Joel “Taz” DiGregorio
1944 – October 12, 2011
Taz DiGregorio is perhaps best remembered as the keyboardist for the iconic country southern rock outfit, the Charlie Daniels Band. A member of the internationally famous group for over 40 years, DiGregorio also handled backing vocals and co-wrote many of the band’s hits, including “Simple Man,” “The Legend Of Wooley Swamp,” and their signature song, “The Devil Went Down To Georgia.” As reported by A Taste of Country, Taz DiGregorio died of injuries sustained in a single car accident on October 12, 2011. He was 67. The group’s Tommy Crain passed away in 2011 as well.
Thanks to Joel at New Releases Now! for the assist.
What You Should Own
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Frankie Toler was a rock drummer who, over the course of his career, played with the Allman Brothers, Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts, and the Marshall Tucker Band. He joined his brother, guitarist Dan Toler in the Allman Brothers in 1981 and stayed for the next year or so. They both played on the group’s 1981 release, Brothers On The Road. The brothers then went on to perform with Gregg Allman for several years, and played on his landmark I’m No Angel album of 1986. Frankie played in the Marshall Tucker Band from 1992 to 1994, playing on their Walk Outside The Line album. He also made a couple of albums with his brother. Toler continued to stay active until he needed a two liver transplants in 2009. Thankfully the local Southern Rock community joined together and played to raise money to help offset his medical bills. Frankie Toler was 59 when he passed away in hospice care on June 4, 2011.
Ronnie Hammond was the lead singer for successful southern rock band, the Atlanta Rhythm Section. The group itself was born out of a group of in-demand studio musicians from the Atlanta, Georgia area. When the band was recording their first album in 1972, Hammond happened to show up at the studio as an assistant engineer, and once the guys heard him sing, they asked him to join the band. Hammond sang for ARS on their first six albums, during their peak years. In 1978, they released Champagne Jam which included the popular single of the same name. It would become their biggest hit and take them from playing clubs and into arenas and stadiums. In August of that same year, the band was invited by President Jimmy Carter to play at the White House. Hammond left the group in 1982 to pursue a solo career. He reunited with them in 1988 and continued on for the next decade or so. On March 14, 2011, Ronnie Hammond died of heart failure. He was 60.
Tommy Crain was, simply put, one of the foundations of Southern Rock. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Crain first took up the piano at just six years of age. After a neighbor soon taught him to play the ukulele, he won a talent contest at his school and decided to devote his life to music. Next, he mastered the guitar and banjo, and began playing in local rock bands throughout high school. During the early ’70s, he formed a band called Buckeye who was invited to play the opening slot at Charlie Daniels’ very first Volunteer Jam Festival there in Nashville. And when Daniels needed a new guitarist about a year later, he hired Crain. Crain played in the Charlie Daniels Band for the better part of the next twenty years and co-wrote more than 50 of the band’s songs including Daniels’ signature tune, “The Devil Went Down To Georgia.” The song earned Crain a Grammy in 1980. He left Daniels in 1989 to work on his own projects which most recently included Tommy Crain & the Crosstown Allstars. Crain died in his sleep on January 14, 2011, just days before what would have been his 60th birthday. Cause of death was not immediately released. The group’s 