Died On This Date (November 18, 1994) Cab Calloway / Popular Big Band Singer

Cabell Calloway
December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994

Cab Calloway was a popular scat singer whose all African American band was one of the most popular big bands of the ’30s and ’40s.  He was also arguably the most dynamic performer of the era.   Calloway began singing and learning music at a very young age, and although his parents disapproved, he started gravitating toward the sounds of jazz.  After high school, he joined a traveling musical review that is sister, a bandleader herself, was involved with.  When the tour ended in Chicago, Calloway stayed behind to further pursue his music career.  It was there that he met Louis Armstrong who taught him the art of scat singing.  By the ’30s, Calloway had one of the most popular bands in the country, thanks in part to his first hit single, 1931’s “Minnie The Moocher.”  He was soon starring in several short reels, in which he could be seen doing what would in later generations be called Michael Jackson’s “moonwalk.”  Over the course of the latter part of his career, Calloway continued to release popular records and made numerous appearances on television and film.  Cab Calloway was 86 when he died on November 18, 1994 of a stroke he had had six months earlier.

What You Should Own

Click to find at amazon.com

Are You Hep to the Jive? - Cab Calloway

Died On This Date (November 18, 1971) Junior Parker / Memphis Blues Singer

Junior Parker (Born Herman Parker)
May 27, 1932 – November 18, 1971

juniorJunior Parker was a Memphis blues and R&B singer and musician who became successful thanks to a voice that has been described as “velvet smooth.”  He began playing the local blues circuit while still in his teens, and by the early ’50s,  he had already performed  alongside Sonny Boy Williamson, B.B. King, Bobby “Blue” Bland,  and Howlin’ Wolf.    In 1951,  Parker formed the Blue Flames who cut their first record with the help of Ike Turner.  The record lead to a deal with Sam Phillips Sun Records where he released a string of hits including the top 5 R&B hit, “Feelin’ Good,” and “Mystery Train,” which was later made into a hit by Elvis Presley.   Parker continued to make records well into the ’60s, but none achieved the success of his earlier recordings.  Junior Parker was 39 when he died during surgery for a brain tumor.

What You Should Own

Click to find at amazon.com

Junior Parker

Died On This Date (November 18, 1972) Danny Whitten / Neil Young; Crazy Horse

Danny Whitten
May 8, 1943 – November 18, 1972

danny_whitten

Danny Whitten was a guitarist who is best remembered for his work with Neil Young and Crazy Horse.  He also was a talented songwriter whose “I Don’t Want To Talk About It” was a hit for both Rod Stewart and Rita Coolidge.  Born in Columbus, GA, Whitten eventually moved to San Francisco where he would end up co-founding a band that would end up being called the Rockets.  The band struggled to find its place in the music industry when in 1969,  they found themselves playing at the Whiskey A Go-Go.  One particular night, someone in the club took notice and approached the band to see if they would be interested in jamming with him.  That person was Neil Young, and before long, he invited the core of the band, Whitten, Billy Talbot and Ralph Molina, to record with him.  It was during the early sessions that they said goodbye to the Rockets and became forever known as Crazy Horse. Whitten’s contributions to Neil Young and Crazy Horse can be heard on such landmark albums as Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, After The Goldrush, Tonight’s The Night, and Crazy Horse’s self-titled debut of 1971.  It has been said that the sound this band created with Young heavily influenced the grunge sound of the ’90s.  Unfortunately, Whitten was struggling with a heroin addiction at the time and his abilities were becoming impaired.  Young’s poignant “The Needle and the Damage Done” is reportedly about Whitten.  By 1972, Whitten’s addiction was so strong that Young had to fire him from the band.  In November of that year, Young bought Whitten a ticket to Los Angeles and gave him money for rehab.  Sadly though, Whitten died of an overdose shortly thereafter.  He was 29.

What You Should Own

Click to find at amazon.com

After the Gold Rush (Remastered) - Neil Young

Died On This Date (November 18, 2007) Jim Ford / Country Soul Singer

Jim Ford
August 23, 1941 – November 18, 2007

Jim Ford was an American singer songwriter who some have called the “Godfather of Pub Rock,” a back-to-basics form of rock ‘n roll that popped up in the UK during the late ’70s.  Ford’s mix of soul, country and folk was an influence on the likes of Graham Parker, Dave Edmunds and Brinsley Schwarz.  Ford’s songs have been recorded by Schwarz, Edmunds, Bobby Womack, Nick Lowe, Aretha Franklin, Ronnie Wood, and onetime girlfriend, Bobbie Gentry.  By all accounts, Ford seems to have fallen into obscurity after the ’70s only to resurface in 2004.  After a deluxe re-issue of his 1969 Harlan County album in 2007, new interest in Ford’s music lead to talks of a new album to be produced by the legendary Jim Dickinson. But before that could come to fruition, Jim Ford was found dead in his home.  Cause of death is not known.

What You Should Own

Click to find at amazon.com

Jim Ford

Died On This Date (November 17, 2006) Ruth Brown / Early R&B Great

Ruth Brown (Born Ruth Weston)
January 12, 1928 – November 17, 2007

ruthbrown

Ruth Brown was an R&B singer who, like her idols, Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington and Billie Holiday became one of popular music’s most important vocalists of her generation.  So vital was she, that her young label at the time, Atlantic Records, would come to be known as “The House That Ruth Built.”  After running away from home with trumpeter and future husband, Jimmy Brown, in 1945,  Brown began singing in clubs in the Washington DC area.  A local disc jockey caught her act and recommended her to Ahmet Ertegun at Atlantic.  She soon signed to the fledgling label and began releasing a string of R&B hits that included “Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean,” “So Long,” “Oh What a Dream” and “I’ll Wait For You.”  Brown stepped away from the business to raise her family during the ’60s, but came back strong during the mid ’70s when she starred in a Broadway musical, Black and Blue, which won her an Tony and a Grammy for the soundtrack.  She also had a role on the sitcom, Hello Larry and in the John Waters film, Hairspray.  Brown became and advocate for musicians’ rights during the late ’80s, and in 1993, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  On November 17, 2006, Ruth Brown, 78, died of complications from a stroke and heart attack she had suffered the previous month.

What You Should Own

Click to find at amazon.com

Ruth Brown