Died On This Date (November 11, 1945) Jerome Kern / Prolific American Composer
themusicsover Jerome Kern
January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945
Jerome Kern was a prolific American composer who has some 700 songs to his credit. Throughout his career he wrote such future standards as “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” “Ol’ Man River,” and “The Way You Look Tonight.” Kern’s long career found him mostly writing for the theater, penning songs for such classic shows as Roberta, Show Boat and Zigfield Follies. In many cases, he also scored the films that were based on his Broadway musicals. He won two Academy Awards for songs that appeared in films. On November 5, 1945, Kern, 60, suffered a cerebral hemorrhage while walking to a drugstore in New York City. He died as a result six days later.
The bigger-than-life Country Dick Montana was the founding drummer, co-lead vocalist, and heart and soul of the great San Diego roots rock band, the Beat Farmers. Formed by Montana, Jerry Raney, 
Jody Reynolds had one of rockabilly’s earliest massive hits with 1958’s “Endless Sleep.” It was one of rock ‘n roll’s first “teen tragedy” songs. The single reached #5 on the Billboard singles chart and sold over 1 million copies. He followed it up with “Fire of Love” later that year. The song charted, but failed to come close to the success of “Endless Sleep.” Reynolds released several more records over the course of his career, but none were ever able to get him back up on top. He retired from the music business during the ’70s, and in 1999, he was elected to the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. He was 75 when he died of liver cancer on November 7, 2008.
Hank Thompson was a honky tonk and western swing band leader who, over a career that spanned an amazing 60+ years, sold more than 60 million albums. After his discharge from the Navy during WWII, Thompson decided to pursue a career making music. In 1952, he released his first #1 hit, “The Wild Side of Life.” The song sat at the top of the country charts for 15 weeks and has been covered by the likes of 