Died On This Date (January 15, 2017) Greg Trooper / Acclaimed Singer-Songwriter

Greg Trooper
January 13, 1956 – January 15, 2017

Greg Trooper was a singer-songwriter who, besides building up a hefty library of his own releases, had songs recorded by Vince Gill, Steve EarleMaura O’Connell, Robert Earle Keen, and Billy Bragg, among others. Born in Neptune, New Jersey, Trooper spent much of his teenage years frequenting folk venues of Greenwich Village. It served him well. After a detour to Kansas for college, he settled in New York City where he spent more than a decade playing clubs, pitching his songs, and recording his first couple of albums.  By the mid ’90s, Trooper was living in Nashville where he released several more albums, working with producers like Buddy Miller and Garry Tallent of the E Street Band.  Throughout his career, he released more than a dozen albums – the studio albums at least, to critical acclaim.  During the summer of 2015, Greg Trooper was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer which took his life on January 15, 2017.  He was 61.

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Died On This Date (January 11, 2017) Tommy Allsup / Rockabilly & Western Swing Great

Tommy Allsup
November 24, 1931 – January 11, 2017

Photo by Eric Shaiman

Tommy Allsup was an influential rockabilly and western swing guitarist, but he was also one of the luckiest people in all of popular music.  While on tour with  Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly and JP “The Big Bopper” Richardson in February of 1959 – he was in Holly’s band – Allsup was on the “losing” end of the infamous coin toss that gave his seat up to Valens who was killed with the others when the plane crashed. After Holly’s death, Allsup went to work for Liberty Records where he produced records by Willie Nelson and Tex Williams, among others. Although he was most famous for his playing on Holly’s records, Allsup also recorded with the likes of Bob Wills,  The Ventures, Kenny Rogers, The Everly Brothers, and Roy Orbison.  Tommy Allsup was 85 when he died on January 11, 2017.  Cause of death was not immediately released.

Thanks to Harold Lepidus for the assist.

 

Died On This Date (January 10, 2017) Buddy Greco / American Jazz Singer & Pianist

Armando “Buddy” Greco
August 14, 1926 – January 10, 2017

Buddy Greco was a popular jazz and traditional pop singer and pianist who first found fame during the 1960s.  Born in Philadelphia, Greco began learning to play the piano at the age of four.  Within just a few years, he was singing on local radio, and began performing on stage during his teen years. At just 16, Greco was hired by Benny Goodman who took him on the road.  He spent the next four years singing, playing the piano, and arranging music in Goodman’s Orchestra.  Greco signed to Columbia Records during the early ‘6os and went on to release numerous hit singles including “The Lady Is A Tramp,” which alone, sold over 1 million copies.  Throughout his career – which spanned more than 80 years, and up until his death – he recorded over 60 albums, appeared on television countless times, and toured the world over.  Closer to home, Greco was one of Las Vegas’ most popular draws for many years and eventually opened his own club in Palm Springs where you could likely see a celebrity or two before he closed it in 2009 to move to England.  Buddy Greco was 90 years old when he passed away on January 10, 2017.

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