|
Born
~ March 1st
1973:
Ryan Peake [guitar; Nickelback]. 1969: Dafydd Leuan [drums; Super
Furry Animals]. 1963: Christina Bergmark [keyboards, Wannadies].
1963: Rob Affuso [drummer; Skid Row]. 1962: Peter Stephenson
[member of the electronic band Shamen]. 1958: Nik Kershaw [UK singer,
producer, guitar]. 1957: Jon Carroll [organ/piano; Starland Vocal Band].
1955: Jimmy Fortune [tenor vocals/guitar; The Statler Brothers/solo].
1946: Tony Ashton [vocals, keyboards; Ashton Gardner & Dyke]*28.May.2001.
1944: Roger Daltrey [vocals; Who/solo] 1944: Mike D'Abo [singer,
songwriter; Manfred Mann/solo]. 1943: Jerry Fisher [vocals; Blood,
Sweat & Tears/Jerry Fisher & the Music Company]. 1934: James Edward
Brown (US Country singer]. 1932: Oliver Sain (multi-musician,
band leader, studio owner)*28.Oct.2003.
1928: Willie Mitchell [US trumpet player; Al Green/Elvis/freelance].
1927: Harry Belafonte [singer, actor, humanitarian]. 1921: Kenny
Baker [UK Composer/Trumpet; Ted Heath/freelance/own]*07
Dec.1999. 1917: Dinah Shore [US singer/actress]*24.Feb.1994.
1914: Barrett Deems [drums; Dukes Of Dixieland/freelance]*15.Sep.1998.
1911: Kay Finegan/Vivian
Blessing
(US big band singer;Benny Goodman/Glenn Miller/others)*22.April.2006. 1904:
Glenn Miller (American jazz musician; big band leader)*15.Dec.1944
presumably. 1826: John Thomas (Welsh harpist, composer; harpist
to Queen Victoria)*19.March.1913.
1810: Frederic Francois Chopin [composer, pianist]*17.Oct.1849.
March 2nd 1989:
Will Makar [US singer; American Idol]. 1978: Claudio Sanchez [US
singer, guitarist; Coheed and Cambria]. 1977: Chris Martin [guitar,
vocals; Coldplay]. 1967: Dennis Seaton
[lead vocals, percussion; Musical Youth]. 1965: Martin Gilks (UK drummer,
manager; Wonder Stuff)*03.April.2006.
1962: Jon Bon Jovi/John Bongiovi [singer,
guitar; Bon Jovi]. 1956: Mark Evans [bass; AC-DC/Finch/Contraband/Heaven/freelance].
1955: Dale Bozzio [singer; Missing Persons]. 1955: Jay Wesley Osmond
[singer; The Osmonds]. 1950: Karen Carpenter [US singer, drummer;
The Carpenters]*4.Feb.1983 1948: Rory Gallagher
[guitar, slide
guitar, vocals, harmonica; Taste/solo]*14.June.1995.
1943: Tony Meehan (UK drummer; Vipers/Drifters/Cliff Richard & The
Shadows/sessionist)*28.Nov.2005. 1942: Lou
Reed [singer, guitarist; The Primitives/Velvet Underground/solo]. 1934:
Dottie Rambo (American
singer, songwriter, and musician)*11.May.2008.
1930: John Cullum [US actor, singer]. 1917: Desi Arnaz/Ricky Ricardo
[Cuban singer/musician/actor]*02.Dec.1986.
March 3rd
1977: Ronan Keating [Irish singer; Boyzone/solo]. 1975: Albert Fields
[US singer; New Mickey Mouse Club/The Party/solo]. 1969:
John "JB" Bigham [vocals, guitar, slide guitar, keyboards; Fishbone].
1966: Timo Tolkki [Finnish
guitarist, songwriter; Stratovarius] 1966:
Tone-Loc/Antony Smith [US hip hop artist, actor]. 1955: Chris Hughes
[UK drummer, record producer; Adam & the Ants]. 1950:
Re Styles/Shirley Marie MacLeod [vocals,
guitar; Tubes] 1953: Ricky Helton Wilson
[original guitarist with the B-52's]*12.10.1985
1953: Robyn Hitchcock [UK vocals, guitar, bass; Soft Boys/solo/freelance].
1947: Derek "Blue" Weaver [keyboards; Mott the Hoople/Amen Corner/
Strawbs]. 1947: Jennifer Warnes [US singer, keyboards]. 1947:
David Mount [drummer; Mud/Les Gray's Mud]*02.Dec.2006
1944: Jance Garfat [bass, Dr. Hook]*06.Nov.2006
1943: Chris Stainton
(UK keyboardist, bassist; Johnny Tempest/Joe Cocker/Eric Clapton/Freelance).
1942: Mike Pender/Michael John Prendergast [vocals, guitar; The Searchers].
1933: Paul Clayton [folk singer, dulcimer; solo/freelance]*30.March.1967
March 4th 1971:
Fergal Lawlor [Irish drummer, percussion; The Cranberries]. 1967: Evan
Dando [guitar, drums; The Lemonheads]. 1966: Patrick Hannan [drummer;
The Sundays]. 1965: Richard March [UK bassist; Pop Will Eat Itself]
1963: Jason Newsted [bass, Theremin; Metallica]. 1962: Jon
Durno [UK bassist; Roman Holliday]. 1955:
Boon Gould [guitar, multi-musician; Level 42/solo]. 1954:
Ricky Ford
(American jazz tenor saxophonist).
1954: St Clair L. Palmer [singer; Sweet Sensation]. 1953: Emilio
Estefan [cuban singer; Miami Sound Machine/solo]. 1951: Pete John Haycock
[guitar; Climax Chicago Blues Band]. 1951: Chris Rea [UK singer, songwriter,
guitarist, keyboards]. 1950: Billy Gibbons [guitar; ZZ Top]. 1942:
Ralph Ellis [guitar, keyboard, Swinging Blue Jeans] 1948: Chris Squire
[bassist; Yes]. 1948: Shakin' Stevens/Michael Barrett [Welsh pop singer].
1947: Jan
Garbarek [Norwegian tenor and soprano jazz saxophonist].
1946:
Red Stripe/David Gittins [singer; The Flying Pickets/Brian and Stripe].
1944: Mick/Michael Wilson [drummer; Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich].
1944: Bobby Womack [soul singer, guitar]. 1936: Eric Allandale
(West Indian trombonist, bandleader; The Foundations/own band)*23.Aug.2001. 1934:
Barbara
McNair (African-American singer and actress)*04.Feb.2007. 1932:
Miriam Makeba/Mama Afrika (South African singer, civil rights activist)*10.Nov.2008.
1925: Paul Mauriat [French conductor, arranger]*03.Nov.2006.
March
5th 1972: Luca Turilli [Italian guitarist,
composer; Rhapsody of Fire]. 1970: John Frusciante [guitar; Red Hot
Chili Peppers]. 1962: Craig Reid [singer songwriter; Proclaimers].
1962: Charlie Reid [singer songwriter; Proclaimers]. 1960: Rico
McFarland (US blues guitarist; James Cotton/Lucky Peterson/freelance/solo).
1958: Andy Gibb [UK solo singer; youngest brother of Barry, Robin and Maurice-the
Bee Gees]*10.March.1988.
1957: Mark E Smith [singer, lyricist; The Fall]. 1956: Teena Marie
[US singer]. 1952: Alan Clark [keyboard, Dire Straits/freelance].
1951: Elaine Page [UK singer]. 1948: Eddy Grant [vocals, guitar,
synthesizer reggae/r&b/soul singer; The Equals/solo]. 1948: Richard
Sidney Hickox CBE (English conductor; choral,
orchestral, operatic)*23.Nov.2008
1939:
Johnny Jenkins [blues guitarist; the Pinetoppers/solo]*26.June.2006.
1933: Tommy Tucker/Robert Higginbotham (US blues singer, pianist)*22.Jan.1982 March
6th
1980: Ross Mawhinney [British born Italian radio DJ]. 1974:
Miika Tenkula (Finnish lead guitarist, vocalist,
songwriter; Sentenced)*19.Feb.2009
1970: Betty Boo/Alison Moira Clarkson [UK singer, rap artist]. 1968:
Michael James Romeo [US guitar; Symphony-X] 1964: Madonna
Wayne Gacy/Stephen Gregory Bier Jr [keyboards,
Marilyn Manson]. 1977: Bubba Sparxxx/Warren Anderson Mathis [hip-hop
artist, country rap]. 1947: Kiki Dee [UK singer]. 1946: Murray
Head [UK singer, guitarist]. 1946: David Gilmour CBE [guitarist,
singer, songwriter; Pink Floyd]. 1945: Hugh Grundy [drummer; The Zombies/A&R
man for Columbia Records]. 1944: Mary Wilson [US singer; The Supremes/solo].
1944: Kiri Te Kanawa [New Zealand singer]. 1936: Sylvia Robinson
[US singer; Mickey & Sylvia]. 1905:
Bob Wills (American Western swing musician, songwriter,
bandleader)*May 13,
1975. 1893: Walter 'Furry'Lewis [Blues
guitarist, first to play with a bottleneck]*14.Sept.1981. March
7th
1985: Thomas Erak [US guitarist, singer; Mukilteo]. 1980: Anthony
Ocana [Dominican composer & guitarist]. 1977: Paul Cattermole
[vocals; S Club 7]. 1967: Randy Guss [drummer; Toad The Wet Sprocket].
1966: Paul Davis [keyboards; Happy Mondays]. 1963: Denyce Graves
[American classical, opera singer]. 1962: Taylor Dayne [singer, dance
actress]. 1952: Ernie Isley [guitar, drums, vocals; The Isley Brothers].
1950: Iris Chacon [Puerto Rican singer, dancer]. 1946: Peter Wolf
[vocals; The J Geils Band/Lights Out/Freeze-Frame] 1946: Matthew Fisher
[keyboards, piano, organ; Procol Harum]. 1945: Arthur Lee [guitar/vocals;
The American Four, Love]*03.Aug.2006. 1944:
Townes Van Zandt (US country-folk music singer-songwriter,
performer, poet)*01.Jan.1997. 1943:
Chris White [UK bassist, songwriter; The Zombies/Argent]. 1942: Hamilton
Bohannon (US percussionist, band leader, record producer; Stevie Wonder/own
band). 1931: Christopher
"Stubb" Stubblefield (US music promoter, barbecue restaurateur)*27.May.1995.
1927:
Philippe Clay/Philippe Mathevet (French
mime artist, singer, actor)*13.Dec.2007.
1998:
Paddy Clancy (Irish folk singer; The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem)*11.Nov.1998.
1917: Lee Young [jazz drummer; Nat King Cole Trio/Lee Young Band/freelance].
1875: Maurice Ravel [French pianist, composer]*28.Dec.1937. March
8th
1979: Tom Chaplin [vocals, piano; Keane]. 1978:
Kameelah 'Meelah' Williams [singer, hip-hop; 702]. 1976: Gareth "Gaz"
Coombes [vocals/guitar; Supergrass]. 1968: Chris Burdett [drums,
Anastasia Screamed]. 1968: Shawn Mullins [uk singer, guitar]. 1964:
Peter "Pedro" Gill [drummer, Frankie Goes To Hollywood]. 1964:
Salt/Cheryl James [singer; Salt-N-Pepa]. 1962: Steve Grantley [drummer;
Stiff Little Fingers/Alarm/the Big Wheel/Freelance]. 1960: Richard Darbyshire
[singer, songwriter; Living In A Box/solo]. 1958: Gary Numan [singer,
keyboards, synthesizer; Tubeway Army/solo]. 1957: Clive Burr [drummer;
Iron Maiden]. 1954: Cheryl Baker/Rita Crudgington [singer, TV presenter;
Co-Co/Bucks Fizz/musicals] 1949: Dave Lambert [guitar, vocals; The
Strawbs]. 1948: Little
Peggy March/Margaret Battavio [US singer].
1948: Mel Galley (UK guitarist; Whitesnake/Trapeze/Finders Keepers/freelance)*01.July.2008.
1947: Michael Allsup [guitar; Three Dog Knight]. 1947:
Carole Bayer Sager [singer, songwriter; solo/musicals/films]. 1946:
Randy Meisner [US singer, bassist; Poco, Eagles]. 1945: Mickey Dolenz
[US actor, drums, television & Theatre director; The Monkees]. 1944:
Keef Hartley [drummer; The Artwoods/John Mayall's Bluesbreakers/Keef Hartley
Band]. 1943: Andrew Semple [guitar, vocals] 1942: Ralph Ellis
[guitar, banjo; Swinging Blue Jeans]. 1935: George
Edward Coleman (US hard bop saxophonist, bandleader,
and composer). 1937: Raynoma Liles (co-founder of Motown with husband
Berry Gordy). 1927: Dick Hyman (pianist, music director for Arthur
Godfrey). 1892: "Mississippi" John
Smith Hurt (US blues singer and guitarist)*02.Nov.1966.(both
dates from his gravestone) March
9th
1987: Bow Wow/Shad Gregory Moss [US rap artist].
1980: Chingy/Howard Bailey [US rapper]. 1968: Andrew
Barker [keyboardist; 808 State]. 1968:
Robert Sledge [bass, upright bass; Ben Folds Five/International Orange]
1958: Martin Fry [vocals; ABC/solo]. 1951: Frank Rodriguez [organist/keyboard;
? & The Mysterians] 1948: Jimmy Fadden [singer, harmonica, guitar;
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band] 1948: Jeffrey Osborne [singer; Love Men Ltd/solo].
1946: Jim Cregan [guitarist, bassist, Family, Cockney Rebel/Rod Stewart/freelance]
1945: Robert Newton Calvert [singer, poet; Hawkwind]*14.Aug.1988.
1945: Robin Trower [lead guitar; Procol Harum, solo]. 1944: Trevor
Burton [bass; The Move/Journeyman/Dexy's Midnight Runners/own band]. 1942:
Mark Linday [US rhythm guitarist; Paul Revere & Raiders]. 1940:
John Cale (multi-musician; Theater of Eternal Music/Velvet Underground).
1936: Mickey Gilley (US pianist, country singer]. 1933: Lloyd Price
[US singer/songwriter]. 1932: Keely Smith [US Jazz singer]. 1905:
Paul Hindemith [German composer]*28.Dec.1963. March
10th
1971: Timbaland/Timothy Z. Mosley (US rap artist).
1967: Susie Q/Susan Banfield [rap duo Cookie Crew]. 1966: Edie Brickell
[US singer]. 1964: Neneh Cherry [Swedish singer]. 1964: Patrick
"Pat" Kane [Scottish singer, arts journalist;Hue & Cry].
1963: Jeff Ament [bassist, Pearl Jam/Mother Love Bone]. 1962: Gary
Clark [Scottish guitarist, vocals, songwriter]. 1954: Tina Charles
[UK singer]. 1950: Ted McKenna [Drums, percussion; Sensational Alex
Harvey Band]. 1947: Tom Scholz [guitar, keyboards; Boston] 1945:
Pete Nelson/Peter Lipscomb [vocals; The Flowerpot Men/White Plains]. 1940:
Dean Torrence [US singer; Jan & Dean]. 1938:
Norman Blake [mandolin, 6-string banjo, fiddle, banjo; folk & bluegrass
groups]. 1938: Dave Alexander [US blues
pianist, drummer, trumpet, bass; NOT of the Stooges]. 1919:
Marion Hutton (American singer and actress; Glenn
Miller)*10.Jan.1987. March
11th 1981: LeToya Luckett [singer;
Destiny's Child]. 1979: Joel Madden [lead vocalist; Good Charlotte].
1979: Benji Madden
[guitarist, backup vocalist; Good Charlotte]. 1969:
Soraya Raquel Lamilla Cuevas [Columbian/US singer,songwriter,guitar]*10.May.2006.
1969: Rami Jaffee [pianist, organist; Wallflowers]. 1968: Lisa Loeb
[US singer]. 1964: Vinnie Paul [drummer; Pantera/Damageplan]. 1961:
Bruce Watson [Canadian guitarist, Big Country]. 1961: Mike Percy [UK
bassist; Dead Or Alive]. 1957: Cheryl Lynn [US singer]. 1955:
Nina Hagen [German singer/songwriter]. 1955: Flinto [bassist; Jimmy
the Hoover] 1951: Katie Kissoon [singer; Mac & Katie/freelance/sessionist].
1950: Bobby McFerrin [US singer]. 1948: George Kooymans [vocals,
guitar; Golden Earring/The Tornados]. 1947: Bill Dickinson [US bassist;
LA sessionist]. 1947: Mark Stein [vocalist, keyboardist, composer;
Vanilla Fudge]. 1945: Harvey Mandel
(US blues guitarist; solo/sessionist). 1944: Eric "Ric" Rothwell
[drummer; Mindbenders]. 1903: Lawrence Welk (US
accordionist, bandleader, TV personality)*17.May.1992. March
12th
1986: Danny Jones [guitar, vocals, harmonica; McFly].
1979: Pete Doherty [lead vocals, guitar; Libertines/Babyshambles].
1975: Kelle Bryan [UK singer; Eternal]. 1969: Graham Coxon [UK
guitar; Blur]. 1957: Marlon Jackson [singer, guitarist; Jacksons/Jackson
5/sessionist]. 1957: Steve Harris [bassist, Iron Maiden]. 1949:
Mike Gibbins [Welsh drummer; Badfinger] 1949: Bill Payne [piano,
keyboards, organ; Little Feat/freelance]. 1948: Les Holroyd [bassist;
Barclay James Harvest]. 1948: James Taylor [US singer/songwriter].
1946: Liza Minnelli [US singer, actress]. 1942: Brian O'Hara [lead
guitarist, vocals; The Fourmost]. 1940: Al Jarreau [US singer].
1928: Aldemaro Romero
(Venezuelan pianist, composer, orchestral conductor)*15.Sept.2007.
1917: Leonard Chess [company executive, founder of Chess record label]*16.Oct.1969 March
13th
1963: Billy Yates (C&W singer-songwriter) 1960: Adam Charles
Clayton [bassist; U2]. 1959: Greg Norton [bassist; Husker Du].
1959: Ronnie Rogers [rhythm guitarist, songwriter; T'Pau]. 1953:
Rustee/Rusty Allen (US
bass guitar player; Sly & the Family Stone/others).
1951: Lester Jerome Williams (US keyboard, piano, singer, composer; Motown/solo/freelance).
1947: Dave Kelly [guitar,
vocals; John Dummer Blues/Tramp/Paul Jones Blues/own band]. 1942: Scatman
John/John Paul Larkin (American
singer)*03.Dec.1999.
1939: Neil Sedaka [singer, songwriter, pianist]. 1939: Liz Anderson
[C&W singer-songwriter]. 1938: Erma
Franklin (US soul, R&B and pop singer, sister to Aretha)*07.Sept.2002
1933: Mike Stoller [songwriter, composer; Stoller & Leiber]. 1914:
Robert Sherwood Haggart (US bass,composer,arranger; Bob Crosby Orch)*2.Dec.1998.
1913: Sammy Kaye (US multiple reeds
player; big bandleader)*2.June.1987.
1912: Sam 'Lightnin' Hopkins (US legendry blues guitarist)*30.Jan.1982
(1912 as on his statue) 1906: Frank Teschemacher
(US clarinet, alto sax, violin; Chicago jazz groups/solo)*01.March.1932. March
14th 1988: Chris Feener (Canadian
guitarist, composer). 1983: Jordan Taylor Hanson [singer, keyboard,
bongos, piano; Hanson]. 1962: Steve Lambert [UK singer; Roman Holliday].
1957: Chris Redburn [UK bassist; Kenny] !949: Peter John 'Ollie'
Halsall (UK guitarist virtuoso Patto/The Boxer/The Rutles/others)*29
May 1992. 1947: Peter Skellern [UK singer, pianist, songwriter].
1947: Jona Lewie [vocals, piano, guitar, songwriter;Thunderbolts/sessoinist/solo].
1945: James O'Rourke [multi instruments, guitar; Playboy Band/freelance/guest]
1945: Walter Parazaider [US sax, flute, woodwind insts;founder member of
Chicago] 1943: Jim Pons [bass; The Turtles/The Leaves]. 1934:
Shirley Scott
(US hard bop and soul-jazz organist)*10.March.2002.
1933: Quincy Jones [trumpet player, composer, music producer, business
personality]. 1926: Lita Roza (UK singer; first uk female singer to
top the UK Singles Chart)*14.Aug.2008.
1922: Les Baxter [US saxophonist, pianist; own band]*15.Jan.1996.
March
15th
1977: Joe Hahn [electronics, DJ; Linkin Park].
1975: Will.i.am/William Adams Jr [Jamacian rapper, producer; Black Eyed
Peas]. 1972: Mark Hoppus [singer, bass guitar; Blink-182]. 1968:
Mark McGrath [lead singer; Sugar Ray]. 1964: Rockwell/Kenneth Gordy
[US singer, Berry Gordy's son]. 1963: Brett Michaels/Bret Michael Sychak
[lead singer, film production; Poison]. 1962: Steve Coy/Steve McCoy [UK
drummer; Dead Or Alive] 1962: Terence Trent D'arby/Sananda Maitreya [vocals,
sax, keyboards, drums, guitar]. 1955: Dee Snider [lead singer; Twisted
Sister]. 1955: Etterlene
"Bunny" Debarge [soprano vocals; Debarge].
1948: Stephen 'Grizzly' Nisbett [drummer, Steel Pulse.guest]. 1947:
Jean Carne [US jazz singer, pianist; Motown, solo]. 1947: Hernandez
Lugo (bassist; ? & The Mysterians) 1947: Ry Cooder (US slide,
guitar, vocals, mandolin; Buena Vista/Rising Sons/Little Village). 1946:
Howard Scott [guitarist; War] 1944: David Costell [lead guitar;
Playboys]. 1944: Sly Stone/Sylvester Stewart (US guitar, keyboard;
Sly & The Family Stone). 1941: Hughie Flint [drums, McGuinness
Flint/Bluesbreakers]. 1941: Mike Love (US singer, sax; The Beach Boys).
1940: Phil Lesh [bassist; Grateful Dead]. 1932: Arif Mardin [musical
producer/arranger]*26.Jun.2006.
1931: James Mitchell [saxophone; The Detroit Emeralds/Memphis
Horns/session] 1922: Eddie Calvert [UK trumpet player; Stanley Black
Orchestra/solo]*07.Aug.1978
1935:
Johan Halvorsen
(Norwegian
composer, conductor and violinist)*04.Dec.1935 1912:
Sam "Lightnin" Hopkins (US blues guitarist, singer)*30.Jan.1982.
March 16th 1979:
Leena Peisa [Finnish keyboardist; Lordi]. 1972: Andy Dunlop [Scottish
guitarist; Travis]. 1964: Patty Griffin [US singer, songwriter].
1963: Stuart Kerr [drummer; Texas]. 1959: Flavor Flav/William Drayton
[rapper, vocals, producer; Public Enemy]. 1954: Nancy Wilson [singer,
guitarist; Heart]. 1954: Jimmy Nail/James
Michael Aloysius Bradford [UK singer, actor].
1948: Michael Bruce [guitar, keyboards; Alice Cooper Band]. 1942:
Jerry Jeff Walker/Ronald Clyde Crosby [US country singer/song writer].
1941: Wong Jim (Cantopop lyricist and writer)*24.Nov.2004
1936: Fred Neil [US singer, guitar, songwriter]*07.July.2001.
1930: Tommy Flanagan (US
jazz pianist; Ella Fitzgerald backing band)*16.Nov.2001.
1926: Jerry Lewis/Joseph Levitch (US actor, comedian,
singer). 1902: Leon Roppolo [US jazz clarinetist]*05.Oct.1943
March
17th 1976: Stephen Gately [singer;
Boyzone]. 1975: Justin Hawkins [lead singer, song writter; The Darkness].
1973: Caroline Corr [drummer; The Corrs]. 1972: Melissa Auf der
Maur [bassist, vocals; Hole, Smashing Pumpkins]. 1967: Billy Corgan
[guitar; Zwan, Smashing Pumpkins]. 1962: Clare Grogan [Scottish actress,
lead singer; Altered Images]. 1959: Mike Kindup [keyboards, vocals;
Level 42]. 1954: Wally Stocker [guitarist; Babys/Humble Pie/Air
Supply/freelance]. 1951: Scott Gorham [US guitarist, mastering, songwriter;
Thin Lizzy]. 1948: Bobby Whitlock [singer,keyboards,songwriter; Derek-the
Dominos/sessions/own band]. 1948: Pat Lloyd [guitar, bassist; Equals].
1946: Harold Brown (drums, percussion, vocals; War/Night Shift/Lowrider]
1944: Pat McAuley [keyboards, drums, Them/The Other Them] 1944:
Tony Jackson [high tenor singer; session/backgound/Skatalites] 1944:
Bob Johnson [guitar, Steeleye Span] 1944: John Sebastian [vocals,
harmonica, guitar; Lovin Spoonful/ Mugwumps]
1941: Paul Kantner [guitar;
Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship].
1941: Clarence Collins [Little Anthony & the Imperials]. 1983:
Lorraine Ellison (African-American female soul singer)*31.Jan.1983.
1919: Nat "King" Cole [US singer, piano]*15.Feb.1965.
1903: Leon 'Bix' Beiderbecke [US jazz cornetist and composer]*6.Aug.1931.
March 18th
1979: Adam Levine [lead singer, guitar; Maroon 5].
1979: Shola Ama [UK singer]. 1978: Bryan Ottoson (German born
guitarist; American Head Charge)*19.April.2005
1977: Devin Lima [vocals; LFO]. 1974: Stuart Zender [bassist;
Jamiroquai]. 1970: Queen Latifah/Dana Owens [US rapper]. 1966:
Jerry Cantrell [guitar, vocals, producer; Alice In Chains]. 1964: Courtney
Pine [UK jazz saxophonist, multi-musician; solo/freelance]. 1963: Vanessa
Williams [African-American singer]. 1963: Jeff LeBar [guitar, vocals;
Cinderella]. 1962: Taja Sevelle [US singer, songwritr] 1961:
Grant Hart [drummer, vocals; Husker Du]. 1959: Irene Cara [US singer].
1947: Barry "B.J." Wilson [drums, percussion; Procol Harum].
1946: Stu
Parks (UK bassist;
Mickey & the Sapphires/Gary Farr &
the T-Bones, Shelley) 1941: Wilson Pickett [US R&B, soul singer]*19.Jan.2006.
1938: Charley Pride [country singer, guitarist]. 1936: Robert Lee
Smith [singer; Tams]. March
19th
1980: Mikuni Shimokawa [Japanese singer].
1976: Ben Marlin
(US bassist; brutal death metal band Disgorge)*02.Jan.2008.
1975: Brann Dailor [US drummer; Mastodon/Lethargy]. 1971: Jack Bessant
[bassist; Reef]. 1959: Terry Hall [singer; Specials/Fun Boy Three/The
Colourfield/freelance]. 1955: Bruce Willis [actor, vocals, harmonica].
1953: Billy Sheehan [bassist; Talas/Steve Vai/David Lee Roth/Mr. Big/Niacin/guest].
1951: Derek Longmuir [bass; Bay City Rollers]. 1946: Paul Atkinson
[UK guitarist; The Zombies]*01.April.2004.
1946: Ruth Pointer [the eldest singer; The Pointer Sisters].
1937: Clarence "Frogman" Henry [US rhythm
and blues singer]. 1936: Birthe Wilke [Danish
singer]. March
20th
1984: Winta Efrem
Negassi (Norwegian R&B, soul singer).
1982: Nick Wheeler (US
guitarist; All-American Rejects). 1980: Ock
Ju-Hyun (South Korean singer).
1976: Chester Bennington [vocals; Linkin Park/Snow
White Tan]. 1972: Alex Kapranos [UK lead singer, guitariast; Franz
Ferdinand]. 1972: Shellie Poole [singer; Alisha's Attic/Brian Pooles
daughter]. 1968: Frederick Schönfelt [Swedish bassist; Wannadies]
1967: Shutty/David Shuttleworth [drummer; Terrorvision]. 1964: Ock
Ju-Hyun (South Korean singer). 1960: Slim Jim Phantom/James McDonnell
[drummer; Stray Cats/Headcat]. 1959: Richard Drummie [singer; Go
West]. 1959: Owen If/Owen Rossiter [drummer, Stereo MC's] 1956:
Alphonso Martin [vocalist, percussionist; Steel Pulse]. 1953: Stray
Straton [vocals, bassist; sessionist/freelance]. 1951: Jimmie Vaughan
[vocals, guitar; Fabulous Thunderbirds, SRV's brother]. 1950: Carl Palmer
[drums; Arthur Brown/Atomic Rooster/Emerson, Lake & Palmer/Asia].
1941: Vito Picone
[lead singer; Elegants] 1937: Jerry
Reed Hubbard [country singer & guitarist]. 1906:
Oswald George "Ozzie" Nelson (US radio/TV
show presenter, entertainer, bandleader)*03.June.1975.
March 21st
1980: Bizzy D/Deryck Whibley [lead singer, mult-musician;
Sum 41]. 1977: Mark Hamilton [Irish bassist; Ash] 1968: Andrew
Copeland [singer, acoustic guitar, songwriter; Sister Hazel] 1967:
Maxim/Keith "Keeti" Palmer [MC; Prodigy/solo]. 1967: Jonas
Berggren [songwriter, vocals; Ace Of Base]. 1967: Sean Dickson
[singer, songwriter; Soup Dragons] 1957: John Reddington [UK guitarist;
King Kurt] 1953: Robert Johnson [drums; KC and the Sunshine Band]
1951: Conrad Lozano [bassist; Los Lobos]. 1951: Russell Thompkins
Jr [falsetto vocals; The Stylistics]. 1950: Roger Hodgson [guitar,
vocals;Supertramp]. 1949: Eddie Money [US singer, saxophone, keyboards].
1946: Ray Dorset [singer, percussion, guitar; Mungo Jerry/Good Earth/guest].
1945: Rosemary Stone [vocalist, pianist; Sly & The Family Stone].
1943: Viv Stanshall [vocals, trumpet, percussion; Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band]*05.May.1995
1940: Solomon Burke [US rhythm & blues singer]
1936: Betty
Curtis [Italian singer].
March
22nd 1986: Amy Studt [uk singer]. 1973: Beverly Knight
[uk soul singer]. 1968:
Euronymous/Øystein Aarseth (Norwegian
guitarist; Mayhem)*10.Aug.1993.
1963: Susanne Sulley [UK singer; Human League] 1958: Pete Wylie
[singer; Wah!]. 1957: Stephanie Mills [US singer, actress, musicals].
1948: Randy Jo Hobbs [bassist; The McCoys; Edgar & Johnny Winters]*5.Aug.1993.
1948: Andrew Lloyd Webber [songwriter/Orchestration/Executive Producer].
1947: Patrick Olive [percussionist; Hot Chocolate]. 1946: Harry
Vanda [Dutch guitarist, songwriter,record producer; Easybeats]. 1943:
Keith Relf (UK singer; Medicine Head, Armageddon, The Yardbirds)*14.May.1976.
1943: George Benson [US singer, guitarist]. 1936: Roger Whittaker
[African-born British pop singer]. 1929: Fred Anderson (American jazz
tenor saxophonist). March
23rd 1968: Damon Albarn
[piano, vocals; Blur/Gorillaz/Good, the Bad and the Queen].
1967: John Strohm [guitarist; Lemonheads]. 1965: Marti Pellow [Scottish
singer; Wet Wet Wet/solo]. 1953: Chaka Khan [US singer, Rufus/solo].
1952: Dave Bartram [vocals; Showaddywaddy]
1951: Phil Keaggy (Finger style guitarist, vocalist; Phil Keaggy Band/solo/freelance].
1949: Ric Ocasek [guitar; Cars]. 1944:
Tony McPhee [guitar, vocals; Herbal Mixture/Groundhogs].
1944: Michael Nyman [UK pianist /composer].
1938: Irwin Levine (US songwriter; including "Tie A Yellow Ribbon")*21.Jan.1997.
1914: Margaret Kitchin (Classical pianist, born in
Switzerland, long resident in the UK)*16.June.2008.
1905: Lale Andersen [German singer and
cabaretist]*29.Aug.1972
March 24th
1974: Chad Butler [US drummer; Switchfoot].
1970: Sharon Corr [Irish violinist, vocals; The Corrs]. 1970:
Mase/Vincent Mason [rap & hip-hop artist; De La Soul]. 1960:
Nena/Gabriele Susanne Kerner [German singer;
Nena]. 1951: Dougie Thomson [Scottish
bassist; Supertramp]. 1946: Klaus
Dinger (German drummer, songwriter; Krautrock/Neu!/Kraftwerk)*20.March.2008.
1946: Lee Oskar [Danish harmonica player; War/freelance].
1937: Billy
Stewart (US singer with
scat-singing style; The Rainbows/solo)*17.Jan.1970.
1928: Byron Janis [American classical pianist].
1906: Klavdiya Shulzhenko (Soviet jazz and classical singer)*17.June.1984.
March
25th 1975:
Melanie Blatt [singer; All Saints/solo]. 1975:
Juvenile/Terius Gray [rap artist]. 1974: Finley Quaye [Scottish
reggae singer]. 1971: Michael McKeegan [Irish bassist; Therapy?]
1969: Cathy Dennis [UK singer, songwriter]. 1966: Jeff Healey
(Blind Canadian jazz and blues-rock guitarist, vocalist)*02.March.2008.
1960: Steve Norman [sax, guitar, percussion; New Romantic/Spandau Ballet/Cloudfish].
1954: Nathan Watts [US bassist; Motown/Miles Davis/Session/freelance]
1951: Bob Pelander [keyboardist, vocalist; Michael Stanley Band] 1951:
Maisie Williams [Montserratan singer; Boney M]. 1949: Nick Lowe [bassist,
vocals; Brinsley Schwarz/Rockpile/solo/guest]. 1949: Neil Jones [Welsh
guitarist; Amen Corner] 1947: Duncan Browne (UK singer, songwriter)*28.May.1993.
1947: Sir Elton Hercules John/Reginald Kenneth Dwight [UK singer/songwriter/pianist].
1947: Jack Hall [bassist; Charlie Daniels Band] 1942: Aretha Franklin
[US singer, Queen of Soul]. 1938: Hoyt
Axton [US singer,
songwriter, piano, guitar, actor]*26.Oct.1999.
1934: Johnny Burnette [US singer]*14.Aug.1964
1931: Thomas
Blanchard Wilson Jr (US
record producer; Columbia/verve)*06.Sept.1978.
1915: Dorothy Squires
(Welsh vocalist;Billy Reid Orchestra/solo)*14.April.1998.
March
26th 1971:
John Hendy [singer; East 17]. 1968: James
Iha [guitarist; Smashing Pumpkins]. 1968: Kenny Chesney [US country
singer/songwriter]. 1957: Paul Morley [writer-New Musical Express,
co-founder-Art Of Noise,TV presenter]. 1955: Martin Price [keyboardist,
co-founder; 808 State]. 1953: Billy Lyall
[keyboard, vocals; Pilot/Bay City Rollers]*01.Dec.1989
1950: Teddy Pendergrass [US
singer, drums; Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes/solo/freelance].
1948: Steven Tyler [lead
singer, harmonica; Aerosmith]. 1948: Richard
Tandy [bassist, keyboards; ELO]. 1949:
Fran Sheehan [bassist, percussion, backing vocals; Boston]. 1944:
Diana Ross [US singer; Supreme/solos]. 1917:
Rufus Thomas [US R&B and soul singer]*15.Dec.2001.
1886: Al Jolson/Asa Yoelson
[US singer, songwriter, blackface minstrel]*23.Oct.1950.
March 27th 1975:
Fergie/Stacy Ann Ferguson (US singer).
1970: Mariah Carey [US pop diva, singer]. 1970: Brendan Hill
[drums; Blues Traveler]. 1965: Johnny April [bassist; Staind].
1964: Clark Datchler [singer; Johnny Hates Jazz]. 1964: Derrick
McKenzie [drummer; Jamiroquai]. 1959: Andrew Farris [keyboards,
songwriter; INXS]
1957: Billy MacKenzie (Scottish singer; The Associates)*22.Jan.1997.
1950: Tony Banks [piano, keyboards, songwriter; Genesis/solo/guest]
1946: Andrew Brown [keyboards; Herd]. 1940:
Janis Martin (American
rockabilly singer)*03.Sept,2007.
1924: Sarah Vaughan
[US jazz
singer]*03.April.1990
March
28th
1976: David Brent (US
guitarist; The Killers).
1969: James Atkin [UK vocalist, guitar;
EMF].
1968: Jon Lee (UK drummer; Feeder)*07.Jan.2002.
1965: Steve Turner [guitar, Mudhoney/ the Fall-Outs]
1962: Ged Grimes (bassist; Danny Wilson Band].
1948: Milan Williams [keyboards, brass, guitar; The Commodores].
1948: John Evans [drums; Blades/Jethro Tull/freelance].
1947: Paul Jackson [jazz bassist; Headhunters/freelance].
1955: Reba McEntire [US country singer].
1945: Chuck Portz [bassist; Turtles].
1945: Sally Carr [vocals, percussion; Middle Of The Road].
1941: Charlie McCoy [hamonica, guitar; Area Code 615].
1923:
Ike
Isaacs (American jazz bassist; many
greats/sessionist)*27.Feb.1981
1890: Paul Whiteman [Jazz violinist; own orchestra]*29.Dec.1967.
March 29th
1967: John Popper [singer, harmonica; Blues
Traveler/Frogwings].
1959: Perry Farrell [US singer; Psi Com/Porno for Pyros/Jane's
Addiction].
1956: Patty Donahue (US lead singer; Waitresses)*09.Dec.1996.
1949: Dave Greenfield [keyboards; Stranglers].
1949: Michael Brecker (US
saxophonist; Brecker Brs/sessionist/won 11 Grammys)*13.Jan.2007
1947: Bobby Kimball [lead singer; Toto/Kayak].
1946: Billy Thorpe (Australian lead singer, guitar; Billy Thorpe
& the Aztecs/solo)*28.Feb.2007.
1945: John Speedy Keen (vocals,drums,songwriter;Thunderclap Newman/solo)*21.March.2002.
1944: Terry Jacks (Canadian singer, guitar, record producer; The
Chessmen/solo).
1943: Vangelis/Evangelos Odyssey Papathanassiou (keyboards, synth;
Jon & Vangelis).
1943: Chad Allan (lead vocals; Expressions, Guess Who)
1942: Eden Kane/Richard Graham Sarstedt (UK pop singer).
1907: Abe Lincoln (Jazz trombonist; many
bands/session/freelance)*8.June.2000
March 30th
1979: Norah Jones [US singer].
1979: Simon Webbe [vocals; Blue].
1968: Celine Dion [Canadian singer].
1967: Ace/Martin Kent [UK guitarist, Skunk Anansie]
1965: Tim Dorney [keyboards; Republica].
1964: Tracy Chapman [singer, guitar, songwriter].
1963: M.C. Hammer/Stanley Kirk Burrell [rap artist].
1955: Randy VanWarmer [singer, songwriter,composer]*12.Jan.2004.
1950: Dave Ball [UK guitarist; Bedlam/Procol Harum/freelance].
1949: Lena Lovich/Lili-Marlene Premilovich [US singer, saxophone].
1948: James "Jim Dandy" Mangrum [lead vocals; Black Oak
Arkansas].
1945: Johnny Walker/Peter Dingley [Radio DJ; Radio Caroline/BBC
Radio].
1945: Eric Clapton [singer, guitarist, songwriter].
1943:
Kenny Forssi (US
bassist; Love /studio sessionist)*05.Jan.1998.
1941: Graeme Edge [drums, Moody Blues].
1930: Rolf Harris [singer, didjeridu, piano].
1914: Sonny Boy Williamson I/John Lee Williamson [US blues harmonica
player & pioneer]*01.Jun.1948.
1913: Frankie Laine/Francesco Paolo LoVecchio [US singer]*06.Feb.2007.
March 31st
1987: Georg Listing (German bassist; Tokio Hotel).
1978: Tony Yayo/Marvin Bernard (US rapper ). 1975: Fergie/Stacy
Ann Ferguson [R&B singer]. 1974: Stefan Olsdal [Swedish bassist;
Placebo]. 1971: Julian Deane [guitarist; Toploader]. 1969: Jerry
Finn (American record producer)*21.Aug.2008.
1964: Paul Wong Koon-Chung (Hong Kong guitarist; Beyond/Hann/solo).
1959: Ali McMordie (Irish bassist; Stiff Little Fingers). 1959:
Robert Holmes [guitarist; 'Til Tuesday]. 1958: Pat McGlynn [Scottish
rhythm guitarist; Bay City Rollers]. 1958: Paul Ferguson [drummer;
Killing Joke/Pigface]. 1955: Angus Young [Scottish guitar; AC/DC].
1954: Tony Brock [drummer; Babys]. 1953: Sean Hopper [keyboard:
Huey Lewis & the News]. 1948: Thiis Van Leer [organ, flute; Focus]
1947: Al Goodman [singer in the soul band Ray, Goodman & Brown].
1947: Jon-Jon Poulos [drums, Buckinghams]*26.March.1980.
1946: Al Nichol [lead guitarist; Turtles]. 1944: Pascal Danel (French
singer, songwriter). 1944:
Mick Ralphs [guitar; Bad Company].
1944: Malcolm Roberts [actor, solo singer, musicals]*07.Feb.2003.
1944: Rod Allen/Rodney Bainbridge (UK lead vocalist, bass player; The Fortunes)*10.Jan.2008.
1935: Herb Alpert [trumpet; vocals]. 1934: Shirley Jones [Mom
on TV's Partridge Family]. 1929:
Gene Puerling (American jazz musician, singer,
musical arranger)*26.March.2008.
1732: Franz Joseph Haydn [composer, keyboards, "Father of the Symphony"]*31.May.1809. |
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REMEMBER
THIS MONTH March
1st 1932:
Frank Teschemacher (25) American
jazz clarinetist and alto-saxophonist, along
with Jimmy McPartland, Bud Freeman and others, he was associated
with the "Austin High" gang. He
was mainly self-taught on his instruments and doubled on violin and banjo early
in his career.
Strongly influenced by cornetist Bix Beiderbecke, he started playing the clarinet
professionally in 1925. He began recording under his own name in 1928. His intense
solo work laid the groundwork for a rich sound and creative approach, that is
credited with influencing a young Benny Goodman and a style of which Pee Wee Russell
is perhaps the best-known representative. (killed in a car accident as a passenger
in a car driven by his performing associate cornetist "Wild" Bill Davison,
just days before of what would have been his 26th birthday)
b. March 13th 1906. 1937:
Clarence Holiday (38)
US jazz guitarist; he worked locally until he became
a member of the Fletcher "Smack" Henderson Orchestra in 1928 for 5 years,
after which he worked and recorded with Benny Carter in 1934, Bob Howard and also
with Charlie Turner in 1935, then Louis Metcalf from 1935, before joining the
Don Redman Big Band in 1936 till his early death.
Clarence was also the father
to the great Billie Holiday (?)
b. 1898 1970:
Lucille Hegamin (76)
American singer and a
pioneer of African American blues. At the age of 15 she was touring the US South
with Minstrel shows and became a prominent singer, billed as "The Georgia
Peach". Settling in Chicago in 1914 she worked with Tony Jackson and Jelly
Roll Morton before marrying pianist Bill Hegamin. He led Lucille' band the Blue
Flame Syncopators, first in L.A. and then in New York. In November 1920 she became
the second ever African American blues singer to record, after Mamie Smith. In
1926 she performed in Clarence Williams' Review at the Lincoln Theater in New
York, then in various reviews in New York and Atlantic
City, New Jersey through to 1934, when she retired from the music business to
become a nurse.
In 1961 and 1962 she
came out of retirement to make more records (died
in Harlem Hospital in New York City)
b. November 29th 1894. 1974: Robert
Henry "Bobby" Timmons (38) US jazz pianist; best
known for his role as sideman in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers (cirrhosis of the
liver) 1991: Frank Smith
Air Supply (pneumonia)
2002: Doreen Waddell (36) singer,
Soul II Soul/KLF (run over by several cars on the A27, Brighton)
2005: Chris Curtis (63) Searchers
2006: Johnny Jackson (54) drummer; Jackson 5
(stabbed to death by his girlfriend)
March 2nd 1942:
Charlie Christian (24)
American jazz guitarist and blues singer; the first important electric guitarist,
It was 25 years before jazz guitarists finally moved
beyond Charlie Christian (tuberculosis)
1972: James "Spanky"
DeBrest (34) US Jazz
bassist; terrific discography includes hard bop material from Art Blakey, Thelonious
Monk to John Coltrane, Clifford Jordan and many more, liner notes occasionally
listing him as Jimmy DeBrest.() 1991: Serge
Gainsbourg (62)
French
singer, pianist, guitarist; the saucey old man of
popular music and provocateur notorious for his appetite for alcohol, cigarettes,
and women, his scandalous, taboo-shattering output made him a legend in Europe
but only a cult figure in America. (His death virtually lead to national mourning
in France - heartattack)
1999: Dusty Springfield/Mary O'Brien (59) Uk
husky-voiced soul singer ; Britain's greatest pop diva, also the finest white
soul singer of her era, a performer of remarkable emotional resonance whose body
of work spans the decades and their attendant musical transformations with a consistency
and purity unmatched by any of her contemporaries (breast cancer)
2003: Hank Ballard (75) US
singer, songwriter; Royals/Midnighters (throat cancer).
2005: Martin Denny (93) US
easy listening piano; a child prodigy, at age ten
he studied piano under Lester Spitz and Isadore Gorn. His last concert was held
in Hawaii on February 13, 2005 at a benefit to aid tsunami victims, just three
weeks later he passed away. ()
2008: Jeff Healey (41) Blind Canadian jazz / blues-rock guitarist and vocalist;
discovered by guitar virtuoso Stevie Ray Vaughan and later appeared in the Patrick
Swayze film "Road House" (cancer). 2009:
Ernie Ashworth (80)
American country singer, songwriter and longtime star of the Grand Ole Opry in
Nashville. He began his career singing on Huntsville radio station WBHP. In 1949,
he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he worked for several radio stations and
was signed by Wesley Rose as a songwriter for Acuff-Rose Music. Among the artists
who recorded his songs were Jimmy Dickens, Carl Smith, Johnny Horton and Paul
Anka. As a singer his first single, "Each Moment (Spent With You),"
became a Top 5 Hit, which was followed by another top 10 hit "You Cant
Pick A Rose In December". Then
the release that would become his signature song Talk Back Trembling Lips
went to No.1 and he was voted "Most Promising Male Artist" by Cashbox,
Billboard and Record World in 1963 and 1964 and he was also invited to join the
cast of the Grand Ole Opry in 1964. In 1989, he purchased radio station WSLV in
Ardmore, Tennessee. In 1992, Ernie was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of
Fame.remained active as a recording artist until his death ()
b. December 15th 1928.
March
3rd 1979: Mike Patto (36) singer,
Boxer (throat cancer) 1987:
Danny Kaye/David Daniel Kominski
(74) Inimitable,
multi-talented entertainer, first gained fame on Broadway by upstaging the great
Gertrude Lawrence in Lady in the Dark with an unforgettable rendition of the "Tchaikovsky,"
in which he rapidly fired off the names of 54 Russian composers in 38 seconds
(heart attack) 1993:
Carlos Montoya (89)Spanish
flamenco guitarist; from the age of 14, he played in concert halls across the
world. (died in Wainscott, New York)
2002: James Blackwood () gospel singer
with the group Blackwoods (stroke)
2008: Norman "Hurricane" Smith (85) British
singer, songwriter, record
producer, also recording engineer
and with The Beatles, Pink Floyd and many
others. He wrote many hits, using a pseudonym of "Hurricane Smith,"
he had a UK hit with Don't Let It Die, a song he had written for John Lennon and
a US No.1 Cashbox
hit with Oh Babe What Would You Say (?).
March 4th 1986:
Richard Manuel () Canadian
singer, piano, keyboards, drums, lap slide guitar in the Rockin' Revols and group,
The Band; his is the first voice you hear on The
Band's legendary debut album, Music From Big Pink, a rich baritone so soulful
and charged with pathos it's hard to believe it could come from the frail Canadian.(committed
suicide by hanging when his wife briefly stepped out of their room. A bottle of
Grand Marnier and cocaine were found alongside his body)
1986: Howard Greenfield (50) singer/songwriter
(brain tumour) 1992: Mary Osborne (70) jazz
guitarist, violin, bass, vocals, many jazz bands and she also featured on Jack
Sterling's daily CBS radio program from 1952 to 1960. She remained a formidable
guitarist late in life; in an appearance with Lionel Hampton at the 1990 Playboy
Jazz Festival, she virtually stole the show(?)
2001: Glenn Hughes (50) singer, the original
"Biker" character Village People. (lung cancer) 2002:
Eric Flynn (62)Chinese-born
British actor and singer (cancer) 2004:
John McGeoch (58) Legendary
Scottish guitarist; Magazine/the Banshees/Public Image Ltd/Visage/ sessionist
and guest (died in his sleep) 2009:
John "Bowling Green" Cephas (78) American
Piedmont blues guitarist, well known as one half of the duo Cephas & Wiggins.
He learned the blues from a guitar-playing aunt while his grandfather taught him
about eastern Virginia folklore and his cousin David Taleofero, is credited with
teaching him the Piedmont blues style of alternating thumb-and-picking method
of guitar. Before serving
in the Army during the Korean War, he joined
the Capitol Harmonizers and toured on the gospel circuit. He met "Harmonica
Phil" Wiggins at a jam session in Washington in 1977, and both performed
as regular members of Wilbert "Big Chief" Ellis's Barrelhouse Rockers.
Wilbert Ellis died later that year, John and Phil carried on together and since
1978, as the duo Cephas & Wiggins, they have performed on tours of Europe,
Africa, Asia, South and Central America and the Soviet Union. Their 13 releases
from the 1980 include Dog Days of August, Guitar Man and Flip, Flop and Fly. All
are great examples of state-of-the-art, acoustic Piedmont blues (natural causes)
b. September 4th 1940.
March 5th
1963: Patsy Cline/Virginia Patterson Hensley (30)
American country singer, who helped blaze a trail for female singers to assert
themselves as an integral part of the Nashville-dominated country music industry.
Posthumously, millions of her albums have been sold over the past 46 years and
she has been given numerous awards, which has given her an iconic status. Only
ten years after her death, she became the first female solo artist inducted to
the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 2002, she was voted by artists and members
of the Country Music industry as #1 on CMT's television special of the 40 Greatest
Women of Country Music of all time, and in 1999 she was voted #11 on VH1's special
The 100 Greatest Women in Rock and Roll of all time by members and artists of
the rock industry. According to her 1973 Country Music Hall of Fame plaque, "Her
heritage of timeless recordings is testimony to her artistic capacity." Among
those hits are "Walkin' After Midnight", "I Fall to Pieces",
"She's Got You", "Crazy", and "Sweet Dreams". (plane
crash with The Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins)
b. September 8th 1932.
1982: John Belushi (33)
American comedian, actor and musician, notable for
his work on Saturday Night Live, National Lampoon's Animal House and The Blues
Brothers. The Blues Brothers were a Grammy Award-nominated American blues and
soul revivalist band founded in 1978 by comedians John and his friend Dan Aykroyd
as part of a musical sketch on Saturday Night Live. John
as lead vocalist "Joliet" Jake Blues
and Dan as harpist/vocalist Elwood Blues, they fronted the band, which was composed
of well-known and respected musicians. The band
made its debut as the musical guest on the April 22, 1978, episode of Saturday
Night Live. The
band then began to take on a life beyond the confines of the television screen,
releasing an album, Briefcase Full of Blues, in 1978, and then having a Hollywood
film, The Blues Brothers, created around its characters in 1980. (overdose
of cocaine & heroin) b.
January 24th 1949. 1995: Viv Stanshall (51)
vocals, trumpet, percussion; the
original tenor in the absurdist Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band
(died in a house fire)
(killed in a house fire)
1996:
Minnie Pearl/Sarah Ophelia Colley (83)
US
comedienne, singer; a member of the Grand Ole Opry
cast from 1940 until her death, was country music's preeminent comedian and one
of the most widely recognized comic performers American culture has ever produced
(Her death was brought on by complications due to a stroke).
2004: John McGeoch (49) Guitarist, Magazine (died
in his sleep) March
6th 1854:
John P. Sousa (77) composer,
arranger, conductor, band leader; the sousaphone
was named after him. Wrote over 100 marches. The guy who wrote "Stars and
Stripes Forever" () 1951: Ivor Novello
(58) Welsh composer, singer, actor; Annual British
songwriter award is named after him (coronary thrombosis). 1961: George
Formby OBE (57) UK
singer, comedian, ukulele, banjo; a musical comedian among Britain's most popular
stars during the first half of the 20th century, with a legacy encompassing over
200 records and more than 20 hit films.(heart attack)
1986: Richard Manuel (42) Singer, piano, keyboards, drums, slide guitar,
The Band; he developed a rhythmic style of piano
unique in its usage of inverted chord structures, a naturally talented vocalist,
with a timbre often compared to that of Ray Charles. (hung himself from a shower
curtain rod in a hotel) 1988: Bob Garber (84)
piano; band leader; very big around Washington DC,
and a regular on the radio, apparently his band didn't use vocalists.()
2006: Thomas James Robb (57) Bassist; Highly respected and much sort after
session bassist; played on hundreds of albums with a wide range of artists, including
Alicia Bridges' worldwide hit "I Love The Night Life"
(liver cancer)
March 7th 1966:
Mike Millward (23) UK rhythm guitarist,
singer; in the late 50's he
played with Bob Evans and the Five Shillings,
which become "The
Vegas Five", then "The Undertakers", after which he was an original
member the Four Jays in 1961. In the summer of 1963, the group, now called The
Fourmost - signed up with Brian Epstein. This led to their being auditioned by
George Martin and signed to EMI's Parlophone record label. Their first two singles
were written by John Lennon. "Hello Little Girl", one of the earliest
Lennon songs dating from 1957. Their follow-up single, "I'm in Love"
a Lennon/McCartney song, was released on 15 November 1963. Their biggest hit "A
Little Loving", written by Russ Alquist, reached Number 6 in the UK Singles
Chart in mid 1964. The band appeared in the 1965 film, Ferry Cross the Mersey
and are on the soundtrack album of the same name. The group's only album, First
and Fourmost, was released in September 1965 (taken ill with throat cancer in
'64, he recovered from that only to be tragically struck down by leukaemia) b.
May 9th 1942
1985: Gordon Huntley (54) British
pioneer pedal steel guitarist, known as the Father of Britsh Pedal Steel guitaring,
as heard in his wonderful work with the
country rock band Southern Comfort formed
in 1970. The group debuted with Frog City, in 1971, which was followed up by self-titled
release and Stir Don't Shake in 1972. Gordon
played on all Southern Comforts albums and singles. The beautiful velvet tones
of his steel on their No.1 hit Woodstock
was probabley an introduction and inspiration to many guitarists and future pedal
steel guitarists. He started his long career out on the road with Felix Mendelssohn
& his Hawaiian Serenaders, and by the late 50's before pedals were standard
in the UK, Gordon was playing a triple-neck Fender non-pedal guitar. In 1963,
he joined The Westernaires, a band mainly made up of U.S. Servicemen,
by this time he had built himself one pedal onto his steel! Soon after he got
himself his first model, a six pedal. As well as all the bands he has been a member
of he became a much in-demand session player in both the studio and out on the
road, which he prefered, with the likes of The Pretty Things, Pilot,
Marc Ellington,
Bridget Saint Paul, Cliff Richard, Elton John,
Clodagh Rogers, Rod Stewart, Pete Green, Demis Roussos, John Renbourn, Al Jones,
Fairport Convention and many others, before he was taken too early from us (cancer)
b.1930 1988:
Divine/Harris Glenn Milstead (42) US
female impersonator,
actor, singer; he featured in many films including
the 1974 movie "Female Trouble", where he played the dual roles of teenage
crime queen Dawn Davenport and Earl Peterson, the man who gets her pregnant! He
also sang the theme song to "Female Trouble". This
flamboyant and talented actor also had a singing career, which started in 1979
when Divine as a disco diva released his
first single Born To Be Cheap/The Name
Game. But his best-known hits came in the early and mid-Eighties, with high-energy
disco tracks like Shoot Your Shot in 1983 and Walk Like A Man
in 1985. But it is the song You Think Youre A Man that was hiss
biggest hit, reaching number 16 in the UK charts in 1984. Divine performed this
song on well-known UK music show Top Of The Pops on July 19 1984, resulting in
a barrage of complaints to the BBC. He released eleven international hit dance
singles, and toured the world with his solo cabaret act of disco and outrageous
humor, performing over 900 times in more than 19 countries. (The autopsy found
he had died in his sleep of heart failure, or an enlarged heart brought on by
sleep apnea. The night he died, he had leaned over his hotel balcony and sang
"Arrivederci Roma" before retiring to bed) b.
October 19th 1945. 1991:
Al Klink (74) American swing jazz tenor
saxophonist; played with Glenn Miller from 1939 to 1942, and is heard trading
solos with Tex Beneke on "In the Mood". He next played with Benny Goodman
and Tommy Dorsey, and did work as a session musician after World War II. From
1952 to 1953 he played with the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra. In 1955, he recorded
his only session as a bandleader, doing six songs for a Bob Alexander album which
won a Grammy award. After the 1950s he disappeared from record until 1974, when
he began playing with the World's Greatest Jazz Band. Later in the 1970s he played
with Glenn Zottola and George Masso, and continued playing until the mid-1980s,
when he retired in Florida. He died there in 1991 (?) b.
December 28th 1915.
March
8th 1973: Ron
"Pigpen" Mckernan (27)
US multi-musician and founding member The Grateful Dead. His musical contributions
included vocals, Hammond organ, harmonica, percussion, and occasionally guitar.
He began spending time around coffeehouses and music stores, where he met Jerry
Garcia. One night Garcia invited him onstage to play harmonica and sing the blues.
Garcia was impressed and Ron became the blues singer in local jam sessions.
He
was a participant in the preceeding groups leading to the formation of the Grateful
Dead, beginning with the Zodiacs and Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions, which
evolved into The Warlocks. Around 1965 Ron urged the rest of the Warlocks to switch
to electric instruments after which they became the Grateful Dead. In 1970, Ron
began experiencing symptoms of congenital biliary cirrhosis; these were exacerbated
by his alcohol abuse. He had a short relationship and longer friendship with Janis
Joplin who joined him onstage at the Fillmore West in June 1969 with the Grateful
Dead to sing his signature "Turn On Your Lovelight". The two repeated
this duet July 16, 1970 at the Euphoria Ballroom in San Rafael. After an August
1971 hospitalization, doctors requested that he stop touring indefinitely, He
carried on performing, but sadly
after their Europe '72 tour, his health had degenerated to the point where he
could no longer continue on the road. His final concert appearance was June 17th
1972 at the Hollywood Bowl, in L.A.(gastrointestinal hemorrhage)
b. September 8th 1945. 1993:
Billy Eckstine (79) US
jazz singer and band leader; his smooth baritone
and distinctive vibrato broke down barriers throughout the 1940s, first as leader
of the original bop big-band, then as the first romantic black male in popular
music. After working in many bands, he formed his own big band
in 1944 and made it a fountain head for young
musicians who would reshape jazz by the end of the decade, including Dizzy Gillespie,
Dexter Gordon, Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Charlie Parker, and Fats Navarro. The
Billy Eckstine Orchestra was the first bop big-band, and hit the charts often
during the mid-'40s, with Top Ten entries including "A Cottage for Sale"
and "Prisoner of Love." On the group's frequent European and American
tours, Eckstine, popularly known as Mr. B, also played trumpet, valve trombone
and guitar. Billy made numerous appearances on television variety shows, including
"The Ed Sullivan Show," "The Nat King Cole Show", "The
Tonight Show" with Steve Allen, Jack Paar, and Johnny Carson, "The Merv
Griffin Show", "The Art Linkletter Show," "The Joey Bishop
Show," "The Dean Martin Show," "The Flip Wilson Show,"
and "Playboy After Dark." He also performed as an actor in the TV sitcom
"Sanford and Son," and in such films as Skirts Ahoy, Let's Do It Again,
and Jo Jo Dancer. He recorded his final album
in 1984, "I Am A Singer", featuring
beautiful ballads arranged and conducted by Angelo DiPippo (?)
b. July 8th 1914.
2003: Adam Faith/Terence Nelhams-Wright (62) English
singer, actor in television,
movies and theatre
and financial journalist. He began his musical career in 1957, while working as
a film cutter in London, singing with and managing a skiffle group, The Worried
Men. They in Soho coffee bars after work, and became the resident band at The
2i's Coffee Bar, where they appeared on the BBC Television live music programme
Six-Five Special, which led to a solo recording contract with HMV under the name
Adam Faith, but his first two singles failed to chart. In March 1959, John Barry
invited him to audition for a BBC TV rock and roll show, Drumbeat, he was given
a contract for three shows, extended to the full 22-week run. He recorded six-track
EP released by the Fontana record label, again he failed to chart. After
taking drama and elocution lessons, he got
an acting job appearing as a pop singer in the film, Beat Girl. This led to his
third recording contract, with Parlophone. His next record in 1959, "What
Do You Want?", this became his first number one hit in the UK Singles
Chart. It
was also the first number one hit for Parlophone, and Adam Faith the only pop
act on the label. He went on to record 37 singles, 24 being chart hits, and nine
albums, before going into full time acting. In the 1980s, he became a financial
investments advisor. (heart
attack) b. June 23rd
1940. 2009: Hank
Locklin (91) American country singer, member
of Grand Ole Opry. His
hits include "Send Me the Pillow That You Dream On", "Geisha Girl",
and "Please Help Me I'm Falling", which went to No. 8 on the Billboard
Hot 100 pop music chart. Billboard Magazine's 100th Anniversary issue also listed
it as the second most successful country single of the Rock and Roll era. He had/has
a strong following in Europe,
and Ireland, so much so in 1963 he recorded an album called Irish Songs Country
Style, which includes the beautiful song Wild Irish Rose. Also he has a fanclub
situated in Langeli, Norway. In
2006, he appeared on the PBS special, Country Pop Legends in which he performed
"Send Me The Pillow That You Dream On", and "Please Help Me I'm
Falling". Until his passing in 2009, he was the oldest living member of the
Grand Ole Opry at the age of 91. He recently released his 65th album, By the Grace
of God, a collection of gospel songs.()
b. February 15th 1918.
March 9th
1985:
Robert
Alexander "Bumps" Blackwell (62)
American
songwriter, arranger, and record producer best known for his work overseeing the
early hits of Little Richard. He produced and co-wrote hits for Little Richard
including: "Long Tall Sally"; "Good Golly Miss Molly"; "Ready
Teddy"; and "Rip It Up". He also produced Sam Cooke's hit "You
Send Me". Earlier in his career in the 1940s he led a jazz group that included
pianist Ray Charles and trumpeter Quincy Jones. He moved to Hollywood, California
and took a job at Art Rupe's Specialty Records as an arranger and producer. He
worked with Larry Williams, Lloyd Price and Guitar Slim before "discovering"
Little Richard in 1955. In 1981 he produced some songs for Bob Dylan's album,
Shot of Love, including the title track.
Not
be confused with another songwriter, Otis Blackwell
(pneumonia) b.
May 23rd 1922.
1993: Bob Crosby (79) American
dixieland bandleader and vocalist
with a singing voice remarkably
similar to his brother Bing, but without its range;
best known for his group Bob Crosby & the Bob Cats.
He began singing with Anson Weeks in 1931, then Dorsey Brothers in 1934, before
he led his first band in 1935. His most famous band, the Bob-Cats, was a Dixieland
jazz group with members from the Bob Crosby Orchestra. Both the Bob Crosby Orchestra
and the smaller Bob-Cats group specialized in Dixieland jazz, showcasing the traditional
jazz revival of the 1940s. Over the years members
included Yank Lawson, Billy Butterfield, Muggsy Spanier, Matty Matlock, Irving
Fazola, Ward Silloway, Warren Smith, Eddie Miller, Joe Sullivan, Bob Zurke, Jess
Stacy, Nappy Lamare, Bob Haggart, Walt Yoder, Jack Sperling, and Ray Bauduc. During
World War II, he spent 18 months in the Marines, touring with bands in the Pacific.
His radio variety series, The Bob Crosby Show, aired on NBC and CBS in different
runs between the years 1943 to 1950, followed by Club Fifteen on CBS from 1947
through 1953 and a half-hour CBS daytime series, The Bob Crosby Show from 1953
to 1957. Also in 1952, Bob replaced Phil Harris as the bandleader on The Jack
Benny Program, remaining until Benny retired the radio show in 1955 (complications
from cancer)
b. August 23rd 1913.
1997: Notorious BIG/Biggie Smalls/Christopher
Wallace (24)
American gangsta-rapper, a central figure in the East Coast hip-hop scene and
increased New York's visibility at a time when hip hop was mostly dominated by
West Coast artists. He began rapping when he was a teenager, entertaining people
on the streets, as well as perform with local groups, the Old Gold Brothers and
the Techniques. He had also lived a life of crime since he was 12 selling drugs
and guns. After a prison sentence, Chris made a demo tape under the name Biggie
Smalls which led his signing with Uptown who immediately gave him an appearance
on Heavy D & the Boyz' "A Buncha Niggas". In mid 1992, he signed
to Bad Boy Records. By 1996, he was headlining shows, enjoying MTV
appearances, No.1 hit singles, and his debut
album, Ready to Die, was selling remarkably well. He focused his energies on his
second album, Life After Death, where, rather than relying on hardcore narratives
and beats, he opted for midtempo and pop grooves, spawning hit singles such as
"Hypnotise" and "Mo' Money, Mo' Problems". But when his former
friend, Tupac Shakur was gunned down in Las Vegas in September of 1996, and fingers
were soon pointing at Chris and his East Coast associates, especially by the LA
Times newspaper, which ran a campaign accusing the rapper of paying the Crips
gang £1m to kill Shakur. Less than a year later, on a promotional tour in
Los Angeles, Chris was dead, which many believed was in retaliation for Tupac's
death. (After leaving a party in L.A. a black Chevy Impala pulled up alongside
Chris's truck. The driver of the Impala, an African-American male neatly dressed
in a blue suit and bow tie, rolled down his window, drew a 9 mm blue-steel pistol
and fired numerous rounds into the GMC Suburban; four bullets hit Chris in the
chest. He was rushed to Cedars -Sinai Medical Center by his entourage but was
pronounced dead at 1:15 a.m.) b.
May 21st 1972. 1999:
Mike Anthony (68) US guitarist with 5th
Dimension (heart attack) b.
???? 2005: Chris
LeDoux (56) American singer, guitarist
and rodeo performer. As well as being a solo artist he recorded and played with
his pal Garth Brooks. He has recorded thirty-six albums and was awarded one gold
album certification from the RIAA, and was nominated for a Grammy Award and the
Academy of Country Music Music Pioneer Award. When his rodeo career ended, he
continued to write and record his songs, and began playing concerts, which often
featured a mechanical bull. He worked independenly
until 1989, when he shot to national prominence
when he was mentioned in the debut song of future superstar Garth Brooks, the
Top-10 country hit "Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)". In
1991Chris signed with Capitol Records and
released his first national album, Western Underground, and his follow-up album,
Whatcha Gonna Do With a Cowboy, was certified gold and reached the top ten. The
title track, a duet with Brooks, became LeDoux's first and only Top Ten country
single, reaching #7 in 1992. In 2000, Chris suffered an illness that required
a liver transplant. Garth Brooks volunteered to donate part of his liver, but
it was found to be incompatible. n donor was located, and LeDoux did receive a
transplant. After his recovery he released two additional albums (complications
from ongoing treatment for cancer of the bile duct and liver)
b. October 2nd 1948. 2007: Brad Delp (55)
American multi-musician, lead singer, frontman of the rock band Boston,
he is also known for his extremely high range, and often cited as a key influence
in the rock music vocal scene. He began performing in Tom Scholz' band 'Mother's
Milk' in 1969. Eventually they signed with
Epic Records and renamed the band 'Boston'. Their debut album, Boston, released
in August 1976, was an enormous success,
selling over 17 million records and produced future rock standards such as "More
Than a Feeling" and "Peace of Mind", it
ranks as the best-selling debut album in United States history. Brad performed
all lead and backing vocals, including
all 'layered' vocal overdubs
on the album. They went on to record 4 more studio albums with 1978's Don't Look
Back and 1986's Third Stage both topping the Billboard album chart. From
a very young age he had love and admiration for the UK band The Beales and besides
his work with Boston from the mid '90s up until his death, Brad also played in
a side project, a Beatles tribute band called Beatlejuice when he had time off
from Boston (suicide)
b. June 12th 1951
March 10th
1988: Andy Gibb (30) UK
solo singer, the youngest of the Gibb brothers but he was not a member of The
Bee Gees. In 1977, he began his career as a solo singer, following his brothers'
disco style. His first three singles "I Just Want to Be Your Everything,"
"(Love Is) Thicker Than Water," and "Shadow Dancing" all reached
the No.1 spot. Three more consecutive Top Ten hits followed, cementing his overnight
sensation status. Despite the number four "Desire," Gibb's streak of
Top Ten hits began to slip in 1980; the following year he had his last Top 40
hit, "Me (Without You)." After a brief stint as the host of Solid Gold,
Andy turned to acting, but he did not replicate the enormous success of his recording
career. Sadly he developed
a massive cocaine addiction, which helped
lead to his death (died from the virus myocarditis, which is inflammation of the
heart muscle) b. March
5th 1958
1989: Doc Green Jr. (54)
US bass & baritone singer; The Five Crowns/Drifters ()
1997: Lavern Baker/Delores Williams (57) R&B
singer; one of the sexiest divas gracing the mid-'50s rock & roll circuit
(coronary complications) 2001:
Massimo Morsello (42) Italian
singer; He was the main figure of Italian far-right political music and a co-founder
of the Italian nationalist movement Forza Nuova. (cancer)
2002: Shirley
Scott (67) US hard bop and soul-jazz organist;
became known in the
1950s for her work with saxophone player
Eddie Davis, particularly the song "In the Kitchen.", went on to play
with many greats (died of heart failure, believed this had been hastened by the
diet drug fen-phen). 2008: Charles "Chuck" Day (65) American
blues guitarist, singer and bassist working with the likes of the Johnny River
band and the Mamas and Papas before forming his own band. He wrote the distinctive
riff in "Secret Agent Man" (died in Healdsburg District Hospital after
a long illness). 2008: Dennis Irwin (56) American jazz double bassist,
he toured and recorded with John Scofield and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, among
others (complications of cancer). 2009: Ralph Mercado
(67) American promoter of Latin American music Latin Jazz, Latin
rock, merengue and salsa he established a network of businesses that included
promoting concerts, managing artists, a record label, film company, nightclubs
and restaurants. He out started promoting "waistline parties", live
music events in apartment building basements where women were charged in proportion
to their waist size, with himself measuring at the door. Soon he was promoting
Latin jazz at Manhattan clubs such as The Village Gate. These expanded into concerts
at major venues with stars such as James Brown, who appeared with Latin acts such
as Mongo Santamaría. He turned to managing performers, founding RMM Management
in 1972, where his clients included Celia Cruz and Tito Puente, achieving acclaim
as the biggest salsa manager in the United States by the 1970s. He developed new
talent, such as La India Marc Anthony, presenting salsa concerts
at major venues across the country, from Madison Square Garden to the Hollywood
Bowl. Ralf
started RMM Records in 1987, which had in excess of 130 artists performing across
the Latin music spectrum, representing merengue, salsa, Latin jazz and Latin rock.
He rode the expanding size and economic power of the nation's Hispanic population
and a general interest in salsa music. Mercado brought in international groups
and influences from Africa, Brazil and even Japan. He achieved acclaim as the
most successful promoter of salsa music, and in 1991, Billboard magazine described
him as "the entrepreneur who took salsa from New York to the world"
(cancer)
b. September
29th 1941
March 11th 1978: Claude Francois
(39) French
pop singer (electrocuted when changing a light bulb while standing in his bathtub)
1986: Sonny Terry/Saunders Terrell (75)
blues singer, harmonica; Brownie McGhee and his Jook
House Rockers or Sonny Terry and his Buckshot Five ()
March 12th
1955: Charlie Parker (34) US
j azz saxophonist; considered one of the greatest and influential jazz musicians,
ranked with such players as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. He began playing
the saxophone at age 11 and at age 14 joined his school's band using a rented
school instrument. He spent
3 to 4 years practicing up to 15 hours a day, playing many tunes in all 12 keys.
In this wood-shedding period, he mastered improvisation and developed some of
the ideas of be-bop. He became an icon
for the hipster subculture and later the Beat generation, personifying the conception
of the jazz musician as an uncompromising artist and intellectual, rather than
just a popular entertainer. His style from a rhythmic, harmonic and soloing
perspective influenced countless peers on every instrument, he changed
the sound of jazz music forever. His numerous awards, inductions and achievements
include four recordings
inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame - 1945's "Billie's Bounce", 1946's
"Ornithology", 1953's "Jazz at Massey Hall" and 1950's "Charlie
Parker with Strings", a Grammy Award for Best Performance By A Soloist in
1974,
a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
in 1984, in 1995
a 32 cents Commemorative stamp was issued in his honor and in 2002, the Library
of Congress honored his recording "Koko" (1945) by adding it to the
National Recording Registry (died in his friend and patron Nica de Koenigswarter's
Stanhope Hotel suite while watching Tommy Dorsey on television. The official causes
of death were lobar pneumonia and a bleeding ulcer)
b. August 29th 1920. 2005:
Stavros Kouyioumtzis (72)
Greek composer, one of the most significant Greek
music composers of the 20th century. He worked with some of the most important
Greek singers, Eleftheria
Arvanitaki, Anna Vissi, Haris Alexiou, Yiannis
Parios, and Giorgos Kalatzis and also collaborated in many songs with the poet-lyricist
Manos Eleftheriou. His last appearance on television was in the music show of
Spyros Papadopoulos on NET TV. During his last few years he left Athens and moved
back to his birthplace, Thessaloniki, where he continued working on music and
songs (?) b. 1932 2009: Kalman
Bloch (95) American
clarinetist; he was principal clarinetist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic for
more than 40 years. He
studied with Simeon Bellison, a notable clarinetist for the New York Philharmonic.
Kalman left New York for Los Angeles during the Great Depression, and wrote out
over 100 job applications. Otto Klemperer, then music director of the
Los Angeles
Philharmonic, was the only one to respond. Kalman also performed on several film
soundtracks, including those of Sunset Boulevard and North by Northwest (?) b.
May 30th 1913.
March
13th
1987: Gerald Moore
CBE (87) uk pianist
best known for accompanying many famous singers in the performance and
recordings of Lieder (?)
1994: Danny
Barker (85) US jazz banjoist, singer,
guitarist, songwriter, ukelele player and author from New Orleans, founder
of the locally famous Fairview Baptist Church Marching Band (cancer).
1998: Judge
Dread/Alex Hughes
(52) English reggae and ska artist; the
first white recording artist to have a reggae hit in Jamaica, and has
the most banned songs of all time. He worked as a bouncer, a bodyguard,
professional wrestler, debt collector and radio DJ before he released
his first record, "Big Six" which reached No.11 in the UK Singles
Chart and spent six months on the chart, despite getting no radio airplay
due to its lyrics. Further hit singles followed with "Big Seven"
and "Big Eight", both following the pattern of rude versions
of nursery rhymes over a reggae backing, as well as "Y Viva Suspenders"
and "Up With The Cock". He was the first white recording artist
to have a reggae hit in Jamaica with "Big Six", which lead him
to travel to Jamaica to perform live, where many were surprised that he
was white. He released 13 albums and he had 11 UK singles
chart
hits in the 1970s, which was more than any other reggae artist, including
Bob Marley. The Guinness Book of World Records credits Judge Dread for
having the highest number of banned songs of all time, 11! He helped organize
a benefit concert for
the famine in Ethiopia featuring The
Wailers and Desmond Dekker, and released a benefit single "Molly".
Despite this single not featuring Dread's trademark innuendos, it was
still banned from radio airplay. He tried releasing singles under the
pseudonyms JD Alex and Jason Sinclair, but the BBC still banned them (He
was finishing a performance at Penny Theatre in Canterbury, as the set
finished, he turned to the audience and said, "Let's hear it for
the band." They were his final words, as he walked offstage, he suffered
a fatal heart attack) b. May 2nd 1945.
2002: Marc Moreland (44) guitarist, Wall
Of Voodoo (kidney failure)
2008: Martin Fierro (66) American tenor
saxophonist who played in the jazz, freeform rock, and avant-garde traditions
with musicians as diverse as the Sir Douglas Quintet, Legion of Mary to
the Allman Brothers and The Grateful Dead (cancer).
2009: Alan W. Livingston (91) American
music executive; he began his career leading his own college orchestra
at the University of Pennsylvania. After the war he obtained his first
position with Capitol Records, as a writer/producer. He wrote and produced
many
children's
series of storytelling record-album
including the debut of Bozo the Clown with the September 1946's "Bozo
at the Circus";
many products for Walt Disney; Walter Lantz's Woody Woodpecker; Hopalong
Cassidy including "Hopalong Cassidy and The Singing Bandit"
in 1950;
Bugs Bunny and all of the Warner Bros characters and he wrote the 1951
pop hit "I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat". Alan moved on to the adult
music and became Vice President. He signed Frank Sinatra, who agreed to
work with Nelson Riddle, with an immediate
impact,
producing the classics "I've Got the World on a String." and
"Young-at-Heart". Alan was also officially credited as the inspiration
for the distinctive Capitol Records Tower, completed in April 1956, noted
for being the first circular office building in the world. In the 60's
he turned Capitol Records into a more rock-oriented company with such
artists as The Beach Boys, Steve Miller, The Band, and others. He signed
The Beatles, agreeing to release 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' in 1963 and
bringing them to the United States in 1964, after rejecting their previous
singles as unsuitable for the U.S. market despite Capitol being owned
by The Beatles' U.K. record company, EMI. Alan
was the creative force responsible for Capitol Records' growth from net
sales of $6 million per year to sales in excess of $100 million per year.
He later sold his stock in Capitol Industries to form his own company,
Mediarts Inc., for the production of motion pictures, records and music
publishing. Aug '76, he joined 20th Century Fox as Senior Vice President
and President, Entertainment Group. He left in 1980 to accept the presidency
of Atalanta Investment Company, but resigned in 1987 to produce a one-hour
film for television and to form Pacific Rim Productions, Inc (?)
b. October
15th 1917.
March 14th
1972:
Linda Jones (27) US
soul singer;the
biggest of several hits was "Hypnotized" (diagnosed with diabetes,
died after she collapsed backstage at the Apollo Theater).
1976: Busby Berkeley/William Berkeley Enos (80) US
film director, musical choreographer, famous for his elaborate musical
production numbers that often involved complex geometric patterns. His
quintessential works used legions of showgirls and props as fantastic
elements in kaleidoscopic on-screen performances (natural causes)
1991: Doc Pomus/Jerome Solon Felder (66) American
blues singer and songwriter, found success as one of the finest white
blues singers of the 1940s before becoming one of the greatest songwriters
in the history of American popular music; elected to Songwriters Hall
of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (cancer)
March 15th
1959: Lester "The
Prez" Young (49) saxophone,
clarinet; one of the three most important tenor saxophonists of all time.
Billie Holiday gave him his nickname Prez.
His experiences dealing with racism in the military were horrifying, affecting
his mental state of mind for the remainder of his life.(After becoming
ill in Paris in early 1959, he came home and essentially drank himself
to death)
1988: Dannie
Richmond (52)
US drummer; Charles
Mingus/own band ().
2004: Rust Epique (35) guitarist in the
band Crazy Town (heart attack)
2008: Mikey Dread/Michael Campbell (54)
Jamaican singer, producer, and broadcaster, his music attracted the attention
of British punk rockers The Clash, who invited him over to England to
produce some of their music (brain tumor).
2009: Edmund "Ted" Hockridge (89)
Canadian singer and actor; he first visited the UK in 1941 with the Royal
Canadian Air Force and helped set up the Allied Expeditionary Forces Network,
which supplied entertainment and news for troops in Europe. He was loaned
to the BBC, often working with the Glen Miller Band and the Canadian band
of the Allied Expeditionary Forces led by Robert Farnon. He sang and produced
more than 400 shows with the BBC Forces Network and as the war ended he
sang with big bands such as Geraldos. After the war and back in
Canada he played
leading roles in operas such as Don Giovanni, La bohème, Peter
Grimes and Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, as well as having
his own radio show in Toronto. In 1951 he returned to Britain to take
the part of Billy Bigelow in Carousel at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane,
in London, which had rave reviews. He went on to play leading roles in
a string of popular musicals including Guys and Dolls, Can Can and The
Pajama Game and had recording hits with songs such as ''Young and Foolish'',
''No Other Love'', ''The Fountains of Rome'' and ''More than Ever''. A
song from The Pajama Game, ''Hey There'', gave him his biggest hit and
became his signature tune. He appeared in early editions of The Benny
Hill Show, Sunday Night at the London Palladium and he starred in a six-month,
sell-out variety season again at the Palladium. In 1953 he was in the
Royal Variety Show and the same year he was Canadas representative
in the Westminster Abbey choir at the Coronation. Edmond headlined in
cabaret on the QE2s maiden voyage and he toured Europe in revivals
of musicals. He also turned to British summer seasons and Sunday concerts,
becoming one of Blackpools most popular stars. He topped the bill
on Blackpools North Pier for seven years and appeared in several
of Harold Fieldings Opera House concerts in the 1960s. In the early
1980s he appeared in revivals of The Sound of Music and South Pacific
but he made a spectacular comeback in 1986 when he played the part of
the elderly Buffalo Bill in the big revival of Annie Get Your Gun. In
the 1990s he was back
on the road with his show, The Edmund Hockridge Family, in which he was
joined on stage by Jackie and their two sons, Murray and Stephen. He
never really retired and even in his eighties he was still making public
appearances and giving talks about his long career () b. August
9th 1919.
2009: Jack Lawrence (96) American Academy Award-nominated songwriter.
He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970. (complications
from a fall) b. April 7th 1912
March 16th
1958: Carl Perkins
(27) US jazz
pianist with Max Roach-Clifford Brown quintet, but is better known for
his association with Curtis Counce; a
fine bop-oriented pianist who overcame a slightly crippled left hand due
to polio.(drug related)
1970: Tammi Terrell/Thomasina Montgomery (24)
Solo singer, a member of The Sherrys and Motown singer (brain tumour,
collapsed into Marvin Gaye's arms onstage during a duet of 'That's All
You Need To Get By')
1975:
T- Bone Walker/Aaron Thibeaux Walker (64) US blues guitarist, singer;
he was the idiom's first true lead guitarist, and undeniably one of its
very best. Modern electric blues guitar can be traced directly back to
this Texas-born pioneer, who began amplifying his sumptuous lead lines
for public consumption circa 1940 and thus initiated a revolution so total
that its tremors are still being felt today. He was the childhood hero
of Jimi Hendrix, and Hendrix imitated some of Walker's ways throughout
his life including Walker's flamboyant playing style with the guitar behind
his back and legs and with his teeth on stage.(heart problems)
1991: Reba Mcentire () (All seven members
of Country star Reba Mcentire's band were killed when their plane crashed
near San Diego)
1996: Joseph Pope (62) singer, Tams
2008: Ola Brunkert (61) Swedish session
drummer; playered on all Abba's albums and every hit record, and accompanied
the group on all their tours (bled to death in a tragic freak accident
at his home in Mallorca, when he fell into a glass door, cutting his throat).
2008: Daniel MacMaster (39) US rock vocalist for American/British
hard rock band Bonham releasing two albums with them The Disregard of
Timekeeping and Mad Hatter (died
from a staph infection).
March 17th
1979: Zenon de Fleur Heirowski (28) guitarist,
Count Bishops (heart attack)
1982: Samuel George Jr (39) lead singer,
Capitol (stabbed during a family argument)
1983: Gigi
Gryce/Basheer Qusim/George General Grice Jr (58)
jazz saxophonist ()
1990: Rick Grech () bass player, Traffic
(kidney and liver failure)
1997: Jermaine Stewart (39) American
singer, best known for his hits, "The Word Is Out" and "We
Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off". Before his solo career he had
been a backup singer and dancer for several artists such as The Chi-Lites,
The Staple Singers and Shalamar and recording backup vocals for such artists
as Culture Club. (liver cancer attributed to AIDS)
b. Sept 7th 1957
2006: Professor
X/Lumumba Robert Carson (49)US
rapper with X-Clan known for its Afrocentrism
and militant activism (spinal meningitis)
March 18th
1984: Paul
Francis Webster (76) American Academy Award-winning lyricist; before
going freelance, Twentieth Century Fox signed
him to a contract to write lyrics for Shirley Temple's films()
1984: Joseph Spence (73) Bahamian fisherman-turned-guitarist, singer;
several modern folk, blues and jazz musicians, including Taj Mahal, Ry
Cooder, Woody Mann and John Renbourn were influenced by and have recorded
variations of his arrangements of gospel and Bahamian pop tunes.()
1988: Billy
Butterfield (61) US jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist
and cornetist; gained attention working with Bob Crosby and later worked
with Artie Shaw ().
2001: John Phillips (65) singer, guitarist,
songwriter. Founder member of The Mamas and The Papas and the Journeymen
(heart failure)
2009: Eddie Bo/Edwin Joseph Bocage (79) American
singer and one of the last New Orleans junker-style pianists. He was known
for his wild R&B, soul and funk recordings, compositions, productions
and arrangements. After leaving
school and a stint in the army he studied
piano,
music theory, sight reading and
music
arrangement
at the Grundwald School of Music inNew
Orleans.
He was influenced by Russian classical pianist Horowitz and bebop pianists
Art Tatum and Oscar Peterson.
Eddie began playing in the New Orleans jazz scene and went under the name
of Spider Bocage, later forming the Spider Bocage Orchestra. In the 1950s
he and a group of New Orleans musicians toured the country supporting
singers Big Joe Turner, Earl King, Guitar Slim, Johnny Adams, Lloyd Price,
Ruth Brown, Smiley Lewis, and The Platters.
He debuted on Ace Records in 1955 and released more single records than
anyone else in New Orleans other than Fats Domino. His song "Hook
& Sling" was featured on the breakbeat compilation "Ultimate
Breaks and Beats". In the 70's he can be heard with the likes of
Curly Moore & The Kool Ones and Roy Ward. Through the 1980s and 1990s
he recorded with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, he played, toured and recorded
with Willy DeVille, Victory Mixture and Big Easy Fantasy. He later joined
up with Raful Neal and Rockin Tabby Thomas playing and recording
under the names The Louisiana Legends, The District Court and The Hoodoo
Kings. As well as his busy career as a recording and performing musician,
he also produced and arranged records by such artists as Art Neville,
Chris Kenner, Chuck Carbo, Irma Thomas, Al
Carnival Time Johnson, Johnny
Adams, Mary Jane Hooper, Robert Parker, The Vibrettes, and The Explosions.
He was honoured on May 22, 1997 when it was declared "Eddie Bo Day"
in New Orleans by mayor Marc Morial while Bo was playing in Karachi, Pakistan.
He won many music awards including two Lifetime Achievement awards from
the South Louisiana Music Association and Music / Offbeat Best of the
Beat and was named New Orleans' music ambassador to Pakistan (heart
attack)
b. September
20th 1930.
March 19th
1913: John Thomas
(87) Welsh harpist
and composer, highly honored throughout
Europe with memberships in the Societa di S. Cecilia in Rome, Societa
Filharmonica of Florence,the Philharmonic Society of London
and harpist to Queen Victoria. ()
1976: Gary Thain (28) bass, Uriah Heep
(drug overdose)
1976: Paul Kossoff (25) UK rock guitarist
with the band Free (died from a drug-induced heart attack while on a plane
flight from Los Angeles to New York)
1982: Randy Rhoads (25) American
rock guitarist; founder member of Quiet Riot, after which he joined The
Ozzy Osbourne Band. He is cited as an influence by many contemporary heavy
metal guitarists. A devoted student of classical guitar, Rhoads often
combined his classical music influences with his own heavy metal style.
(killed in a freak airplane accident, whilst buzzing the bands tour bus
from a light aircraft, the plane's wing clipped the bus and crashed).
b. Dec 6th 1956.
1989:
Alan Civil (59)
English
French horn player;
he was engaged by Thomas Beecham to play second horn to Dennis Brain in
the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, when Brain left for the Philharmonia,
Alan took over leadership of the section. In 1955, he joined the Philharmonia
himself, becoming principal horn player when Brain died in a car crash
in 1957. In
the 1960s, Alan became the first non-German to be approached by the Berlin
Philharmonic Orchestra to become a member, but he stayed with the Philharmonia,
who were reshaping themselves into the New Philharmonia. In 1966 he became
principal hornist of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, remaining there until
his retirement in 1988. As a soloist, Civil recorded the horn concertos
of Mozart, and his recording of Benjamin Britten's Serenade for Tenor,
Horn and Strings with Robert Tear is also quite well known. He also played
chamber music in the Alan Civil Horn Trio. Alan He was awarded an OBE
in 1985 (?) b.
2007:
Luther
Ingram (69)
American
R&B, soul singer, songwriter;
best known for his hit, "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to
Be Right", which was placed number one on Billboard magazine's R&B
chart, and peaked at No.3 on the Hot 100 chart in 1972. Other popular
tracks include "Ain't That Loving You (For More Reasons Than One)"
and
"I'll Be Your Shelter". He was also responsible for the
classic 1966 Northern Soul stormer "If It's All The Same To You"
and it's instrumental "Exus Trek". He
also co-authored the Staples Singers hit, "Respect Yourself".
(heart failure)
b.
March 19th 2007.
2008: Mia Permanto (19) Finnish
singer, radio host and was placed sixth in the Idols finals of 2007. She
can be heard on the single "Rising Sun" released by Heikki Liimatainen
in October 2007. She can also be heard on The Prophecy album by Cristal
Snow. She had started to record an album with Helsinki Music Works just
before her death (cause of death not released) b.
April 21st 1988.
2009: Ion Dolanescu (65) Romanian
singer and politician; popular East European traditional folk music singer
having recorded 9 hit singles, the last 3 of which feature Maria Ciobanu.
Since 2000 he has also been a member of parliment as deputy of the Committee
for Culture, Arts, and Mass Media (heart attack) b.
January 25th 1944.
March 20th
1981:
Sonny Red Kyner (48)American
alto saxophonist (?).
1987: Norman Harris (39)
an American guitarist, producer, arranger, songwriter, and orchestra conductor
associated with Philly soul; a founding member
of MFSB and one-third of the production trio of Baker-Harris-Young (heart
attack)
1991: Coner Clapton (4) Eric Clapton's
son (fell from a 53rd floor window in New York)
1991:
Billy Butler
(65) US soul-jazz
and blues guitarist; sessionist/freelance ().
2008: Klaus Dinger (61) German drummer
and songwriter most famous for his contributions to the seminal Krautrock
outfit; the band Neu! and his invention of the Motorik beat. Less known
is that he was the former percussionist and founding member of Kraftwerk
(heart failure).
2009: Mel Brown (69)
American blues guitarist, he started guitar in his early teens
while battling meningitis, studying the music of idols like B. B. King
and T-Bone Walker. In 1960, he toured
with The Olympics, followed by a two years with Etta James. By 1963 he
had become a wanted session musician playing/ recording for artists from
Bobby Darin to T-Bone Walker. In 1971 he paired up with
fellow guitarist Herb Ellis recording a series of LPs including
''Big
Foot Country Gal'', ''The
Wizard'', and
''I'd Rather
Suck My Thumb'',
they worked on various projects over 12 years.
In the years to follow, he backed artists from Buddy Guy to Stevie Ray
Vaughan to Clifton Chenier. In 1986, Brown accepted Albert Collins' offer
to join his band the Icebreakers, recording Cold Snap before returning
to Antone's. In 1989, he resumed his solo career with "If It's All
Night, It's All Right". Then in early 1990, Mel relocated to Canada,
where he formed a new band, the Homewreckers. He was nominated for a Juno
Award in both 2001 and 2002 and on April 3 2008 Mel performed on stage
with Buddy Guy in Kitchener Ontario mesmerizing the crowd. Buddy Guy left
the stage for Mel to finish the show to a Standing Ovation (emphysema)
b. October
7th 1939.
March
21st
1991: Clarence Leonidas "Leo" Fender (81)
Greek-American inventor who founded Fender
Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company, now known as Fender Musical
Instruments Corporation, and later founded MusicMan and G&L Musical
Products (G&L Guitars). His guitar, bass, and amplifier designs from
the 1950s continue to dominate popular music more than half a century
later. "The Strat" he asked his customers what new features
they would want on the Telecaster. The large number of replies, along
with the continued popularity of the Telecaster, caused him to leave the
Telecaster as it was and to design a new, upscale solid body guitar to
be sold alongside the basic Telecaster instead. Western swing guitarist
Bill Carson was one of the chief critics of the Telecaster, stating that
the new design should have individually adjustable bridge saddles, four
or five pickups, a vibrato unit that could be used in either direction
and return to proper tuning, and a contoured body for enhanced comfort
over the slab-body Telecaster's harsh edges. Leo and draughtsman Freddie
Tavares began designing the new guitar in late 1953, which would address
most of Carson's ideas and would also include a rounder, less "club-like"
neck and a double cutaway for easier reach to the upper registers. Released
in 1954, the Stratocaster has been in continuous production ever since.
The Electric Bass: Leo also conceived an instrument that would prove to
be essential to the evolution of popular music
with the Precision Bass (or "P-Bass"), released in 1951,.
Up until this time, bassists had been left to playing acoustically resonating
double basses/upright basses. Unlike double basses, the Telecaster-based
Precision Bass was small and portable, and its solid body construction
and four magnet, single coil electronic pickup allowed it to be amplified
at higher volumes without the feedback issues normally associated with
acoustic instruments. Along with the Precision Bass, so named because
its fretted neck allowed bassists to play with 'precision'.the P-Bass
and its accompanying amplifier were the first widely-produced of their
kind, and the P-bass was the first bass to be fretted like a guitar; arguably,
the P-Bass remains one
of the most popular basses in music today. 1960
saw the release of the Jazz Bass, a sleeker, updated bass with a slimmer
neck, and offset waist body and two single coil pickups, as opposed to
the Precision Bass and its split-humbucking pickup that had been introduced
in 1957. Like its predecessor, the Jazz Bass/"J-Bass" was an
instant hit and has remained popular to this day, and early models are
highly sought after by collectors (complications of Parkinson's disease)
b. August 10th 1909.
2002: John "Speedy"
Keen (57) UK
vocalist, songwriter,
drummer for Thunderclap Newman,
a band
The Who's guitarist
Pete
Townshend created in
1969,
to play and record songs written by
'Speedy' who had been
The Who's roadie and chauffeur for Peter.
Originally Peter Townsend played bass for the band under the pseudonym
Bijou Drains. Speedy wrote The Who's "Armenia
City in the Sky", the only song The Who ever performed that was specifically
written for the group by a non-member. Speedy's mega hit song "Something
In The Air" appeared on the soundtracks of the films The Magic Christian
(1969),The
Strawberry Statement (1970) Kingpin
(1996), Almost Famous (2000), The Dish (2000) and
The Girl Next Door (2004). Speedy
went on to be record producer for The Heartbreakers and Motörhead.(died
suddenly of heart failure) b. March 29th 1945.
2004:
Johnny Bristol (65)
US
singer, songwriter and record
producer for the Motown label, later signing with MGM. He
started out recording locally, with
the Detroit
label Anna in 1959, owned by Gwen
Gordy and Billy Davis and also for Gwen Gordy and Harvey Fuqua's Tri-Phi
label. The 2 labels were absorbed by Berry Gordy's Motow, here Johnny
had many hits both as a producer and songwriter including Marvin Gaye
and Tammi Terrell's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", "Your
Precious Love", Edwin Starr's "Twenty-Five Miles", Gladys
Knight & the Pips' "I Don't Want To Do Wrong" and
David Ruffin's "My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me)".
After leaving Motown in 1973 he joined CBS as a producer, before signing
a recording contract with MGM. Later he had much success in Europe especially
with the release
of "Man Up in the Sky", and a cover of the his penned "What
Does it Take to Win Your Love", originally a hit for Jr. Walker &
the All Stars. Johnny 's last releases
were a 12" single in 1991 for Whichway Records, "Come to Me",
and an album Life & Love released for the Japanese market in 1993
(natural causes)
b. February
3rd 1939.
2005: Robert
Waltrip "Bobby" Short (80)
American cabaret singer and pianist known for his interpretation of songs
by 20th century composers such as Rodgers and
Hart, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke and George Gershwin
and Ira Gershwin. He
also championed African-American composers of the same period such as
Eubie Blake, James P. Johnson, Andy Razaf, Fats Waller and Duke Ellington
and Billy Strayhorn. In 1972 he sung the theme song in James Ivory's film
"Savages" and in 1986 he appeared in the Woody Allen film Hannah
and Her Sisters", then Woody Allen used his recording "I Happen
To Like New York" for opening title of '''Manhattan Murder Mystery''
in 1993. (leukemia)
b. September 15th 1924
2008: Shusha 'Shamsi' Guppy (72)
Persian writer,
editor and a singer of Persian and Western folk-songs.
At the age of 17
she studied Oriental languages and philosophy
in Paris and also trained as an opera singer. In Paris she encountered
artists, writers and poets such as Louis Aragon, Jose Bergamin, Jean Paul
Sartre and Albert Camus and encouraged by Jacques Prévert to record
albums of Persian folk songs, and subsequently chansons and old French
songs. Her first British release, in 1971, was an album of traditional
Persian music, previously released in France. In 1976 Shamsi relocated
to London, and was very influenced by the Folk Revival, she wrote and
sung some of her own songs, as well as covering the works of many contemporary
singer/song-writers. She
recorded 9 albums and
gave successful concerts in Britain,
America and
Europe (?) b.
December 24th 1935.
2008: John Fowler (42) American drummer;
he was a member of the band Rage of Angels, before becoming a founding
member of Steelheart playing on the bands first two albums ''Steelheart''
& ''Tangled In Reins''. He left the band to play with ''Voodoo Jets''
and ''Smoke and Hipnotic'' with whom he was playing with when sadly, he
fell into a fatel coma (brain aneurysm) b. 1965
March 22nd
1991: Dave Guard
(56) American
folk singer, songwriter, arranger and recording artist. Along with Nick
Reynolds and Bob Shane, he was one of the founding members of The Kingston
Trio. While an undergraduate at Stanford, Dave started a pickup group
with Nick Reynolds and Bob Shane. He called his group Dave Guard and the
Calypsonians. He kept the group together after Reynolds and Shane left,
changing the name to The Kingston Quartet. Then in 1957, when Reynolds
and Shane agreed to team up with him again, the group changed its name
to The Kingston Trio. Under contract with Capitol Records, the Trio became
a huge commercial and influential success with hits such as songs include
"Tom Dooley," "A Worried Man," "Hard Travelin',"
"Tijuana Jail," "Greenback Dollar," "Reverend
Mr. Black," "Sloop John B.," "Scotch And Soda,"
"Merry Minuet," "M.T.A.",
"Zombie Jamboree", "Hard,
Ain't It Hard," "Three Jolly Coachmen," and "Raspberries,
Strawberries". In 1961, shortly after leaving the Trio, Dave formed
a new group, The Whiskeyhill Singers, They toured and released an album
and were asked to perform several folk songs on the Academy Award winning
soundtrack of How the West Was Won. Their voices can be heard on "The
Erie Canal", "900 miles", "The Ox Driver", "Raise
A Ruckus Tonight". Dave performed solo on the tracks "Wanderin'"
and "Poor Wayfarin' Stranger". In late 1962 he moved to Sydney,
Australia. There he hosted a national TV variety show called Dave's Place.
Until his return to the United States in 1968. Through the '80's he continued
to make solo performances, along with several "reunions" of
the old Kingston Trio. In 2000 The Kingston Trio was inducted into the
Vocal Group Hall of Fame (lymphatic cancer) b.
October 19th 1934.
1994: Dan Hartman (43)
American singer, songwriter and record producer; he joined his first band,
The Legends, at the age of 13, as keyboardist and wrote much of the band's
music, releasing several records. He next joined the Edgar Winter Group
and played guitar on three of their albums; he wrote the band's second
biggest pop hit "Free Ride" in 1972.
A re-recorded version of "Free Ride" was used in the movie,
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, in 1995 and Charizard the Dragon
in 1998. He launched his solo career
in 1976 and in 1978 he reached No.1 on the Dance Charts with the single,
"Instant Replay". This was followed by his second chart topper,
"Relight My Fire", which later became the theme for the NBC
talk show Tomorrow. In 1984, Dave also performed "Heart of the Beat"
under the band name
3V with Charlie Midnight for the soundtrack of Breakin' directed by Joel
Silberg. In
1985, he scored a third No.1 single on the Dance Music charts, with "We
Are The Young." (brain
tumor caused by AIDS) b. December 8th 1950.
2005: Rod Price
(58) UK guitarist;
a t
21, he joined the British blues band Black Cat Bones, replacing Paul Kossoff,
which recorded one album, Barbed Wire Sandwich.
Rod is best known
for his years with the band Foghat, he joined Foghat when the group was
first formed in London in 1971. He played on the band's first ten albums,
released from 1972 through to 1980. Known as the "Magician of slide"
he worked with many other musicians such as Champion Jack Dupree, Duster
Bennett, Eddie Kirkland, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Willie Dixon and
Honey Boy Edwards (died after falling down a flight of stairs and suffering
a massive coronary) b. November 22nd 1947.
2006: Pío
Leyva/Wilfredo Pascual (88)
Cuban
singer; he is the author of the well-known guaracha El Mentiroso ("The
Liar") and
composed some of Cubas best known standards. At
the age of six he
won a bongo contest and made his singing debut in 1932. He recorded over
25 albums since he signed his first contract with RCA Victor in 1950.
He also sang with other Cuban artists such as Benny Moré, Bebo
Valdés and Noro Morales and was a member of Estrellas de Areito
and "Compay Segundo y Sus Muchachos".
Pío
was part of the Buena Vista Social Club, and
took
part in the 2004 film Música Cubana, which was marketed as a sequel
to Buena Vista Social Club (heart
attack)
b. May 5th 1917
2008: Israel "Cachao" López (89)
Cuban mambo musician, bassist and composer, who has helped bring mambo
music to popularity in the United States of America in the early 1950s.
From an eight year old bongo player to one of the 2 most sort after bass
player in New York, Cachao has played with artists such as Celia Cruz,
Bebo Valdes, Tito Puente, Willy Chirino, Paquito D'Rivera, Willie Colon,
and his music has been featured on movies such as The Birdcage, and on
the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City soundtrack. Andy García produced
two documentaries about this music, Cachao ... Como Su Ritmo No Hay Dos
("With A Rhythm Like No Other") in 1993 and Cachao: Uno Más,
which premiered in April 2008 at the San Francisco International Film
Festival. He
has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and has been described as "the
inventor of the mambo" winning
several Grammy Awards for both his own work and his contributions on albums
by Latin music stars, including Gloria Estefan. In 1994 he won a Grammy
for Master Sessions Volume 1. In 2003 he won a Latin Grammy for Best Traditional
Tropical Latin Album together with Bebo and Patato Valdés
for El Arte Del Sabor and
he won a further Grammy in 2005, again for his own work (renal
failure) b. September 14th 1918.
2008: Jason Rae (31) Scottish saxophonist,
who played with his band Haggis Horns for the late 8 years of his life.
The group have played backing band and toured with the likes of Amy Winehouse,
Lily Allen, Mark Ronson, Nightmares On Wax and Corinne Bailey Rae, who
was also Jason's wife. His band had recently released a debut album, "Hot
Damn!", at the time of his death. (found dead in his flat in Leeds,
UK; a toxicology test has proved inconclusive but West Yorkshire Police
suspect he died of a drugs overdose). b. October
19th 1976.
March 23rd
1895:
Sonny Greer (86)
American
jazz drummer; he started his career with Elmer Snowden's band and the
Howard Theatre's orchestra in Washington, D.C. He met Duke Ellington in
1919 and became the Duke's first drummer, playing in his quintet, the
Washingtonians. He moved with Ellington into the Cotton Club, and because
of his then second job as a designer with the Leedy Drum Company, he built
up a huge drum kit worth over $3,000, as well as chimes, a gong, timpani,
and vibes. He stayed with the Duke for over 30 years. In 1950 the two
musicians fell out to due to Sonny's heavy drinking and unreliability
and they went their separate ways. Sonny worked as a freelance drummer
playing with the likes of Johnny Hodges, Red Allen, J. C. Higginbotham,
Tyree Glenn, and Brooks Kerr, as well as appearing in films, and briefly
leading his own band. He was part of a tribute to The Duke in 1974, which
achieved great success throughout the United States (?)
b. December 13th 1895
1980:
Jacob Miller (23) Jamaican
reggae artist well known for his work with Inner Circle; he featured in
the film Rockers, alongside many other musicians including Gregory Isaacs,
Big Youth and Burning Spear. In the movie, he plays the singer of a hotel
house band, in reality Inner Circle, who are joined on drums by the films
hero, Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace and play an awesome live version
of Inner Circle hit "Tenement Yard". One of his biggest Jamaican
hits "Tired Fe Lick Weed" showed his political leanings as can
be seen in his performance of the song in the film "Heartland Reggae",
where his open enjoyment of a 'ganja spliff' on stage was intended to
be seen as a militant statement. He was due to perform along with Bob
Marley and Inner Circle in Brazil and then to tour with them; this tour
was canceled after Miller's untimely death (car crash) b.
May 4th 1952.
1995: Alan Barton (41)
English lead singer of hit-making duo Black Lace, alongside Colin Routh,
with hits including "Agadoo",
"The Music Man" and "Superman".
They also represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest
1979 in Jerusalem, with the song "Mary Ann", which finished
seventh. In
1986, Alan replaced Chris Norman in
Smokie recording six albums with them, and touring extensively as their
lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist. He was also the lead singer on Smokie's
revival of their hit, "Living Next Door To Alice", recorded
with British comedian Roy 'Chubby' Brown, as "Who The Fuck is Alice".
In 1991 he released his only solo album, "Precious" and two
singles: "July 69" and "Carry Your Heart" ft Kristine
Pettersen (Tragically on their way to Dusseldorf airport their tour bus
careered off the road in a freak hailstorm. Alan died 5 days later in
intesive care)
b. September 16th 1953.
2006: Cindy Walker (87) American
singer, songwriter, dancer. The list of artists who have recorded Cindy's
work reads like a "who's who" of American giants: from frequent
collaborator Bob Wills to Roy Rogers, Webb Pierce, Eddy Arnold and Elvis,
her co-writers and musical partners turned to her often for
her signature hooks and poignant story-telling. Cindy's
renowned pieces include "Take Me in Your Arms (and Hold Me),"
"Cherokee Maiden," "You Don't Know Me,""In the
Misty Moonlight," "Dream Baby", "Sugar Moon,"
"Distant Drums" and "I Don't Care." She wrote over
50 songs for Wills, the bandleader for the Texas Playboys, and garnered
a new wave of media attention in recently (2006)because of Willie Nelson's
newest album, Songs of Cindy Walker. Many are calling the project Nelson's
best work in decade. Cindy was
inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1997 (?)
b. 20 July 1918.
2006: Pio
Leyva/Wilfredo Pascual (88)
Cuban singer, part of the Buena Vista
Social Club, and author
of the well-known guaracha El Mentiroso ("The Liar").
He won a bongo contest at the age of six and made his singing debut in
1932. Pio recorded over 25 albums since he signed his first contract with
RCA Victor in 1950. He sang with other Cuban artists including Benny Moré,
Bebo Valdés, Noro Morales and was a member of Estrellas de Areito
and "Compay Segundo y Sus Muchachos". He also took part in the
2004 film Música Cubana, which was marketed as a sequel to Buena
Vista Social Club (heart attack) b. May 5th 1917.
March
24th
1972: Linda Jones (26)
American soul singer; she started in her family's gospel group the Jones
Singers at the age of six. Her first recording was "Lonely Teardrops"
under the name Linda Lane, on Cub Records in 1963, and she had unsuccessful
singles on Atco Records in 1964 and Blue Cat Records the following year.
She signed with Warner Bros. Records subsidiary Loma Records in 1967 at
age 27 and released the biggest of several hits, "Hypnotized".
Soon after her career took off, however, she was diagnosed with diabetes
(slipped into a diabetic coma while at home resting between shows, she
was rushed to hospital, but sadly passed away)
b. December 14th 1944.
1997: Harold Melvin (57) soul singer;
was one of the driving forces behind Philadelphia soul, leading his group
the Blue Notes (he suffered a stroke and never fully recovered)
2008:
Neil Aspinall (66) UK
school friend of George Harrison and Paul McCartney; he
started out running them to local gigs in his van. He soon became road
manager, then personal
assistant, later he became a record
producer
and chief executive of their company, Apple Corps. (lung
cancer)
2008: Chalmers
"Spanky" Alford (53) American
jazz guitarist and three time Grammy award winner. He had a illustrious
career as a gospel quartet guitar player in the 1960s, 70's, and 80's
with groups such as the Mighty Clouds of Joy among others. Later in life
he found a new career in the neo-soul movement of the 90's and 2000's,
most notably contributing to the sounds of D'Angelo and Tony Toni Toné.
Spanky played guitar as part of The Soultronics, (D'angelo's highly regarded
band for his 2000 "Voodoo" tour), alongside Questlove, James
Poyser, Pino Palladino and Anthony Hamilton among many others. He was
an amazing teacher and is credited with teaching Raphael Saadiq among
many others to play guitar. He played on several albums with artists such
as Joss Stone, John Mayer, Mary J Blige, Raphael Saadiq, D'Angelo and
Roy Hargrove (diabetes) b. May 22nd 1955.
March 25th
1767: Georg Philipp Telemann (86)
German composer,
one of the first composers to concentrate on the business of publishing
his own music ()
1918: Achille-Claude
Debussy (55)
Important French composer (rectal cancer)
1951:
Sidney
Catlett (40)
US
swinging jazz drummer; worked
with Elmer Snowden, Benny
Carter, Louis Armstrong's All Stars,
Fletcher Henderson,
Benny Goodman and more (a stroke).
1957: Red
Brown/Tom Brown (69)
An early New Orleans dixieland jazz trombonist; born in Uptown New Orleans,
Louisiana, he started out playing trombone with the bands of Papa Jack
Laine and Frank Christian. By 1910 Tom was leading bands under his own
name, playing in a style then locally known as "hot ragtime"
or "ratty music". In early 1915 his band was heard by Vaudeville
dancer Joe Frisco, who arranged a job for his band in Chicago, Illinois.
On May 15, 1915, Tom Brown's Band from Dixieland opened up at Lamb's Cafe
at Clark & Randolph Streets in Chicago, with Ray Lopez, cornet and
manager; Tom Brown, trombone and leader; Gussie Mueller clarinet, Arnold
Loyacano piano and string bass; and Billy Lambert on drums. In Chicago
Gussie Mueller was hired by bandleader Bert Kelly, and his place was taken
by young New Orleans clarinetist Larry Shields. This band seems to be
the first to be popularly referred to as playing "Jazz", or,
as it was spelled early on, "Jass". His band was soon to be
callled "Brown's Jass Band". He spent the next decade between
New York, Chicago and New Orleans. In the mid 1920s he returned home to
New Orleans where he played with Johnny Bayersdorffer
and Norman Brownlee's bands, making a few excellent recordings. During
the Great Depression he supplemented his income from music by repairing
radios and openedup a music shop and a junk shop on Magazine Street. He
played string bass in local swing and dance bands. With the revival of
interest in traditional jazz he played in various Dixieland bands in the
1950s, notably that of Johnny Wiggs. A local television station thought
it would be a good idea to invite Tom and Nick LaRocca to talk about how
jazz first spread north from New Orleans, but the show had scaresly started
before the two old men got into an argument that turned into a fist-fight.
Tom made his last recording just weeks before his death, his trombone
playing apparently not suffering from the fact that he had neither teeth
nor dentures at the time (died
in New Orleans)
b. June 3rd 1888.
1978: Bill Kenny (63) American
lead singer with he Ink Spots; he joined the Inkspots in 1936 replacing
Jerry Daniels. Their
popularity grew through radio programs and tours, having their hit with
"If I Didn't Care", in 1939, followed by songs such as "My
Prayer" "Address Unknown" "I Can't Stand Losing You"
"Don't Get Around Much Anymore" "Whispering Grass"
and more. Many of their records made No.1 on early versions of the US
pop charts, "The Gypsy" being their biggest chart success, staying
at the No.1 in 1946. In 1954 Billy sang solo with a live backing band,
consisting of Harry Prather, Everett Barksdale, and Andrew Maze, touring
as "Bill Kenny and his Ink Spots". This group appeared on Ed
Sullivan. He also performed with Joe Boatner's Ink Spots in the summer
of 1962. The Ink Spots were the subject of a 1998 book by Marv Goldberg:
"More Than Words Can Say: The Ink Spots And Their Music".(?)
b. 12 June 1914.
2006: Rocío Dúrcal (60) Spanish
singer / actress (cancer)
2006: Alvis Edgar "Buck" Owens Jr (76)
American singer and guitarist; in 1945,
Buck co-hosted a radio show called Buck and Britt. He relocated to Bakersfield,
California, frequently
traveling to Hollywood for session recording jobs at Capitol Records,
playing backup for Tennessee Ernie Ford, Sonny James, Wanda Jackson, Del
Reeves, Tommy Sands, Tommy Collins, Faron Young and Gene Vincent, and
many others. In the late 50's he recorded a rockabilly record called "Hot
Dog" for the Pep label, using the pseudonym Corky Jones. He used
the pseudonym because he did not want the fact he recorded a rock n' roll
tune to hurt his country music career. In
the early 60's he formed
his legendary band, the Buckaroos, producing
21 No.1 hits on the Billboard country music charts. Buck and the Buckaroos
pioneered what has come to be called the Bakersfield sound, a reference
to Bakersfield. He originally used fiddle and retained pedal steel guitar
into the 1970s, he can be heard harmonising with his longtime friend and
guitarist Don Rich until he died in a motor cycle accident in 1974. Devastated,
Buck didn't perform again until 1988 when he teamed
up with
Dwight Yoakam for a duet of "Streets of Bakersfield", his first
No.11 single in 16 years. This led to lots of re-issues, gigs and tours.
Buck was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1996. He was
ranked No.12 in CMT's
40 Greatest Men of Country Music in 2003 and
named the Buckaroos as 2nd greatest country music band in history (heart
attack) b.
August 12th 1929.
2008: Gene Puerling (78) American
jazz musician, singer, musical arranger for the Hi-Los and Singers Unlimited,
awarded a Grammy Award for Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Voices
in 1982 for his arrangement of "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square"
as performed by The Manhattan Transfer (?).
2009: English Dan/ Danny Wayland Seals (61)
American musician, vocals, guitar, bass, saxophone, and
the younger brother of
Jim Seals from the duo Seals & Crofts.
Dan joined with fellow W.W. Samuell High School classmate and longtime
friend John Ford Coley to perform first as part of Dallas pop/psych group
Southwest "Freight
on Board"/" F.O.B",
before going under the name of England Dan, and forming
the soft rock duo England Dan &
John Ford Coley in 1970. They were best
known for their hit single "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight".
He
began a solo career in country music. releasing 16 studio albums and charted
more than twenty singles on the country charts. Eleven of his singles
reached No.1: "Meet Me in Montana" (with Marie Osmond), "Bop"
(also a #42 pop hit), "Everything That Glitters (Is Not Gold)",
"You Still Move Me", "I Will Be There", "Three
Time Loser", "One Friend", "Addicted", "Big
Wheels in the Moonlight", "Love on Arrival", and a cover
of Sam Cooke's "Good Times". Five more of Dan's singles also
reached Top Ten on the country charts (died
following treatment for mantle cell lymphoma)
b. February 8th 1948 read
more...
March
26th 1827:
Ludwig van Beethoven () German
composer/pianist. Mozart aside, Beethoven is the
most famous classical composer of the western world. He is remembered for his
powerful and stormy compositions (cirrhosis of the liver, plus dropsy)
1971: Harold McNair (39)
Jamaican saxophone player and flautist player
started out at the Alpha Boys School under the tutelage of Victor Tulloch, whilst
playing with lifelong
friend Joe Harriott, Wilton 'Bogey' Gaynair,
and Baba Motta's band. He spent the first decade of his musical career in The
Bahamas, where he used the name "Little G" for recordings and live performances.
In 1960, he went to Miami to record his first album, a mixture of jazz and calypso
numbers entitled Bahama Bash, and later that year he left for Europe. He toured
Europe with Quincy Jones and worked on film and TV scores in Paris, before settling
in London, where he was invited to a regular spot at Ronnie Scott's nightclub.
He also worked with Charles Mingus, Zoot Sims, Tony Crombie, Jack Costanzo and
many visiting Americans including vocalists Jon Hendricks and Blossom Dearie,
Philly Joe Jones and saxophonist Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis among others
(lung cancer) b. November 5th 1931.
1973: Noel
Coward (73) UK
actor, playwright, composer of popular music (died
in Jamaica of natural causes) 1976: Anthony
Duster Bennett (29)
Welsh singer, musician; John Mayall /solo/ sessionist and played as a one-man
blues band (fatal car accident, when he fell asleep at the wheel).
1980: Jon-Jon Poulos
(32)
drummmer for the Buckinghams (drug overdose)
1995: Eazy-E/Eric Wright (31) US rapper, a member
of N.W.A. the unapologetically
violent and sexist pioneers of gangsta rap. He also had a solo career and hosted
a hip-hop radio show on L A-based radio station KKBT (AIDS)
b. March 26th 1995. 1998: Denis
Charles (64)
jazz drummer (?).
2002: Randy Castillo (51) drummer,
Ozzy Osbourne band (cancer) 2002: Joe Schermie
(57) bassist in the band Three Dog Night. (heart
attack) 2004: Jan Berry (62)
singer/songwriter; Jan
and Dean (a seizure) 2005: Paul Hester (46)
drummer for Split Enz and Crowded House (suicide,
died from strangulation, found hanged in a park in Melbourne, Australia)
2006: Nikki Sudden/Adrian Nicholas Godfrey (49) singer/guitar,
founder of Swell Maps; solo;
Jacobites; he was
writing his autobiography, as well a history of The Wick, an estate in Richmond
once owned by Ronnie Wood, currently owned by Pete Townshend. (died hours after
a show at New York's Knitting Factory, causes unknown)
2006: Pete Wells (58) Slide guitar, Rose Tattoo
(cancer) March
27th 1972:
Joseph "Sharkey" Bonano (68) American
jazz trumpeter, band leader, vocalist;
a well regarded professional player by his mid teens, in his youth mostly playing
in New Orleans other than a period with Eddie Edwards' band in New York City in
1920. He then started traveling widely, seldom staying in one place or with one
band for more than a few months. He briefly replaced Bix Beiderbecke in the Wolverines
Orchestra, and Nick LaRocca in the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. He first recorded
in New Orleans with Norman Brownlee's band in 1925, and soon after had a band
under his own name. He returned to New York for work in Jimmie Durante's band,
then with the Jean Goldkette Orchestra in 1927, returned to his home town to play
with Leon Prima, to Los Angeles, California to work with Larry Shields, then back
in New Orleans to play with the Ben Pollack Orchestra in 1936. After leaving Pollack's
band he led his own band on 52nd Street in New York for three years. After World
War II he toured Europe, Asia, and South America, played residencies in Chicago
and New York and he was a regular on Bourbon Street in the New Orleans French
Quarter until he retired through ill health in the 1960's (died in New Orleans)
b. April 9th 1904. 1975:
Gertrude Niessen (63) US
vocalist, actress and Broadway star (?)
1977: Benny Moten (60) American
swing-style bass player (?)
1993: Clifford Jordan (61)
saxophone, jazz musician; many big bands (?)
2000: Ian Dury (57) UK singer/ songwriter/ poet/actor.
The Blockheads. (cancer) 2002:
Dudley Moore (66) UK
actor, musician, comedian, composer (fatal bout of pneumonia
due to complications from progressive supranuclear palsy) 2004:
Adán Santos Sánchez Vallejo (19) Mexican-American singer;
recorded his first full-length album in 1994, entitled Soy el Hijo de Chalino
(I'm the Son of Chalino) at 10 years old, notable for it's rousing title track,
which evokes the classic style of celebrated ranchera singers from Mexico's Golden
Age. As he grew into his teens, the majority of Adán's album titles began
to revolve around the loss of his father - such as La Corona de Mi Padre (The
Crown of My Father), and Homenaje a Mi Padre (Homage to My Father). These references
gave Adán credibility in the Banda music scene, where the macho image and
untimely death of his father had stirred a resurgence of popularity among young
Mexican-American men. But Adán was also able to widen the genre's popularity
even further to teenage girls, thanks to his teen idol persona and focus on contemporary
romantic ballads instead of the edgier themes of crime and drugs covered by his
father. Adán made history on March 20, 2004 when he became the youngest
headliner and first Regional-Mexican recording artist to practically sell out
the world-famous Kodak Theatre in Hollywood (died in a car crash when the 1989
Lincoln Town Car on 22 inch rims that he was traveling in blew a tire. According
to police, the driver lost control and the vehicle rolled)*April
14th 1984.
March 28th 1974: Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup
(69) blues singer, guitarist,
songwriter; Elvis Presley's favourite blues artist.
(stroke) 2001:
Moe Koffman (71) Canadian
saxophone, clarinet, composer; sessionist/guest (cancer)
March 29th
1980: Annunzio Paolo Mantovani (74) Italian
orchestra leader, a popular conductor and light orchestra-style entertainer, cascading
strings technique developed by Binge became Mantovani's hallmark and is mostly
associated with the light orchestra
genre. His family moved to England in 1912, where he studied at Trinity College
of Music, London. After graduation, he formed his own orchestra, which played
in and around Birmingham. By the time World War II broke out, his orchestra was
one of the most popular in England, both on the BBC and in live performances.
He recorded for Decca until the mid-1950s, and then London Records. He recorded
over 50 albums on that label, many of which were top-40 hits. These included Song
from Moulin Rouge and Cara Mia, which reached No. 1 in Britain in 1953 and 1954,
respectively. In
the United States, between 1955 and 1972, he released over 40 albums with 27 reaching
the Top 40 and 11 the Top Ten. His biggest success was with the album Film Encores,
which made it to No. 1 in 1957. Similarly, Mantovani Plays Music From 'Exodus'
and Other Great Themes made it to No. 2 in 1961 and sold over one million albums.
He made his last recordings in 1975 (died while at a care home in Tunbridge Wells,
Kent) b. November 15th 1905. 1995:
Jimmy McShane (37) Irish
singer, dancer and
front man for the Italian New Wave dance outfit
Baltimora, although it is alleged that Maurizio
Bassi was actually the vocalist. They released 2 albums and 9 singles including
"Tarzan Boy", released in the summer of 1985. It was a huge success,
debuting in the top 5 of the Italian charts and performed well in many other European
countries, including Denmark, Germany, and The Netherlands, reaching No.3 in the
UK and No.13 in the USA. Baltimora performed on the American TV show Solid Gold,
which helped further their success in America (complications from Aids) b.
May
23rd 1957. 1999:
Joe Williams (80) US
jazz vocalist, an elegant and sophisticated
baritone, singing a mixture of blues, ballads, popular songs, and jazz standards.
By his early teens, he had taught himself to play piano and formed his own gospel
vocal quartet, "The Jubilee Boys", that sang at church functions. He
got his first big break in 1938 when clarinet/saxophone player Jimmie Noone asked
him to sing with his band. In less than a year, he was earning a reputation at
Chicago dance halls and on a national radio station that broadcast his voice from
Massachusetts to California. He toured the Midwest in 1939 and 1940 with the Les
Hite band. The following year, he went on tour with saxophonist Coleman Hawkins.
He went onto play with all the greats, performing regularly at jazz festivals,
both in the U.S. and aboard, as well as on the nightclub circuit. He has performed
at the legendary Monterey Jazz Festival 12 times, spanning from 1959 t0 1993,
sharing the stage with jazz greats such as Sarah Vaughan, Miles
Davis, Cal Tjader, Dianne Reeves, Thelonious
Monk, Oscar Peterson, Carmen McRae, Herbie Hancock, Nat Adderley, and Dizzy Gillespie.
During the 1980s he appeared at Chicago's,
Playboy Jazz Festival ten times. He
was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1983, next to Basie's. When
Basie died in 1984, Williams sang a rendition of Duke Ellington's "Come Sunday"
at his funeral. In 1985, Williams received a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocalist
for the album I Just Want to Sing. In 1991 Williams attended his own gala tribute,
"For the Love of Joe", which celebrated the contribution that he had
made and was still making to music. In 1992, he won his second Grammy Award, for
the release Ballad and Blues Master "I Just Want to Sing." In 1997,
Joe sang a duet with Nancy Wilson during the opening show of the San Francisco
Jazz Festival, singing the song "You're Too Good to Be True" (?)
b. December 12th 1918. 2001: John Lewis (80)
American jazz pianist; in 1945 after moving to New York, he joined Dizzy
Gillespie's bop-style big band as their drummer. He developed his skill further
by composing and arranging for the band as well as attending the Manhattan School
of Music. In January 1948, the band made a tour of Europe, he stayed in Europe
after the tour, writing and studying piano. On his return from 1948 to 1951 he
played with Charlie Parker, Illinois Jacquet, Lester Young after which he, Milt
Jackson, Clarke, and Ray Brown formed the Milt Jackson Quartet. In 1952 Percy
Heath replaced Brown on bass and the Modern Jazz Quartet was born, in which John
served as its music director and pianist. From 1958 to 1982 he also served as
music director of the annual Monterey Jazz Festival, and in 1962 he formed the
cooperative big band Orchestra U.S.A., By the early 1980s he was performing with
the reunited MJQ and with his sextet, the John Lewis Group, and, in 1985, with
Gary Giddins and Roberta Swann, he founded the American Jazz Orchestra. In the
1990s he continued to compose,
teach, and perform, both with the MJQ and
independently. He participated in the "Re-birth of the Cool" sessions
with Gerry Mulligan in 1992. He was also involved in various third stream music
projects with Gunther Schuller and others, as well as being an early and somewhat
surprising advocate of the music of Ornette Coleman. (died after a long battle
with prostate cancer) b.
May 3rd 1920.
March 30th 1764:
Pietro Locatelli (68) Italian
composer, violinist; Locatelli's works are mainly
for the violin, an instrument on which he was a virtuoso. (died in Amsterdam)
1967: Paul Clayton (34) folk singer, dulcimer;
a lifelong interest in the folk song tradition, particularly sea shanties and
whaling songs, and was an avid collector of folk tunes, and was instrumental in
the first recordings of such traditional folk artists as Etta Baker and Hobart
Smith.(deliberate overdose of medication)
2004: Timi Yuro (62) US singer; she is considered
to be one of the first blue-eyed soul stylists of the rock era.(cancer of the
brain) 2008: Anders Göthberg (32)
Swedish guitarist with
the alternative rock band Broder Daniel and
Honey Is Cool (suicide by jumping from the Västerbron bridge in Stockholm).
2008:
Sean LeVert (39)
US
singer with the LeVert Trio,
son of legendary soul/funk singer Eddie Levert of The O'Jays. He formed the trio
LeVert with older brother Gerald Levert and childhood friend Marc Gordon; together
they scored several smash hits on the U.S. R&B charts in the 1980s and early
1990s. In 1995, Sean launched a solo career with the album ''The Other Side''',
which peaked at No.22 on the U.S. R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and No.146 on the
Billboard Hot 100. The album yielded the charting singles "Put Your Body
Where Your Mouth Is" and "Same One" that same year.(He was being
held at the Cuyahoga County Jail after reportedly failing to pay child support,
where he collasped and died; cause unknown at the present time) b.
September 28th 1968. March
31st 1985:
Jeanine Deckers/The
Singing Nun
(51)
Belgian nun, and a member, as Sister Luc Gabriel, of the Dominican Fichermont
Convent in Belgium. She became internationally famous in 1963 as Soeur Sourire
(Sister Smile) when she scored a hit with the song "Dominique". In the
English speaking world, she is mostly referred to as "The Singing Nun".
She gave concerts and appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. To date, "Dominique"
is the only Belgian number one hit single in the United States.In 1966, a movie
called The Singing Nun was made about her, starring Debbie Reynolds in the title
role. Deckers rejected the film as "fiction". Sally Field spoofed the
role starting the following year as the title character in the television series
The Flying Nun. In
1967, she left her monastery to continue her musical career under the name Luc
Dominique and released an album called "I Am Not a Star in Heaven".
Her repertoire consisted of religious songs and songs for children. Most of her
earnings went to the convent. Her musical career over, she opened a school for
autistic children in Belgium. In the late 1970s the Belgian government claimed
that she owed around US$63,000 in back taxes.Jeanine countered that the money
was given to the convent and therefore exempt from taxes. Lacking any receipts
to prove her donations to the convent and her religious order, she ran into heavy
financial problems.(Citing their financial difficulties in a note, she and her
companion of ten years, Anna Pécher, both committed suicide by an overdose
of barbiturates and alcohol. In a great irony, the very day of her suicide and
unknown to her, the Belgian association that collects royalties for songwriters
(SABAM) awarded her approximately $300,000 (571,658 Belgian francs), more than
enough to pay off her $65,000 debt (99,000 Belgian francs) and provide for her)
b. October 17th 1933
1986: O'Kelly Isley Jr (48) US
singer, songwriter, arranger, producer and one of the founding members of the
legendary family group; He performed with his influential family group for close
to four decades, a period spanning not only two generations of siblings but also
massive cultural shifts that heralded their music's transformation from gritty
R&B to Motown soul to blistering funk.
He sometimes sang lead vocals on some of the Isley Brothers songs including "Black
Berries" and "Let Me Down Easy" showcasing a similar vocal to that
of his younger brother Ronnie. He remained a dedicated member of the group from
its 1954 inception until he sudden death (heart attack) b.
December
25th 1937
1991: John Wallace Carter (61)
American jazz clarinetist, saxophone, and flute player; he
played with Ornette Coleman and Charles Moffett in the 1940s. From 1961, he worked
on the West Coast where he met Bobby Bradford, in 1965 they worked on a number
of projects. He also played with Hampton Hawes and Harold Land. In the '70s he
became well known on the basis of his extraordinary solo concerts. At New Jazz
Festival Moers 1979 he and the German clarinet player Theo Jörgensmann performanced
on three days. Afterwards he received rave reviews and wide recognition from around
the world. He and Jörgensmann met and played together again in 1984
at the Berlin Jazzfes. Between
1982 and 1990 Carter composed and recorded "Roots and Folklore: Episodes
in the Development of American Folk Music," in five albums focused on African-Americans
and their history. The complete set was acclaimed by jazz critics as containing
some of the best releases of the 1980s. A clarinet quartet with Perry Robinson,
Jörgensmann and Eckard Koltermann was planned for 1991, but John Carter did
not recover from a nonmalignant tumor. Later that year he was inducted into the
Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame (complications
from a tumor) b.
September 24th 1928. 1995:
Selena Quintanilla-Pérez (23)
American singer who has been called "The Queen of Tejano music", the
youngest child of a Mexican couple. She began singing at the age of six; when
she was nine her father founded the singing group Selena y Los Dinos, which she
fronted and
she released her first album "Mis Primeras Grabaciones," at the age
of twelve. In 1987 Selina
won Female Vocalist of the Year at the Tejano Music Awards and dominated the award
for the next seven years. She landed a recording contract with EMI a few years
later. Her breakthrough hit was "Buenos Amigos," a 1991 duet with Alvaro
Torres, the ballad went to No. 1 on the Billboard Latin tracks chart. Her
fame grew throughout the early 1990s, and in 1993, she won a Grammy Award for
best Mexican-American album, with "Selena Live. 1995 sees her with a Grammy
nomination for "Amor Prohibido" (Forbidden Love). Also in 1995 she dominated
the Tejano Music Awards for song of the year ("Bidi Bidi Bom Bom"),
best female entertainer, best female vocalist, album of the year ("Amor Prohibido"),
Tejano crossover song, and record of the year. "Dreaming of You" was
the last studio album recorded by Selena. It was first released in July 1995 after
her death, debuting at No.1 on the Billboard's 200 chart. On April 12, 1995, two
weeks after her death, George W. Bush, governor of Texas at the time, declared
her birthday "Selena Day" in Texas. Warner Brothers made a film based
on her life starring Jennifer Lopez in 1997. As of June 2006, Selena was commemorated
with a museum and a bronze life-sized statue (murdered,
shot in the back by Yolanda Saldívar, the president of her fan club) b.
April 16th 1971. 1996:
Jeffrey Lee Pierce (37) American guitarist
with Gun Club; he discovered punk rock during his teenage years, while working
at Bomp Records, writing for such L.A. based punk magazines as Slash, and serving
as the head of Blondie's fan club. By 1979, he was fronting his own band first
called Creeping Ritual, later changing their name to the Gun Club. Merging the
energy of hardcore punk, rockabilly, and country, they soon became one of the
frontrunners of the 'pyschobilly' music style. They releases several albums including
their classic 1981 debut, "Fire of Love", 1982's "Miami",
1983's "Death Party", 1992's "In Exile" and 1994's "Lucky
Jim". He also released a pair of solo albums 1985's "Wildweed"
and 1992's "Ramblin' Jeffrey Lee" (blood clot on his brain) b.
September 24th 1958. 2006: John Lenwood "Jackie"
McLean (74) American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader and
educator; He recorded with Miles Davis, on Davis' Dig album, when he was 19 years
old. As a young man he also recorded with Gene Ammons, Charles Mingus, and George
Wallington, and played as a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. While under
contract with Blue Note Records from 1959 to 1967, he recorded as a leader with
a wide range of musicians, including Donald Byrd, Sonny Clark, Ornette Coleman,
Dexter Gordon, Billy Higgins, Freddie Hubbard, Grachan Moncur III,
Mal Waldron
and Bobby Hutcherson,
among many others. In 1970, he and his wife, Dollie McLean, founded the Artists
Collective, Inc. of Hartford, an organization dedicated to preserving the art
and culture of the African Diaspora. It provides educational programs and instruction
in dance, theatre, music and visual arts. He received an American Jazz Masters
fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2001 and many other national
and international awards and was the only American jazz musician to found a department
of studies at a University and a community based organization almost simultaneously
(died after a long illness) b. May 17th 1931.
2007: Phil
Cordell (59) UK multi-musician, composer, songwriter;
came to fame under the name of Springwater and as Dan The Banjo Man. After playing
in bands "The
Prophets" and "Tuesdays Children" in 1967 he went solo, and in
1969 recorded 'Red Lady', with all the veiled drug references and psychedelic
mysticism of the era. Being a multi-instrumentalist, he played all the instruments
himself from slide guitar to harp. 1971 sees Phil with the pseudonym of "Springwater",
under this name he had a huge hit with the instrumental "I Will Return".
Again playing all the instrumentals himself. Leaving Springwater behind, in 1974,
he took another pseudonym, "Dan The Banjo Man", recording a self titled
album. The single Dan The Banjo Man was a mega hit, reaching Number
1 in the German charts twice! It was used originally for an orange juice advert
on German Television. After these successes, Phil reverted back to his own name
recording tracks such as: Back In Your Arms, One Man Show, Doin' The Best I Can,
Cheatin' In The Dark, Roadie For The Band, Twistin And Jivin, Cool Clear Water
and many others. In 2005 "Dan the Banjo Man." was reissue on CD, with
eight bonus tracks, most of them written by Phil and his son Charlie (cancer)
b. July 17th 1947. Back
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