Died On This Date (October 3, 2009) Laura Mae Gross / L.A. Blues Club Owner
themusicsover Laura Mae Gross
1920 – October 3, 2009
Known around the Los Angeles blues scene as “Mama,” Laura Mae Gross was the owner of Babe and Ricky’s Inn which she opened on the storied Central Avenue in 1964. In no time, the club became a destination of local and traveling blues musicians alike. She hosted the likes of B.B. King, T-Bone Walker, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Big Mama Thornton, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, John Lee Hooker and Albert King to name just a few. In 1987, the mayor of Los Angeles signed a proclamation honoring Gross for her commitment to keeping the Central Avenue music scene alive. After a downturn in the area during the ’90s, Gross moved the club to the Leimert Park area of Los Angeles. Laura Mae Gross died of heart failure at the age of 89.
Known since the 1930s as the Singing Cowboy, Gene Autry was country singer-songwriter and cowboy actor. Signing to Columbia Records in 1929, Autry began releasing what were called “hillbilly” music in the early ’30s. Over the course of his career, Autry made over 600 records, roughly half either co-written, or written by himself. Besides his signature song, “Back in the Saddle Again,” Autry best remembered for “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer,” “Frosty the Snowman,” and the self-written, “Here Comes Santa Claus.” Besides making nearly 100 films, Autry successfully transitioned to television during the ’40s, starring in his own show on CBS. Autry also owned several California radio stations as well as Major League Baseball team, the California Angels. Forbes Magazine included him in annual list of the 400 richest Americans for many years. Gene Autry died of lymphoma at the age of 91.
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Nick Reynolds was a founding member of the Kingston Trio, one of the premier groups of the ’60s folk revival. Formed in northern California in the late ’50s, the group were a direct descendant of the Weavers, but thanks in part to their youthfulness, they were able to bring folk music further into the mainstream. Their harmonies would, in turn, heavily influence such groups as the Beach Boys in years to come. The Kingston Trio won two Grammy’s during the early part of their career. The group broke up in 1967 as harder rock music started becoming more popular with American kids, so Reynolds took some time off from music to enjoy his other love, auto racing. He made a name for himself driving formula B and C cars along the Northwest circuit. He reunited with the Kingston Trio in the early ’80s and played with them on and off until his retirement in 1998. Nick Reynolds was 75 when he died of respiratory disease on October 1, 2008.
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