Died On This Date (November 4, 2008) Byron Lee / Ska Pioneer
themusicsover Byron Lee
June 27, 1935 – November 4, 2008
Byron Lee was a Jamaican musician, band leader and producer who has been credited for introducing the electric bass to Jamaica. He formed the Dragonaires in the early ’50s. They went on to become one of the most successful and influential ska bands Jamaica has ever known. As a producer, Lee worked with the likes of the Maytals. He later bought a recording studio and turned it into the best of it’s kind in Jamaican, hosting the Rolling Stones and Paul Simon among other major acts. In 2007, it became known that Lee was being treated for bladder cancer. Although he was no longer able to perform with the Dragonaires, he continued on in a management capacity. Byron Lee died of cancer at the age of 73.
Thanks to Craig Rosen at Number1Albums for the assist.
What You Should Own
Fred “Sonic” Smith was the founding guitarist for Detroit proto punk band, the MC5. Formed in 1964 with Wayne Kramer, 
Lonnie Donegan was one of the most popular performers of the ’50s and early ’60s skiffle scene of the UK. Skiffle was a raved up version of traditional folk, blues, jazz and country influences from the US. British Invasion bands like the Beatles rose out of the skiffle scene and claim Donegan as a direct influence. Donegan began playing guitar at the age of 14, and in 1952, he formed his first band, the Tony Donegan Jazz Band. He switched to “Lonnie” a few years later and began playing in bands that were evolving into skiffle music by adding such instruments as banjo and washboard. His first recording was a 1956 rave up of 
Although he was small in stature, picked the guitar lightly, and sang almost in a whisper, Mississippi John Hurt’s influence on folk and blues was huge. He learned to play the guitar before he was ten, and by the early 1920s, he had already been playing in front of crowds at local barn dances. In 1928, and on the recommendation of a friend who had recently won an Okeh Records contract in a talent contest, Hurt was asked to audition for the label. He was signed that same year and given two recording sessions that produced collection of sides that sadly, never had a chance to develop since Okeh soon went under due to the Great Depression. Hurt soon retired from the music business and went back to his life as a sharecropper. Fast forward about 35 years to 1963. The folk revival was in full swing when music historian, Tom Hoskins heard those old recordings and sought out to find Hurt. He tracked him down still living in Avalon, Mississippi and convinced him to move to Washington DC and relaunch his music career. Hurt’s set at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival was that of legend, and he was subsequently signed to legendary folk label, Vanguard Records. He went on to tour the country and even perform on the Tonight Show With Johnny Carson. Hurt’s music influenced a new generation of singer-songwriters from blues to country to folk. Mississippi John Hurt died of a heart attack on November 2, 1966. In 2001, Morgana Kennedy and the folks at Vanguard records released Avalon Blues: A Tribute to the Music of Mississippi John Hurt. It contained versions of John Hurt songs by the likes of Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, Ben Harper, Beck and John Hiatt.
