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Hank Medress
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One of the original singers in the fantastic harmony group The Tokens. He not only sang but also played guitar on songs that have been enjoyed by generations of people who have discerning taste in music, who have not forgotten what music can and should sound like. The perfect, melodic harmony of the Tokens in "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is what the Doo Wop sound is all about. Another hit, "Tonight I Fell In Love", is also an exceptional example of the entire group hitting the notes just right to achieve a sound that continues to impress.
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Zal Yanovsky
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The lead guitarist of the Lovin' Spoonful, whose music like the other artists on this page, continues to be loved and enjoyed today. The Lovin' Spoonful's "Do You Believe in Magic", with Zal on guitar, is called by many "rock's anthem". He wrote, he sang, with the Spoonful and also as a solo artist. His big happy grin will always be remembered by those who love him. His music was that fun, easy sounding style that helps make a person feel good just hearing it. I'd say that is quite a contribution and one worthy to be honored on a radio station who is supposed to specialize in the music of the 60s and 70s. The Spoonful song "You Didn't Have To Be So Nice" could be re-written to reflect the feeling of being left out of the compilation "You Didn't Have To Be So Rude". Zal's singing and guitar work was essential to Lovin' Spoonful hits such as "Rain on the Roof" and "Daydream". He sang the lead vocals for "On the Road Again". He appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show several times, Where the Action Is, Shindig, and Hullabaloo.
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Mike "Smitty" Smith
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This man's drum work continues to hold up as some of the best ever. His fantastic cymbal work, with power and precision, was essential to that much-loved Raider sound. His comedic ability was a big part of Paul Revere and the Raiders extremely popular stage act and he delighted millions on Dick Clark's "Where the Action Is". As mentioned earlier, one of your very own DJs, Mark Lindsay, had the privilege of working with Smitty and being his friend. Smitty, like each of the Raiders, was so popular that he had his own fan club in the 60s. He was seen on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show, Batman, American Bandstand and The Ed Sullivan Show among countless other music shows. Smitty could stand on the stool and continue to play the drums better than most people ever hope to. He performed on such great hits as "Kicks", "Hungry", "Just Like Me", etc. He also had a part in writing some of the Raiders hits. He played the drums on the Raiders #1 hit "Indian Reservation".
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Terry Melcher
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Made the surf genre what it is, an innovator of this very popular sound, a singer, producer, songwriter, musician. He sang such hits as "Hey Little Cobra" and "Three Window Coupe" as the Rip Chords. Also "Summer Means Fun", who along with Bruce Johnston, was Bruce and Terry. He produced the legendary Paul Revere and the Raiders, who was fronted by a phenomenal singer that also happens to host one of your shows - Mark Lindsay. Terry produced the Byrds, enabling them to enjoy several hits in the 60s. He was the young producer at Columbia Studios that brought this record company much success with his talent by producing a talented group like the Raiders and accurately getting their sound on record. He worked with the Beach Boys, including their top selling album "Pet Sounds". Terry was a big part of keeping the Beach Boy sound continuing past the 60s, with the number 1 hit of "Kokomo". Terry wasn't like those big egotistical artists who have to take all the credit, but rather he found that making music was far more important. He was one of the founding members and supporters of the original 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. This brought together in concert such artists as Otis Redding, the Mamas and Papas, and Jimi Hendrix for people to enjoy. Let's give Terry his due honor for all of his many contributions.
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T Rex
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After drinking at the Speakeasy and then dining at Morton's club on Berkeley Square, central London, at a few minutes before 5 a.m. on September 16, 1977, front man Marc Bolan was killed almost instantly when his purple Mini 1275GT, driven by Gloria Jones, hit a tree (now the site of Bolan's Rock Shrine), at Barnes Bridge, Barnes, South West London, less than a mile from his home at 142 Upper Richmond Road West in Richmond. He died two weeks before his 30th birthday. Marc had never learned to drive a car, and was known to fear them for he had visions all his life of dying in a car crash.
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Sonny & Cher
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On January 5, 1998, Sonny Bono died of injuries after hitting a tree while skiing at the Heavenly Ski Resort near South Lake Tahoe, California. He was 62 years old.
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Small Faces
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Steve Marriott died in his sleep when fire swept his home in England, tragically just a couple of days after beginning work on a new album in America with his former bandmate Peter Frampton. Ronnie Lane died at his home in Trinidad, CO, on June 4, 1997, after battling multiple sclerosis for nearly 20 years.
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Slim Harpo
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11 January 1924 - 31 January 1970
Slim Harpo died unexpectedly of a heart attack on 31 January 1970 at the age of 46, and was buried in Mulatto Bend Cemetery in Port Allen, Louisiana.
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Sir Douglas Quintet
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In November 1999, band leader Doug Sahm died of a heart attack.
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Shocking Blue
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Lead singer Mariska Veres died of cancer on 2 December 2006, at the age of 59.
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Sammy Davis Jr.
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December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990
Sammy Davis Jr. died at age 64 in Beverly Hills, California on May 16, 1990 (the same day Jim Henson died), of complications from throat cancer. Ironically, when he was told he could be saved by surgery, Davis replied he'd rather keep his voice than have a part of his throat removed.
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Sam Cooke
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January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964
Early in the day on December 11, 1964, while in Los Angeles, Sam Cooke became involved in an altercation at a seedy motel, with a woman guest and the night manager, and was shot to death while allegedly trying to attack the manager. The case is still shrouded in doubt and mystery, and was never investigated the way the murder of a star of his stature would be today.
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Sam & Dave
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Dave Prater had his last performance with Sam Daniels on April 3, 1988 at a Stax Reunion show at the Atlanta Civic Center which also featuring Isaac Hayes, Eddie Floyd, and Rufus and Carla Thomas. Six days later, on April 9, 1988, Prater died in a car crash in Sycamore, Georgia, while driving to his mother's house.
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Rufus Thomas
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March 26, 1917 – December 15, 2001
In 2001, Rufus Thomas was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. Later that year, on December 15, he died at St. Francis hospital in Memphis, TN.
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Roger Miller
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January 2, 1936 – October 25, 1992
A lifelong cigarette smoker, Miller died of lung and throat cancer in 1992. In a TV interview, he once explained that he composed his songs from "bits and pieces" of ideas he wrote on scraps of paper. When asked what he did with the unused bits and pieces, he half-joked, "I smoke 'em!" (One of his songs, "A Man Can't Quit", centered on the subject of addiction to cigarettes.)
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Robert Palmer
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January 19, 1949 – September 26, 2003
Palmer, who made his home in Lugano, Switzerland for his last 15 years, died in Paris, France in 2003 of a heart attack at the age of 54.
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Righteous Brothers
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The Righteous Brothers tour the oldies circuit off and on in the 1980s and 1990s. It was while on one of these tours that Bobby Hatfield died suddenly on November 5, 2003.
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Rick Nelson
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May 8, 1940 – December 31, 1985
In 1985, Rick Nelson joined a nostalgia rock tour of England. It was a major success, and it revived some interest in Nelson. He tried to duplicate that effect in the United States, and he began a tour ofthe South. While on that tour, he died in a plane crash in De Kalb, Texas in 1985; he was on his way to a New Year's Eve concert in Dallas, Texas.
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Ray Charles
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September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004
Ray Charles died on June 10, 2004 of "liver disease", at his home in Beverly Hills, California, surrounded by family and friends.
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Otis Redding
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September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967
Redding and six others, including four of the six members of Redding's backup band, The Bar-Kays, were killed when the plane on which they were travelling crashed into Lake Monona in Madison, Wisconsin on December 10, 1967.
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Nicolette Larson
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July 17, 1952 – December 16, 1997
Larson died on December 16, 1997, in Los Angeles as a result of complications arising from a cerebral edema.
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Minnie Ripperton
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November 8, 1947 – July 12, 1979
In 1976 Riperton revealed to Flip Wilson, who was guest-hosting for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show, that she had undergone a mastectomy due to breast cancer. At the time of her diagnosis, Minnie found out that her cancer had already spread to the lymphatic system. In spite of such a grim prognosis, Minnie continued touring in 1977 and 1978, and became the National spokesperson for the American Cancer Society 78-79, but eventually the cancer would take its toll. By June of 1979 Minnie was confined to bed and she entered Cedars Sinai Hospital for the last time on Monday July 9. On Thursday July 12, 1979, Minnie Julia Riperton died peacefully
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Mary Wells
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May 13, 1943 – July 26, 1992
Mary Wells, a longtime smoker, was diagnosed with cancer of the larynx in 1990. In the summer of 1992, Wells was hospitalized for pneumonia at the Kenneth Norris Jr. Cancer Hospital in Los Angeles, CA. Stillsuffering the effects of her cancer, her weakened immune system could not take the extra strain. Wells died on July 26, 1992 at age forty-nine.
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Marshall Tucker Band
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Original bassist Tommy Caldwell died in a car crash on April 28, 1980. His brother, guitarist Toy Caldwell, died of heart disease on February 25, 1993.
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Major Lance
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April 4, 1939 — September 3, 1994
Lance made few performances after a heart attack in 1987. He died in 1994, at the age of 55, as a result of heart disease.
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Lynyrd Skynyrd
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Lynyrd Skynyrd's legend is grounded in a plane crash that occurred on October 20, 1977, three days after the release of Street Survivors. A chartered Convair 240, N55VM, carrying the band between shows from Greenville, South Carolina to LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana crashed near a forest in McComb, Mississippi. The crash killed singer/songwriter Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist/vocalist Steve Gaines, vocalist Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot William Gray. Other band members were injured, some very seriously. Drummer Artimus Pyle crawled out of the plane wreckage with several broken ribs, but was ambulatory, as were road crew members Kenneth Peden Jr. and Mark Frank.
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Luther Ingram
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November 30, 1937 — March 19, 2007
Luther Ingram died March 19, 2007 at a Belleville, Ill., hospital of heart failure. He had suffered for years from diabetes, kidney disease and partial blindness.
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Love
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Bryan MacLean died in Los Angeles of a sudden massive heart attack on December 25, 1998, while having dinner with a young fan who was researching a book about the band. He was 52. Arthur Lee died in Memphis, Tenn., on August 3, 2006, of complications from leukemia. He was 61 years old.
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Louis Armstrong
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August 4, 1901 - July 6, 1971
Louis Armstrong died of a heart attack on July 6, 1971, at age 69, the night after playing a famous show at the Waldorf Astoria's Empire Room. He was residing in Corona, Queens, New York City, at the time ofhis passing.
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Lou Rawls
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December 1, 1933 – January 6, 2006
In December 2005, it was announced that Rawls was being treated for lung and brain cancer. Rawls died on January 6, 2006 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles from complications of the cancers,with his wife at his side.
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Lee Dorsey
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December 24, 1924 — December 1, 1986
Lee Dorsey contracted emphysema and died in New Orleans on December 1, 1986.
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King Curtis
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February 7, 1934 – August 14, 1971
On Saturday August 14, 1971, at the height of a New York heat wave, King Curtis was carrying an air conditioner unit into his apartment. He found his access blocked by two men administering drugs to themselves. He asked them to move, there was a scuffle, and one of the men, later identified as Juan Montanez, stabbed King Curtis in the heart with a knife. (According to Sam Moore, the attack was witnessed by Aretha Franklin and Moore himself, both of whom were arriving at Curtis's apartment to discuss recording sessions he was producing for them.) Curtis was hurried to Roosevelt Hospital, but was dead on arrival.
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Jr. Walker & the Allstars
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In 1983, Jr. Walker was re-signed with Motown. He died on November 23, 1995 in Battle Creek, Michigan of cancer. Drummer James Graves died in 1967 in a car accident, and guitarist Willie Woods died in 1997 at age 60.
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Johnny Cash
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February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003
On September 12, 2003, less than four months after his wife's death, Johnny Cash died at the age of 71 due to complications from diabetes, which resulted in respiratory failure, while hospitalized at Baptist Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. He was interred next to his wife in Hendersonville Memory Gardens near his home in Hendersonville, Tennessee.
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John Denver
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December 31, 1 | | |
