Died On This Date (January 19, 2010) C.T. Tucker / Beloved New Jersey Blues Musician
themusicsover C.T. Tucker (Born Christopher Harshorne)
DOB Unknown – January 19, 2010
C.T. Tucker was a popular northwestern New Jersey R&B band leader and restaurateur. His band, Blue Sparks From Hell, formed in 1977 and played upwards of 250 shows a year while occasionally sharing the bill with the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Mel Tillis, Doc Watson, Willie Dixon and Muddy Waters. The band was a local favorite thanks to its lively shows that incorporated blues, R&B and swing. During the ’90s, Tucker opened Tucker’s Breakfast King which served breakfast and lunch during the day, and then re-opened as a venue in the evenings. Acts such as the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Loudon Wainwright III graced its stage. In later years, Tucker and his wife ran an animal casting business which provided critters for film and television. On January 19, 2010, C.T. Tucker died of lymphoma at the age of 57.
Thanks to Diane Schaer for the assist.
Paul Beaver was one of electronic music’s early pioneers. Armed with a Moog synthesizer, he partnered with Bernie Krause to form Beaver & Krause in 1966. Besides being one of the first groups to release an electronic pop album, Beaver & Krause helped spread the use of synthesizers to the rock community. The Byrds, the Doors and Simon & Garfunkel are all said to have been inspired by Beaver & Krause to experiment with the instrument. Beaver & Krause albums are also considered by some to have sparked the New Age movement. Over the course of his career, Beaver contributed to recordings by the Monkees and the Mamas and the Papas. Paul Beaver suffered a brain aneurysm in 1975 and passed away at 50 later that year.
Dee Murray was a respected bassist who played in Elton John’s original band. After a short stint in the Spencer Davis Group, Murray was hired by John in 1970. He played on Tumbleweed Connection, 11-17-70, John’s masterpiece, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, and finally, Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy. After parting ways with John in 1975, Murray found work as a session player, most notably with Rick Springfield. He was hired into Procal Harum’s touring band in 1977, and reunited to tour with John in 1981. Dee Murray was 45 when he suffered a fatal stroke on January 15, 1992.