Died On This Date (August 17, 1993) Phil Seymour / Dwight Twilley Band

Phil Seymour
May 11, 1952 – August 17, 1993

Phil Seymour was a singer, songwriter and musician who gained a following during the new wave era thanks to such power pop classics as “Precious To Me” as well as “I’m On Fire” from his days fronting the Dwight Twilley Band.  Seymour grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma where he met Dwight Twilley, another aspiring musician at a 1967 screening of the Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night.  The struck up a friendship and a musical partnership that would eventually get them signed to Shelter Records who in 1975, released their first single, “I’m On Fire” which reached #16 on the Billboard singles chart.  They would record just two classic albums together before Seymour went of on his own.  Before the release of the first of his two solo albums, Seymour did session work, playing drums on power pop icons 20/20’s debut album, as well as singing backing vocals on Tom Petty‘s “American Girl” and “Breakdown.”  During the early ’80s, Seymour released two albums, Phil Seymour (featuring “Precious To Me”) and Phil Seymour 2 before the death of label head, Neil Bogart derailed his record company as well as Seymour’s career.  In 1984, he joined the Textones, a Los Angeles band fronted by Carla Olson that was alt-country twenty years before the genre had a name.  Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with lymphoma not long after recording an album and touring with the band.  Phil Seymour died as a result of the cancer at the age of 41.

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Phil Seymour - Phil Seymour

Died On This Date (August 17, 1973) Paul Williams / The Temptations

Paul Williams
July 2, 1939 – August 17, 1973

Paul Williams was a founding member of the great ’60s R&B act, the Temptations.  Forming the group in 1960 with David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, Otis Williams, and Melvin Franklin, Williams was part of what would later be called “The Classic Five,” the unit that was responsible for some of modern music’s greatest songs ever.   Although the group was achieving tremendous fame and success, Williams was apparently quite miserable, suffering from sickle-cell disease as well as other personal and financial problems.  He had also developed alcohol dependency.  Tragically, Williams was found dead by his car in a deserted parking lot on August 17, 1973 by what was ruled a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.  Although he was battling depression at the time, there are many friends and family who have valid reasons to believe that the fatal gunshot was anything but self-inflicted.

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The Definitive Collection: The Temptations - The Temptations

Died On This Date (August 17, 1990) Pearl Bailey / Iconic American Vocalist

Pearl Bailey
March 29, 1918 – August 17, 1990

The great Pearl Bailey was a singer and actress who went from the vaudeville stage to television and Broadway, eventually winning an Emmy and Tony award.  She began her career as a teenager singing and dancing in clubs in the Philadelphia area.  By the early ’40s she was entertaining troops with the USO.  Upon her return to the states, Bailey settled in New York where she performed with the likes of Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway.  In 1952, Bailey married jazz great, Louis Bellson who died in 2009, just five months before the passing of their daughter, singer Dee Dee Bellson .   She made her Broadway debut in a 1954 production of Carmen Jones, and later starred in an all-black production of Hello Dolly!, for which she won a Tony.  She recorded popular singles and albums through much of her professional life.  During the ’70, Bailey was a familiar face on television, appearing on countless variety programs as well as hosting her own.  She also voiced animated features including Disney’s The Fox And The Hound in 1981.  Pearl Bailey died of heart disease on August 17, 1990 at the age of 72.

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Pearl Bailey Sings Porgy & Bess and Other Gerswhin Melodies - Pearl Bailey

Died On This Date (August 16, 1977) Elvis Presley / The Only King America Has Known

Elvis Presley
January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977

elvisElvis Presley was born in a two-room shotgun house built by his father in East Tupelo, MS on January 8, 1935. He had an identical twin brother named Jessie Garon Presley. Elvis arrived about 30 minutes later. And though he never met his brother, his life and ours would no doubt have been a hell of a lot different if he had. 42 years later, Elvis’ fiancee, Ginger Alden found his lifeless body. You better already know the rest.

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Aloha from Hawaii Via Satellite (Live) - Elvis Presley

Died On This Date (August 16, 1938) Robert Johnson / Blues Icon

Robert Johnson
May 11, 1911 – August 16, 1938

Member of the 27 Club

Although his recording career remarkably spanned roughly one year, Robert Johnson is considered by many to be the most influential blues artists of all time.  And although his entire catalog of recordings fill just two compact discs, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him #5 on their list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. His minimal recording output couldn’t deny the considerable vocal, guitar-playing and songwriting talent he possessed.  And that fact that not much is known about his history coupled with the fact that only two photographs of him even exist, add to a legend that is as big as any in popular music.  Even the most respected historians of music could, at best, find sources who claimed they heard “this” or “that” about Johnson’s life in and around Clarksdale, Mississippi.  A popular legend has it that he went to a darkened Mississippi crossroad with his guitar and met a man representing the devil who tuned his guitar and played a few songs on it, there bequeathing Johnson phenomenal guitar skills in exchange for is soul.   True or not, Johnson has been called the “grandfather of rock ‘n roll,” a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and has been cited as a direct influence on the likes of Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan and Jeff Beck to name just a very few.  Robert Johnson’s death is as mysterious as his life,with the most popular, though disputed story being that he drank whiskey that had been laced with strychnine by the jealous husband of a woman Johnson is said to have flirted with at a juke joint.  He allegedly died a slow and painful death from the poison a few days later, at the age of just 27.  A further testament to the overall mystery surrounding Johnson’s life is the fact there are three separate tombstones said to mark his place of burial.

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Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordings - Robert Johnson