Died On This Date (February 22, 2001) John Fahey / Folk Guitar Legend
themusicsover John Fahey
February 28, 1939 – February 22, 2001
John Fahey was an influential folk and blues guitarist who is revered for his minimalistic steel string finger-picking style of play. Fahey bought his first guitar at the age of 13, and by the time he was 20, he was making his own recordings. Besides his amazing guitar skill, what separated Fahey from most other musicians at the time, was that he started his own record label, Takoma Records through which to release while he was still just a teenager. Through all this, Fahey continued his education, eventually earning a Master’s degree in folklore from UCLA. As a musicologist, Fahey tracked down the long forgotten blues great, Bukka White whom he recorded and helped re-launch a career during the folk and blues revival of the early ’60s. And he did the same for Skip James. Fahey continued to release his own outstanding guitar-centric albums throughout the ’70s while helping to launch the careers of the likes of Leo Kottke, George Winston and Robbie Basho. In recent years, he has been noted as a direct influence by such contemporary musicians as M. Ward, Sufjan Stevens, Devendra Banhart, and Sonic Youth’s Lee Renaldo. Health and financial problems plagued John Fahey during his final years, and he was reportedly living out of cheap hotels until on February 22, 2001, he died following bypass surgery at the age of 61.
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Florence Ballard was a founding member of influential Motown singing group, the Supremes. Born and raised in Detroit, Ballard began singing in local groups while still a teenager. In 1959, she successfully auditioned for a female vocal group called the Primettes who, after a few personnel changes eventually signed with Motown Records as the Supremes, with the most successful formation of the group including Ballard, Diana Ross and Mary Wilson. Over the next eight years with the Supremes, Ballard sang on nearly a dozen #1 hits and helped the women become one of the most influential female groups in history. In the spring of 1967, Ballard left the group and launched a solo career, but it failed to bring her back into the spotlight. Personal and financial problems plagued Florence Ballard during the final years of her life, and on February 22, 1976, she died of cardiac arrest. She was 32.
Ian Wallace was an accomplished session rock drummer who is most often remembered for his short stint in King Crimson during the early ’70s. He can be heard playing on Islands and their live album, Earthbound. Throughout the years, Wallace played with a who’s who of rock music. He played on such albums as Bob Dylan’s Street Legal and At Budokon, Bonnie Raitt’s Nine Lives, Don Henley’s Building A Perfect Beast, Rodney Crowell’s Houston Kid, Stevie Nicks’ Wild Heart, and many more. He released just one album, 2003’s Happiness With Minimal Side Effects. Ian Wallace was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in August of 2006, and subsequently died of it on February 22, 2007. He was 60.