Ken Jensen
DOB Unknown – January 29, 1995
Ken Jensen was a drummer for Vancouver’s D.O.A., considered by many as one of the founders of hardcore punk. He was killed in a house fire on January 29, 1995. Ken “Dimwit” Montgomery and Simon “Stubby Pecker” Wilde were also one-time members of D.O.A. who died too soon.
John Martyn (Born Iain McGeachy)
September 11, 1948 – January 29, 2009
John Martyn was a Scottish folk singer-songwriter and guitarist whose career spanned the better part of four decades. With a sound that was equal parts folk, blues, jazz and rock played acoustically through a fuzzbox, Martyn was without peer in the British folk and blues scene of the ’60s and ’70s. Over the course of his career, he has played with the likes of Phil Collins, David Gilmour and Eric Clapton. John Martyn died of double pneumonia in an Ireland hospital. He was 60 years old.
Jimmy Durante
February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980
Jimmy Durante was a curiously popular singer and actor of the 1920s through the 1970s. Not known for having a traditional singing voice or leading-man good looks, Durante nonetheless became one of entertainments most popular fixtures during his career. After learning to play ragtime piano, Durante dropped out of school while still in his early teens to pursue a career in music. He began by playing in several ragtime and New Orleans jazz bands. He scored his first hit with “Inka Dinka Do” in 1934, and soon went on to become a popular draw on Broadway. Durante started appearing in popular films during the early ’30s, and would do so until 1963’s It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. And of course, Durante also conquered radio and television throughout his career. His face that only a mother could love was very familiar on TV through most of his later career. He was also the narrator for the wildly popular Frosty The Snowman cartoon special that has aired every year since 1969. In ailing health during his final years, Jimmy Durante passed away from pneumonia on January 29, 1980. He was 86 years old.
Hank Crawford
December 21, 1934 – January 29, 2009
Hank Crawford was an alto saxophonist who, besides making several of his own acclaimed jazz recordings, was a sideman to some of the biggest names in popular music. Over the years he’s recorded with such greats as Eric Clapton, B.B. King, and Ray Charles for whom he was musical director in the early ’60s. As an arranger, Crawford has worked with the likes of Etta James and Lou Rawls. Hank Crawford passed away at the age of 74. He had been suffering from the results of a stroke for many years.
Special thanks to Susan Cross for the assist.
William “Cozy” Cole
October 17, 1909 – January 29, 1981
Cozy Cole was a jazz drummer whose career spanned from the 1930s to the 1970s. After his first job backing Wilber Sweatman in 1928, Cole joined up with the great Jelly Roll Morton. He subsequently played with the likes of Benny Carter and Cab Calloway. In 1938, Cole played on Benny Goodman’s “Topsy Part 2,” his lengthy solo being one of the few in history to land in the Top 5 of the pop charts. It peaked at #2 that year. Rock drummers like Cozy Powell are said to be heavily influenced by Cole. Cozy Cole died of cancer on January 29, 1981.
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