Died On This Date (May 4, 2010) Joseph Roy Carrier / Zydeco Great

Roy Carrier
1947 – May 4, 2010

Roy Carrier was an accomplished accordion player and singer who was part of a musical family that was highly influential to world of Zydeco and Cajun music.  He was considered to be one of the last living original Zydeco greats of the 50’s and ’60s.  Over a career that began when he was just ten years old, Carrier and his bands drew large crowds at festivals and clubs across the country and beyond.  In 1980, he opened the Offshore Lounge (named so since he earned his living on the offshore oil rigs along the Louisiana coast.)  The club soon became a beacon for up-and-coming zydeco musicians to jam with, or just learn from the area’s best.  During the late ’80s, Carrier said goodbye to the oil business to focus on his music career full time.  He began making records in 1987.  On May 4, 2010, Roy Carrier lost his battle with lung cancer.  He was 63.

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Died On This Date (May 4, 2010) Irwin Rabinowitz / Plate Engraver For Sheet Music

Irwin Rabinowitz
November 10, 1929 – May 4, 2010

From NAMM.org: Irwin Rabinowitz was personally hired by Irving Berlin to create the lead plates for the famed songwriter’s sheet music. Irwin’s craft was hand-chiseling each note, slur, and coda into metal plates that would then allow copies to be published. Although Mr. Rabinowitz’s career would extend into the music typewriter and even the computer, he always preferred the old way of hand craftsmanship engraving.  Irwin worked for a time for the Elvis Presley Music Group and several other publishers before his retirement.  For many years he and his wife traveled to Israel to volunteer at area hospitals.  He was on such a trip when he passed away in May 2010.

A tribute segment from his NAMM Oral History interview has been posted on NAMM’s website

Thanks to NAMM Historian, Dan Del Fiorentino

Died On This Date (May 3, 1972) Les Harvey / Stone The Crows

Les Harvey
1945 – May 3, 1972

Member of the 27 Club

Les Harvey was the guitarist for the Scotland blues-rock band Stone The Crows. Despite being Glasgow pub favorites and having the support of Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant as their producer, they were never able to attract much more than their loyal cult following. On May 3, 1972, while performing at Swansea Top Rank, Harvey grabbed an ungrounded microphone with wet hands and was electrocuted to death.

Died On This Date (May 3, 1977) Helmut Kollen / Triumvirat

Helmut Kollen
March 2, 1950 – May 3, 1977

Helmut Kollen at right
Helmut Kollen at right

Member of the 27 Club

Helmut Kollen played bass and sang for the German prog-trio, Triumvirat during the mid-’70s. With a sound akin to Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Triumvirat attained modest commercial success which pretty much peaked with the 1975 release of Spartacus, an album that many consider a prog rock essential. After leaving the band after Spartacus, Kollen embarked on a solo career. Sadly that career was cut short on May 3, 1977 when Kollen went into his car to listen to some new tracks he had recorded. With the motor running and the car parked in his garage, Kollen died of carbon monoxide poisoning at age 27.

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