Died On This Date (July 14, 2000) Bill Barth / Blues Guitarist
themusicsover Bill Barth
December 13, 1942 – July 14, 2000
Bill Barth was a festival planner and blues guitarist who is perhaps best remembered for being with John Fahey and Henry Vestine when the found early blues great, Skip James in a Mississippi hospital and relaunched his career in 1964. As a musician, Barth helped form blues rock band, The Insect Trust who were likened to Jefferson Airplane and Fairport Convention. The band, which also included Elvin Jones and future rock critic, Robert Palmer, released two albums. During the mid ’60s, Barth founded the Memphis Valley Blues Society which produced five festivals during the late ’60s and featured the likes of Bukka White, Mississippi Fred McDowell, and Sleepy John Estes. Bill Barth was 57 when he passed away on July 14, 2000.
Red Shea was a much respected Canadian guitarist who was closely associated with Gordon Lightfoot. Known for his superb picking style, Shea is often credit for giving Lightfoot his unique sound. Beginning his career in television, Shea was part of the house band on Music Hop, Canada’s answer to American Bandstand. Alex Trebeck was the show’s announcer at the time. In 1965, Shea moved on to work with Lightfoot, with whom he stayed for the next ten years. Shea later went back to Canadian television where he hosted his own variety show. Red Shea died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 70.
David Carradine was an internationally known actor most famous for his leading role in the ’70s television series, Kung Fu and for his role as Bill in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill movies. Carradine was also a singer-songwriter who released at least one album entitled As Is. In fact, he always fancied himself a musician first who just happened to fall into acting when he took a class in college. Throughout his film career, it wasn’t unusual to find Carradine’s characters playing music. He was also an occasional performer and local clubs. David Carradine was 72 when he was found dead in a Bangkok hotel on June 9, 2009. Cause of death was attributed to accidental asphyxiation.