Died On This Date (October 29, 2008) Mae Mercer / Popular Blues Singer
themusicsover Mae Mercer
June 12, 1932 – October 29, 2008
Mae Mercer was an actress and blues singer who spent most of her music career singing in Paris. With a richly deep voice, she sang what Willie Dixon once called, “the real low-down blues.” She fronted a band that included Memphis Slim for the better part of the ’60s. Back in America during the ’70s, Mercer put her focus on acting. She appeared in the films, Dirty Harry, The Beguiled, and Pretty Baby, and such TV shows as Mannix, and Kung Fu. Mae Mercer, 76, passed away in her home after having been ill for some time.
Wells Kelly was the founding drummer for Orleans, a soft rock band that formed in 1972. The band is best remembered for their ’70s pop hits, “Still the One” and “Dance With Me.” As early as 1977, “Still the One” has been played on numerous television shows and films. Over the course of their career, Orleans were a popular opening act for the likes of Jackson Browne, Little Feat and Melissa Manchester. After his run with Orleans, Kelly played with Steve Forbert, Clarence Clemons, and Meat Loaf. It was while on tour with Meat Loaf that Kelly, 34, was found dead of asphyxiation.
Frank De Vol was a musician, composer, band leader, arranger, and actor who is perhaps best remembered as the ironically named Happy Kyne, who, with his Myrthmakers, were the house band for fictional talk show parodies Fernwood 2Night and later, America 2-Night. The television shows, which had sizable cult followings during the late’70s, were spin-offs of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and co-starred Martin Mull and Fred Willard as host and co-host. De Vol began playing music as a child, and had performed with a few different travelling orchestras before going off to become a recording artist. He also worked as an arranger during his early career, collaborating on records by the likes of Tony Bennett, 
Ricky Parent is best remembered as a drummer for the pop metal band, Enuff Z’nuff. Born in New Jersey, Parent began playing the drums at the age of five. When he got older, he decided he wanted to pursue a career in music, so he moved to Los Angeles to find a band to work with. He landed a job with War & Peace, the band formed by ex Dokken bassist, Jeff Pilson. The band soon broke up and Parent was picked up by Vince Neil to lay down tracks for his first solo album. In 1992, Parent learned that Enuff Z’nuff was looking for a new drummer, so he moved to Chicago and got hired on as their drummer. He played in the band for the band for the next 13 years. Ricky Parent died of cancer at the age of 44.