Died On This Date (November 3, 2008) Danny Yarbrough / Former Head of Sony Music Distribution
themusicsover Danny Yarbrough
DOB Unknown – November 3, 2008
Danny Yarbrough was a longtime record industry executive who spent most of his career in the Sony/Columbia family. In 1965, Yarbrough was hired by CBS Records to be a sales representative out of their Atlanta Branch. Over the next four decades, he worked his way up through the ranks, serving as sales manager, branch manager, and then Vice President of Sales at Columbia Records. He ultimately became Sr. Vice President of Sales and Distribution back on distribution side of the company. He left Sony in 2003 and became a consultant. Danny Yarbrough died in his sleep on November 3, 2008.
Thanks to Craig Rosen at Number1Albums for the assist.
Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis was an influential tenor saxophonist who, over the course of a career that spanned some 40 years played with may of jazz’s other greats. That list includes 
Paul Mauriat was a French conductor and orchestra leader who is best remembered for his 1968 #1 single, “Love Is Blue.” It remained at the top of the U.S. singles chart for five weeks. Mauriat’s music is generally classified as easy listening. He came to prominence during the ’50s as musical director for Charles Aznavour and Maurice Chevalier. He scored several soundtracks and toured the world playing to adoring fans. He was 81 when he passed away on November 3, 2006.
Although he was small in stature, picked the guitar lightly, and sang almost in a whisper, Mississippi John Hurt’s influence on folk and blues was huge. He learned to play the guitar before he was ten, and by the early 1920s, he had already been playing in front of crowds at local barn dances. In 1928, and on the recommendation of a friend who had recently won an Okeh Records contract in a talent contest, Hurt was asked to audition for the label. He was signed that same year and given two recording sessions that produced collection of sides that sadly, never had a chance to develop since Okeh soon went under due to the Great Depression. Hurt soon retired from the music business and went back to his life as a sharecropper. Fast forward about 35 years to 1963. The folk revival was in full swing when music historian, Tom Hoskins heard those old recordings and sought out to find Hurt. He tracked him down still living in Avalon, Mississippi and convinced him to move to Washington DC and relaunch his music career. Hurt’s set at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival was that of legend, and he was subsequently signed to legendary folk label, Vanguard Records. He went on to tour the country and even perform on the Tonight Show With Johnny Carson. Hurt’s music influenced a new generation of singer-songwriters from blues to country to folk. Mississippi John Hurt died of a heart attack on November 2, 1966. In 2001, Morgana Kennedy and the folks at Vanguard records released Avalon Blues: A Tribute to the Music of Mississippi John Hurt. It contained versions of John Hurt songs by the likes of Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, Ben Harper, Beck and John Hiatt.
