Cole Porter was on of America’s most beloved composers and lyricists. His popular scores include Kiss Me Kate and Anything Goes while his iconic catalog of songs includes “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” “Night and Day,” and “I Get a Kick Out of You.” The greatest stars in the world have performed his songs on stage and screen. That list includes Frank Sinatra, Ethel Merman, Gene Kelly and Judy Garland. Although he suffered many ailments through the latter part of his life, it was kidney failure that finally took his life at the age of 73.
Leonard Bernstein
August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990
With his sister Shirley following a performance, March 1951.
Leonard Bernstein was one of the world’s most respected composers and one of the first American conductors to achieve worldwide acclaim. Born in Massachusetts, Bernstein took to music at an early age and began learning the piano. After graduating from high school, he attended Harvard where he became a member of the storied Harvard Glee Club. By November of 1943, Bernstein was conducting the New York Philharmonic Orchestra where he stayed until 1969. He was one of the first conductors to make numerous television appearances. In 1957, his most famous piece of work as a composer debuted on Broadway. It was West Side Story. Over the course of his career, he wrote many pieces including five musicals, three symphonies and two operas. On Christmas Day, 1989, Bernstein made history by conducting Beethoven’sSymphony #9 in East Berlin with an orchestra made up of musicians from both sides of the Berlin Wall. It was part of the celebration commemorating the fall of the Wall. With his health ailing in part due to years of heavy smoking, Bernstein made his final performance in August of 1990 and retired all together on October 9th of that same year. He died of pneumonia five days later.
Captain Lou Albano was a world famous WWF wrestler who helped professional wrestling crossover to the mainstream, thanks in part to his appearances in Cyndi Lauper’s popular music videos during the ’80s. His towering image appeared in Lauper’s videos for “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” “She Bop,” and “Time After Time,” as well as “The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough.” WWF leader, Vince McMahon capitalized on Albano’s pop music presence by creating the Rock ‘n Wrestling storyline which culminated in a wrestling “showdown” between Lauper and Albano after he “upset” her for claiming he was her manager, thereby orchestrating her success. After “losing” to Lauper, Albano publicly apologized, endearing him to wrestling fans around the world. He became the voice of the Rock ‘n Wrestling campaign. That, along with Hulkamania helped turn professional wrestling into the pop culture phenomenom it has since become. In 1983, Albano dueted on NRBQ’s tribute to him, “Captain Lou.” Lou Albano passed away on October 14, 2009 at the age of 76.
Freddy Fender (Born Baldemar Huerta)
June 4, 1937 – October 14, 2006
Freddy Fender was arguably America’s most popular Tejano star – at least until Selena came along. Fender is best remembered for his crossover hits of “Wasted Days and Wasted Nights” and “Before the Next Teardrop Falls,” as well as his later work with Los Super Seven and the Texas Tornados. Born into a traveling circus family, Fender took to entertaining at a very young age. At 5, he fashioned his first guitar out of a sardine can and screen door wire, and by 10 he was making his first appearances at local radio stations. In the mid ’50s, after being court martialed and discharged from the Marines, Fender began touring as El Bebop Kid, doing Spanish versions of popular rockabilly and country songs. In 1959, he recorded “Wasted Days and Wasted Nights,” which quickly became his signature song. Unfortunately, just as his fame was on the rise, he was arrested for marijuana possession and sent to the notorious Angola prison farm in Louisiana. He was released three years later and all but retired from music while working as a mechanic. When Fender made his comeback in 1973, he did so in a big way, with “Before the Next Teardrop Falls” reaching #1 on both the country and pop charts. Over the next decade Fender charted 21 country hits. His career experienced yet another comeback when, in the late ‘8os he joined up with Doug Sahm, Flaco Jiminez and Augie Meyers in the Texas Tornados, with whom he won a Grammy for Best Mexican American Performance. He followed that up with a stint in Los Super Seven, who along with Cesar Rosas, David Hidalgo, Joe Ely, Ruben Ramos and Rick Trevino, won the same Grammy nine years later. He won his third Grammy in 2001, this time for his own album, La Musica de Baldemar Huerta. In ailing health in later years, Fender received a kidney transplant from his daughter in 2002, and a liver transplant in 2004. He died of lung cancer on October 14, 2006 at the age of 69.
Johnny Jones was a Nashville blues guitar master who got his first big break playing behind Junior Wells back in the 1950s. By the ’60s, Jones was playing in a band called the King Casuals alongside Billy Cox and a young Jimi Hendrix. It was in this combo that Jones reportedly tutored Hendrix in the fine art of guitar playing, helping to turn him into the icon we know of today. And legend has it that one night while on a club stage during the ’60s, Jones and Hendrix went head to head in a guitar duel that rivaled anything Robert Johnsonand the devil might have thrown at each other at the crossroads. Those in attendance clearly cheered Jones on as the “winner.” Johnny Jones stayed a constant fixture in the Nashville music scene through recent years. He was found dead in his apartment during the morning hours of October 14, 2009. He was 73 years old.
Thanks to Jon Grimson who produced the segment below.
themusicsover 
Cole Porter was on of America’s most beloved composers and lyricists. His popular scores include Kiss Me Kate and Anything Goes while his iconic catalog of songs includes “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” “Night and Day,” and “I Get a Kick Out of You.” The greatest stars in the world have performed his songs on stage and screen. That list includes Frank Sinatra, Ethel Merman, Gene Kelly and Judy Garland. Although he suffered many ailments through the latter part of his life, it was kidney failure that finally took his life at the age of 73.
