart and kidney failure) b.????

December 9
1984: Razzle/Nicholas Dingley (24) British drummer with Finnish rock band Hanoi Rocks, of which he had a strong influence on their style. He recorded 2two albums with them "Back to Mystery City" in 1983 and "Two Steps from the Move" in 1984. Prior to Hanoi Rocks, he had played in UK-based bands Marionette, The Fuck Pigs, Demon Preacher and The Dark.(While on tour in US he died in a car crash when out with Vince Neil of Motley Crue, Vince lost control of the car and hit an opposing vehicle. Razzle was taken to South Bay ER but was declared DOA, 8 December at 19:12 local time. It was already 9 December in Europe, which is considered his official time of death) b. December 2nd 1960.
1995: DJ Doctor Nice/ Darren Robinson (28) US rapper and founder member of Fat Boys; he was a pioneer of beatboxing, a form of vocal percussion used in many rap groups throughout the '80s and '90s. He and his group were featured in the 1985 movie "Krush Groove", appearing under the name Disco Three at the start before acquiring the name The Fat Boys near the end. (weight eventually contributed to his death. He died of a heart attack, weighing 450 lb / 204 kg at the time) b. June 10th 1967.
1994: Garnett Silk/Garnett Damoin Smith (28) Jamaican reggae singer; born Manchester, Jamaica, he began his career at the age of twelve, when he performed under the name Little Bimbo. He later, under the name Garett Silk recorded his first track in 1985, but it would be two years later before his first single, "Problem Everywhere" was released. 1992 saw the release of his first album "It's Growing". He also worked as a deejay on sound systems such as Soul Remembrance, Pepper's Disco, Stereophonic, and Destiny Outernational. During the early 1990s he was hailed as a rising talent, but his career was ended by his early death. In 2000, Atlantic released The Definitive Collection, a two-CD set showcasing the ten tracks the singer had recorded during sessions for his unfinished second album. (Tragically died while attempting to save his mother from a house fire at his home in Mandeville, Jamaica) b. April 2nd 1966
1996: Patty Darling/Patricia J. "Patty" Donahue (40) lead singer of the 1980s New Wave rock group The Waitresses with the hits "I Know What Boys Like" and "Christmas Wrapping". she is credited on Alice Cooper's Zipper "Catches Skin" with "vocals and sarcasm." She later worked for MCA A&R, finding other talented musicians (lung cancer) b. March 29th 1956.
2002: Mary Hansen (36) Australian guitarist, singer as well as percussion, keyboards and occasionally sang lead vocals. She moved to London in the late 1980s and became a backing singer with the Essex-based indie band, The Wolfhounds. She met the founder of Stereolab Tim Gane when the Wolfhounds played with his band McCarthy, and joined Stereolab as second vocalist in 1992. As a side project in 2000 she helped form the band Schemawith members of the Seattle space rock group, Hovercraft (cycling accident) b. November 1st 1966.
2005: Mike Botts (61) US drummer with Bread; while still at college he played with a band called The Travellers Three and worked as a studio musician. He was working with Tony Medley when he met David Gates and became a member of Bread from 1970 to '74, after which he toured and recorded with Linda Ronstadt for 2 years. He reunited with Bread in '76 to '78 for one final album and world tour. His always continued his session and studio career - working, recording and touring with the likes of Karla Bonoff, Andrew Gold, Richard Carpenter and Dan Fogelberg. In 1996, the members of Bread once again reunited for a world tour that ran until the fall of 1997. He also contributed to several soundtracks for films and finally recorded his only solo album, Adults Only, released in 2000. (colon cancer) b. December 8th 1944.
2005: György Sándor (93) Hungarian pianist; He recorded the complete piano works of Kodály, Prokofiev, and Bartók; for the latter he won the Grand Prix du Disque of the Charles Cros Academyin 1965. He taught at the Southern Methodist University, then at the University of Michigan, and from 1982, at the Juilliard School. His pupils included Hélène Grimaud, Gyorgy Sebok, Christina Kiss, Barbara Nissman, Ian Pace, fortepiano performer Malcolm Bilson and composer Ezequiel Viñao. In 1996 New York University awarded Sandor an honorary doctorate. He continued to teach and perform into his nineties (heart failure) b. September 21st 1912
2006: Freddie Marsden (66) UK drummer with the Liverpool band Gerry & the Pacemakers. He and brother Gerry formed the band in the late 50's and it was the 2nd band to sign with Brian Epstein. Their first 3 records shot to No.1 "How Do You Do It?", "I Like It", "You'll Never Walk Alone" , all released in 1963. The latter has remained the anthem of the crowds at Liverpool Football Club, played before kick-off every Saturday. They had also became the first act to acheive three consecertive No.1's hits in the UK charts. In 1965 the group were featured on scooters for the film Ferry Cross The Mersey (cancer) b. October 21st 1940.
2006: Georgia Gibbs/Frieda Lipschitz (87) American singer, she began her professional career at the age of thirteen, and was singing in Boston's Raymor Ballroom the following year. She recorded her first record with the Hudson-DeLange Orchestra in 1936. Her voice is best showcased on romantic ballads and torch songs like Melancholy Baby, I'll Be Seeing You, Autumn Leaves and You Keep Coming Back Like A Song. Yet she could be equally thrilling belting out a red hot jazz numbers like Red Hot Mama and A-Razz-A-Ma-Tazz, or jiving with tunes like Ol Man Mose and Shoo Shoo Baby. In more recent years, again her reputation steadily grew partially due to the availability of her songs on CD. (died of leukemia) b. August 17th 1919.
2009: Faramarz Payvar (77) Iranian composer and santur player; Faramarz, was one of the country's prominent composers, he started learning music at the age of 17 under the tutorship of great Iranian master Abol-Hasan Saba. His achievements in traditional Persian music and playing the Santour brought him fame, leading to his co-operations with the Iranian Department of Art and Culture in 1954. He founded the 'Art and Culture Orchestra', which included greats such as Hossein Tehrani, Khatere Parvaneh, Houshang Zarif, Mohammad-Reza Shajarian, Rahmatollah Badiee and Abdol-Vahab Shahidi. He also played the Setar and published a book on Tar and Setar in 1996. After getting a scholarship from Iran's National Music Conservatory, Faramarz majored in English Language at UK's Cambridge University and was graduated in 1965. He also studyed Western music at the Royal Academy of Music in London. The veteran artist amazed music lovers by his performances in every corner of the world. His world tours took him to countries like the US, Germany, the UK, Sweden, France, Japan, Italy, Malaysia, and Russia. (died after struggling with brain damage for a long time) b. February 10th 1933.

December 10
1967: Otis Redding (26) An influential Black-American deep soul singer. He became a local celebrity as a teenager after winning a local Saturday morning talent show at the Douglass Theatre 15 weeks in a row. In 1960 he made his first recordings, "She's All Right" and "Shout Bamalama" under the name "Otis and The Shooters". In 1962 he recorded "These Arms of Mine", a ballad that he had written. The song became a minor hit on Volt Records, a subsidiary of the renowned Southern soul label Stax. He continued to release for Stax/Volt, and built his fan base by extensively touring a live show with support from fellow Stax artists Sam & Dave. Further hits between 1964 and 1966 included "Mr. Pitiful", "I Can't Turn You Loose" (which was to become The Blues Brothers entrance theme music), "Try a Little Tenderness","(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", and "Respect", later a smash hit for Aretha Franklin. He wrote most of his own material including "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" which he had recorded only a few days before his death. He considered it unfinished. In 1993, the U.S. Post Office issued an Otis Redding 29 cents commemorative postage stamp. He was inducted in the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1994, and in 1999 he posthumously received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame listed three Redding recordings "Shake," "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay," and "Try a Little Tenderness" among its list of "The 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll." and Rolling Stone ranked him No.21 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time (The plane carrying Otis Redding and The Bar-kays crashed at 3.28.pm into Lake Monoma killing most of the passengers. Trumpet player Ben Cauley was the only band member to survive the crash & bassist James Alexander missed the flight) b. September 9th 1941.
1967: Jimmy King (18) American guitarist in The Bar-Kays; the Bar-Kays began in Memphis, Tennessee as a studio session musician group, backing major artists at Stax Records. They were chosen in 1967 by Otis Redding to play as his backing band. (Died so young in the tragic Otis Redding plane crash) b. 1949
1967: Ronnie Caldwell (18) American electric organist and keyboardist with The Bar-Kays (Died so young in the tragic Otis Redding plane crash) b. December 27th 1948
1967: Phalon Jones (18) American saxophonist in The Bar-Kays, (Died so young in the tragic Otis Redding plane crash) b.1949
1967: Carl Cunningham (18) American drummer in The Bar-Kays, (Died so young in the tragic Otis Redding plane crash) b.1949
1987: Jascha Heifetz (86) Lithuanian-born American violin virtuoso. He is widely regarded as the greatest violinist of the 20th Century. He owned both the 1714 "Dolphin" Stradivarius and the 1740 "ex David" Guarneri del Gesù, the latter of which he preferred and kept until his death.(He died at the Cedar-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after a brain surgery as a result of a fall and loss of consciousness at home) b.February 2nd 1901 [O.S. January 20]
1987: Slam Stewart/Leroy Elliot Stewart (73) American jazz bass player whose trademark style was his ability to bow the bass (arco) and simultaneously hum or sing an octave higher. He was a very busy sessionist and played with many of the jaz icons through the 40s to the 80's, Art Tatum's trio, Benny Goodman Sextet, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Lester Young as well as leading his own group (?) b. September 21st 1914.
1987: Jascha Heifetz (86) World renown Russian violin virtuoso born in Vilnius, Lithuania, then part of the Russian Empire. He took up the violin when he was only three years old, he was a child prodigy, making his public debut at seven, in Kovno playing the Violin Concerto in E minor by Felix Mendelssohn. In 1910 he entered the Saint Petersburg Conservatory to study under Leopold Auer himself. In April 1911, Jascha performed in an outdoor concert in St. Petersburg before 25,000 spectators; there was such a sensational reaction that police officers needed to protect the young violinist after the concert. In 1914, he performed with the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Arthur Nikisch. The conductor was very impressed, saying he had never heard such an excellent violinist. On October 27th 1917, he made his American debut at Carnegie Hall in New York, and became an immediate sensation and remained in the country becoming an American citizen in 1925. He continued to play around the world with all the great orchestras until the mid 1970s, after an operation to his sholder, but he continued to play privately until the end. Jaschais regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time and in 1989, received a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.(?) b. February 3nd 1901.
1991: Headman Shabalala (46) South African singer and member of the world famous Ladysmith Black Mambazo choral group which was founded and still led by his brother Joseph. He joined the first incarnation of his brother Joseph's group the Ladysmith Black Mambazo in 1960 alongside his brother Enoch and various cousins and relatives. He sang the bass voice, adding sounds to the songs that would become synonymous with the group's rhythm; the low gruffs and growls and the "clicking" noises (he was shot and killed by a white, off-duty security guard in an apparent racial killing) b. October 10th 1945.
1996: Faron Young (64) US country music singer; originally known as "the Hillbilly Heartthrob" and "the Singing Sheriff". Faron had many hits including "Young Love", "If You Ain't Lovin' (You Ain't Livin')", "Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young", "Sweet Dreams", "Hello Walls", "It's Four in the Morning". He co-founded, with Preston Temple, the Nashville trade newspaper, The Music City News. His band, the Country Deputies, was one of country music's top bands, and toured with him for many years and in 2000 he was posthumously inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame (Depressed by his poor and failing health, he shot himself) b. February 25th 1932.
1999: Rick Danko (56) Canadian bassist, also played accordion, violin, mandolin, guitar, fiddle; famous for co-founding The Band who originally started out as Bob Dylan's first all electric backing band, just known as the band, they kept that name. At 17, already a five-year music veteran, he booked himself as the opening act for Ronnie Hawkins, an American rockabilly singer whose group, The Hawks, were considered to be one of the best in Canada and by September 1960, he was Hawkins's bassist. A few years later Rick and some of the band went out on there own and ended up as The Band. He also enjoyed a busy solo career, he recorded demos and made a number of appearances on albums by other artists throughout the 1980s and 1990s,including a tour in 1989 with Levon Helm and Garth Hudson as part of Ringo Starr's first All-Star Band. (died in his sleep of heart failure) b. December 29th 1942.
2007: Emil Brenkus (94) American jazz bassist, he played the Pittsburgh jazz scene alongside greats such as Sam Nestico, Billie May, Benny Benack and Baron Elliot. A true veteran trooper, Emil played regularly until just weeks before his death (died of prostate cancer 8 days after his birthday) b. December 3rd 1913.
2007: Jerry Ricks (67) American blues guitarist and much in demand freelance guitarist and solo world touring musician. He started playing guitar in local coffee shops in the late 1950s and worked as a booking manager for the Second Fret Coffee House in Philadelphia from 1960-1966, coming into contact with many key figures in the blues revival. He toured with the Buddy Guy Blues Band on a State Department-sponsored East African tour, after which he moved to Europe. He recorded 13 solo albums in Europe, but his first American releases did not arrive until 1998, with Deep in the Well. The album was nominated for three W.C. Handy Awards. (died in hospital in the Adriatic town of Rijeka; complications from a brain tumor) b. May 22nd 1940.
2008: Didith Reyes/Maria Helen Bella Avenila Santamaria (60) Filipino actress, singer best known for recording a string of hit love ballads in the 1970s, including "Bakit Ako Mahihiya", "Araw-Araw, Gabi-Gabi," "Nananabik", "Hatiin Natin ang Gabi," and "Hindi Kami Damong Ligaw". She started out singing with Circus band and Time Machine, after which she signed up with Vicor Music Corporation as a solo artist, her debut album "Didith", was a platinum bestseller in 1975. She won a Gold Prize and the Best performer at the 1977 Tokyo Music Festival. She was also notorious for accidentally exposing her breast, while singing "Bakit Ako Mahihiya?" during the 1977 FAMAS Awards Night (heart attack) b. September 17th 1948.
2009: Kenny Dino/Kenneth J. Diono (67) American pop singer; Kenny spent several months stationed in Iceland while serving in the Navy, he came runner-up in a talent show with his version of a song by Elvis Presley. Back in America he put together a band which toured in Texas and Louisiana. He frequently played with Doug Sahm at the San Antonio Blues Club at this time. Moving to New York he released his only hit record "Your Ma Said You Cried in Your Sleep Last Night", in 1961. Robert Plant later covered this song on his 1990 release, Manic Nirvana. Kenny was offered a chance to duet with Paul Simon but turned it down. (He was driving from Melbourne, Florida to his home in Cocoa after finishing a gig. He pulled over to the side of the road where he suffered a fatal heart attack) b. July 12th 1939.

December 11
1964: Sam Cooke (33) US R & B, gospel and soul singer; he was a pioneer and one of the most important soul singers in history, some call him the inventor of soul music and he's souls most popular and beloved performer in both the black and white communities. In the early and mid 50's he sang with The Soul Stirrers where he wrote and recorded 14 tracks and wrote or arranged a further 10 for them. He brought out his first solo record "Lovable" in 1956 while still a member of The Soul Stirrers, but under the name of Dale Cooke. Leaving the group in 1957 he went on to have 29 Top 40 hits in the U.S. between 1957 and 1965, including hits like "You Send Me", "Summertime", "A Change Is Gonna Come", "Chain Gang", "Wonderful World" and "Bring It on Home to Me". He was also among the first modern black performers and composers to be active on the business side of the music. He founded his own record label SAR Records in 1961, followed by a publishing imprint and management firm, both as an extension of his career. In 1986, he was inducted as a charter member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, In 1999, he was honored with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2008 Rolling Stone magazine named him the 4th Greatest Singer of All Time (shot to death by Bertha Franklin, manager of the Hacienda Motel in South L. A., who claimed that he had threatened her, and she killed him in self-defense, the details of the case are still in dispute) b. January 22nd 1931.
1975: Lee Wiley (67) American jazz singer born in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma; while still in her early teens, Lee left home to begin a career singing with the Leo Reisman band. In 1939, she made a 78 album set of eight Gershwin songs with a small group for Liberty Music Shops. The set sold well and was followed by 78 album sets dedicated to Cole Porter in 1940 and Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart in 1940 (and 1954), Harold Arlen in 1943 and Vincent Youmans and Irving Berlin in 1951. In 1954, she opened the very first Newport Jazz Festival accompanied by Bobby Hackett. She later recorded two of her finest albums, West of the Moon in 1956 and A Touch of the Blues in 1957 before retiring (colon cancer) b. October 9th 1908.
1998: James Lynn Strait (30) US singer; best known as founder member, lead vocalist and lyricist of the metal/punk band Snot. The band recorded one album before his death "Get Some" in 1997. When the band performed on the 1998 Ozzfest tour, he was arrested in Mansfield, Massachusetts, for indecent exposure after emerging nude from the oversized toilet prop used by Limp Bizkit in their performances. Lynn also appeared as a guest on Tura Satana's song 'Down', a duet with friend Tairrie B on Manhole/Tura Satana's first album. In 2000, Snot released the album, Strait Up, as a tribute to Lynn, the album features appearances by the lead vocalists of a number of major rock groups (killed tragically when a truck struck his Ford Tempo on the 101 Freeway near Santa Barbara at approximately 1 p.m) b. August 7th 1968.
2004: M.S. Subbulakshmi/Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi (88) Indian singer; well known for her Carnatic voice, and widely regarded as the premier female classical vocalist of her generation. Her first public performance during the Mahamaham festival at Kumbakonam at the age of eight, and released her first recording at the age of ten. By the age of 17, she was giving concerts on her own, including major performances at the Madras Music Academy. She traveled to London, New York, Canada, the Far East, and other places, performing concerts at Carnegie Hall, New York; the UN General Assembly; the Royal Albert Hall, London; and at the Festival of India in Moscow. She was the first musician ever to be awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honor (complications relating to pneumonia and cardiac irregularities) b. September 16th 1916.
2006: Walter Ward (66) American R&B singer, lead vocalist of The Olympics; in 1954 when he was attending Centinela High School in Inglewood, CA, he and his cousin Eddie Lewis formed a group The Challengers. After winning a number of talent shows, they were approached by another singing duo who asked to join forces. In 1955 the quartet became The Olympics. His last performance with The Olympics was on November 12th 2006, at a Doo-Wop Spectacular on Long Island, New York just a month before his sad death (?) b.August 28th 1940.
2007: Christie Hennessy/Edward Christopher Ross (62) Irish folk singer-songwriter born in Tralee, County Kerry, and left school at age 11; he wrote several songs that became hits for other singers including 'Don't Forget your Shovel', made famous by Christy Moore and 'All the Lies that You Told Me', recorded by Frances Black. He had recently gone into the studio to record an album with both Luka Bloom and Christy Moore sharing vocals on one of the tracks (died from mesothelioma, which has been attributed to his younger years working on building sites in London) b. November 19th 1945.

December 12
1985: Ian Stewart (47) Scottish keyboardist and co-founder of The Rolling Stones; with his love of rhythm & blues, boogie-woogie, blues and big-band jazz, hewas first to respond to Brian Jones's advertisement in Jazz News of 2 May 1962 seeking musicians to form a rhythm & blues group. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards joined in June, and the group, with Dick Taylor on bass and Mick Avory on drums, played their first gig under the name The Rollin' Stones at the Marquee Club on 12 July 1962. Because the band's manager Andrew Oldham did not think Ian fitted the image he wanted to market and thought six was too many members, so he officially "left the group" in 1963, but continued until his death as their road manager and pianist playing on all their albums of the first decade among others. In 1975 Stewart joined the band on stage again, playing piano on numbers of his choosing throughout tours in 1975-76, 1978 and 1981-82. He favoured blues and country rockers, and remained dedicated to boogie-woogie and early rhythm & blues. As well as his life with the Rolling Stones he contributed to Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll" from Led Zeppelin IV and "Boogie With Stu" from Physical Graffiti. Another was Howlin' Wolf's 1971 London Sessions. He also played with the back-to-roots band Rocket 88. Ian was inducted posthumously in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 with the band (he began having respiratory problems. On 12 December he went to a clinic to have the problem checked out; he suffered a heart attack and died in the waiting room) b. July 18th 1938.
1987: Enrique Jorrín (60) Cuban composer, violinist and band director, famous as the inventor of the Cuban dance music called cha-cha-chá. Brought up in Havana, he started to learn the violin at aged 12, and later studied at the Municipal Conservatory of Havana. While a member of Orquesta América in the early 1950s, he created a new genre of dance music which became known as the cha-cha-chá. In 1964, he toured Africa and Europe with his orchestra, Orquesta de Enrique Jorrín, then in 1974, he organized a new charanga, which included singer Tito Gómez and pianist Rubén González. This orchestra is still active in Havana and includes many songs by Enrique in their active repertoire (?) b. December 25th 1926.
1988: Jim Bulliet (79) founder of Bullet Records which he started in 1945, the label national hit was Francis Craig's pop recording of "Near You" made in early 1947, but the label was known for country music artists such as Boots Woodall's Radio Wranglers (died in Nashville, TN)
1991. Ronnie Ross (58) alto-tenor-baritone sax, clarinet, arranger, (died in London, UK)
2006: Kenny Davern (71) American jazz clarinetist and occasional sax player; in 1997, he was inducted into the Jazz Hall of Fame at Rutgers University, and in 2001 he received a honorary doctorate of music at Hamilton College, Clinton, New York.(heart attack).
2007: Lee Vincent (91) US bassist and radio personality for WILK radio in Pennsylvania , (heart failure).
2007: Ike Wister Turner (76) US rock 'n' roll pioneer, singer, guitarist, bandleader, talent scout, record producer; in 1951, among many othe acheivements, he penned and recorded what historians have debated as "the first rock and roll record" with "Rocket 88, and is famed for his 16 years as one half of Ike and Tina Turner and is a 2 time Grammy award winner (Died of a cocaine overdose his Californian home) b. November 5th 1931... Read More

December 13
1960: John Charles Thomas (59) American baritone known for his exuberant singing style and powerful voice. After leaving the Peabody Institution in 1912, he traveled briefly with a touring musical company, then settled in New York where he performed with a Gilbert & Sullivan company before signing to the Shubert Brothers in The Peasant Girl which opened in 1913. For the next nine years, he starred in a series of hit Broadway musicals including Her Soldier Boy, Maytime, Naughty Marietta, and Apple Blossoms (with Fred and Adele Astaire). His opera debut was as Amonasro in Aida presented by the semi-professional Washington National Opera in March, 1925. From 1925 -1932, he spent his time in Europe, singing under contract at La Monnaie opera house in Brussels for the seasons of 1925-1927. He returned to La Monnaie for 25 performances in 1928, 8 in 1930, and 4 in 1931. He appeared with Chaliapin in performances of Faust at Covent Garden, London in July 1928. In 1938 he helped Edwin Lester launch the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera, appearing in the company's very first production as Franz Schubert in Blossom Time, a Viennese operetta Das Dreimäderlhaus. He toured Australia in the 40s as Sir John Charles Thomas. John was engaged to star on the Westinghouse Radio Program from 1943-1946 with the Victor Young Orchestra. He gradually retired from the concert stage after 1950, and settled in Apple Valley, California (?) b. September 6th 1891.
1983: Marshall Brown (62) American jazz trombonist and sometimes bass trumpet or euphonium. He was one of the few left-handed players of the trombone. He earned a music degree from New York University.Over his career he performed and recorded with Pee Wee Russell, Ruby Braff, Beaver Harris and Lee Konitz, but he devoted much of his career to education (?) b. ??.??.1920
2001: Charles Michael "Chuck" Schuldiner (33) American musician and genre innovator. He is best known for being the founder, singer, lead guitar player and main songwriter of Death, which he founded in 1983 as Mantas, and was one of the first bands of the death metal genre. He played an important role in the development of death metal with his band Death, which later evolved into more of a progressive metal sound. Originally inspired by the likes of inspired by Iron Maiden, Kiss and Billy Idol, and was particularly interested in the metal movement known as NWOBHM, Kerrang! magazine stated that "Chuck Schuldiner was one of the most significant figures in the history of metal" (cancer) b. May 13th 1967.
2002: Zal Yanovsky (57) Canadian guitarist; an early rock n roll performer to wear a cowboy hat, and fringed "Davy Crockett" style clothing, he helped set the trend followed by such 1960s performers as Sonny Bono, Johnny Rivers and David Crosby. He joined Cass Elliot in the Mugwumps, a group made famous by her later group the Mamas & the Papas, in the song "Creeque Alley"; after which he and John Sebastian formed the Lovin' Spoonful. The band became an immediate smash with their first single, "Do You Believe in Magic?" a Top Ten hit in 1965, which led off a remarkable string of hits that established the Spoonful as one of the few American bands that could challenge the chart dominance of the Beatles and their British Invasion contemporaries. He recorded a solo album, Alive and Well in Argentina in 1971, did a stint playing guitar with Kris Kristofferson and co-produced Tim Buckley's 1969 album Happy Sad in collaboration with Jerry Yester, before returning to Canada to become a restaurateur. He and Spoonful have reunited on a couple of occasions, filming an appearance in Paul Simon's 1980 film One Trick Pony and performing some of their hits on stage on the occasion of the band's 2000 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (heart attack) b. December 19th 1944.
2005: Timothy Anderson Jordan II (24) American keyboardist, guitarist, and songwriter. He was primarily known as a touring member of the platinum-selling band, The All-American Rejects. Tim played with Green Olive Tree, and in 2003 he enlisted in Snapdragon Records' punk band Welton before providing backing vocals, keyboards, and percussion to Number One Fan's live performances, including the 2005 Warped Tour, a Late Show with David Letterman appearance, and performances on Jimmy Kimmel Live. In 2005 Tim left The All-American Rejects to join Tooth & Nail rock band Jonezetta (Sadly he took his own life) b. March 8th 1981.
2007: Philippe Clay/Philippe Mathevet (80) French singer, mime artist and actor, known for for his interpretations of songs by Charles Aznavour, Claude Nougaro, Jean-Roger Caussimon and others. He was seen frequently on TV in series directed by Josée Dayan in the 1980s and 1990s. He recorded over 150 songs in his long career. (heart failure) b. March 7th 1927.
2009: Yvonne King Burch (89) American singer born in Salt Lake City, Utah; Yvonne sang with here sisters Donna, Louise and Alyce under the name The King Sisters. Formed in the '30s they traveled to San Francisco to audition for radio station KGO, to replace the Boswell Sisters. In 1935, they worked with bandleader Horace Heidt until 1938. In the following years, they separately and together sang with the bands of Artie Shaw and Charlie Barnet. They also turned down a request to be the vocal group for the Glenn Miller orchestra. They recorded for the same label as Miller, Bluebird, and had their first hit with a vocal version of Miller's hit, "In The Mood". Luise married guitarist Alvino Rey, and they appeared with him in a series of hit songs. They also appeared in a number of Hollywood features in the 1940s. During World War II, they appeared regularly on Kay Kyser's radio series. In 1965, they began hosting their own ABC television network show, The King Family Show, which featured many family members as well as other talent, the show ran until '69. (Yvonne had a fall while at her nephew Cam's cabin, she was rushed to the hospital, but sadly died several days later) b. January 15th 1920.

December 14
1963: Dinah Washington (39) US singer; because of her strong voice and emotional singing, she is known as the "Queen of the Blues". She became one of the most influential vocalists of the twentieth century, credited among others as a major influence on Aretha Franklin. At 16 as Ruth Jones, she toured the US black gospel circuit with Roberta Martin accompanying her at the piano. There was a period when she performed in clubs as Dinah Washington while singing and playing piano in Sallie Martin's gospel choir as Ruth Jones. In 1943, she began recording for Keynote Records and released the 12-bar blues "Evil Gal Blues", her first hit. She then switched to Chicago-based Mercury Records and from 1948 to 1955, she had numerous hits on the R&B charts, including "Am I Asking Too Much", "Baby, Get Lost," "Trouble in Mind", ""I Won't Cry Anymore", "TV is The Thing This Year", "Teach Me Tonight" and a cover of Hank Williams's "Cold, Cold Heart". In 1959, she won a Grammy Award for Best Rhythm and Blues Performance. With "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes" and in 1986 inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame.
(died from an accidental overdose of prescription diet pills mixed with alcohol. She was 5'2" tall and had fought weight problems for most of her life, she was dieting to lose weight for the festive season) b. August 29th 1924.
1997: Kurt Winter (51) Canadian guitarist with the highly successful rock band The Guess Who; he started his career with the Winnipeg bands the Fifth, Brother, Gettysbyrg Address, and before joining Guess Who in 1970. He played stunning machine gun style solos on such hits as "Raindance" and "Albert Flasher". After leaving the band he went into the world of business as well as regrouping with various incarnations of "Guess Who" under the leadership of bassist Jim Kale (kidney failure) b. April 2nd 1946.
2001: Secondo "Conte" Candoli (74) American jazz trumpeter based on the West Coast of the US. He played in the big bands of Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, Benny Goodman, and Dizzy Gillespie, and in Doc Severinsen's NBC Orchestra on The Tonight Show. He played with Gerry Mulligan, and on Frank Sinatra's TV specials. He also recorded with a band called Supersax, a Charlie Parker tribute band that consisted of a saxophone quintet, the rhythm section, and either a trumpet or trombone. He was inducted into The International Jazz Hall of Fame in 1997 (died after a long battle with prostate cancer) b. July 12th 1927.
2006: Ahmet Ertegün (83) Turkish-American co-founder and executive of Atlantic Records and chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and museum, described as "one of the most significant figures in the modern recording industry". He also co-founded the New York Cosmos soccer team of the North American Soccer League. In his early days he wrote a number of classic blues songs, including "Chains of Love" and "Sweet Sixteen", under the pseudonym "A. Nugetre" (Ertegün backwards). "Nugetre" also wrote the Ray Charles hit "Mess Around", with lyrics that drew heavily on Pinetop Smith. He also was part of the shouting choral group on Turner's "Shake, Rattle and Roll". In 1987, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, of which he himself was a founder.(On Oct 29, 2006 he slipped and hit his head while backstage at a Rolling Stones performance in New York for the 60th birthday of former US President Bill Clinton. Although he was initially in stable condition, Ahmet soon took a turn for the worse, he fell into a coma from which he did not recover) b. July 31st 1923.
2007: Frank Morgan (73) American jazz saxophonist with a career spanning more than 50 years. He mainly played alto saxophone but also played soprano saxophone. During the 1950s he was known as a Charlie Parker protege and recorded several bebop albums. He started taking heroin at the age of 17, became addicted and ended up spending time on and off in a few Californian prisons. In the 60's while at San Quentin prison, he formed a small ensemble with another addict and sax player, Art Pepper. The Frank Morgan Quartet featured Dolo Coker on piano, Flip Greene on bass and Larance Marable on drums and in 1985 he started recording again, releasing Easy Living in June 1985. He suffered a stroke in 1998, but subsequently recovered and recorded additional albums. From 1985 till his death in 2007 he relaesed 16 albums. (heart related) b. December 23rd 1933.
2009: Chris Feinstein (42) American bassist; he joined Ryan Adams & the Cardinals in 2006 as a touring member and played bass on their 2007 releases 'Easy Tiger' and the 'Follow the Lights' EP, as well as 2008's 'Cardinology.' He was also a major contributor to the 2002 'I Am Sam' soundtrack, serving as a producer and playing bass, guitar and percussion. Prior to this Chris played bass with a variety of different musicians, including Fat Joe on his 2002 album 'Loyalty', Albert Hammond Jr.'s 2006 album 'Yours to Keep' and on Minnie Driver's 2008 album 'Seastories'. Chris and longtime Adams’ drummer Brad Pemberton had played in bands together since attending high school in Nashville. (died at his home in Manhattan. The cause of death is still unknown). b. ????

December 15
1943: Fats Waller/Thomas Wright Waller (39) African-American jazz pianist, organist, composer and comedic entertainer.A skilled pianist, widely recognized as a master of stride piano, he was one of the most popular performers of his era, finding critical and commercial success in America and in Europe. He wrote or co-wrote classics such as "Honeysuckle Rose", "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Squeeze Me". A prolific composer of novelty swing tunes in the 1920s and 30s, he sold many of his compositions for relatively small sums, and as they became hits, other songwriters had already claimed them as their own. He was once kidnapped by four men, a terrified Waller found he was the 'surprise guest' at Al Capone's birthday party. He had a successful tour of the UK and Ireland in the late 1930s, and appeared in one of the earliest BBC Television broadcasts. He appeared in several feature films and short subject films, most notably "Stormy Weather" in 1943, which was released only months before his death. His inductions include - Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970; Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1989; Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993; 2005 Jazz at Lincoln Center: Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame and in 2008 he was inducted into the Gennett Records Walk of Fame (died of pneumonia aboard an eastbound train in the vicinity of Kansas City, Missouri, following a west coast engagement) b. May 21st 1904.
1944: Glenn Miller (40) American jazz musician, arranger, composer and band leader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1942, leading one of the best known "Big Bands". His signature recordings include, "In the Mood", "Tuxedo Junction", "Chattanooga Choo Choo", "Moonlight Serenade", "Little Brown Jug", and "Pennsylvania 6-5000". In 1926, he toured and played with Ben Pollack's group in Los Angeles, during which he wrote several musical arrangements of his own. He earnt a living as a freelance trombonist in several bands. In November of 1929, an original vocalist named Red McKenzie hired Glenn to play on two records that are now considered to be jazz classics: "Hello, Lola" and "If I Could Be With You One Hour Tonight". Not only were these 2 numbers considered major musical items, but they also represented one of the major breakthroughs in blacks and whites playing together. He was a member of Red Nichols’s orchestra in 1930, his bandmates included Benny Goodman and Gene Krupa. In the mid-1930s, Miller also worked as a trombonist and arranger in The Dorsey Brothers ill-fated co-led orchestra, where he composed the song "Annie's Cousin Fanny" and "Dese Dem Dose" for the Dorsey Brothers Band. In 1935, he assembled an American orchestra for British bandleader Ray Noble, developing the arrangement of lead clarinet over four saxophones that eventually became the sonic keynote of his own big ban. (While travelling to entertain U.S. troops in France during WW II, his plane disappeared in bad weather over the English Channel. His body was never found) b. March 1st 1904.
1954: Oscar "Papa" Celestin (70) New Orleans jazz bandleader, reed player, singer, born in Napoleonville, Louisiana, he played guitar and trombone before deciding on cornet as his main instrument. He took music lessons from Claiborne Williams, and played with the Algiers Brass Band by the early 1900s, also with various small town bands before moving to New Orleans in 1904, at age 20. In New Orleans he played with the Imperial, Indiana, Henry Allen senior's Olympia Brass Bands, and Jack Carey's dance band; early in his career he was sometimes known as "Sonny" Celestin. Around 1910 he got the job as leader of the house band at the Tuxedo Dance Hall on North Franklin St, Storyville. He kept the name "Tuxedo" for the name of his band after the Dance Hall closed. For some years Oscar co-led the Tuxedo Band with trombonist William Ridgely. They made their first recordings with the band during the Okeh Records field trip to New Orleans in 1925. His band became a regular feature at the Paddock Lounge on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter, and made regular radio broadcasts, television appearance, and more recordings. In 1953 Oscar gave a command performance for President Eisenhower at the White House. His last recording singing, was "Marie LaVeau" in 1954. In view of the tremendous contribution Oscar made in jazz throughout his lifetime, the Jazz Foundation of New Orleans had a bust made and donated to the Delgado Museum in New Orleans. Near the end of his life, he was honored as one of the greats of New Orleans music. Over 4000 people marched in his funeral parade (?) b. January 1st 1884
1979: Jackie Brenston (49) American R&B singer and saxophonist born in Clarksdale, Mississippi. After leaving the army 1947, he learned to play the tenor saxophone, linking up with Ike Turner in 1950 as sax player and occasional singer in his band. The local success of Ike’s Kings of Rhythm prompted B. B. King to recommend them to studio owner Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee, where the band made several recordings in early March 1951, including "Rocket 88", on which Brenston sang lead and which he was credited with writing. Phillips passed the recordings on to Chess Records in Chicago, but they released "Rocket 88" as by "Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats". The record soon reached No.1 on the U.S. Billboard R&B chart and stayed at that position for over a month. It is a very contrivertial believe this to be the first rock and roll record, whatever, Sam Phillips used the success of the record to start Sun Records the following year. After a few more sessions with Ike, Jackie left to play saxophone with Lowell Fulson's band in 1953-1955. After which he rejoined Ike Turner, until the early 1960s. Though he recorded with Turner's Kings of Rhythm throughout those years, Jackie's voice, was heard on only two of the many singles that the band had out during that time. He was forbidden to ever sing Rocket 88 and had been reduced to being Ike Turner's baritone sax-player. After a final recording session with Earl Hooker in 1963, so sadly Jackie's drinking habit had became much worse and he played only occasionally in local bars when he could. (died of a fatal heart attack) b. August 15th 1930.
1981: Samuel Jones (57) American jazz double bassist, cellist and composer born in Jacksonville, Florida. Over his career he played with Bobby Timmons, Tiny Bradshaw, John Lee Hooker, Les Jazz Modes, Kenny Dorham, Illinois Jacquet, Freddie Hubbard, Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk among others. He is known for his work with Cannonball Adderley from 1959 to 1965, but also spent several years working with Oscar Peterson and Cedar Walton and recorded with Bill Evans in the 1950s. His career primarily revolved around the New York City jazz scene. Samuel wrote the jazz standard "Del Sasser", among other tunes (?) b. November 12th 1924.
1984: Jan Peerce (80) American operatic tenor and father of film director Larry Peerce. In 1932 he was hired as a tenor soloist with the Radio City Music Hall company, he soon had a nationwide following. This led to concert engagements and he made his operatic debut in May of 1938 in Philadelphia as the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto, followed by his first solo recital in New York in November 1939. He went on to work with the legendary maestro Arturo Toscanini and made his debut with the Metropolitan Opera on November 29, 1941, singing Alfredo in Verdi's La traviata, parts of Cavaradossi in Tosca, Rodolfo in La bohème, and in Gounod's Faust. He was hailed by the critics as the "All-American successor to the 'greats' of opera's almost extinct 'Golden Age'." In 1956 he made a sensation in Moscow as a musical "cultural exchange" ambassador, being the first American to sing with the famed Bolshoi Opera (?) b. June 3rd 1904.
2001: Rufus Thomas (84) American R&B, funky soul singer, songwriter; born in Memphis he was often referred to as "The World's Oldest Teenager", he always answered he was "The World's Finest Teenager". He started his career as a professional entertainer, in 1936 with the Rabbit Foot Minstrels, an all-black revue that toured the South. He then worked for twenty-two years at a textile plant. In 1951 he started at WDIA where he hosted an afternoon show called Hoot and Holler. WDIA, featuring an African-American format, was known as "the mother station of the Negroes" and became an important source of blues and R&B music for a generation, its audience consisting of white as well as black listeners. In the the 60's and 70's his hits included "Walking The Dog", "Do the Funky Chicken", "(Do the) Push and Pull", "The Breakdown" and "Do the Penguin". He performed at Wattstax in 1972, leading a crowd of 40,000 in the "Funky Chicken." (heart attack) b. March 26th 1917.
2008: Davy Graham/Davey Graham (68) UK guitarist, singer and arranger; an influential figure in the 1960s folk music revolution in England, inventing the concept of the folk guitar instrumental. He is best-known for his acoustic instrumental, "Anji" and for his use of Dadgad tuning. He inspired many of the practitioners of the fingerstyle acoustic guitar, such as Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Martin Carthy, Paul Simon, Eltjo Haselhoff and even Jimmy Page, who heavily based his solo "White Summer" on Graham's "She moved thru' the Bizarre/Blue Raga". He was one of UK's greatest guitarists, revered by many generations of guitarists over his 50 year career, but sadly, ofen over looked by the media (lung cancer) b. November 22nd 1940.

December 16
1921: Camille Saint-Saëns (86) French keyboardist and composer; he wrote in virtually all genres, including opera, symphonies, concertos, songs, sacred and secular choral music, solo piano, chamber music and revived forgotten dances. His creepy Danse Macabre appears in the 1997 TV series Jonathan Creek. Other popular ones from many include Introduction and Rondo capriccioso, The Carnival of the Animals, Symphony No. 3 (Organ Symphony), Samson and Delilah, and Havanaise (died of pneumonia, at the Hôtel de l'Oasis in Algiers. His body was brought back to Paris for a state funeral at La Madeleine and was buried in the Cimetière du Montparnasse in Paris) b. October 9th 1835
1988: Sylvester James (44) American disco & soul musician, and gay drag performer, known for singing in falsetto, despite a rich baritone voice. He started his career when he moved to San Francisco in 1967, performing in a musical production called Women of the Blues, after which he joined a group of transvestite performance artists called The Cockettes in the early 1970s, with his repertoire of Bessie Smith. He formed a band Sylvester & the Hot Band before starting his solo career. On September 20, 2004 Sylvester's anthem record, "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)", was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame. A year later, on September 19, 2005, Sylvester himself was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame for his achievement as an artist (complications from Aids) b. September 6th 1947
1997: Nicolette Larson (45) US singer songwriter; started out singing with Hoyt Axton's band and Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen. She worked as a session vocalist for Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, Michael McDonald, Willie Nelson, Jimmy Buffett, Neil Young, Christopher Cross, Little Feat, Mary Kay Place, The Dirt Band, The Beach Boys, Pure Prairie League, and The Doobie Brothers. In 1979, she was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist. She also had a minor role in the 1988 film Twins. To mention a few s he sang backing vocals on Neil Young's "Comes a Time" and "Harvest Moon" albums, and duets on the song "Motorcycle Mama". She also sang backup on the Van Halen song "Could This Be Magic?", "Sweet Blue Midnight" by The Georgia Satellites, and on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's hit "Make a Little Magic". In the mid to late 1980's she had several Country chart hits, including the duet, "That's When You Know Love's Right" with Steve Wariner. The song peaked at #9 on Billboards Top Country Singles chart in 1986 (complications arising from a cerebral edema) b. July 17th 1952.
2001: Stuart Adamson (43) UK lead singer, guitarist, songwriter and pianist; he founded the Scottish art-punk band The Skids and later the rock group Big Country, enjoying hits such as "In a Big Country", "Look Away" and "Wonderland". In the 1990s he founded his last band the alternative country rock act, The Raphaels. In 2006, his music achieved an unexpected success when U2 and Green Day covered "The Saints Are Coming" as a charity single.(found dead in Hawaii a month after disappearing from his home in the US) b. April 11th 1958.
2003: Gary Stewart (58) American musician, singer and songwriter; known for his drinking songs, he was one of the first so-called "outlaw" country performers. During the peak of his popularity in the mid-1970s Time magazine described him as the "king of honkytonk." He had 29 Country Chart hits including "Drinkin' Thing", "You're Not the Woman You Used to Be" "In Some Room Above the Street", "Out of Hand", "She's Actin' Single (I'm Drinkin' Doubles)"and "Flat Natural Born Good-Timin' Man" (died of self-inflicted gunshot wound to the neck 2 weeks after the death of his wife of 40 years) b. May 28th 1944.
2006: Taliep Petersen (55) South African singer, composer and director of a number of popular musicals. He worked most notably with David Kramer, with whom he won an Olivier Award. In the early 80's he formed a band, called Sapphyre, that played interpretations of traditional Cape Malay songs. In 1986 he and David Kramer collaborated on the first of a number of musicals together, District Six: The Musical, exploring the culture and history of the Coloured community in Cape Town. This was followed by Poison, Fairyland, Crooners, Kat and the Kings, Klop Klop and Spice Drum Beat: Ghoema. In 2001 he presented a television series about District Six called O'se Distrik Ses and has featured on South Africa reality talent shows, Idols and Joltyd in 2002 (shot dead at his home; his wife, together with two men were charged with his "planned and/or premeditated" murder) b.????
2007: Dan Fogelberg (56) American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist whose music was inspired by sources as diverse as folk, pop, classical, jazz, & bluegrass music. Born in Peoria, Illinois, Dan's first instrument, at an early age, was the piano but he soon took an interest in the Hawiian slide guitar and when his grandfather presented him with one, he spent hour after hour teaching himself the skills. This, combined with his admiration of The Beatles, he taught himself electric guitar and by the age of 13 he had joined his first band, a Beatles cover band, The Clan ... READ MORE ... (sadly lost his battle with prostate cancer) b. August 13th 1951.
2008: Harold Gramatges (90) Cuban composer and pianist; he founded and directed Cuba's Municipal Conservatory Orchestra, where he worked as professor of Harmony, Composition, Aesthetics and Music History. In 1958, he received the Reichold of Caribbean and Central America Prize, conferred by the Detroit Orchestra for his Sinfonía en mi. In 1959, he created the Musical Department at Casa de las Américas. He has spent his life working on transforming and developing musical education in Cuba. His catalog of works includes symphonic, chamber, vocal and incidental music for theater and movies. In 1961 and 1964, he was the Cuban Ambassador to France (died in La Habana, Cuba) b. September 26th 1918.

December 17
1978: Erskine Tate (82) American bandleader, banjo and violinist; helped pioneer Chicago jazz and big band music with his Vendome Orchestra. The band featured a young Louis Armstrong.()
1978: Don Ellis (44) American jazz trumpeter, drummer, composer and bandleader, born in Los Angeles, CA.and graduated from Boston University in 1956 with a composition degree. His first job was with the Glenn Miller band, directed by Ray McKinley. He stayed with the band until September 1956, when he joined the Seventh Army Symphony and Soldiers' Show Company. Among his many projects Don is maybe best known for his extensive musical experimentation, particularly in the area of unusual time signatures. Later in his life he worked as a film composer, among other works contributing a score to 1971's The French Connection and 1973's The Seven-Ups. (heart attack) b. July 25th 1934.
1982: Big Joe Williams (79) Delta blues man, songwriter. His guitar was very heavily modified. He added a rudimentary electric pickup, whose wires coiled all over the top of his guitar. He also added three extra strings, creating unison pairs for the first and second courses and an octave pair for the fourth course.
1982: Leonid Borisovich Kogan (58) Russian violin virtuoso, one of the 20th century's most famous Soviet violinists. He ranked among the greatest representatives of the Soviet School of violin playing. From age ten he studied in Moscow with the noted violin pedagogue Abram Yampolsky. He studied at the Central Music School in Moscow from 1934 to 1943, then at the Moscow Conservatory from 1943-48, where he also studied as a postgraduate from 1948-51. At the age of 17, and while still a student, he performed throughout the USSR. He was co-winner of the first prize at the World Youth Festival in Prague. In 1951 Kogan won first prize at the Queen Elizabeth Competition in Brussels with a dazzling performance of Paganini's first concerto that included an outstanding interpretation of Sauret's cadenza. His official debut was in 1941, playing the Brahms Concerto with the Moscow Philharmonic in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. He was made an Honoured Artist in 1955 and a People's Artist of the USSR in 1964, and received the Lenin Prize in 1965. (Leonid died of a heart attack in Mytishchi, while travelling by train between Moscow and Yaroslavl to a concert he was to perform with his son. Two days before, he had played the Beethoven Concerto in Vienna) b. November 17th 1924.
1996: Armando Gallop (26) He was regarded as one of the originators of the worldwide 'House' scene (Leukaemia)
1999: Rex Allen (78) American actor and singer; popular entertainer known as "The Arizona Cowboy. He wrote and recorded many songs, a number of which were featured in his own films.(died in Tucson, Arizona from injuries received when his caretaker accidentally ran over him in the driveway of his home).
1999: Grover Washington Jr. (56) Saxophone virtuoso; the most popular saxophonists of all time, considered to be the founding father of smooth jazz and a master of the jazz-funk genre (a heart attack)
2000: Erich Schmid (93) Swiss composer born in in Balsthal, Switzerland; among many other international conducting roles, he was chief conductor of the Tonhalle Orchestra, Zürich from 1949 to 1957 (?) b. January 1st 1907.
2004: Dick Heckstall-Smith (70) UK saxophonist; the Graham Bond Organization, Blues Incorporated, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Coliseum, Mainsqueeze and many other solo projects. (cancer)
2006: Denis Peyton (63) English tenor and baritone saxophonist, harmonica, and guitarist, best known maybe for his time with the Dave Clark Five. The group's distinctive sound was due in part to Denis's saxophone riffs. They had top ten hits such as "Glad All Over" which topped the British charts, then in February 1964 went to No. 6 in the US, "Bits and Pieces", "Can't You See That She's Mine", "Because", "Anyway You Want It" , "I Like It Like That", "Catch Us If You Can", "Over And Over", and "You Got What It Takes". Over his career he also played with The Renegades, The Les Heath Combo, The Blue Dukes, and The Mike Jones Combo. A month before his death, the band was nominated for the US Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame for 2007, Dave Clark said Denis had been thrilled at the news, but also added he knew he wouldn't around to collect it. (sadly he died of cancer) b. August 11th 1943.
2007: Joel Dorn (65) American jazz and R&B music producer and record label entrepreneur; he started working at Atlantic Records. Later he founded the 32 Jazz, Label M, and Hyena Records labels. The many artists he worked with included: Roberta Flack, Max Roach, Yusef Lateef, Willy DeVille, the Neville Brothers, Herbie Mann, Les McCann, Eddie Harris, Mose Allison and Rahsaan Roland Kirk (heart attack) b. April 7th 1942.
2008: Freddy Breck/Gerhard Brecker (66) German schlager singer, composer, produce and news anchor; his first success was "Überall auf der Welt", based on the "Gefangenenchor" from Giuseppe Verdi's Nabucco. He went on to score 5 platinum records and 35 gold records over the course of his careerIn 1978 he issued an English-language record, which landed in the Top 10. In the 1980s he worked as a news presenter for various stations, and wrote music for groups such as the Original Naabtal Duo, the Kastelruther Spatzen and Nina & Mike. He founded his own label, Sun Day Records, with his wife Astrid in 1998, and in 1999 they released music as a duo, "Astrid & Freddy Breck" (cancer) b. January 21st 1942.
2008: Feliciano "Flash" Vierra Tavares (88) American musician, singer and guitar player; he was the patriarch of the musical Tavares family, which included the Tavares Brothers, a successful Grammy-winning 1970s and 1980s R&B comprised of five of his sons. He was a self taught musician who learned by listening to the radio and Cape Verdean music at an early age. He remained active within the musical community, in spite an early diagnosis of prostate cancer, he was able to travel to Cape Verde and continued to perform solo until he was 84 years old. Besides his own children, he inspired a lot of kids to play music, and he kept the Cape Verdean musical heritage alive (prostate cancer) b. 1928

December 18
1983: Jimmy Nolan (47) former guitarist with James Brown (heart attack).
1987: Warne Marsh (60) saxophone tenor; solo/Supersax (collapsed and died on stage due to a heart attack at the legendary Donte's club, Hollywood)
1990: Paul Tortelier (76) French cellist and composer born in Paris. At aged 12 he entered the Paris Conservatoire and he won the first prize in cello at the conservatoire when he was 16; his debut was with the Orchestre Lamoureux in 1931 at the age of 17, were he performed Lalo's Cello Concerto. In 1937 he joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Serge Koussevitsky, as first cellist through 1940. In 1938 he began a solo career at Boston's Town Hall, accompanied by Leonard Shure. His major recordings include the Bach Cello Suites in 1960 (Paris) and 1982 (London), Elgar Cello Concerto with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Adrian Boult conducting in 1972, and Strauss’s Don Quixote in 1973 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Thomas Beecham conducting in 1947/48 and the Staatskapelle Dresden, with Rudolf Kempe conducting in 1973. (died in Villarceaux Yvelines, near Paris) b. March 21st 1914
2000: Kirsty MacColl (41) Singer, songwriter; Drug Addix/solo (boating accident off the coast of Mexico when a speedboat hit her).
2001: Gilbert Bécaud (74) French singer, composer, actor, known as Monsieur 100,000 Volts for his energetic performances, best-known hit "Et maintenant", that became an English language hit after being translated into "What Now My Love". ()
2001: Dimitris Dragatakis (87) was a Greek composer of classical music, born in Epiros and studied the violin at the Greek National Conservatory in Athens. He is considered an important modern Greek composer, influenced by the musical traditions of Greece and ancient Greek drama, his music came to reflect his interest in new techniques; he developed a free atonal style of writing, winning several of major prizes. Dimitris taught advanced harmony at the Greek National Conservatory for 20 years, until he was appointed vice president of the conservatory in 1997. He played in the Opera Orchestra as a violist and later served on the board of the Greek National Orchestra. He was vice president and honorary president of the Greek Composers Union. (died in Athens) b. January 22nd 1914.
2001: Clifford Thomas Ward (57) English singer, songwriter, born in Stourport-on-Severn, Worcestershire; after leaving school, he formed a beat band 'Cliff Ward and The Cruisers'. The band was popular in Birmingham and also in demand at American Army bases in France. He went on to a solo career releasing 20 albums over his long career (after being diagnosed as having multiple sclerosis in 1984, he continued to record and write songs living at home, cared for by his wife Pat. Died from pneumonia) b. February 10th 1944.
2009: Rex Yetman (76) Canadian bluegrass musician, born in Jamestown, Newfoundland; Rex was one of the founding members of the York County Boys, Canada's first bluegrass band. They played around Ontario and eastern Canada through the 1960s and early 1970s. They recorded "You Done Me Wrong" and "Down The Road Blues". Rex played mandolin and sang on the album, Bluegrass Jamboree with the York County Boys, which was the first bluegrass album in Canada. More recently he played with Crooked Stovepipe of St. John's, who were awarded the East Coast Music Association's bluegrass album of the year in 2006. (?) b. ??.??.1933

December 19
1991: Joseph Dennis "Joe" Cole (30) American roadie for Black Flag and Rollins Band. He was also the best friend and roommate of the musician, actor Henry Rollins. Joe's memoirs "Planet Joe", was published posthumously by 2.13.61, Inc. publishing, in which he documented his experiences on the last Black Flag tour and first Rollins Band tour. Henry Rollins went on to publish a two-part book series, the first book chronicling his time with Cole as his roommate, 'See a Grown Man Cry', and the second Rollins' non-stop working to near-nervous breakdown in the year following Joe's death, 'Now Watch Him Die'. Sonic Youth's "JC" was inspired by Joe's murder, and the Sonic Youth song "100%" on their Dirty album was dedicated to him. The music video shows a reenactment of the police finding Joe, played by actor Jason Lee, dead (Joe was shot and killed in a robbery at his home, as he and Henry returned from a video rental store, the murder remains unsolved) b. April 10th 1961.
1993: Michael Clarke/Michael James Dick (47) US drummer and original member of The Byrds, but during The Notorious Byrd Brothers recording sessions,1967-1968, he was fired. He did a stint with the Flying Burrito Brothers after their first album, before he worked with Firefall. In the late '70s Michael joined Jerry Jeff Walker. After which Michael joined ex-Byrds singer Gene Clark for a series of controversial shows billed "A 20th Anniversary Celebration of the Byrds." Many clubs simply shortened the billing to "the Byrds," and the pair soon found themselves involved in acrimonious court battles with Roger McGuinn, David Crosby, and Chris Hillman over usage of the group's name. The Byrds set aside their differences long enough to appear together at their induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in January of 1991, where the original lineup played a few songs together. Michael continued to tour with a group called "Byrds Celebration," but his health declined as his drinking accelerated (liver failure due to more than three decades of heavy alcohol consumption) b. June 3rd 1946.
1997: Jimmy Rogers/James A. Lane (73) US blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player, best known for his work as a member of Muddy Waters' band of the 1950s. He learned the harmonica alongside his childhood friend Snooky Pryor, and as a teenager took up the guitar and played professionally in East St. Louis, Illinois. He relocated to Chicago and by 1946 had recorded his first record as a harmonica player and singer Jimmy joined Muddy Waters in the late 40's, with whom he helped shape the sound of the Chicago Blues style. Jimmy left Muddy in 1954 for a solo career, he enjoyed several successful record releases on the Chess label, most notably "Walking By Myself", but as the 1950s drew to a close and interest in the blues waned, he gradually withdrew from the music industry. In the early 1960s he worked as a member of Howling Wolf's band, before finally withdrawing from the music business altogether for 10 years. After which he continued his solo career. In 1995 Jimmy was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame (?) b. June 3rd 1924.
2000: Robert Buck (42) American guitarist; born in Jamestown, New York, Bob was a founding member and guitarist of 10,000 Maniacs from 1981 until his death. Some of his compositions with Natalie Merchant are among the most popular songs recorded by 10,000 Maniacs, including 'What's the Matter Here?', 'Hey Jack Kerouac', 'You Happy Puppet' and 'These Are Days'. He also played in the Texas-based super-band League of Blind Women, writing much of the band's material. In 2000, while on tour in upstate New York, he was rushed to hospital when it was discovered he was suffering from acute liver disease. He was transferred to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center for treatment where his condition soon worsened despite the efforts of the leading transplant teams at the facility (liver failure) b. August 1st 1958.
2000: Roebuck "Pops" Staples (85) American singer, songwriter and guitarist born on a cotton plantation near Winona, Mississippi. He dropped out of school after the 8th grade to sing with a gospel group before marrying and moving to Chicago in 1935. Here he sang with the Trumpet Jubilees before forming The Staple Singers in 1948. The gospel group performed in local churches, with him singing and playing guitar behind his children. They first recorded in the early 1950s with songs including "This May Be the Last Time" and "Uncloudy Day". In 1998 he received a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and in 1999 the Staple Singers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (He died following a concussion from a fall) b. December 28th 1914.
2000: Milton John "Milt" Hinton (90) American jazz double bassist, "the dean of jazz bass players", "The Judge"; born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, then he moved to Chicago, Illinois at 11. At Wendell Phillips High School and Crane Junior College, he learned to play the bass horn, tuba, cello and the double bass. In the late 1920s and early 30s, he worked as a freelance musician in Chicago. During this time, he worked with famous jazz musicians such as Jabbo Smith, Eddie South, and Art Tatum. In 1936, he joined a band led by Cab Calloway. He possessed a formidable technique and was equally adept and bowing, pizzicato, and "slapping," a technique for which he became famous while playing with the big band of Cab Calloway from 1936 to 1951. Unusually for a double bass player, he was frequently given the spotlight by Calloway, taking virtuose bass solos in tunes like "Pluckin' the Bass.". He later became a television staff musician, working regularly on shows by Jackie Gleason and later Dick Cavett. His work can be heard on the Branford Marsalis album Trio Jeepy. Hinton twice received awards from the National Endowment for the Arts for his work as a jazz educator: a music fellowship in 1977 and an NEA Jazz Master award in 1993. Milt was one of the more wanted and most recorded double bass players in the history of jazz (died in Queens, N.Y. City) b. June 23rd 1910.
2001: Marcel Mule (100) French classical saxophone legend; nicknamed "Le Patron", he was twenty-two years old, when he became a member of France's most illustrative wind, brass, and percussion ensemble, the band of the Garde Republicaine. He served as a member of this ensemble for thirteen years. It was here that he formed his outstanding Quatuor de Saxophones de Paris and became renown as a soloist and ensemble performer. (died peacfully in his sleep)
2004: Renata Tebaldi (82) Italian international soprano singer born in Pesaro; she began her studies at the conservatory of Parma, taking lessons with Ettore Campogalliani for three years. Renata had to concentrate on scales and voice training for two years before she was allowed to learn the first songs towards the end of her second year of training. Her major breakthrough came in 1946, when she auditioned in Milan for Arturo Toscanini, who called her "voce d'angelo" (angel voice). Tebaldi made her La Scala debut that year at the concert which marked the reopening of the theatre after World War II. She sang the "Prayer" ("Dal tuo stellato soglio") from Rossini's biblical opera, Mosè in Egitto, as well as the soprano part in Verdi's Te Deum. By the end of her career in 1976, she had sung in 1,262 performances, 1,048 complete operas, and 214 concerts around the globe. (Died at her home, in San Marino) b. February 1st 1922.
2005: Billy Amstell (94) British clarinetist, alto / tenor saxophonist; he played piano at 10, then taught himself alto sax at 13. He played locally in Glasgow before moving to London in 1930, where he played with Jack Harris, Roy Fox, and Spike Hughes. In 1932 he joined Bert Ambrose's band, where he played primarily tenor saxophone and worked well into the 1940s. He worked with Geraldo in the late 1940s and played with the BBC Dance Orchestra for five years in the 1950s. The 1960s saw Billy do an increasing amount of studio work, including with George Chisholm; by the 1980s he was recording more often on clarinet, and released an album under his own name, Session After Midnight, in 1980. He wrote an autobiography in 1986, Don't Fuss, Mr. Ambrose, and continued to perform occasionally into his nineties (?) b. August 20th 1911.
2008: Page Cavanaugh (86) American jazz pianist and singer; began on piano at age nine and played with Ernie Williamson's band in 1938-39. While serving in the military during World War II, he met guitarist Al Viola and bassist Lloyd Pratt, with whom he formed a trio. After the war they had hits including "The Three Bears", "Walkin' My Baby Back Home", and "All of Me". The trio appeared in the films A Song Is Born, Big City, Lullaby of Broadway (with Doris Day) and Romance on the High Seas. Additionally, they played on Frank Sinatra's Songs by Sinatra radio program and on The Jack Paar Show. He played in Los Angeles area nightclubs through the 1990s, both in a trio setting with Viola for many years and as a septet, the Page 7 (kidney failure) b. January 26th 1922.

December 20
1973: Bobby Darin/Walden Robert Cassotto (37) US singer; classified as a rock & roll singer, a Vegas hipster cat, an interpreter of popular standards, or even a folk-rocker, which ever, he was one of the best singers of his era (At the age of 8 he was stricken with rheumatic fever which left him with a seriously diseased heart. He died during surgery to repair a faulty heart valve)
1989: Kurt Böhme (81) German bass vocalist; known for his interpretations of Wagnerian roles and Baron Ochs von Lerchenau in Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier ()
1982: Arthur Rubinstein (95) Polish five time Grammy award winning pianist; considered as one of the greatest piano virtuosos of the 20th Century. He received international acclaim for his performances of Chopin and Brahms and his championing of Spanish music. In the mid 70s, Arthur's eyesight began to deteriorate and he retired from the stage at age 89 in May 1976, giving his last concert at London's Wigmore Hall, where he had first played nearly 70 years before. (died in Geneva, Switzerland, on the first anniversary of his death, an urn holding his ashes was buried in Jerusalem) b. January 28th 1887.
1999: Hank Snow/ Clarence Eugene Snow (85) Canadian Country singer, ten times voted Canada's top country music performer. Set up the "Hank Snow International Foundation For Prevention Of Child Abuse".()
2004: Frank "Son" Seals (62) American blues guitarist and singer, born Frank Seals in Osceola, Arkansas in 1942, he grew up immersed in the blues. His childhood home was a few rooms in the back of his father Jim's juke joint, The Dipsy Doodle (famous for blues in the front and dice in the back), with musicians like Sonny Boy Williamson, Albert King and Robert Nighthawk playing within earshot of his bed nearly every night. Frank was the youngest of 13 children, and gained the nickname "Little Son" in deference to his father, Jim, who was known locally as "Ol' Man Son"... READ MORE ... (complications of diabetes) b. August 14th 1942.
2007: Lydia Mendoza (91) US guitarist and singer of Tejano music; known as a lone artist and performer, her voice and twelve-string guitar-playing figure prominently in her ability to both nurture and transmit the vast oral tradition of popular Mexican song with beauty and integrity.
2009: James Gurley (69) American guitarist, born in Detroit, Michigan. In 1962, he and his wife Nancy moved to San Francisco and he became part of the coffee-house circuit, playing in the folk and country blues tradition. For a time, he played with J.P. Pickens and the Progressive Bluegrass Boys, before joining Big Brother and the Holding Company in 1965 and had a breif relationship with Janis. Since 1970, and Nancy's death, as well as his work with The Holding Company, James was involved in a number of independent projects. In 1981, he had a new wave band, "Red Robin and The Worms", playing bass and recorded with New Age drummer Muruga Booker and has also been actively involved in writing and recording solo work. James stopped touring with Big Brother in 1997 to devote his full attention to these projects. (heart attack) b. December 22nd 1939.

December 21
1941: Peetie Wheatstraw/William Bunch (39) US blues pianist, guitar and singer; born in Ripley, Tennessee, his influence was enormous during the 1930s, often considered the most important Blues figure of the era. Peetie began recording in 1930 and was so popular that he continued to record through the worst years of the Great Depression, when the numbers of blues records issued was drastically reduced. However, he made no records between March 1932 and March 1934, a period in which he perfected his mature style. For the rest of his sadly short life, he was one of the most recorded blues singers and accompanists. His total output of 161 recorded songs was surpassed by only four pre-war blues artists: Tampa Red, Big Bill Broonzy, Lonnie Johnson and Bumble Bee Slim. Among the clubs of St Louis and East St Louis his popularity was outstanding, rivalled only by Walter Davis (died on his birthday while he was a passenger in the back seat of a Buick when it struck a standing freight train, instantly killing his two companions; Peetie died in the hospital some hours later) b. December 21st 1902.
1987: John Spence (18) American singer and founding member of the Ska band No Doubt, along with Eric Stefani. John, who came up with the band's name from his favorite expression, took on the role as the lead vocalist, with the Madness-inspired Eric behind the keyboard. John was No Doubt's energetic frontman, doing backflips and wild screams on the stage (he shot himself dead, while in a parking lot at Anaheim, California) b. February 3rd 1969.
1988: Paul Jeffreys (36) English rock musician and bassist, he was a founding member of Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel and played bass on the first two Cockney Rebel albums, "The Human Menagerie" and "The Psychomodo". He worked with a number of British bands, including Be Bop Deluxe, the Warm Jets and the Electric Eels. (Paul & his wife Rachel were killed by a terrorist bomb on PanAm flight 103, crashing over Lockerbie, Scotland) b. February 13th 1952.
1992: Albert King/Albert Nelson (69) US blues guitar virtuoso, singer, composer, one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar", along with B. B. King and Freddie King. Standing 6' 4", and weighed 260 pounds, known as "The Velvet Bulldozer", he was a major influence on blues & rock guitar players, some say without him, modern guitar music would not sound as it does, his style has influenced both black and white blues players from Otis Rush and Robert Cray to Gary Moore and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Cream hit "Strange Brew" is a note-for-note cover of King's solo on his Stax Record hit "Crosscut Saw". Born in Indianola, Mississippi, he recorded his first disc in 1953 for Parrot Records in Chicago, but it made no impact. His first minor hit came in 1959 with "I'm a Lonely Man" written by Bobbin Records and fellow guitar hero Little Milton, responsible for Albert's signing with the label. However, it was not until his 1961 release "Don't Throw Your Love on Me So Strong" that he had a major hit. In the 1970s, he was teamed with members of The Bar-Kays and The Movement including bassist James Alexander and drummer Willie Hall adding strong funk elements to his musi (heart attack) b. April 25th 1923.
1992: Nathan Milstein (88) Russian born, American violin virtuoso, born in Odessa, then part of the Russian Empire, now in Ukraine. He was widely considered one of the finest violinists of the 20th century, he made his American debut in 1929 with Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He eventually settled in New York and became an American citizen. He toured repeatedly throughout Europe, maintaining residences in London and Paris. Nathan was known for his interpretations of Bach's solo violin works and for works from the Romantic period. He performed at a high level into his mid 80s, retiring only after suffering a broken hand. During the late 1980s, Nathan published his memoirs, From Russia to the West. He received a Grammy Award in 1975 for his recording of Bach's sonatas and partitas, and was awarded the Légion d'honneur by France in 1968. He was also awarded Kennedy Center honors by President Ronald Reagan (?) b. December 31st 1903.
1997: Amie Comeaux (21) US country music singer; at nine years old, she sang the Star-Spangled Banner at a New Orleans Saints game in the Louisiana Superdome, and continued to do so throughout her teenage years (As she passed a car, her car hydroplaned due to severe rain weather and struck a tree, and she was killed on impact).
1998: Karl Denver/ Angus McKenzie (67) Scottish yodelling pop singer best remembered for his recording of the Zulu folk song Wimoweh ()
2009: Pete King (80) British saxophonist and co-founder and manager of London's famous jazz club, Ronnie Scott's, for almost 50 years. His first professional work was with Jiver Hutchinson in 1947, he went on to play with the bands of Kenny Graham, Teddy Foster, Leon Roy, George Evans' Saxes ‘n’ Sevens, Oscar Rabin, and Kathy Stobart. In September 1952 he recorded with the Ronnie Scott Quintet, while playing with the various Scott bands in the latter half of the 50s, Pete was also a member of Jack Parnell's band. In 1956, Pete and Ronnie were members of the Victor Feldman Big Band. In 1959, Pete and Ronnie opened the legendary Ronnie Scott's jazz club and Pete effectively gave up his playing to run the club, which he continued to do for nine years after Scott's death in 1996, until the sale of the club to theatre impresario Sally Greene in June of 2005 (died after a long illness) b. August 23rd 1929.

December 22
1985: D. Boon/Dennes Dale Boon (27) American singer, songwriter and guitarist born in San Pedro, California. As a teenager he began painting and signed his works "D. Boon", partly because "D" was his slang for cannabis, partly after the American pioneer, folk hero and hunter Daniel Boone, but mostly because it was similar to E. Bloom, Blue Öyster Cult's vocalist and guitarist. In 1980 he formed the band Minutemen with his childhood friend Mike Watt on bass from the remnants of their previous band, The Reactionaries. Their most noted recording was "Double Nickels on the Dime", which is considered by many to be D.Boon at his best in both songwriting and guitar playing. (Tragically Dennes was killed in a van accident in the Arizona desert near the Californian border on route I-10. He had been sick with fever and was lying down in the rear of the van, when the van ran off the road, he was thrown out the back door of the van and died instantly from a broken neck) b. April 1st 1958.
1991: William Godvin "Beaver" Harris (55)American jazz drummer; he played clarinet and alto saxophone as a teenagerand then he became a professional baseball player for the Kansas City Monarchs (then part of the Negro American League). It was when he came out of the army he became a professional drummer. He worked with Dexter Gordon, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Clifford Jordan, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Sonny Stitt, Clark Terry, Archie Shepp, Albert Ayler and many others (prostate cancer) b. April 20th 1936.
2002: Joe Strummer/John Graham Mellor (50) UK-Turkish singer, musician, born in Ankara, Turkey; he was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and lead singer of the English punk rock band The Clash. He was also a member of the The Mescaleros, The 101'ers, and did a short stint with The Pogues. The Clash are considered one of the most overtly political, explosive & exciting bands in rock n roll history. Their songs tackled social decay, unemployment, racism, political and social repression, police brutality, and militarism in detail. He worked on a few films including songs for the 1986 film Sid and Nancy, including "Love Kills" and "Dum Dum Club". He was also instrumental in setting up Future Forests (recently rechristened The Carbon Neutral Company), an organization dedicated to planting trees in various parts of the world in order to combat global warming (died suddenly in his home, the victim of an undiagnosed congenital heart defect) b. August 21st 1952
2003: Dave Dudley/David Darwin Pedriska (75) US country music singer, best-known for his trucker songs and was one of the icons in this category. His songs including "Six Days on the Road" and "Truck Drivin' Son-of-a-Gun"and "Fireball Rolled A Seven". In his long career he recorded more than 70 albums (heart attack at his home in Wisconsin) b. May 3rd 1926.
2007: Joe Ames (86) US singer with The Ames Brothers; The four Ames brothers, Joe, Gene, Ed and Vic formed a the group with cousin Lennie, in 1948, and began touring United States Army and Navy bases entertaining the troops and were offered a job at the Foxs and Hounds nightclub, one of the fanciest clubs in Boston. They were catpulted into national top billing with their first hit record, "Rag Mop," in January, 1950. They later became regulars on such shows as The Arthur Godfrey Hour and were one of the first acts to appear on the original Ed Sullivan Show when it was known as Toast of the Town, they made their debut with him when the show was telecast live from Wanamaker's Department Store. They notched up 50 U.S. chart entries and were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1998 (?) b. May 3rd 1921.
2009: Mick Cocks (?) Australian musician, most noted for his guitar work with Rose Tattoo. He founded the hard rock band in 1976 with the late guitarist Pete Wells. They had hits such as 'Bad Boy for Love,' 'We Can't Be Beaten' and 'One of the Boys.' Mick's original sound and style heavily influenced Guns N' Roses, who recorded a cover of the Rose Tattoo song ‘Nice Boys’. After a tour of Europe they were hailed the loudest band to play London's Marquee Club since Led Zeppelin. On their return to Australia Mick left to pursue his side projects. Other bands and side projects included.. Heaven, Doomfoxx, Pete Wells Heart Attack and the Ted Mulry Gang. At the request of longtime fans Guns N' Roses, Mick, Anderson, Wells, Leach and new drummer Paul DeMarco reformed Rose Tattoo in 1993 to open for the Guns 'n' Roses on their Australian tour; after completing the tour each member returned to his solo endeavors. (Mick sadly died of liver cancer which he was diagnosed with in April 2009) b. ??.??.??.

December 23
1992: Eddie Hazel (42) US guitarist with Parliament/Funkadelic; a mythical figure, original Funkadelic guitarist who pioneered an innovative funk-metal sound in the early '70s, best exemplified on his mammoth classic instrumental jam "Maggot Brain", this track contains a ten-minute guitar solo which was his defining moment and the one piece of music for which he has remained a legend and in 2008 Rolling Stone cited it as number 60 on its list of 100 greatest "guitar songs" of all time. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic (liver failure) b. April 10th 1950.
1996: Ronnie Scott/Ronald Schatt (69) UK jazz tenor saxophonist; co-founder of the Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, in London's Soho district. He began playing in small jazz clubs at 16 and toured and worked with with Johnny Claes, Ted Heath, Ambrose, Cab Kaye, and Tito Burns. He was involved in the short-lived musicians' co-operative Club Eleven band and club, along with Johnny Dankworth and others, and was a member of the generation of British musicians who worked on the Cunard liner Queen Mary in order to visit New York and hear the new music directly. He was among the earliest British musicians to be influenced in his playing style by Charlie Parker and other bebop musicians.In 1952 he joined Jack Parnell's orchestra, then led his own nine-piece group and quintet and opened his world famous club in 1959 (while recovering slowly from surgery for tooth implants, died accidentally from a mixture of brandy and prescription sleeping tablets) b. January 28th 1927.
2000: Victor Borge/Børge Rosenbaum (91) Danish entertainer, a humorist, and world-class pianist affectionately known as the Clown Prince of Denmark and the Great Dane. Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, he played his first major concert in 1926 at the Danish concert hall Odd Fellow Palæet (The Odd Fellow's Lodge building). After a few years as a classical concert pianist, he started his now famous "stand up" act, with the signature blend of piano music and jokes. Victor played with some of the world's most renowned orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic and London Philharmonic. Always modest, he felt very honored when he was invited to conduct the Danish Royal Symphony Orchestra at the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1992. He toured until his last days, performing up to 60 times a year when he was 90 years old (died peacefully in his sleep) b. January 3rd 1909.
2006: Charlie Drake (81) English comedian, actor, writer and singer, born in London. made his first appearance on stage at the age of eight, and after leaving school toured working men's clubs. After serving in the Royal Air Force during World War II, he turned professional and made his TV debut in The Centre Show in 1953. He then joined his wartime comrade Jack Edwardes to form a double act, named "Mick and Montmorency". He appeared in the television shows Laughter in Store, and Drake's Progress, both in 1957, Charlie Drake In… from 1958 to 1960 and The Charlie Drake Show from 1960 to 1961, being particularly remembered for his opening catchphrase "Hello, My Darlings!". Charlie appeared in 4 films in his eaarly career and turned to straight acting in the 80s. He recorded around 18 records, his first in 1958, Splish Splash, reached No.7 in UK charts, the rest were mostly novelty songs. One of these, his 1961's My Boomerang Won't Come Back, became a modest hit in the United States. (sadly died after suffering multiple strokes) b. June 19th 1925.
2007: Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (82) Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, a member of jazz royalty. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received numerous other awards and honours over the course of his 60 year career. He is considered to have been one of the greatest pianists of all time. Oscar was blowing a trumpet by the time he was 5 years old and switched to piano after he spent a year in hospital with tuberculosis.At 15 he won an amateur contest, as a result he was given his own 15 minute radio show on CKAC, Piano Ramblin’. By the early 40’s he was heard nationally on CBC radio shows such as The Happy Gang. While with the Johnny Holmes orchestra he encountered discrimination when the manager of the Ritz-Carlton forced him to enter the hotel through a side door to play a dance there in the 1943. By the time he was 21, he was already a sparkling virtuoso who could stop a show dead. He made his first record in 1945, a 78 rpm version of ‘I got Rhythm’ that sold well. When Norman Granz signed him to play Carnegie Hall in New York in 1949, Oscar was only 25. He was also a composer, the 1957 recording of the Oscar Peterson Trio at the Stratford Festival still crops up on the best-ever lists of jazz albums. His Canadiana Suite, written in 1964 was a series of jazz themes inspired by the various landscapes and cities of Canada. During the ’60s Peterson he worked with the German producer Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer and recorded 20 albums with him. During the 70s, he had his own television show on CTV. also he teamed up with former British Prime Minister Edward Heath for a six-part BBC television series that was aired in 1975, and returned to Montreal to play at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel during the 1976 Olympics. He accumulated ten honorary doctorates, was invested in the Order of Canada in 1972, made a companion of the order in 1984 and in 1991 given the Order of Quebec. He was awarded the Glenn Gould Prize in 1993 and in 1999, and the concert hall at Concordia University’s Loyola campus in Montreal bears his name. Oscar, last played the Montreal Jazz festival in 2004 was named Down Beat magazine’s best jazz pianist 13 times (kidney failure) b. August 15th 1925.
2009: Judy Kreston (76) American singer and club owner; Judy had become a fixture on the cabaret circuit in New York and performed with her husband David Lahm for over 30 years. Together, they recorded several albums. She was also the owner of the club Judy's, named in honor of all famous performing Judys from Garland to Holliday. The club, which opened on West 44th Street later moved to Eighth Avenue in Chelsea. Judy got her start by singing at weddings and bar mitzvahs as well as in stage shows. She left home to join the Shrine Circus, forsaking a role in the national company of My Fair Lady to do so. She toured military bases with a USO troupe, playing Laurie in Oklahoma! She soon moved to New York, performing in The catskills and eventually becoming a well-known singer on the New York cabaret scene. Highlights of her career include performing Remembering Felicia Sanders in 1991, a tribute to Sanders, a cabaret singer in the 1950s and '60s who died in 1974. In 1987, she sang a program focused on the songs of Anthony Newley (cancer) b. November 22nd 1933.

December 24
1954: Johnny Ace (25) R&B singer (backstage at a concert in Houston a drunk Ace amused himself with a game of Russian Roulette. He aimed a .22 calibre revolver at his girlfriend, Olivia Gibbs, and fired. He then attempted to shoot her friend, Mary Carter, however, the gun failed to go off on both occasions. He swiftly turned the gun on himself and ended his life)
1992: Bobby LaKind () Percussion, Doobie Brothers (cancer)
1999: Zeke Carey () 2nd tenor vocals of The Flamingos.
2000: Nick Massi/Nicholas Macioci (65) Bass singer in The Four Seasons (cancer)
2002: Jake Thackray (64) English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and poet, born in Leeds, Jake began his working life as a teacher, taking jobs in France and Yorkshire, where he wrote songs as a teaching aid for his pupils, before performing them in folk clubs and small theatres, while accompanying himself on a nylon-stringed acoustic guitar. His songs were featured on the BBC radio show Northcountryman. In 1967 Released his debut album, The Last Will and Testament of Jake Thackray, with compositions such as Lah Di Dah, one of the most sharply satirical love songs in popular music. He went on to record eight more albums and make more than 1,000 radio and TV appearances. Although he had appeared in a Royal Variety Performance, Jake was uncomfortable with big audiences, and would rather settle for a pub or community hall rather than the grandeur of the London Palladium (He died of heart failure) b. February 27th 1938
2008: Alf Robertson (67) Swedish singer and composer; very popular European singer, during his long career he produced 50 albums and about 150 singles (serious illness) b. June 8th 1941.
2009: Tim Hart (61) English folk singer and multi-instrumentalist, best known as a founding member of electric folk band, Steeleye Span. Born in Lincoln, Tim's first band the Rattfinks, was formed while at St Albans School. In 1966, he began performing with the Blackpool born Maddy Prior, touring English folk clubs. In 1968 and 1969 the duo recorded two albums: Folk Songs of Olde England, (Volumes One and Two). Tim and Maddy formed Steeleye Span in 1969 which became one of the best known acts of the British folk revival, and were among the most commercially successful, with hits including singles "All Around My Hat", "John Barleycorn", "New York Girls", "Gaudete", "Boar's Head Carol" and they had 3 top 40 albums, and achieved a "gold" record with sales of "All Around My Hat". (lung cancer) b. January 9th 1948.
2009: Derek Loux (37) American Christian music singer, he worked with the international house of prayer in KC, Forerunner Music Academy at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City and helped create the Josiah fund to help needy children. He released an album entitled, “Paper Religion” about two years ago. His music had always been a part of Christian worship. He was also a part of the senior leadership team ,a worship leader in the House of Prayer,and a conference speaker for the IHOP-KC. (Died after a car accident in Nebraska, it seems the accident occurred due to a major snow storm up in that area) b.????
2009: Masahiko Shimura (29) Japanese rock musician; the lyricist, lead vocalist, and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Fujifabric. Originally a cover band consisting of junior high school friends. Fujifabric was founded by Masahiko and his friend Takayuki Watanabe. After graduating from high school, the Fujiyoshida moved to Tokyo, and recruited Tadokoro Sachiko, Yuichi Kato and Akira Hagiwara for the band. Their first full, self-titled studio album released on November 10th 2004, peaked at No.17 on Japan's Oricon Chart. In 2005 the band released three more singles including the popular Ginga and Akaneiro no Yuuhi, the latter which featured the song Shinkirou and was used as the ending theme in the film Scrap Heaven. Masahiko was the only remaining original member of Fujifabric at the time of his death and his last album with the band was 2009's 'Chronicle'. (tragically died of an unknown ailment) b. July 10th 1980.

December 25
1977: Charlie Chaplin (88) English actor, composer; as well as his superb comedy acting, the best-known of several songs he composed are "Smile", for the film "Modern Times", famously covered by Nat King Cole. "This Is My Song" from Chaplin's last film, "A Countess From Hong Kong," was a number one hit in several different languages in the 1960s, and Chaplin's theme from Limelight was a hit in the 50s under the title "Eternally." He won an Academy Award in 1972 for his score to Limelight. (died in his sleep in Vevey, Switzerland) b. April 16th 1889.
1954: Johnny Ace/John Marshall Alexander Jr (24) Pioneering and influencial Americain R&B singer, pianist, having 8 hits in a row.(He had been performing at the City Auditorium in Houston, Texas. During a break between sets, he allegedly decided to play a game of Russian Roulette. He aimed a .45 caliber revolver at his girlfriend, Olivia Gibbs, and pulled the trigger. He then attempted to shoot her friend, Mary Carter. Both times, the hammer fell on an empty chamber. He then swiftly turned the gun on himself and ended his life; although rumors that he was murdered circulated in the years after his death, both police at the scene and later biographers have accepted the Russian-roulette scenario).
1995: Dean Martin/ Dino Paul Crocetti (78) actor, singer, member of The Rat Pack (died of respiratory failure due to emphysema and lung cancer)
1998: Bryan MacLean (52) US guitarist, singer; he started playing guitar professionally in 1963 when he got a job at the Balladeer in West Hollywood playing folk and blues guitar. He met up with The Byrds and became their equipment manager. It was when The Byrds were on tour in the UK, Bryan had stayed in the US and joined Arthur Lee's group The Grass Roots. They changed their name to Love and were signed toElektra Records, after 3 albums 'Love' and 'Da Capo' and 'Forever Changes', Bryan who was suffering from heroine addiction left the band. When at rock bottom he joined a Christian ministry called the Vineyard, he gradually assembled a catalogue of his Christian songs and opened a Christian nightclub in Beverley Hills called The Daisy. He went on to form his own band and also worked with his half sister Maria McKee and wrote the song “Don't Toss Us Away” for the debut album of her band Lone Justice. In 1996, his Elektra Records late 60s solo demo tapes were discovered by his mother Elizabeth in the family garage, they were released in 1997 on CD "ifyoubelievein". The CD was critically well received after which he completed a spiritual album of Christian music just before his death (heart attack) b. September 25th 1946.
2005: Birgit Nilsson (87) Swedish singer; a dramatic soprano who specialized in operatic and symphonic works. Sweden issued a postage stamp showing her as Turandot, she also received the Illis Quorum gold medal, the highest award that can be conferred upon an individual of Sweden.()
2005: Derek Bailey (75) English avant-garde guitarist and leading figure in the free improvisation movement, born in Sheffield, UK, he played the guitar from an early age, studying with John Duarte among others. He found work as a guitarist in clubs, radio, dance halls, and so on. He began to play in a trio in Sheffield with Tony Oxley and Gavin Bryars called Joseph Holbrooke. Originally performing relatively traditional jazz this group became increasingly free in direction (complications from motor neurone disease) b. January 29th 1930...Read More
2006: James Joseph Brown, Jr (73) commonly referred to as "The Godfather of Soul", was an American entertainer recognized as one of the most influential figures in 20th-century popular music. As a prolific singer, songwriter, bandleader and record producer, he was a seminal force in the evolution of gospel and rhythm and blues into soul and funk. He left his mark on numerous other musical genres, including rock, jazz, reggae, disco, dance and electronic music, afrobeat, and hip-hop music.()
2007: Mighty King Kong/Paul Otieno Imbaya (33) Kenyan reggae musician; crippled as a child from polio went from a street kid to performing with the popular Simba Ngoma band. (Died at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi while being treated for poisoning)
2008: Lars Hollmer (60) Swedish accordionist, keyboardist and composer whose work draws on influences ranging from Nordic folk tunes to progressive rock. He has been a member and/or founder of over half a dozen groups,including Samla Mammas Manna and Accordian Tribe, most of whose work has been recorded at The Chickenhouse, his well outfitted home studio. As well as his work with bands he has recorded 10 solo albums. He won a Swedish Grammy award in 1999 for his record 'Andetag'. He has also composed extensively for Swedish films, as well as for theater and dance productions (?) b. 1948
2008: Eartha Kitt (81) American actress, singer, and cabaret star; legendary singer with a distinctive voice, her hits include "Let's Do It", "Champagne Taste", "C'est si bon", "Just an Old Fashioned Girl", "Monotonous", "Je cherche un homme", "Love for Sale", "I'd Rather Be Burned as a Witch", "Uska Dara", "Mink, Schmink", "Under the Bridges of Paris", and her most recognizable hit, "Santa Baby", which was released in 1953. Her unique style was enhanced as she became fluent in the French language during her years performing in Europe, which she demonstrates with finesse in many of the live recordings of her cabaret performances. She has 6 Awards and 5 nominations as well as having a huge career in film theatre and TV. Orson Welles once called her the "most exciting woman in the world." (colon cancer) b. January 17th 1927.
2008: Robert Ward (70) American blues singer and guitarist; he was known for founding the Ohio Untouchables, later becoming the Ohio Players, with hits including 'Love Rollercoaster' and 'Fire'. He played guitar with a unique tone soaked in vibrato coming from the Magnatone amplifier. He next worked as a session player for Motown, before coming back into the spotlight in the '90s bringing out a further four albums (died at home) b. October 15th 1938.
2009: Asheem Chakravarty (50) Indian vocalist and jazz fusion musician playing percussions and tabla; brought up in an atmosphere of Indian classical, folk and other Indian forms, he showed a rhythmic ability at an early age, and is a totally self taught musician. In 1990 he quit a career in advertising, to co-form the band Indian Ocean, where he played the tabla, tarang and other percussion instruments while also being band's vocalist. Indian Ocean fans call him “the man with the golden voice”. Asheem sings and plays the tabla simultaneously, a difficult feat rare by Indian percussionists. His rhythm structures are unique and contribute a large part to Indian Ocean’s signature sound(He was hospitalized in Doha after suffering a heart attack in October and was in a coma for a brief period, he was recovering but sadly passed away after suffering a second cardiac arrest in New Delhi) b. 1957
2009: James Victor "Vic" Chesnutt (45) America folk rock singer-songwriter and guitarist, born in Jacksonville, Fla., he was adopted and grew up in Zebulon, Ga.; his grandfather gave him guitar lessons, having him transpose “Sweet Georgia Brown” into every key in the scale. He was injured in a car accident in 1983, while drink driving. Around 1985, now confined to a wheelchair, Vic moved to Athens, US, and joined the band, The La-Di-Da's. After which he began performing solo at the 40 Watt Club; it was there that he was spotted by Michael Stipe of R.E.M., who produced his first two albums, Little in 1990 and West of Rome in 1991. He released around 15 solo albums and two with brute, his side project with himself and members of Widespread Panic. His musical style is described as a "skewed, refracted version of Americana that is haunting, funny, poignant, and occasionally mystical, usually all at once (Sadly he died from an overdose of muscle relaxants that had left him in a coma in an Athens hospital) b. November 12th 1964.

December 26
1973: Lowman Pauling (47)singer, guitarist, songwriter; Five Royales/solo (died while performing his custodial duties at a Brooklyn synagogue, New York, NY)
1999: Curtis Mayfield (57) American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions and composing the soundtrack to the film Super Fly. He was highly regarded as a pioneer of funk and of politically conscious African-American music. Curtis was also a multi-instrumentalist who played the guitar, bass, piano, saxophone, and drums. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Curtis began his career in 1956 while still at Wells High School, when he joined The Roosters with Arthur and Richard Brooks and Jerry Butler. Two years later The Roosters, now including also Sam Gooden, became The Impressions. Curtis was their main composer, songwriter and took over as lead singer when Jerry Butler left. In 1970, Curtis also left The Impressions to begin a solo singing career and he founded the independent record label Curtom Records. Curtom would go on to release most of his landmark 1970s records, as well as records by the Impressions, Leroy Hutson, The Staple Singers, Mavis Staples, and Baby Huey and the Babysitters, a group which at the time included Chaka Khan, he also produced many of these records. Curtis received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995. In February, 1998, he had to have his right leg amputated due to diabetes. Curtis was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on March 15, 1999, but was too ill to attend the ceremony. His last appearance on record was with the group Bran Van 3000 on the song "Astounded" for their 2001 album Discosis (diabetes related)b. June 3rd 1942.
2004: Mieszko Talarczyk (30) lead singer/guitarist of the Swedish Grindcore band Nasum, also known for his engineering and production abilities, he co-founded Soundlab studios with Millencolin guitarist Mathias Färm (died while on holiday in Thailand he was killed in the tsunami disaster. His body was identified on February 16, 2005).
2004: Aki Sirkesalo (42) Finnish musician, born in in Toijala; he started his public career in '84 as an announcer in the Finnish Broadcasting Company radio show Rockradio. In 1986 he formed a band called Giddyups, followed with a successful a cappella group Veeti and the Velvets. He released his first solo album Mielenrauhaa ("peace of mind") in 1995. He went on to make four more solo albums, the latest of which was released posthumously in February 2005 (died with his family in the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake at Khao Lak, Thailand) b. July 25th 1962.
2005: Muriel Costa-Greenspon (68) US mezzo-soprano born in Detroit and studied voice at the University of Michigan and later in New York City. She made her professional debut with the Detroit Grand Opera Association at the Detroit Opera House as Miss Todd in The Old Maid and the Thief in 1960. Over the next decade she appeared with numerous opera companies around the United States, including performances at the Baltimore Opera Company, the Opera Company of Boston, the Connecticut Opera, the Dallas Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company, and the San Antonio Opera among others. Muriel had a long career at the New York City Opera between 1963-1993, portraying many character roles from works by Leonard Bernstein, Benjamin Britten, Carlisle Floyd, Arthur Honegger, Gian Carlo Menotti, Lee Hoiby, and Douglas Moore, to the contralto heroines of Gilbert and Sullivan, and comic scene stealers by Puccini, Mozart, and Donizetti. She was known not only for her abilities as a singer and musician but also as an accomplished actress; being able to create three-dimensional characters, rather than mere caricatures (natural causes) b. December 1st 1937.
2007: Joe Dolan (68) Irish singer; his biggest hit "Make Me An Island" went to Number 3 in the UK Singles Chart in 1969, and No.1 in fourteen other countries (brain hemorrhage)

December 27
1976: Freddie King (42) rock blues, blues guitarist; his influence can still be heard in blues and rock guitarists today (heart failure)
1978: Bob Luman (41) American country and rockabilly singer best-known in non-country circles for his crossover novelty hit, "Let's Think About Living," (pneumonia).
1978: Chris Bell (27) American guitarist singer, songwriter born in Memphis, Tennessee. He played in a number of Memphis bands beginning in the 1960s, before he and Alex Chilton led the power pop band Big Star, which recorded albums during the early 1970s. Chris left the group after Big Star's first album, "No.1 Record" in 1972. He recorded as a solo artist for the remainder of the 1970s; with hits such as "I Am the Cosmos" and "You and Your Sister", released in 1978. The band This Mortal Coil covered these two songs on their 1991 album "Blood" (he was killed instantly when his speeding car hit a tree) b. January 12th 1951.
1981: Howard Hoagland 'Hoagy' Carmichael (82) American composer, pianist, singer, actor, and bandleader. He is best known for writing "Stardust", "Georgia On My Mind," "Up A Lazy River," "Skylark," and "Heart and Soul", some of the most-recorded American songs of all time. (heart attack in Rancho Mirage, California) b. November 22nd 1899.
1993: Michael Callen (38) American singer, songwriter, composer, author, and AIDS activist born in Rising Sun, Indiana. In the early 80s, he was in the mixed gay four-piece band “Lowlife”, playing piano and keyboards, singing, yodeling, and twirling a baton. Next he was a founding member of the gay male a cappella singing group The Flirtations, recording two albums. He also had a solo album, Purple Heart. During his last year, he recorded over 40 songs; Legacy, a 2-CD album of 29 of them, was posthumously released by Significant Other Records in 1996. In partnership with Oscar winner Peter Allen and Marsha Melamet, he wrote his most famous song, "Love Don't Need a Reason", which he sang frequently at gay pride and AIDS related events. In 1993 he appeared in the films Philadelphia, as part of The Flirtations, and appeared in drag as "Miss HIV", a singing virus in Zero Patience (AIDS related compications) b. April 11th 1955.
2004: Walter Louis "Hank" Garland (74) American session guitarist; at age 19, he recorded his million-selling hit "Sugarfoot Rag," before becoming Nashville's busiest country guitar picker, playing many genres. He is well known for his work on Elvis Presley's recordings from 1957 to 1961 with such rock hits as "Little Sister," "I Need Your Love Tonight" and "A Big Hunk o' Love." However, he also worked with many country music as well as rock 'n roll stars of the late 1950s and early 1960s including Patsy Cline, Brenda Lee, Mel Tillis, Marty Robbins, the Everly Brothers, Boots Randolph, Roy Orbison and Conway Twitty. He also played with jazz artists such as George Shearing and Charlie Parker in New York and went on to record Jazz Winds From a New Direction, showcasing his evolving talent. At the request of Gibson Guitar company president, Ted McCarty, Hank and fellow guitarist Billy Byrd strongly influenced the design of the Byrdland guitar. Sadly a car crash left Hank in a coma for months. He eventually recovered but had lost most of his memory. He learnt to walk, talk and play the guitar again. His life and times are the subject of the independent film Crazy.(staph infection) b. November 11th 1930.
2006: Pierre Delanoë/Pierre Charles Marcel Napoléon Leroyer (88) French songwriter, lyricist; between the late 40s and the end of the 80s, Pierre wrote 1000s of songs, estimations vary between 4,000 and 5,000, which ever, his lyrics graced hundreds of best-selling chansons by singers including Edith Piaf, Charles Aznavour, Marlene Dietrich, Johnny Hallyday, Françoise Hardy, Nana Mouskouri, Claude François and Gilbert Bécaud. His "Je T'Appartiens", a hit in France in 1955, was covered as "Let it Be Me" by the Everly Brothers, Tom Jones, Nina Simone, Sonny & Cher and Bob Dylan; and his 1961 "Et Maintenant" became "What Now, My Love" for Shirley Bassey, Petula Clark, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand and Elvis Presley. In the 60s, he also translated into French many American and British hits, helping Hughes Aufray turn Bob Dylan's "Times They are A-Changin" and "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" into "Les Temps Changent" and "N'y Pense Plus, Tout Va Bien" and improving on the original lyrics of the British group Christie's "Yellow River" when coming up with "L'Amérique" for Joe Dassin in 1970. In 1955 Pierre was also a founder of Europe 1, formerly known as Europe n° 1, the privately-owned radio network, it is one of the leading French radio broadcasters and heard throughout France. (cardiac arrest) b December 16th 1918.
2008: Delaney Bramlett (69) American singer, guitarist, songwriter and record producer; he became a regular on the U.S. television show Shindig! as member of the show's house band, the the Shin-diggers, later renamed the Shindogs, before forming the band Delaney & Bonnie and Friends with his then wife, Bonnie and Leon Russell. Over a span of 40 years he worked with many top artists including Etta James, Elvin Bishop, John Hammond, Dorothy Morrison and The Staple Singers. Joe Cocker, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Rita Coolidge, Dave Mason, Billy Preston, John Lennon, The Everly Brothers, Spooner Oldham, Dr. John, George Harrison, Gram Parsons, Steve Cropper, Billy Burnette, Mac Davis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Dennis Morgan, and his own daughter, Bekka Bramlett. (complications from gallbladder surgery) b. July 1st 1939.

December 28
1937: Maurice Ravel (62) French pianist, composer of Impressionist music known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects. Born in in the Basque town of Ciboure, France, near Biarritz, much of his piano music, chamber music, vocal music and orchestral music has entered the standard concert repertoire. Maurice's piano compositions, such as Jeux d'eau, Miroirs and Gaspard de la Nuit, demand considerable virtuosity from the performer, and his orchestral music, including Daphnis et Chloé and his arrangement of Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, uses a variety of sound and instrumentation very effectively (Maurice sadly died following unsuccessful surgery to relieve an obstructed vessel supplying blood to his brain) b. March 7th 1875.
1949: Ivie Anderson (45) American jazz singer, born in Gilroy, California; Ivie is best known for performing with Duke Ellington. She recorded dozens of songs with The Duke between 1932 and 1942 including "It Don't Mean a Thing (If it Ain't Got That Swing)", "I've Got The World On A String", "My Old Flame", "Your Love Has Faded", "Solitude", "Stormy Weather", and "Mood Indigo". In 1937, he also appeared as a singer in the Marx Brothers movie A Day at the Races and the same year in Hit Parade of 1937. Ivie developed chronic asthma, which forced her to retire from touring. She ran a chicken restaurant, Ivie's Chicken Shack, and continued singing in nightclubs on the west coast (asthma related) b. July 10th 1905.
1952: Fletcher Henderson Jr (55) African American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music (heart problems)
1963: Paul Hindemith (68) German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor born in Hanau, near Frankfurt. His early works are in a late romantic idiom, and he later produced expressionist works, rather in the style of early Arnold Schoenberg, before developing a leaner, contrapuntally complex style in the 1920s. This new style can be heard in the series of works he wrote called Kammermusik (Chamber Music) from 1922 to 1927. In 1933-35, he wrote his opera Mathis der Maler, based on the life of the painter Matthias Grünewald. His most popular work, both on record and in the concert hall, is probably the Symphonic Metamorphoses of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber, written in 1943. It takes melodies from various works by Weber, mainly piano duets, but also one from the overture to his incidental music for Turandot (Op. 37/J. 75), and transforms and adapts them so that each movement of the piece is based on one theme.(acute pancreatitis) b. November 16th 1895.
1976: Freddie King (42) Afro-American rock blues guitarist, singer; born in Gilmer, Texas, where Freddie's mother and uncle began teaching him to play guitar at the age of six. The family moved to the South Side of Chicago in 1950, where he played with bands such as The Sonny Cooper Band and Early Payton's Blues Cats and he formed his first band Every Hour Blues Boys with guitarist Jimmy Lee Robinson and drummer Sonny Scott. In 1953 he made recordings for Parrot records, which were not released and 1956 he recorded "Country Boy", a duet with Margaret Whitfield for El-Bee records. He had a twenty year recording career and became established as an influential guitarist. He inspired American musicians including Bill Freeman, Denny Campbell and Jimmie Vaughan, and mid 1960s UK blues revivalists such as Eric Clapton, Chicken Shack and Peter Green. He perfected his own guitar style based on Texas and Chicago influences and was one of the first bluesmen to have a multi-racial backing band on stage with him at live performances. Freddie toured with the big R&B acts such as Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson and James Brown and is known for his recordings such as "Have You Ever Loved A Woman" in 1960 and his Top 40 hit "Hide Away" in 1961, as well as albums such as "Let's Hide Away and Dance Away with Freddy King" and "Burglar" (heart failure) b. September 3rd 1934.
1977: Sam T. Brown (39) US session guitarist with Keith Jarrett, Astrud Gilberto, Barry Manilow, Thad Jones, Mel Lewis Big Band, James Brown and others (?).
1978: Chris Bell (27) guitarist, Big Star (car crashed into a telephone pole)
1983: Dennis Carl Wilson (39) American drummer and founder member of The Beach Boys. Born in Inglewood, California, Dennis was the second oldest of the three Wilson brothers. The Beach Boys formed in August 1961 under the guidance of father Murry Wilson, meeting immediate success. Though the Beach Boys were named for and developed an image based on the California surfing culture, Dennis was the only real surfer in the band. Their 1961 debut single "Surfin'" was followed by many chart hits including "Help Me, Rhonda", "California Girls", "I Get Around", "Surfing USA", "Barbara Ann", "Sloup John B", "Good Vibrations", "Wouldn't It Be Nice", "Fun Fun Fun" and "When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)". Dennis starred alongside James Taylor and Warren Oates in the critically acclaimed 1971 film "Two-Lane Blacktop" as The Mechanic. He released his debut solo album Pacific Ocean Blue in 1977. His collaborators on the album included Daryl Dragon, the 'Captain' of Captain & Tennille and Gregg Jakobson. The album peaked at No.96 in the US and sold around 300,000 copies. His follow-up album, Bambu, was initially scuttled by lack of financing and the distractions of Beach Boys projects. A sampling of its music was officially released in 2008 as bonus material with the Pacific Ocean Blue reissue. Two songs from the Bambu sessions, "Love Surrounds Me" and "Baby Blue" were lifted for the Beach Boys 1979 L.A. (Light Album). The Beach Boys were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 (Alcohol related drowning at Marina Del Rey, Los Angeles. Dennis was buried at sea off the California coast by the U.S. Coast Guard) b. December 4th 1944.
1985: Benny Morton (77) American jazz trombonist; born in New York City, one of his first jobs was working with Clarence Holiday, and he appeared with Clarence's daughter Billie Holiday towards the end of her life on The Sound of Jazz. In the 1960s he was part of the Jazz Giants band: "Wild" Bill Davison, Herb Hall, Claude Hopkins, Arvell Shaw and Buzzy Drootin. They toured the U.S. and frequently in Canada where they did some recording for Sackville Records. Towards the end of the 60's he played with an offshoot of the Jazz Giants under the leadership of Drootin, called Buzzy's Jazz Family. But he is probably best known for his work with Count Basie and Fletcher Henderson (?) b. January 31st 1907.
2009: The Reverend Tholomew Plague/James Owen Sullivan (28) American hard rock drummer, singer and multi-musician. He co-found rock band Avenged Sevenfold in 1999. They achieved mainstream success with their 2005 album City of Evil, which includes singles "Burn It Down", "Bat Country," "Beast and the Harlot" and "Seize the Day." The band's success followed with their self-titled album, with singles such as "Critical Acclaim", "Almost Easy", "Afterlife", "Scream" and "Dear God". They put out four albums and won Best New Artist at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2006. The group's self-titled fourth album hit No. 4 on the Billboard 200 chart in 2007. James also performed vocals and piano in his and Brian Haner Jr.'s side project, Pinkly Smooth, in 2002 (he was found dead at his home in Huntington Beach, California, with initial reports suggesting his death was from natural causes) b. February 10th 1981.. read more

December 29
1959: Robin Milford (56) English composer born in Oxford; his early compositions met with some success, his Double Fugue Op. 10 winning a Carnegie Prize and being performed by the London Symphony Orchestra under Vaughan Williams. In September 1931 his oratorio A Prophet in the Land Op. 21 was performed in Gloucester Cathedral as part of the Three Choirs Festival - the work was somewhat overshadowed by the splash made by William Walton's Belshazzar's Feast performed the same year. In 1937 a performance of his Concerto Grosso Op. 46 was directed by Malcolm Sargent, and his Violin Concerto Op. 47 was broadcast by the BBC in early 1938. At the outbreak of the Second World War Milford volunteered for the army, and was posted to the Pioneer Corps. After just one week he suffered a breakdown, after treatment he and his family moved to Guernsey. His depression worsened after the death of his mother, and then after the death of his 5 year old son Robin attempted suicide. But not long after his father and his two friends Finzi and Vaughan Williams died, which made Robin very ill, eventually the severe depression affected his vision and his balance (Robin committed suicide by taking an overdose of aspirin ) b. January 22nd 1903.
1967: Paul Whiteman (77) Jazz violinist, Large US Navy band/own orchestra; Duke Ellington wrote in his autobiography: "Paul Whiteman was known as the King of Jazz, and no one as yet has come near carrying that title with more certainty and dignity" ()
1980: Tim Hardin (39) US blues and folk singer, piano, guitar, songwriter, composer. Many of his songs were covered by prominate artists including Small Faces, Paul Weller, Billy Bragg, Rod Stewart, Weddings Parties Anything, Joan Baez Four Tops, Doc Watson, Robert Plant, Rick Nelson to mention a few (heroin and morphine overdose).
2003: Anita Mui (40) Hong Kong singer; selling over ten million albums of songs sung in Cantonese, Mandarin, and Japanese (cancer)
2008: Freddie Hubbard (70) American trumpet player; he began playing with musicians such as Philly Joe Jones, Sonny Rollins, Slide Hampton, Eric Dolphy , J. J. Johnson and Quincy Jones. In June 1960 he made his first record as a leader, 'Open Sesame', Also the 60s sees Freddie as a sideman on some of the most important albums from that era, including, Oliver Nelson's 'The Blues and the Abstract Truth', Herbie Hancock's 'Maiden Voyage', and Wayne Shorter's 'Speak No Evil'. He also recorded extensively for Blue Note Records, eight albums as a bandleader, and twenty-eight as a sideman. His early 1970s jazz albums Red Clay, First Light, Straight Life, and Sky Dive were particularly well received and considered among his best work. "First Light" won him a 1972 Grammy Award. In 2006, The National Endowment for the Arts honored Freddie Hubbard with its highest honor in jazz, the NEA Jazz Masters Award. (complications from a heart attack) b. April 7th 1938.
2009: C. Aswath (71) Indian music composer and exponent of Bhavageete/"expressive poetry" and Janapada Geete/"folk songs" in the Kannada language and a graduate in Science from Bangalore University. As a singer, he sung many of his own compositions. He is, perhaps the only Music Director in Karnataka, to have carved a niche of his own in all three fields of Theatre, Sugam Sangeetha and Film. He has given concerts outside India, like in Melbourne for Melanudi kannada sangha and few others in UK. His concert in Bangalore in 2005 was attended by a crowd of almost 100,000 people. He composed the music for over 22 famous Kannada films including "Santa Shishunala Shareef", "Mysooru Mallige" and "Nagamandala" directed by T S Nagabharana. (liver and renal failure) b. December 29th 1938.

December 30
1995: Clarence Satchell (55) American musician; he had a 30-year career as a professional saxophonist and flutist, noted for working with Wilson Pickett and 'Bobby Blue Band' and as a founding member of 'The Ohio Untouchables', who later became Grammy nominated Funk/Soul band 'The Ohio Players'. He co-wrote a number of top Billboard hits including "Fire", "Love Rollercoaster", "I Want To Be Free" and "Skin Tight" (brain aneurysm) b. April 15th 1940
1995: Ralph Flanagan/Ralph Elias Flenniken (81) American musician born in Lorain, Ohio, he was a famed big band leader, conductor, pianist, composer, and arranger for the orchestras of Hal McIntyre, Sammy Kaye, Blue Barron, Charlie Barnet, and Alvino Rey. By 1949 he formed a very successful orchestra The Ralph Flanagan band, which is credited with re-popularizing the Glenn Miller "sound". His theme songs were "Giannina Mia" and "Singing Winds", the latter title also applying to the orchestra's singing group. He made many records, among them "Rag Mop" and "Hot Toddy". (He died in Miami, Florida) b. April 7th 1914.
1998: Johnny Moore (64) US singer with the Drifters; he began as lead singer of a group, The Hornets, before being discovered by The Drifters, joining them as lead singer, in 1955 aged 21. After returning from the forces, he recorded as a soloist under the name "Johnny Darrow", before rejoining the Drifters, now comprised of four new members, and became the lead singer in 1964 when current lead Rudy Lewis was found dead. The group was due to record "Under the Boardwalk", and Johnny took over the lead vocals. Subsequently, he became permanent lead. He had a string of hits with the group including "Saturday Night At The Movies", "Up on the Roof", "Come On Over To My Place", "At The Club" and "Up In The Streets Of Harlem". He remained with the group when it moved to the United Kingdom in the 1970s, and remains the group's longest serving member- he was in the group until his death in 1998. He was given a posthumous Pioneer Award in 1999 by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation.(died suddenly in London, while on the way to hospital) b. December 14th 1934
2003: Anita Mui (40) Hong Kong singer and actress. During her prime years she made major contributions to the cantopop music scene, receiving many awards and honours. She remained an idol throughout her 20 year career, and was generally regarded as a cantopop diva, and at a sell-out concert at Hammersmith, England, she was dubbed the "Madonna of Asia", a title that stayed with her throughout her life. In the 1980s the gangtai style of music was revolutionized by her wild dancing and femininity on stage. She was famous for having outrageous costumes and also high powered performances (cervical cancer) b. October 10th 1963.
2004: Artie Shaw/Arthur Jacob Arshawsky (94) US clarinetist, composer, bandleader; a leading jazz clarinetist and big band leader of the mid-20th century. His 1938 recording of Begin the Beguine made him a popular rival to clarinetist Benny Goodman.(complications of diabetes)
2007: Willie Robinson (81) American blues singer; performed with, among others, Steven Tyler, Bonnie Raitt and good friend B.B. King's 21-piece orchestra. (from a fire accidentally started by a cigarette he had been smoking in bed at his home in Jamaica Plain, Boston).
2009: Rowland Stuart Howard (50) Australian guitarist, singer and songwriter; in 1978 he joined the Melbourne based new wave band The Boys Next Door, Howard's guitar was catalyst to this band and he received acclaim for writing their underground hit, the ballad "Shivers". Rowland and the band left for London in 1980, changing their name to the Birthday Party and launching into a period of innovative and aggressive music-making, with trips back to Australia and tours through Europe and the U.S. before relocating to West Berlin in 1982. Howard left the Birthday Party to become a member of Crime and the City Solution, a band led by Simon Bonney, and later formed These Immortal Souls with Genevieve McGuckin, Harry Howard, and Epic Soundtracks. Howard has also collaborated with the likes of Lydia Lunch, Nikki Sudden, Jeremy Gluck, Kas Produkt, Barry Adamson, Einstürzende Neubauten, Chris Haskett, Jeffrey Lee Pierce, Fad Gadget, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Henry Rollins, and A.C. Marias. He was described by Sam Agostino as "one of the most influential indie guitarists ever". More recently he released his debut solo album called 'Teenage Snuff Film' in 2000. His second solo album, Pop Crimes, was released in October 2009, Howard toured Australia that same month, playing shows in Melbourne and Sydney (liver cancer) b. October 24th 1959.

December 31
1967: Bert Berns/ Bertrand Russell Berns (38) US songwriter, producer, record label chief, pioneer of sixties rock and soul. He wrote and produced records for a wide range of labels, including Wand, United Artists, Capitol, Laurie, MGM, Big Top, Old Town, Roulette, and Atlantic Records. In 1963, Berns would replace Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller as the staff producer at Atlantic, where he produced such acts as Solomon Burke ("Cry to Me" and "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love"), The Drifters ("Under the Boardwalk" and "Saturday Night at the Movies"), Barbara Lewis ("Baby I'm Yours" and "Make Me Your Baby"), Little Esther Phillips ("Hello Walls"), Wilson Pickett and LaVern Baker. Berns was also one of the few American record producers to travel across the Atlantic to London, where he produced a number of British Decca artists such as Them ("Here Comes the Night," "Baby Please Don't Go" and "Gloria"), and Lulu.
(heart failure) b. November 8th 1929.
1968: George Lewis/Joseph Louis Francois Zenon (68) American jazz clarinetist born in the French quarter of New Orleans; he played with Buddy Petit and Chris Kelly regularly, and sometimes with trombonist Kid Ory and many other band leaders including Bunk Johnson's, a band which he took over after Bunks retirement. George took his band to San Francisco for a residency at the Hangover Club, then began to tour around the United States. In the 1960s he repeatedly toured Europe and Japan, and many young clarinetists from around the world modeled their playing closely on his. He is name-checked in the Bob Dylan song "High Water" from the album "Love and Theft" (?) b. July 13th 1900.
1984: Ronnie Ball (57) UK cool jazz pianist who enjoyed success on both sides of the Atlantic. He worked both as a bandleader and under Ronnie Scott, Tony Kinsey, Victor Feldman, and Harry Klein. In 1952 he moved to New York City and studied with Lennie Tristano. Among the musicians he played with are Chuck Wayne, Dizzy Gillespie, Lee Konitz, Kenny Clarke, Hank Mobley, Art Pepper, J.J. Johnson, Kai Winding, Warne Marsh, Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa, Roy Eldridge and Chris Connor () b. December 22nd 1927.
1985: Ricky Nelson (45) US singer, guitarist; with more than 50 Hot 100 hits, he was second only to Elvis Presley as the most popular rock and roll artist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. He was the first teen idol to utilize television to promote hit records, in 1957 each episode of the Ozzie & Harriet television show ended with a musical performance by "Ricky". He went on to enjoy many charts hits including "It's Late", "Stood Up", "Be-Bop Baby", "Just A Little Too Much", "Travelin' Man", "A Teenage Romance", "Poor Little Fool", "Young World" to mention a few. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, and also to the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1515 Vine Street. (killed along with six others, when his charted light aircraft crashed in Texas) b. May 8th 1940.
1997: Floyd Cramer (64) American pianist and one of the architects of the "Nashville Sound.". He was one of the busiest studio musicians in the industry, playing piano for stars such as Elvis Presley, Brenda Lee, Patsy Cline, The Browns, Jim Reeves, Roy Orbison, Don Gibson, the Everly Brothers and many others. He remained a virtual unknown to anyone but music industry insiders until he recorded a single in 1960 called "Last Date.", the instrumental exhibited a relatively new concept for piano playing known as the "slip note" style. The record went to No.2 on the Billboard Hot 100. He went on to make numerous albums and toured with guitar maestro Chet Atkins and saxophonist Boots Randolph, also performing with them as a member of the Million Dollar Band. In 2003, he was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (lung cancer) b. October 27th 1933.
2002: Kevin MacMichael (51) lead guitarist, Cutting Crew and Robert Plant (lung cancer)
2005: Enrico di Giuseppe (73) American operatic tenor, he first sang with the New York City Opera in 1965, as Michele, in the company premiere of Menotti's The Saint of Bleecker Street. Following his retirement, he taught at Florida State University and The Juilliard School.(?)

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