Died On This Date (December 20, 1973) Bobby Darin / Celebrated Pop Singer
themusicsover Bobby Darin (Born Walden Cassotto)
May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973
Bobby Darin was a pop singer and actor who scored numerous charting hits during a career that spanned from the mid ’50s until his death in 1973. He was of the Frank Sinatra mold in that he could interpret songs no matter what the genre and could also hold his own as an actor. He is best known for the hits, “Splish Splash,” “Beyond The Sea,” “If I Was A Carpenter,” and “Mack The Knife,” which sold over a million copies and earned him a Grammy for Record of the Year in 1960. He was also named Best New Artist that same year. As an actor, he is best remembered for his Academy Award Nominated supporting role in 1963’s Captain Newman, MD. He continued to record and act through the ’60s, but his health was starting to go south by the time the ’70s hit. On December 20, 1973, Bobby Darin, died from complications immediately following heart surgery. He was just 37.
What You Should Own
Davy Graham was an influential British acoustic guitarist who came to prominence during the British folk revival of the 1960s. He has been cited as a direct influence on the likes of Bert Jansch, Paul Simon, John Renbourn, and Jimmy Page. He has also been noted as the founder of world music in that he was one of the first to incorporate elements from other cultures into his music. By the late ’60s, Graham had all but walked away from his music career, choosing instead to do charity work and teach guitar. He made a brief return to the stage and studio around 2005, but died of lung cancer on December 15, 2008. He was 68.
Liam Clancy was an Irish folk singer who, along with his brothers, came to prominence during the ’60s folk revival as the Clancy Brothers. Growing up, Clancy first gravitated toward the theater, producing, directing and starring in plays that ran in and around Dublin. During the mid ’50s, he began performing and recording with his brothers and friend, Tommy Makem. They soon moved to the U.S. where they became an integral part of the New York folk scene. In 1961, the group was asked to be a last minute replacement on the Ed Sullivan Show. After a then unheard of 16-minute performance, the Clancy Brothers were folk music’s new rising stars, landing a multi-album deal with Columbia Records. They had a very successful career that also included album releases on the storied Vanguard Records. No less than Bob Dylan has cited them as an influence on his career and reportedly called Liam the greatest ballad singer he ever heard. Clancy recorded several critically acclaimed solo albums throughout his career as well. Liam Clancy died of pulmonary fibrosis on December 4, 2009. He was 74.
Odetta Holmes was a politically charged folk, blues and gospel singer-songwriter and activist who has been called “the voice of the civil rights movement.” Most prominent during the folk movement of the ’60s, Odetta was not only a peer, but an influence on such folk greats as Joan Baez, Bob Dylan and Harry Belafonte. She was born in Birmingham, AL but raised in Los Angeles where she studied music and received opera singing lessons as a young teen. After taking a stab at musical theater, she turned her focus to folk singing in 1950 and set out across America to sing at all the usual suspect folk clubs and gatherings. She began releasing albums in 1954, and over the course of her career, recorded for such highly regarded labels as Fantasy, Folkways, RCA Victor, and Vanguard Records who continue to keep her legacy alive thanks to the tireless work of Morgana Kennedy, Dan Sell and Stephen Brower. In September of 1999, President Bill Clinton presented Odetta with the National Endowment for the Arts’ National Medal of Arts, the highest honor presented to an artist on behalf of the American people. Odetta stayed active as a performer and activist up until her final days. In 2008, she embarked on what would be her final tour of North America at the age of 77. Odetta ill in late 2008 and though planning to perform at President Barack Obama’s inauguration in January of 2009, she died of heart disease on December 2, 2008.