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Posts Tagged ‘Stephane Grappelli’

Died On This Date (April 20, 2012) Bert Weedon / Influential English Electric Guitarist

Posted by themusicsover on April 20, 2012

Bert Weedon
May 10, 1920 – April 20, 2012

Bert Weedon was a popular British guitarist during the 1950s and 1960s.  Although he leaned more easy listening that rock, he was a direct influence on the likes of Brian May, Keith Richards, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, and Pete Townshend – many of whom learned to play from his Play In A Day tutorials.  Weedon was just 12 when he decided he wanted to be a professional musician, and by his late teens, he was already fronting his own band and sharing the stage with Stephane Grappelli and George Shearing.  During the ’50s, he played in the BBC Show Band, played on several early British rock and roll records as a session man, and accompanied American stars when they played in London and beyond.  In that capacity, Weedon performed with Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and Judy Garland, to name a few.  Bert Weedon was 91 when he passed away on April 20, 2012.

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Once More With Feeling - Bert Weedon

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Died On This Date (October 28, 2011) Beryl Davis / Popular Big Band Singer

Posted by themusicsover on October 28, 2011

Beryl Davis
March 16, 1924 – October 28, 2011

Beryl Davis was a popular British big band singer who got her start fronting her father’s (Harry Davis) band during the 1940s.  During WWII, Davis entertained the Allied troops, and it was around this time she was discovered by Glenn Miller who hired her to sing in the Army Air Force Orchestra.  She also toured Europe with Stephane Grappelli and George Shearing during that period.  She eventually moved to Los Angeles where she sang with Frank Sinatra for about a year on Your Hit Parade.  In 1954, Davis formed the Gospel quartet, the Four Girls, with Rhonda Fleming, Jane Russell, and Connie Haines.  They released several hit albums and singles including perhaps their most popular, “Do Lord.”  Beryl Davis died from complications of Alzheimer’s Disease on October 28, 2011. She was 87.

Thanks to Harold Lepidus for the assist.

 

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Died On This Date (May 16, 1953) Django Reinhardt / Jazz Great

Posted by themusicsover on May 16, 2010

Django Reinhardt
January 23, 1910 – May 16, 1953

Django Reinhardt was one of Europe’s earliest jazz musician’s to gain fame on the international level. His style of choice was Gypsy Jazz on the guitar, spending much of his youth in gypsy camps near Paris. By the mid ’30s he was playing alongside the likes of Coleman Hawkins, Benny Carter and Louis Armstrong. During WWII, Reinhardt escaped the fate of many other gypsies who were sent to their deaths at the hands of the Nazis. It has been reported that Reinhardt had an influential fan in the Luftwaffe. His popularity soared in post war Europe and beyond thanks in part to his musical partnership with Stephane Grappelli. Reinhardt retired in 1951 and died in 1953 after collapsing outside his house from a brain hemorrhage.

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