Singer

Died On This Date (February 29, 2012) Davy Jones / The Monkees

Davy Jones
December 30, 1945 – February 29, 2012

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Davy Jones was and English actor and singer who is best remembered as the lead vocalist for the Monkees, a widely popular pop-rock group that was originally fabricated to star as a band on an American television series.  The weekly comedy followed the hi-jinks of the fictional rock band as they tried to build a music career in Los Angeles.  The show, which premiered in 1966, starred Jones, Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork, and Michael Nesmith as the group which was loosely based on the Beatles.  The show launched actual music careers for the musicians, even though in the beginning, they contributed very little musically.  Many of the program’s songs, which were showcased like music videos every week, became hits and future staples of oldies radio.  They included “Daydream Believer,” “Last Train To Clarksville,” and “I Want To Be Free.”  The show won two Emmys in 1967 and continued to be popular in reruns ever since.  In later years, Jones recorded and toured the world with the reunited Monkees.  As an actor, Jones also appeared in numerous stage productions as well as on such TV shows as The Brady Bunch, Love American Style, and My Two Dads.  Davy Jones was 66 when he suffered a fatal heart attack on February 29, 2012.  The Monkees co-creator, Bert Schneider passed away in December of 2011.

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The Best of the Monkees - The Monkees

Died On This Date (February 25, 2012) Louisiana Red / Blues Great

Louisiana Red (Born Iverson Minter)
March 23, 1932 – February 25, 2012

Louisiana Red was an Alabama-born blues musician who counted over 50 albums to his credit.  Red began making records in 1949, with his first label being the legendary Chess Records.  What followed was a series of singles and albums, many of which are essential for any respectable blues collection.  A couple of his key albums were The Lowdown Back Porch Blues and Seventh Son, both released in 1963.  During the late ’50s, Red performed with the great John Lee Hooker in Detroit.  And in 1983, he was awarded a prestigious WC Handy Award.  Louisiana Red was 79 when he passed away on February 25, 2012.

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The Lowdown Back Porch Blues - Louisiana Red

Died On This Date (February 14, 2012) Dory Previn / Renowned Songwriter

Dory Previn
October 22, 1925 – February 14, 2012

Dory Previn was an American singer-songwriter and lyricist who counted several Academy Award nominations to her credit.  Beginning in the late ’50s, Previn, along with her then-husband and songwriting partner, Andre Previn, wrote numerous songs for such films as Pepe, Two for the Seesaw, and Valley of the Dolls.  Their songs have been recorded by such music luminaries as Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Bobby Darin, Dionne Warwick, and Sammy Davis, Jr., to name just a handful.  After parting ways with her husband in 1969, Previn launched a successful career as a singer-songwriter.  Over the next decade, she released a half-dozen albums, including 1972’s Reflections in a Mud Puddle, which Newsweek magazine named one of the best albums of the year, while the New York Times lauded it as one of the best singer-songwriters of 1972.   She went on to win two Emmys for music she created for television, and wrote two autobiographies as well as a one-woman play.  Dory Previn passed away on February 14, 2012.  She was 86.

Thanks to Harold Lepidus for the assist.

 

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Dory Previn

Died On This Date (February 11, 2012) Whitney Houston / Pop Music Icon

Whitney Houston
August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012

Photo by David Plastik – Click To Order Quality Prints – Discount code: 10OFF

Whitney Houston was an R&B singer who, by most accounts was one of the biggest female pop stars of all time.  Born in Newark, New Jersey to a musical family that also included mother, Cissy Houston and cousins Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick.   Her godmother was none other than Aretha Franklin.  Following an early career that included fashion modeling and back-up singing for the likes of Chaka Khan, Jermaine Jackson, and Lou Rawls, Houston found herself taken in by legendary hit maker, Clive Davis, who signed her to his Arista Records and released her self-titled debut in February, 1985.  The album, which spawned several hit singles, went on to sell an astonishing 25 million albums worldwide.  Her follow-up album, Whitney, became the first album by a female artist in history to debut at #1 on the Billboard album charts.  Over the next several years, Houston released hit after hit.  In 1992, she starred opposite Kevin Costner in The Bodyguard. The romantic-thriller was the 2nd highest grossing film worldwide that year, while Houston’s soundtrack went on to sell over 45 million copies thanks to such hits as “I’m Every Woman, “Run To You,” and of course, her cover of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You,” which sold over 12 million copies itself.  The soundtrack reached #1 in virtually every country that does such tracking.  On January 7, 1991, while the United States was locked in the Persian Gulf War, Houston performed what many consider the greatest version of the “Star Spangled Banner” that the Super Bowl has ever known.  It was quickly released as a single and became the first and only time the national anthem was a massive pop hit.  Houston donated her share to the American Red Cross.  The following year, Houston married former New Edition member and rap star, Bobby Brown.  The two had a daughter together but divorced in 2006.  After several years of personal set-backs, Houston returned with a new album, I Look To You, in 2009.  The album hit #1 in the US and went on to sell over 3.5 million copies worldwide.  It was her first #1 album since The Bodyguard.  In September of 2011, Houston announced that she was going to produce and star in a remake of the 1976 film, Sparkle.  On February 11, 2012, while in Los Angeles for the Grammys, Whitney Houston was found dead in her Beverly Hilton Hotel room bathtub.  Officials later ruled that she accidentally drowned as a result of a heart condition and chronic drug use.   She was 48.

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Whitney Houston - Whitney Houston

Died On This Date (February 8. 2012) Jimmy Sabater Sr. / Latin Music Great

Jimmy Sabater
April 11, 1936 – February 8, 2012

Photo by Victoria Will

Born and raised in Spanish Harlem area of New York City, Jimmy Sabater, Sr. took a liking to the Latin music he constantly heard in and around the neighborhood.  As a teenager, he was particularly moved by the what he heard coming from Tito Puente, Machito, and Willie Bobo, so he took up the timbales.  He was also possessed one of the smoothest voices Latin music has ever known.  By the mid ’50s, Sabater was part of a collective called the Joe Cuba Sextet who quickly found appreciative fans throughout the clubs of Harlem as well at resorts in upstate New York.  The group recorded several landmark albums over the next three decades including 1966’s Wanted Dead or Alive (Bang! Bang! Push Push Push) which was the first boogaloo album to sell over 1 million copies.  Sabater left Cuba’s band in 1977 and went on to sing and play for  Al Levy and Eddie Palmieri, among others.  He also released a handful of his own albums on the legendary Fania Records.   Jimmy Sabater Sr. was 75 when he died of natural causes on February 8, 2012.

Thanks to Eric Foss at Secret Stash Records for the assist.

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Wanted Dead or Alive - Bang! Bang! Push, Push, Push - Joe Cuba