Died On This Date (October 23, 1964) David Box / Replaced Buddy Holly In The Crickets
themusicsover David Box
August 11, 1943 – October 23, 1964
David Box is best remembered as the singer who replaced Buddy Holly in the Crickets. It is Box’s voice you here on “Peggy Sue Got Married,” which was arguably the best Crickets song after Holly’s death. Box left the Crickets to go to college where he studied art under Norman Rockwell. He also recorded under his own name and toured with the likes of the Everly Brothers. Remarkably, David Box was killed in a small airplane crash just as Holly had been. He was just 21 years old.
Jimmy Miller was a musician, songwriter and producer who helped create some of rock’s most popular albums. As a songwriter, Miller co-wrote the classic Traffic song, “I’m a Man” with Steve Winwood. He produced Sticky Fingers, Let It Bleed, Beggars Banquet and Exile on Main Street for the Rolling Stones. He also played percussion on a handful of Stones songs. That list includes drums on “Happy,” and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” and the opening cowbell on “Honky Tonk Woman.” Miller also produced records for the likes of the Plasmatics, Blind Faith, Spencer Davis Group, Nirvana, the Move and Motorhead. Jimmy Miller died of liver failure on October 22, 1994.
Tommy Edwards was an R&B singer who had a #1 hit in 1958 with “It’s All In the Game.” The record went on to sell over 3.5 million records worldwide. His subsequent singles never achieved near the success of “It’s All In the Game.” Tommy Edwards died after suffering a brain aneuryrsm at the age of 47.
Elliott Smith was a celebrated contemporary folk and indie rock singer-songwriter who quietly gained a legion of fans in the late ’90s. After several years in a rock band, Smith went solo in 1994, first recording for hip indie labels, Cavity Search and Kill Rock Stars, and then major, Dreamworks Records. In 1997, his “Miss Misery” was nominated for an Academy Award after it appeared Good Will Hunting. Elliott Smith died after being stabbed twice in the chest. Initial reports indicated that he committed suicide, but autopsy reports were inconclusive and his case is still considered open by the Los Angeles Police Department.