themusicsover

Died On This Date (February 25, 2009) Mark Sallings / Blues Harpist

Mark Sallings
April 11, 1952 – February 25, 2009

mark-sallings Mark Sallings was a gifted Delta blues harmonica player who was one of the most sought-after Memphis side men throughout his career.  Sallings learned to play the harmonica while in his early years of high school, and soon after he graduated, he went to work as a session player at Stax studios.  During the ’80s, he worked with country singer, David Lynn Jones with whom he toured and recorded.  In the ’90s, Sallings formed his own band, the Famous Unkowns and recorded a couple of his own albums.  On February 25, 2009, 56-year-old Mark Sallings died as a result of a car accident.



Died On This Date (February 25, 2010) David Soyer / Cellist For Guarneri String Quartet

David Soyer
February 24, 1923 – February 25, 2010

david-soyerDavid Soyer was a brilliant cellist who formed the respected  Guarneri String Quartet in 1964.  He played until his retirement in 2001, after which, the group continued on for another eight years.   Soyer launched his musical life at the age of nine when he took up the piano, but he switched to the cello two years later.  Outside of the Guarneri String Quartet, he played in the Army band during WWII and the NBC Studio Orchestra.  Soyer was also a faculty member at such prestigious music schools as Julliard and the Manhattan School of Music.  David Soyer passed away on February 25, 2010, the day after his 87th birthday.



Died On This Date (February 24, 1991) Webb Pierce / Country Music Legend

Webb Pierce
August 8, 1921 – February 24, 1991

webbWebb Pierce was a popular country singer whose career spanned the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s.  Based on chart success, he was the most popular country performer of the 1950s.  His biggest hit, “There Stands The Glass” is considered one country music’s greatest songs and has been recorded by the likes of Willie Nelson, Wanda Jackson, Van Morrison, and Jerry Lee Lewis.  Up until his retirement in 1982, Pierce charted 96 singles.  Besides, “There Stands The Glass,” his most popular were “In The Jailhouse Now,” and “Why Baby Why.”  Pierce was just as well-known for his lavish lifestyle as he was for his music.  He drove two Cadillacs that were lined with silver dollars, wore elaborate Nudie suits, and had a $30,000 swimming pool fashioned after a guitar.  Webb Pierce was 69 when he died of pancreatic cancer on February 24, 1991.

What You Should Own

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20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Webb Pierce - Webb Pierce

Died On This Date (February 24, 1988) Memphis Slim / Blues Legend

Memphis Slim (Born John Chatman)
September 3, 1915 – February 24, 1988

Photo By Raeburn Flerlage
Photo By Raeburn Flerlage

Memphis Slim was a jump blues pianist and prolific composer who could count over 500 recordings as his own.  He got his start during the early ’30s by playing honky-tonks and dance halls throughout Arkansas and Missouri.  In 1939, he migrated up to Chicago where he started out playing gigs with Big Bill Broonzy.  In 1940, Slim began making his own records.  One of those recordings, “Nobody Loves Me” has been covered (as “Every Day I Have The Blues”) by the likes of Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Ray Charles, Jimi Hendrix, Carlos Santana, Ella Fitzgerald, and Natalie Cole, to name just a few.   Like so many of the blues greats of the first part of the 20th century, Slim made a nice comeback during the folk and blues revival of the early ’60s.  He was so respected around the world, that the U.S. Senate once named him an Ambassador-At-Large of Good Will.  Memphis Slim was 72 when he died of renal failure on February 24, 1988.

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The Folkways Years, 1959-1973 - Memphis Slim

Died On This Date (February 24, 2005) Goldie Hill / Country Star

Argolda “Goldie” Hill
January 11, 1933 – February 24, 2005

Goldie Hill was one of country music’s first generation of women.  Along with Kitty Wells, she would influence the next generation’s Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn.   Hill got her first break when she was invited to perform on the popular Louisiana Hayride program in 1952.  Later that year, she released her first single, followed by “I Let the Stars Get in My Eyes” which quickly went to the top of the charts.  It was the first by a woman to do so.  Almost as quickly as she became famous, Hill walked away from the music business.  In 1957, she married Carl “Mr. Country” Smith, the former husband of June Carter, and retired to start and raise a family.  She attempted a small comeback during the late ’60s, but nothing of commercial significance came from it.  She soon retired again to show horses.  Goldie Hill passed away from cancer on February 24, 2005.  She was 72.

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Goldie Hill