Died On This Date (June 4, 1973) Murry Wilson / Beach Boys Manager
themusicsover Murry Wilson
July 2, 1917 – June 4, 1973
Murry Wilson was a songwriter, musician, record producer, and most importantly, the father of Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson and Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. Wilson began as a songwriter during the ’50s, having a couple of his songs covered but never gaining much success. All the while, he was teaching his own sons how to write, sing and play music. The brothers eventually added cousin Mike Love and schoolmate, Al Jardine to become the Beach Boys. The Beach Boys would soon become one of the most popular bands in rock history by almost single-handedly defining a musical genre. While managing the boys’ career, Murry was known to be a fierce negotiator, and was reportedly just as ruthless at home. He and his sons had a tough relationship that may have actually fueled their creativity and drive. Murry Wilson died following a heart attack at the age of 55.
Stiv Bators burst onto the punk scene as a member of the Dead Boys and later Lords Of The New Church. It was Bators’ sound and image that helped define the punk genre. After the demise of the Dead Boys, Bators found himself in the UK where he formed Lords Of The New Church with ex members of the Damned and Sham 69. The Lords achieved moderate success in Europe and the US due in part to their wild live shows. Bators was reported to have hung himself during a show in a stunt that went terribly wrong and was pronounced dead before being revived several minutes later. By the early ’80s, Bators was landing small parts in such cult classic films as Polyester and Tapeheads. And in 1988, the Lords broke up due to an injury Bators sustained to his back. In the early summer of 1990, an intoxicated Bators wandered into a Paris street and was struck by a taxi. He was taken to a hospital but apparently grew tired of waiting to see the doctor so he left. Bators died in his sleep later that night from what was ruled a concussion.
Ozzie Nelson was a popular radio and television personality and band leader. By the early ’30s, Nelson was fronting his Ozzie Nelson Band who had a hits with “Over Somebody Else’s Shoulder” and “It’s Gonna Be You.” In 1935, Nelson married the band’s singer, Harriet Hilliard and together they had two sons, David and 
Born and raised in New Orleans, Sam Butera took up the saxophone as a child. Almost immediately after he graduated from high school, Butera was playing professionally, and within a few years in was playing with the likes of 
