Died On This Date (January 2, 2000) Nat Adderley / Jazz Legend

Nathanial “Nat” Adderley
November 25, 1931 – January 2, 2000

Nat Adderley was a respected cornet and trumpet player who made his mark in the hard bop style of jazz.  He and his brother, Cannonball Adderley, worked together often during the ’40s and ’50s, playing with the likes of Ray Charles, Lionel Hampton, and J.J. Johnson.  Adderley began releasing his own albums in 1955, and over the course of his career put out over three dozen.  He was 68 when he passed away on January 2, 2000.

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Work Song (Keepnews Collection) - Nat Adderley

Died On This Date (January 2, 1977) Erroll Garner / Jazz Piano Great

Errol Garner
June 15, 1921 – January 2, 1977

Erroll Garner was a jazz pianist and composer who came to prominence in the 1940s.  Although he made numerous acclaimed recordings for such esteemed labels as Blue Note, Verve, Mercury and Columbia Records, it is his composition, “Misty,” that he is most celebrated for.  The song became the centerpiece for the 1971 Clint Eastwood film, Play Misty For Me.  Erroll Garner was 55 when he passed away on January 2, 1977.



Died On This Date (January 1, 1953) Hank Williams / Country Music Icon

Hiram “Hank” Williams
September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953

Hank Williams was not only the patriarch of a musical family that includes Hank Jr, Hank III, Holly Williams, Jett Williams and Hillary Williams, but is also considered by many to be the patriarch of honky-tonk music.  Williams’ career began when, at 17, he took up residence outside the local radio station on weekends and after school.  He was soon invited to perform on the air which lead to a twice-weekly program of his own.  Over the course of the next 15 years, Williams released a string of records that cemented his place in music history as one of the most influential songwriters of all time.  With nearly a dozen #1 hits, his catalog included such classic country songs as “Move it on Over,” “Jambalaya,” “Hey Good Lookin’,” “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” and “Cold, Cold Heart.”  Not only have his songs been covered by hundreds of country, folk, R&B, and rock singers, but Williams himself has been the subject of or mentioned in over 50 songs by the likes of Waylon Jennings, Neil Young, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Alan Jackson, Johnny Cash, and even Charles Manson.  Sadly however, Williams was strongly addicted to alcohol and drugs, likely due in part to the pain caused by a lifetime of an undiagnosed spinal column disorder.  On January 1, 1953, Williams hired a “long black Cadillac” limousine to drive him from Knoxville, Tennessee to a gig in Canton, Ohio.  Before the trip, he reportedly injected himself with vitamin B12 and morphine.   Later that afternoon, the driver pulled over at a filling station and checked in on Williams only to find him dead.  Hank Williams, age 29, was dead of what was officially ruled heart failure.

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Hank Williams: 40 Greatest Hits - Hank Williams

Died On This Date (January 1*, 2009) Ron Asheton / The Stooges

Ron Asheton
July 17, 1948 – January 1 (?), 2009

ronRon Asheton was most famously the lead guitarist for Detroit rock band the Stooges, a garage band lead by the wildly charismatic Iggy Pop.  With the Stooges, Asheton was considered by many as ground zero for what would become known as punk rock some ten years later.  Born in Washington DC, Asheton began playing the guitar at just ten years of age, perhaps tired of the accordion, which he had been playing since he was five.  By the time he turned eighteen, he was living in Ann Arbor, Michigan playing alongside his brother Scott, Iggy Pop and David Alexander in the Stooges.  The band quickly established themselves as a must-see act in and around the Detroit area for their aggressive playing and Pop’s shocking stage antics.  It must be noted that this was still the ‘60s, a time when such blistering noise and in-your-face singing was difficult for many a Woodstock generation to swallow.  But they persevered and soon landed on Elektra Records who released their brilliant self-titled debut in 1969.  It was Asheton’s fuzzy guitars that helped define a sound that was the blueprint for the likes of the Sex Pistols, the Clash, the Ramones and roughly a million more.   By the mid ‘70s, the Stooges had disbanded after three brilliant yet commercially dismal albums.  Asheton and his brother continued to play, both together and in support of other acts for the next several years.  In 2003, Rolling Stone placed Asheton at number 29 in their 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. And to the delight of fans old and new, the Stooges reunited to tour in 2003 and later released The Wierdness, their first album in some 30 years.  On January 6, 2008, Asheton’s assistant called the police after not being able to reach him for a few days.  According to the Ann Arbor News, officers entered Asheton’s home at around midnight and discovered his body on a living room couch, apparently dead for several days.  They did not suspect foul play.  Later reports indicate that Asheton died of an apparent heart attack on either December 31 or January 1.

Thanks to Fred Jasper for the help

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Died On This Date (January 1, 1995) Ted Hawkins / Contemporary Blues Singer

Ted Hawkins
October 28, 1936 – January 1, 1995

If you lived in Los Angeles in the mid ’90s and were into music, you know doubt heard the proverbial “buzz” about this old black soul/blues singer belting it out for change on the Venice boardwalk. That voice belonged to Ted Hawkins, and thank God, the folks at Geffen Records followed that buzz until they also witnessed one of the greatest contemporary blues voices as he soothed the crowds of beach urchins.  But before all that, Hawkins was forced to survive a rough childhood when he was abused and left to fend for himself as an illiterate child.  In and out of reform school and jail, Hawkins finally settled in Los Angeles, but not before spending time in Mississippi’s notorious Parchman Farm penitentiary. By the time he hit his mid 30s, Hawkins had made several attempts at establishing a music career in Los Angeles, but nothing substantial materialized.  But in the mid ’80s, Hawkins was becoming somewhat of a blues legend in Europe thanks to a British DJ spinning his records. Hawkins moved overseas and found a bit of success throughout Great Britain and Japan. But returning home to Los Angeles, he was met with the same indifference. And then in 1994, Hawkins was finally “discovered” and signed to Geffen Records. The label then released The Next Hundred Years, a collection of soulful blues with a voice that is at once as smooth as the an L.A. sunset and as rough as windblown Venice boardwalk. In a cruel twist of fate, Hawkins died of a stroke just as the rest of us were just catching up to him.

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The Next Hundred Years - Ted Hawkins