Died On This Date (October 7, 1966) Johnny Kidd \ ’60s British Rock Star
themusicsover Johnny Kidd (Born Frederick Heath)
December 23, 1935 – October 7, 1966
Johnny Kidd was the lead singer and songwriter for Johnny Kidd and the Pirates, a British band that was building momentum just before the Beatles broke, but soon became overshadowed by them. There sound was the blueprint from which garage rock was built. In 1960, the band released the Kidd-written “Shakin’ All Over” which shot to the top of the UK charts. The Guess Who had a hit in the US with it in 1965, and the Who’s 1970 live version from Live At Leeds ultimately became the recognizable version of it. Johnny Kidd was 30 years old when he was killed in a car accident on October 7, 1966.
What You Should Own
Nelson Riddle was an orchestra bandleader who was hired by Capitol Records in 1950 to arrange for their stable of the era’s great vocalists. While at Capitol, Riddle worked with 
Woody Guthrie was arguably America’s most important folk singer and songwriter. Over a career that spanned a quarter century, Guthrie penned 100s of songs, many lending a voice to the common man. He also wrote many children’s songs. He wrote about the plight of the migrant worker, stories he learned first-hand as he traveled among them throughout the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. Many such songs are archived in the Library of Congress, and one in particular, “This Land Is Your Land,” is sung in elementary schools across the US. In the late ’40s, Guthrie’s health began to deteriorate while his mental state seemed to come into question. At the time, some thought it might be due to schizophrenia and alcoholism. As it turned out, he was diagnosed in 1952 with a neurological disorder called Huntington’s disease. He spent several of his final years in psychiatric hospitals. With his health and mind failing during the folk revival of he early ’60s, he eld court with some of the day’s up-and-coming troubadors who admired him, most famously, Bob Dylan, 