Died On This Date (January 2, 1974) Tex Ritter / Singing Cowboy
themusicsover Woodward “Tex” Ritter
January 12, 1905 – January 2, 1974
Tex Ritter was a universally famous cowboy actor and country singer whose career spanned nearly 50 years. He was also the father of popular actor, John Ritter. His career began in the late ’20s when he appeared in such radio programs as Death Valley Days and the Lone Star Rangers. He soon graduated to motion pictures, making countless b-movie westerns that made him a star. He began making records in 1942 and landed his first hit, “I’m Wasting My Tears on You,” two years later. In 1953, he sang his hit “High Noon” on the very first televised broadcast of the Academy Awards, taking home the Oscar for Best Song that night. During the late ’60s he had moved to Nashville where he began working at the Grand Ole Opry while hosting country radio programs. Tex Ritter was 68 when he died on January 2, 1974 following a heart attack.
What You Should Own
Hank Williams was not only the patriarch of a musical family that includes Hank Jr, Hank III, Holly Williams, Jett Williams and Hillary Williams, but is also considered by many to be the patriarch of honky-tonk music. Williams’ career began when, at 17, he took up residence outside the local radio station on weekends and after school. He was soon invited to perform on the air which lead to a twice-weekly program of his own. Over the course of the next 15 years, Williams released a string of records that cemented his place in music history as one of the most influential songwriters of all time. With nearly a dozen #1 hits, his catalog included such classic country songs as “Move it on Over,” “Jambalaya,” “Hey Good Lookin’,” “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” and “Cold, Cold Heart.” Not only have his songs been covered by hundreds of country, folk, R&B, and rock singers, but Williams himself has been the subject of or mentioned in over 50 songs by the likes of 
If you lived in Los Angeles in the mid ’90s and were into music, you know doubt heard the proverbial “buzz” about this old black soul/blues singer belting it out for change on the Venice boardwalk. That voice belonged to Ted Hawkins, and thank God, the folks at Geffen Records followed that buzz until they also witnessed one of the greatest contemporary blues voices as he soothed the crowds of beach urchins. But before all that, Hawkins was forced to survive a rough childhood when he was abused and left to fend for himself as an illiterate child. In and out of reform school and jail, Hawkins finally settled in Los Angeles, but not before spending time in Mississippi’s notorious Parchman Farm penitentiary. By the time he hit his mid 30s, Hawkins had made several attempts at establishing a music career in Los Angeles, but nothing substantial materialized. But in the mid ’80s, Hawkins was becoming somewhat of a blues legend in Europe thanks to a British DJ spinning his records. Hawkins moved overseas and found a bit of success throughout Great Britain and Japan. But returning home to Los Angeles, he was met with the same indifference. And then in 1994, Hawkins was finally “discovered” and signed to Geffen Records. The label then released The Next Hundred Years, a collection of soulful blues with a voice that is at once as smooth as the an L.A. sunset and as rough as windblown Venice boardwalk. In a cruel twist of fate, Hawkins died of a stroke just as the rest of us were just catching up to him.
In a perfect world, you wouldn’t need to tell you who Moon Mullican was. As a singer, songwriter a pianist associated with country music, what he was doing would be called rock ‘n roll some ten or so years later. By combining elements of hillbilly, jazz and blues, he created a sound and a fury that was a direct influence on Jerry Lee Lewis, 
