Died On This Date (May 6, 2009) Rocky Benton / Texas Blues Musician
themusicsover Harold “Rocky” Benton
DOB Unknown – May 6, 2009
Rocky Benton was a favorite in and around the Corpus Christi blues scene for many years thanks in part to his outstanding harmonica playing. Blind since childhood, Benton gravitated toward music early, first learning to play the harmonica at age six and later, keyboards and drums. By ten, he was singing and drumming in a jazz band while attending the Texas School For The Blind in Austin. By the early ’90s, Benton was living in Corpus Christi where he became a fixture in the city’s music scene, sharing the bill with the likes of Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, B.B. King and others. In 1993, Benton released his one and only album, and in 2007, he earned a spot on the South Texas Music Walk of Fame. He died of heart failure on May 6, 2009 at the age of 57.
As a respected Jamaican trombonist, Don Drummond was one of the original foundations on which ska was built. Drummond started his career in the mid ’50s with Eric Dean’s All Stars, and in 1964, he helped form the legendary Skatalites. Besides being one of the world’s best trombone players, Drummond was an extremely prolific songwriter, penning over 300 songs over his very short career. On January 1, 1965, Drummond was arrested for the murder of his girlfriend, exotic dancer Anita “Margarita” Mahfood, who he stabbed to death in his apartment. At his trial, he was found to be legally insane and was committed to Bellevue Hospital where he died of an apparent suicide on May 6, 1969. Family and friends however, insist Drummond died at the hands of either a Jamaican government targeting the Kingston music scene, or the mob as revenge for the death of Mahfood.
He started his career as Blind Gary Davis, but in the late ’20s, he became an ordained Baptist minister and would forever be known as the Reverend Gary Davis. Davis was born in South Carolina and became blind at a young age. He learned to play the guitar as a child and developed a unique picking style using his thumb and index finger. In the mid ’20s, he moved to Durham, North Carolina where he became a fixture of the Peidmont Blues scene. After he became a minister, Davis focused more on gospel than blues music. Davis was also a popular guitar teacher, most likely due to his gentle and patient personality. Davis found his music back in vogue during the folk revival of the ’60s. He died after suffering a heart attack on his way to a show.
