Died On This Date (March 6, 2010) Mark Linkous / Sparklehorse

Mark Linkous
September 9, 1962 – March 6, 2010

Mark Linkous was the multi-instrumentalist leader of alternative rock group, Sparklehorse, who became an critics’ darling cult band after the release of their debut album, Vivadixiesubmarine- transmissionplot, in 1995.  Prior to that, he was a member of the Dancing Hoods, who he co-founded  in the mid ’80s.  In 1996, while on tour with Radiohead, Linkous overdosed Valium, antidepressants and alcohol, causing him to lay unconscious with his legs pinned underneath him for fourteen hours.  He literally died for two minutes when rescuers tried to straighten his legs which had been cut off from circulation for the duration of his unconsciousness.   The incident left him with permanent damage to his legs.  In 2009, Linkous collaborated on a Dark Night of Soul with famed indie producer Danger Mouse and iconic film director, David Lynch.  The multi-media project also includes performance by  Flaming Lips, Suzanne Vega, Vic Chesnutt, Frank Black, Iggy Pop and more.  He was recently working on a new album due out in late 2010.  On March 6, 2010, Mark Linkous died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.  He was 47.

Thanks to Craig Rosen of Number1Albums

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Good Morning Spider - Sparklehorse

Died On This Date (March 6, 1999) Lowell Fulson / Blues Great

Lowell Fulson
March 31, 1921 – March 6, 1999

lowell-fulsonLowell Fulson was an influential west coast blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter who was one of the key figures of the ’40s and ’50s. After moving to Los Angeles in the early ’40s, Fulson formed his first band which included future greats, Ray Charles and Stanley Turrentine.    Over the course of his career, Fulson released such now-classics as “3 O’Clock Blues,” “Lonesome Blues,” and “Reconsider Baby” which was later made into a hit by Elvis Presley and selected by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll. He continued recording and performing well into the ’90s.  Lowell Fulson was 77 when he died from complications of diabetes, kidney disease and congestive heart failure on March 6, 1999.

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Lowell Fulson

Died On This Date (March 6, 1967) Nelson Eddy / Singer & TV Personality

Nelson Eddy
June 29, 1901 – March 6, 1967

nelson-eddy

Nelson Eddy was a popular singer, actor, television personality, and radio personality for some forty years.  He is one of the few entertainers who are represented on the Hollywood Walk of Fame with three stars; one for music, one for radio and one for film.  Praise for Eddy’s singing talents began as far back as 1922 for his early stage work.  As a film actor and singer, he starred in 19 films, 14 of which were with MGM during their golden age of movie musicals.  He is best remembered for his leading roles opposite Jeanette MacDonald, with whom he was reportedly romantically linked.   As for his music career, Eddy made nearly 300 records, which included numerous duets with some of Hollywood’s biggest singing starlets of the era.  On March 6, 1967, Nelson Eddy died following a cerebral hemorrhage he had suffered the previous night while performing on stage.  He was 65 years old.

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Nelson Eddy

Died On This Date (March 6, 1932) John Philip Sousa / World Renowned Composer and Band Conductor

John Philip Sousa
November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932

john-philip-sousaJohn Philip Sousa was a composer and band conductor who achieved great acclaim for his military and patriotic marches.  Fittingly born in our nation’s capital city, he began learning music at just six years old.  When he was 13, his father, who was a Marine band member, found a place for him within the Corps’ band as an apprentice, thus paving the way for his musical legacy.  It was either that, his father thought, or the circus. Besides later leading the Marine Corps Band himself, Sousa lead the President’s Own Band under five U.S. Presidents.  Of the 100s of compositions he penned, Sousa is best remembered for “Stars and Stripes Forever,” “Semper Fidelis” (the official march of the Marine Corps), “U.S. Field Artillery’ (Official march of the U.S. Army), and “The Liberty Bell,” which became popular as the closing theme for Monty Python’s Flying Circus.  He was also the namesake for the sousaphone, a tuba instrument he commissioned that was taller than normal so it could be heard over the heads of the other band members.  John Phillip Sousa was 77 when he died of heart failure on March 6, 1932.



Died On This Date (March 6, 2009) George McKelvey / ’50s Folk Singer Turned Comedian

George McKelvey
July 22, 1936 – March 6, 2009

georgeGeorge McKelvey was a comic, actor and folk singer who achieved success during the ’60s and ’70s after he switched from music to stand-up comedy.  As a folk singer, he did have a moderate hit with the timely and satirical  “My Radiation Baby, My Teenage Fallout Queen” of 1964.  After switching to comedy, he became a popular support act for the likes of the Righteous Brothers, Tower of Power and Glenn Yarbrough.  George McKelvey, 72, died of a stroke on March 6, 2009.