Songwriter

Died On This Date (April 2, 2009) Freddie Everett / Houston Blues Musician

Freddie Everett
June 26, 1959 – April 2, 2009

freddieFreddie Everett was a Houston blues guitarist/singer-songwriter known throughout those parts as “The Texas Legend.”  A guitar virtuoso, some even called him the “Texas Hendrix.”  Throughout his relatively short career, Everett has shared the stage with Sammy Hagar, Ted Nugent, Alice Cooper, Bo Diddley and Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Double Trouble.   He landed a recording contract with Sony Music, but had been diagnosed with MLS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) and was never well enough to make the album.  Freddie Everett died as a result of the disease on April 2, 2009.



Died On This Date (April 1, 1984) Marvin Gaye / Soul Music Icon

Marvin Gaye
April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984

marvin.jpg Beginning in the early 1960s, Marvin Gaye was one of Motown’s most celebrated songwriters and later one of their premier recording artists. In the early years, he was responsible for such classic Motown hits as “I Heard It Through The Grapevine,” and “How Sweet It Is (To Be In Love By You).” He also had several duet hits with Tammi Terrell including “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” But unlike the other artists on the label, he fought for and maintained his own vision and called the shots when creating his own albums. The results? What’s Going On?, Trouble Man, and Let’s Get It On. His astounding body of work continued through the mid ’80s with the release of Midnight Love and its hit single, “Sexual Healing” for which he won a Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance in 1983.  After the untimely death of Tammi Terrell (1970) along with other personal troubles, not the least of which was his own crumbling marriage, Gaye took some time to reevaluate his position in life. After spending most of the year in seclusion, he resurfaced with What’s Going On?, one of pop music’s landmark albums and one that would change what we think of as “black” music forever. Allmusic.com calls it “A highly percussive album that incorporated jazz and classical elements to forge a remarkably sophisticated and fluid soul sound, [it] was a conceptual masterpiece that brought Gaye’s deeply held spiritual beliefs to the fore to explore issues ranging from poverty and discrimination to the environment, drug abuse, and political corruption; chief among the record’s concerns was the conflict in Vietnam.”  Gaye continued to write and record great music throughout the ‘7os and early ’80s, but instead of being afforded the chance to enjoy his success, he spent much of his later years battling legal issues from his divorce, substance abuse, and tax troubles that caused him to flee to Europe in 1981. Within the next couple of years, Gaye patched up his differences with Motown head Barry Gordy and decided to move back to the US and into his parents home to get his life and career back on track. In 1983, a little over a year before his death, the troubled singer made a rare public appearance by singing the National Anthem before the NBA All-Star game at the Fabulous Forum in Los Angeles. It was the greatest (and in some circles the worst) rendition ever performed. At the time, the world was used to very straight ahead versions of the song, but Gaye took it into the stratosphere by injecting his own soul into it. Instead of capitalizing on that moment, Gaye’s downward spiral into depression only got worse as did his rocky relationship with his father. They fought on numerous occasions until the afternoon of April 1, 1984 when Marvin Sr. shot and killed Marvin Jr. after one of their many arguments. Gaye left behind a daughter; singer and actress, Nona Gaye.

What You Should Own

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What's Going On (Remastered) - Marvin Gaye

Died On This Date (April 1, 2009) Duane Jarvis / Respected L.A. Singer Songwriter

Duane Jarvis
August 22, 1957 – April 1, 2009

duane-jarvisDuane Jarvis was one of those great talents that should have been more famous than they were.  Although Jarvis was born in Oregon, both Los Angeles and Nashville like to claim him as their own as well.   Much more than a superb singer and songwriter, Jarvis was also a master of the guitar, mandolin and bass.  Over the years he has worked with the Divinyls, Rosie Flores, Dave Alvin, John Prine, Victoria Williams, Dwight Yoakam, M. Ward, and Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits.  Duane Jarvis died of cancer on April 1, 2009.

Thanks to Craig Rosen at Number1Albums for the assist.


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Died On This Date (March 31, 1995) Selena / Popular Tejano Singer

Selena Quintanilla-Perez
April 16, 1971 – March 31, 1995

Selena Quintanilla was a Texas-born Tejano star who was quickly becoming a worldwide superstar when her life was tragically cut short.  Known simply as Selena, she began building a following within the Spanish-speaking community in and around the Houston area in the mid ’80s and by 1987, she was at the top of her field when she won Best Female Vocalist at the Tejano Music Awards which she would continue to rule over the next several years.  Signed to EMI Records in the States, Selena was soon being groomed to cross over much the same way Gloria Estefan had before her.  By the early ’90s, Selena was approaching superstar status, designing her own clothing line, opening boutiques in Texas and appearing in Spanish novellas and alongside Johnny Depp, Faye Dunaway and Marlon Brando in Don Juan DeMarco.  In 1994, her Amor Prohibido was nominated for a Grammy, and she began work on an English language album.  And by 1995, she was drawing upwards of 65,000 to her concerts in Texas.  Around this time, her family discovered that Yolanda Saldivar, the president of her fan club and manager of one of her clothing stores was embezzling from the company.  After being fired, Saldivar agreed to meet Selena at her hotel in Corpus Christi to return some financial paperwork.  Instead, Saldivar shot Selena in the back as she was exiting the room.  She died later that day.

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Amor Prohibido - Selena

Died On This Date (March 31, 1996) Jeffrey Lee Pierce / The Gun Club

Jeffrey Lee Pierce
June 27, 1958 – March 31, 1996

Photo by Hank Grebe

Perhaps best known as the front man for L.A. blues-infused rock band, the Gun Club, Jeffrey Lee Pierce also worked for Bomp Records, wrote for a handful of punk ‘zines, and ran the Blondie fan club.  With the Gun Club, Pierce made an influential though not commercial impact on music with their swampy blues punk sound that drew strongly from such blues giants as Charley Patton and Howlin’ Wolf.  Gun Club were a direct influence on the White Stripes, Screaming Trees and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.  By the ’90s, Pierce was struggling with personal demons and drugs, leading to a marked decline in his creative output.   He died of a brain hemorrhage on the final day of March, 1996.  He was just 37.

What You Should Own

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Fire of Love - The Gun Club