Died On This Date (June 3, 2009) Sam Butera / Played Sax For Louis Prima
themusicsover Sam Butera
August 17, 1927 – June 3, 2009
Born and raised in New Orleans, Sam Butera took up the saxophone as a child. Almost immediately after he graduated from high school, Butera was playing professionally, and within a few years in was playing with the likes of Tommy Dorsey. In 1956, Butera hooked up with Louis Prima and Keely Smith and became part of their famed live act and recordings. He stayed with Prima for the next two decades and can be heard on such classic recordings as “Old Black Magic” and “I Want To Be Like You” from Disney’s The Jungle Book. Sam Butera passed away at the age of 81.
What You Should Own
Vince Welnick first rose to fame as the keyboard player for the cult fave rock band, the Tubes during the ’70s and ’80s. With the Tubes he played on such FM staples as “Don’t Touch Me There,” “White Punks On Dope,” and the more commercially successful, “Talk To Ya Later” and “She’s A Beauty.” In the early ’90s, Welnick successfully auditioned to replace 
Rowland “Bunny” Berigan was born in Wisconsin in 1908 where he became proficient at the violin and trumpet at a very young age. By his late 20s, he was playing in a local and respected orchestra. Within a couple years, he was getting a lot work as a session man and was soon working with the Dorsey Brothers and 
As one-time lead singer of the Temptations, David Ruffin is arguable the greatest lead voice to come out of Motown. From 1965’s “My Girl,” to “All I Need” and “I Wish It Was Rain,” Ruffin’s voice defined the group and perhaps the era. But mounting friction caused mostly by Ruffin’s swelling ego along with his addiction to cocaine began to tear the group apart, so he was replaced in 1968. Ongoing legal problems with Motown along with his growing dependency on drugs kept his post-Temptations career from reaching the level his true talent deserved. But in 1989, things appeared to be turning around when the Temptations were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, and Ruffin subsequently made peace with the other members of the group. He began working with 