Died On This Date (February 17, 1982) Thelonious Monk / Jazz Legend
themusicsover Thelonious Monk
October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982
Thelonious Monk was a highly influential jazz pianist and composer who was one of bebop’s earliest practitioners. Monk was just six years old when he first took to the piano, and for the most part, taught himself to play. As a teen, he hit the road playing the organ for a traveling evangelist. He made his recording debut with Coleman Hawkins in 1944, leading Hawkins to champion Monk throughout the jazz world. Over the next three decades, Monk worked with the biggest names in jazz while recording some of the genre’s most celebrated recordings. That list includes “Round Midnight,” “Straight No Chaser,” and “Blue Monk.” Monk all but retired from music during the mid ’70s, possibly due to his struggles with mental illness. He reportedly suffered from schizophrenia and manic depression. He may have also suffered brain damage after being misdiagnosed and prescribed the wrong medication. Either way, his physical health began to deteriorate during the final decade of his life. Thelonious Monk ultimately died of a stroke at he age of 61.
What You Should Own
Mickey Granberg was a longtime executive at the American trade group, National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM). Beginning in 1961, Granberg and her husband were invaluable leaders of the organization. During her early years, she was an English professor at Temple University while she worked at NARM in the evenings. She eventually ran the group, making her one of the highest ranking women in the music industry for many years. In 1989, Granberg retired after nearly 40 years, but continued on as an adviser for another ten years. Mickey Granberg was 83 when she passed away on February 17, 2010.
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Brownie McGhee was a blues singer and guitarist who came to prominence during the post WWII years. McGhee first learned to play on a “guitar” fashioned together out of an old tin box and a piece of wood by his uncle. While still a child, he sang in a local gospel group. By the late ’30s, McGhee was earning his living as a traveling musician, often working with 
Nat King Cole was an internationally renowned jazz singer, songwriter and pianist who broke many color barriers for African-American musicians. He is rightfully considered one of America’s musical treasures. Cole learned to play the piano as a child in his father’s church, and by the time he was in his mid teens, he was well on his way with a career in music. He made his first recording with his brother, Eddie, in 1936, and within a year, he moved to Los Angeles to be closer to the recording industry. In 1943, he became one of the first acts to sign with Capitol Records and when the label built its iconic round headquarters in Hollywood in 1956, it was dubbed “the house that Nat built.” Over the course of his career recording for Capitol, Cole released such now-standards as “L-O-V-E,” “Mona Lisa,” “Unforgettable,” and “Route 66.” In November of 1956, NBC caused a stir when it debuted The Nat King Cole Show, the first of its kind to be hosted by an African-American. In 1958, Cole released the widely successful Cole en Espanol, likely the first collection of Spanish songs recorded by an African-American. It spawned three similar Cole collections in the coming years. A heavy smoker through most of his life – he believed the smoking enhanced his voice – Nat King Cole died of cancer on February 15, 1965. He was 45.