Died On This Date (March 21, 2011) Loleatta Holloway / Soul and Disco Star

Loleatta Holloway
November 5, 1946 – March 21, 2011

Loleatta Holloway was a beloved soul and disco singer who, over the course of a career that spanned more than 40 years, landed numerous singles on the pop, R&B and dance charts.  Her hits included such dance floor fillers as “Love Sensation” and “Hit and Run,” as well as the soulful ballad, “Cry To Me.”  But it might have been her powerful vocal parts (sampled) in Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch’s 1991 #1 smash “Good Vibrations”  that she is most often associated with.  The song would signal a comeback for Holloway and help propel Marky Mark (aka Mark Wahlberg) to an eventual world-class film career.   It was Holloway’s original recording of “Love Sensation” that is predominantly featured on the record.  Holloway began her career as a Gospel singer in Chicago, at one time even singing with the great Albertina Walker.  In the ’70s she began making soul records and by the end of the decade she was delivering disco hits.  That continued until disco took a back seat to new wave and hair metal during the mid to late ’80s.  And then as hip-hop and sampling took hold in the ’90s, Holloway was back in vogue.  She continued recording and performing live well into the 2000s.  On March 21, 2011 Loleatta Holloway passed away following a brief illness.  She was 64.



Died On This Date (March 21, 2011) Pinetop Perkins / Blues Great

Joseph “Pinetop” Perkins
July 7, 1913 – March 21, 2011

Pinetop Perkins was a Delta blues pianist and singer whose remarkable career spanned from the 1920s until his passing in 2011.  At 97, he was one of the last surviving original Delta bluesmen who were still playing and releasing records.  In March of 2011, he became the oldest person to ever win a Grammy.  It was for Joined At The Hip that he recorded with Willie “Big Eyes” Smith.  Perkins began his career as a guitarist, but was forced to switch to piano after he injured the tendons in one of his arms.   By the 1950s, he was touring with Earl Hooker. He also made his first record, “Pinetop’s Boogie Woogie,” at Sam Phillips’ legendary Sun Studios in Memphis.  Perkins moved to Chicago in 1968 and within a year, he was hired by Muddy Waters to replace Otis Spann in his band.   Perkins played with Waters for more than a decade.  It wasn’t until 1988 – and countless vinyl appearances as a sideman – that Perkins finally released his first album, After Hours.   He went on to record several more over the next three decades.  In 2004, while driving in La Porte, Indiana, 94-year-old Perkins was struck by a train – yes a TRAIN – and although his car was demolished, he walked away with minor injuries.  Perkins continued to perform a couple shows nearly every week in Austin where he had eventually settled.  Pinetop Perkins passed away on March 21, 2011.

Thanks to Stephen Brower for the assist.

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Joined At the Hip: Pinetop Perkins & Willie