Died On This Date (October 3, 1969) Skip James / Blues Legend
themusicsover Nehemiah “Skip” James
June 21, 1902 – October 3, 1969
Skip James was a hard living bootlegger, a sharecropper and a hard laborer. But above all, he was one of the most influential of the early Delta bluesmen. With a unique and highly sophisticated style of picking coupled with a ghostly falsetto voice, James was indeed one of a kind. His form of playing and singing was a direct influence on many, such as Robert Johnson, but no one has ever truly been able to replicate it effectively. James’ professional music career began in 1931 when he began recording sides of Paramount Records. James re-recorded many blues standards at the time, but it was generally his versions of the songs that later got covered by the likes of Johnson and even later, Cream, Deep Purple and Beck. As quick as James came onto the scene, he vanished. Over the next three decades, he rarely performed live and made no new recordings, becoming not much more than a footnote in blues history, until the early ’60s when he was “re-discovered” during the folk and blues revival. After being descovered by folk guitarists John Fahey, Bill Barth, and Henry Vestine in a Mississippi hospital in 1964, James’ career was put back on track. During his later years, he was a featured performer at the Newport Folk Festival and recorded for Takoma Records and Vanguard Records, where he was dubbed a “Vanguard Visionary” by future Vice-President, Dan Sell. His influence on pop culture has been felt in recent years as well. Indie rock icon, Beck covered his “He’s A Mighty Good Leader” in 1994, while Chris Thomas King recorded his “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues” for the O’ Brother, Where Art Thou flim and soundtrack. And his “Devil Got My Woman” was prominently featured both the plot of and soundtrack to the 2001 cult hit, Ghost World, starring Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson. With his health deteriorating in later years, Skip James passed away in 1969 at the age of 69.
What You Should Own
Benjamin Orr is best remembered as the bassist and co-lead singer of popular Boston new wave band, the Cars. Formed by Orr and Ric Ocasek in 1976, the band released a string of multi-platinum albums and hit singles that helped define ’80s pop music. They were also one of the early bands adopted by MTV. Orr sang lead on such hit singles as “Drive,” “Just What I Needed,” and “Let’s Go.” In 1986, he left the group and recorded his solo debut, The Lace, and then left the group the following year. Orr continued to record and perform live in various incarnations up until just a few months before his death. Benjamin Orr, age 53, died of pancreatic cancer on October 3, 2000.
“Johnny J” Jackson was a hip hop producer and rapper who, over the course of his career, produced albums and records that sold in the millions. Born in Mexico and raised in South Central Los Angeles, Jackson’s career kicked into high gear in 1990 when he produced a “one-hit-wonder” for his friend Candall Mason, better known as Candyman. That song was “Knockin’ Boots,” which helped Candyman’s Shame In The Game album go platinum. The success of “Knockin’ Boots” opened the door for Jackson to meet 
Known since the 1930s as the Singing Cowboy, Gene Autry was country singer-songwriter and cowboy actor. Signing to Columbia Records in 1929, Autry began releasing what were called “hillbilly” music in the early ’30s. Over the course of his career, Autry made over 600 records, roughly half either co-written, or written by himself. Besides his signature song, “Back in the Saddle Again,” Autry best remembered for “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer,” “Frosty the Snowman,” and the self-written, “Here Comes Santa Claus.” Besides making nearly 100 films, Autry successfully transitioned to television during the ’40s, starring in his own show on CBS. Autry also owned several California radio stations as well as Major League Baseball team, the California Angels. Forbes Magazine included him in annual list of the 400 richest Americans for many years. Gene Autry died of lymphoma at the age of 91.
Nick Reynolds was a founding member of the Kingston Trio, one of the premier groups of the ’60s folk revival. Formed in northern California in the late ’50s, the group were a direct descendant of the Weavers, but thanks in part to their youthfulness, they were able to bring folk music further into the mainstream. Their harmonies would, in turn, heavily influence such groups as the Beach Boys in years to come. The Kingston Trio won two Grammy’s during the early part of their career. The group broke up in 1967 as harder rock music started becoming more popular with American kids, so Reynolds took some time off from music to enjoy his other love, auto racing. He made a name for himself driving formula B and C cars along the Northwest circuit. He reunited with the Kingston Trio in the early ’80s and played with them on and off until his retirement in 1998. Nick Reynolds was 75 when he died of respiratory disease on October 1, 2008.