Died On This Date (March 20, 2011) Ralph Mooney / Steel Guitar Legend
themusicsover Ralph Mooney
September 16, 1928 – March 20, 2011
Ralph Mooney was an innovative and influential steel guitar player who launched his career after moving from Oklahoma to California during the 1940s. By the ’50s, he was a staff player for Capitol Records where he played on records by the likes of Buck Owens, Rose Maddox, Wanda Jackson, and Merle Haggard. He later spent the better part of twenty years playing with Waylon Jennings. By all accounts, the “Bakersfield sound” may never have been fully realized without the genius of Mooney. As a songwriter, Mooney made perhaps his biggest mark with the 1956 Ray Price hit, “Crazy Heart,” which he co-wrote with Chuck Seals. Although he had been retired since the mid ’90s, Marty Stuart coaxed Mooney out of retirement to play on his 2010 Grammy-winning Ghost Train: The Studio B Sessions. Ralph Mooney was 82 when he passed away on March 20, 2011.
Thanks to Jon Grimson for the assist.
Aashid Himons was a beloved reggae and world music performer who was a fixture of the Nashville club scene for many years. Himons’ career stretched as far back as the ’50s when he, under his given name of Archie Himons was performing doo wop and R&B throughout the New York City and Washington DC areas. For a time, he fronted his own Little Archie & the Majestics. He eventually settled in Nashville where he fronted Afrikan Dreamland who was reportedly the first reggae group to be played on MTV during its infancy. It was during that period that he and the group gained much of its popularity thanks in part to heavy play on college radio stations. On March 19, 2011, Aashid Himons passed away following a long illness. He was 68.
Todd Cerney was a brilliant songwriter, musician, and producer who was based in Nashville, Tennessee. Born in Detroit, Cerney moved to Nashville during the ’70s to further his career. His songs have been recorded by George Strait, Tanya Tucker, Jon Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Cheap Trick to name a few. His hits include the Grammy-nominated “I’ll Be Loving You” (Restless Heart) and the country chart topping “Good Morning Beautiful” (Steve Holy). As an in-demand session player, Cerney has performed live or recorded with a list of superstars that includes the Dixie Chicks, the Grateful Dead, the Beach Boys, and Jackson Browne. In November of 2010, Todd Cerney suffered a brain seizure and subsequently learned he had stage four melanoma cancer. On March 14, 2011, Cerney died as a result of the cancer.
Melvin Sparks was a brilliant electric guitarist who made a name for himself on countless jazz and soul-jazz recordings as a session player and a band leader. Born into a musical family, Sparks picked up the guitar at just eleven years old. By the time he was in high school, he was playing behind 