Don Cornelius September 27, 1936 – February 1, 2012
Don Cornelius was the creator, writer, producer, and host of the extremely influential American dance program, Soul Train. Launched in October of 1961 after Cornelius noticed a void of nationally broadcast television shows that catered to the African-American audience, Soul Train ran until March of 2006. Cornelius hosted the program from its inception until 1993. Soul Train has been praised for influencing countless African-American kids while bringing black music into the white neighborhoods. Over the years, the show featured lip-synched performances by everyone from James Brown, Marvin Gaye and Aretha Franklin, to Michael Jackson, Ice Cube and Prince. Two popular segments of the show were the “Soul Train Scrabble Board” where two dancers tried to un-scramble letters to identify a significant person in African-American culture, and the oft-imitated “Soul Train Line” where the dancers formed two lines and then strutted their stuff with a partner down the middle. In 1987, Cornelius launched the Soul Train Awards, a nationally broadcast program that honored the year’s best artists in R&B, Soul, Jazz and Hip-Hop. The show ran until 2000. Throughout the years, Cornelius was honored and/or parodied in countless sit-coms, rap songs, and films. In the early hours of February 1, 2012, police responded to the home of Don Cornelius where they found him dead of what initially appeared to have been a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was 75.
Ronnie Smith was a trumpet player and songwriter who is perhaps best remembered as an original member of one of the disco era’s biggest and most enduring bands, KC & the Sunshine Band. Thanks to contributions from Smith, the group created the blueprint for the upbeat and horn-driven “Miami sound” that acts like the Miami Sound Machine and Gloria Estefan would later follow. A dynamic performer on stage, Smith was often the horn section’s focal point and choreographed its funky dance moves. Prior to his tenure in the Sunshine Band, Smith formed the Ocean Liner Band who backed R&B great, Betty Wright, and played on countless recordings released by the legendary Miami label, TK Records. He also wrote “Spank,” which became a big disco hit by Jimmie “Bo” Horne in 1978. That same year, Smith released his one an only album, Party Freaks (Come On) as Ron Louis Smith. In 2004, he was attacked during a car-jacking that left him in a coma and hospitalized ever since. An arrest was never made. Ronnie Smith ultimately died of his injuries on January 21, 2012. He was 59.
Jimmy Castor was one of the greats of funk. Period. Born in New York City, Castor began his career as a doo wop singer during the mid ’50s. He made his first record in 1956 – the self-penned “I Promise To Remember.” The following year, he replaced Frankie Lymon in the Teenagers. By the mid ’60s, he was playing saxophone on others’ records while making his few of his own that were starting to find an audience on the dance floors of New York City. His first hit came in 1966 with “Hey Leroy, Your Mama’s Callin’ You.” In 1972, he formed the Jimmy Castor Bunch who were quickly signed to RCA Records. Later that year, they released It’s Just Begun, which contained the part novelty, but all funk classic, “Troglodyte (Cave Man).” The song quickly lit up radio request lines across the US and is now a must-have for any respectable funk collection. The song hit #6 on the Billboard pop charts and sold over a million copies within weeks. It has since become one of the most heavily sampled songs of the era. The list of those who have borrowed from it include Kool Moe Dee, N.W.A., Neneh Cherry, Lil’ Kim, Ginuwine, the Beastie Boys, Ice Cube, and Christina Aguilera. Castor followed with other hits like “The Bertha Butt Boogie (Part 1)” and “King Kong (Part 1).” During the ’80s, Castor made several more records and ran his own record label. Jimmy Castor was 64 when he passed away in a Nevada hospital on January 16, 2011. Cause of death was not immediately released.
Odell Brown was a jazz organist who is best remembered for penning the Marvin Gaye hit, “Sexual Healing.” Brown was just 4 years old when he began playing the keyboards – mostly old classical pieces – until he found his groove with jazz. By the mid ’60s, he had settled in Chicago where he formed Odell Brown & the Organizers which was touted by no less than Billboard magazine as the Best New Group in 1966. He built a sizable following during the late ’60s and early ’70s for his live performances at which he played what could be classified as soul-jazz or jazz-funk. One such audience member was Gaye who couldn’t get one of his numbers out of his head, so he put some words to it, and “Sexual Healing” was born. Released in 1982, the single was a Top 5 hit around the world and has since been covered by the likes of Michael Bolton, Phish, Soul Asylum, and Sarah Connor. Sadly however, Brown was bottoming out at the time – he watched his song win a Grammy at a Skid Row bar in Los Angeles. He eventually got his life and career back on track and moved to the Minneapolis area where he continued to record and perform. Over the course of his career, Brown worked with Johnny Nash, Minnie Riperton, and Curtis Mayfield. Odell Brown was 70 when he passed away on May 3, 2011. Cause of death was not immediately released.
Jerry Wexler was best known as a music producer who was responsible for some of the greatest music from the 1950s through the 1980s. He also coined the phrase “rhythm and blues” while he was editor of Billboard magazine before he became a partner of Atlantic Records in 1953. While at Atlantic he either produced or signed some of the all time greats of popular music. That list includes Wilson Pickett, Led Zeppelin, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan and the Allman Brothers. He retired from the music business in the late ’90s, and passed away of congestive heart failure in 2008.
Don Cornelius was the creator, writer, producer, and host of the extremely influential American dance program, Soul Train. Launched in October of 1961 after Cornelius noticed a void of nationally broadcast television shows that catered to the African-American audience, Soul Train ran until March of 2006. Cornelius hosted the program from its inception until 1993. Soul Train has been praised for influencing countless African-American kids while bringing black music into the white neighborhoods. Over the years, the show featured lip-synched performances by everyone from James Brown, Marvin Gaye and Aretha Franklin, to Michael Jackson, Ice Cube and Prince. Two popular segments of the show were the “Soul Train Scrabble Board” where two dancers tried to un-scramble letters to identify a significant person in African-American culture, and the oft-imitated “Soul Train Line” where the dancers formed two lines and then strutted their stuff with a partner down the middle. In 1987, Cornelius launched the Soul Train Awards, a nationally broadcast program that honored the year’s best artists in R&B, Soul, Jazz and Hip-Hop. The show ran until 2000. Throughout the years, Cornelius was honored and/or parodied in countless sit-coms, rap songs, and films. In the early hours of February 1, 2012, police responded to the home of Don Cornelius where they found him dead of what initially appeared to have been a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was 75.
Ronnie Smith was a trumpet player and songwriter who is perhaps best remembered as an original member of one of the disco era’s biggest and most enduring bands, KC & the Sunshine Band. Thanks to contributions from Smith, the group created the blueprint for the upbeat and horn-driven “Miami sound” that acts like the Miami Sound Machine and Gloria Estefan would later follow. A dynamic performer on stage, Smith was often the horn section’s focal point and choreographed its funky dance moves. Prior to his tenure in the Sunshine Band, Smith formed the Ocean Liner Band who backed R&B great, Betty Wright, and played on countless recordings released by the legendary Miami label, TK Records. He also wrote “Spank,” which became a big disco hit by Jimmie “Bo” Horne in 1978. That same year, Smith released his one an only album, Party Freaks (Come On) as Ron Louis Smith. In 2004, he was attacked during a car-jacking that left him in a coma and hospitalized ever since. An arrest was never made. Ronnie Smith ultimately died of his injuries on January 21, 2012. He was 59.
Jimmy Castor was one of the greats of funk. Period. Born in New York City, Castor began his career as a doo wop singer during the mid ’50s. He made his first record in 1956 – the self-penned “I Promise To Remember.” The following year, he replaced 
Odell Brown was a jazz organist who is best remembered for penning the 