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Musician Rock

Died On This Date (January 6, 2012) Tom Ardolino / Long Time Drummer For NRBQ

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Tom Ardolino
January 12, 1955 – January 6, 2012

Tom Ardolino is best remembered as the long time drummer for influential rock outfit, NRBQ. Formed in 1967, the band has built a legion of loyal fans thanks to its ability to marry elements of jazz, rock, and blues, and for its raucous live shows.  NRBQ loyalists include Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, and Elvis Costello.  In 1974, Ardolino was asked to join the band as a replacement original drummer, Tom Staley.  He had first been a dedicated fan and swapped live concert tapes with band co-founder, Terry Adams.  Ardolino continued on with the group until they took a break in 2004.  He participated in occasional band reunions in later years.  Ardolino can be heard playing on such NRBQ classics as Scraps, All Hopped Up, and Grooves In Orbit.  Outside of NRBQ, he played on albums by the likes of Marshall Crenshaw, Jerry Lee Lewis, and NRBQ band mate, Al Anderson. On his own, Ardolino released Unknown Brain in 2004.  Tom Ardolino passed away from health related issues on January 6, 2012. He was 56.

Thanks to Harold Lepidus for the assist.


Rock Singer

Died On This Date (January 6, 1992) Steve Gilpin / Mi-Sex

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Steve Gilpin
April 28, 1949  – January 6, 1992

stevegilpin

Steve Gilpin was the lead singer for the New Zealand new wave band, Mi-Sex.  Formed by Gilpin in 1978, the group scored two moderate hits with “Computer Games” and “People.”  Thanks to heavy airplay, constant touring, and television exposure, Mi-Sex were one of the region’s most popular bands by 1979.  After the group’s break-up in 1985, Gilpin continued on singing in various groups throughout Australia and New Zealand.  In late 1991, he was involved in a car accident that left him with massive head injuries and in a coma until his death on January 6, 1992.  Steve Gilpin was 42 when he passed away from his injuries.

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Jazz R&B Singer Songwriter

Died On This Date (January 6, 2006) Lou Rawls / R&B Icon

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Lou Rawls
December 1, 1933 – January 6, 2006

lourawls

Lou Rawls was one of the most popular soul and jazz singers during the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s.  Over the course of his career, he released over 70 albums and sold upwards of 40 million.  Rawls’ career in music began as a teenager in Chicago where he and classmate, Sam Cooke performed in a local gospel group.  Signed to Capitol Records in the early ’60s, Rawls kept a busy pace over the course of the next two decades,  from opening for the Beatles in 1966 to co-hosting a television show in 1969 to singing a remarkable rendition of the National Anthem before the Muhammad Ali – Earnie Shavers fight of September 29, 1977.  His most memorable hit was 1976’s “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine.”  Lou Rawls passed away as a result of cancer at the age of 72.

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The Very Best of Lou Rawls - Lou Rawls



Jazz Musician

Died On This Date (January 6, 1993) Dizzy Gillespie / Jazz Great

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John “Dizzy” Gillespie
October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993

Dizzy Gillespie was one of the biggest names in jazz, period.  Over a career that spanned nearly 60 years, Gillespie drew the blueprint for future jazz trumpeters to follow.  A gifted improviser, composer, and bandleader, Gillespie directly influenced the likes of such greats as Miles Davis, Arturo Sandoval and Fats Navarro.  When be-bop first began to rear its head, it was Gillespie that embraced it and brought it to the masses.  Songs like “A Night in Tunisia” and “Groovin'” were considered outlandish at the time but have since come to represent the greatness of jazz’s first modern style.  Over the course of his storied career, Gillespie collaborated with nearly every giant in jazz.  That list includes John Coltrane, Cab Calloway, Billy Eckstine, Charlie Parker, and Ella Fitzgerald.  Gillespie stayed very active right up to his final years.  In 1989, he performed an astonishing 300 shows all around the world.  On January 6, 1993, Dizzy Gillespie, age 75, died of pancreatic cancer.

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At Newport (Verve Live) - Dizzy Gillespie



Americana Country Musician Singer Songwriter

Died On This Date (January 6, 2011) Gary Claxton / Heybale

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Gary Claxton
DOB Unknown – January 6, 2011

Photo by Todd V. Wolfson

Gary Claxton was a respected Austin, Texas-based singer-songwriter and guitarist.  As part of alt-country band, Heybale he was a popular weekly draw at the city’s world-famous watering hole, The Continental Club for nearly a decade.  That group also featured the great Redd Volkaert of Merle Haggard fame, and Ernie Poole Ball who played with Johnny Cash.  Claxton was born in Oklahoma and eventually moved to Nashville after winning a songwriting contest.  But he quickly became disillusion by the business that is country music, so he packed up and moved to Austin where his honky-tonk inspired sound fit more easily.  He later met the great Tom Lewis who invited him to join Heybale.   Either as part of Heybale or fronting groups made up of other local friends, he was always a crowd-pleaser thanks to his golden voice and his respect for traditional country music.  Gary Claxton took his own life on January 6, 2011.  He was 50 years old.



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