Died On This Date (March 6, 1999) Lowell Fulson / Blues Great
Lowell Fulson
March 31, 1921 – March 6, 1999
Lowell Fulson was an influential west coast blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter who was one of the key figures of the ’40s and ’50s. After moving to Los Angeles in the early ’40s, Fulson formed his first band which included future greats, Ray Charles and Stanley Turrentine. Over the course of his career, Fulson released such now-classics as “3 O’Clock Blues,” “Lonesome Blues,” and “Reconsider Baby” which was later made into a hit by Elvis Presley and selected by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll. He continued recording and performing well into the ’90s. Lowell Fulson was 77 when he died from complications of diabetes, kidney disease and congestive heart failure on March 6, 1999.
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John Philip Sousa was a composer and band conductor who achieved great acclaim for his military and patriotic marches. Fittingly born in our nation’s capital city, he began learning music at just six years old. When he was 13, his father, who was a Marine band member, found a place for him within the Corps’ band as an apprentice, thus paving the way for his musical legacy. It was either that, his father thought, or the circus. Besides later leading the Marine Corps Band himself, Sousa lead the President’s Own Band under five U.S. Presidents. Of the 100s of compositions he penned, Sousa is best remembered for “Stars and Stripes Forever,” “Semper Fidelis” (the official march of the Marine Corps), “U.S. Field Artillery’ (Official march of the U.S. Army), and “The Liberty Bell,” which became popular as the closing theme for Monty Python’s Flying Circus. He was also the namesake for the sousaphone, a tuba instrument he commissioned that was taller than normal so it could be heard over the heads of the other band members. John Phillip Sousa was 77 when he died of heart failure on March 6, 1932.
George McKelvey was a comic, actor and folk singer who achieved success during the ’60s and ’70s after he switched from music to stand-up comedy. As a folk singer, he did have a moderate hit with the timely and satirical “My Radiation Baby, My Teenage Fallout Queen” of 1964. After switching to comedy, he became a popular support act for the likes of the Righteous Brothers, Tower of Power and Glenn Yarbrough. George McKelvey, 72, died of a stroke on March 6, 2009.
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Hawkshaw Hawkins, was a honky-tonk singer who achieved some fame and success following his time serving in WWII. Throughout his career, he released several albums which included eight Top 15 country single, the most successful being “Lonesome 7-7203,” which reached #1. On March 5, 1963, Hawkshaw Hawkins, died in the plane crash that also took 