Jimmy McCulloch
June 4, 1953 – September 27, 1979
Jimmy McCulloch was a rock guitarist who played with Thunderclap Newman, Stone the Crows, and most famously, Paul McCartney’s band Wings from 1974 to 1977. His most celebrated contribution to Wings was his lead guitar work on “Junior’s Farm.” Jimmy McColluch died of a heroin overdose at the age of 26.
Irving Berlin
May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989
Most agree that Irving Berlin was one of the greatest songwriters in history. A very prolific writer, he reportedly wrote over 1500 songs over a career that spanned some 60 years. Many of his songs became standards loved the world over. That list includes “White Christmas,” “God Bless America,” “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” and “Puttin’ On The Ritz.” He also wrote the scores to nearly 40 Broadway shows and major Hollywood films, earning him eight Oscar nominations. Irving Berlin died in his sleep at the age of 101.
Larry Fuller
1949 – September 22, 2007
Larry Fuller was a bluegrass guitar picker who was well known in and around the Kentucky music community. Fuller began his music career during the 1970s when he was working as a coal miner. A job injury in 1986 forced him out of the mines and into music full time. A traditionalist, Fuller’s music was rooted deep in the mountain music he grew up hearing around him. Larry Fuller’s life came to a tragic end when he died in a fire that engulfed his tour bus. For reasons unknown, Fuller was inside the bus as it was parked in his driveway around 2 am. He was 58 years old.
Ilari “Claude” Peltola
1966 – September 22, 1996
Ilari Peltola was known as simply, Claude when he was the lead singer of Finnish rock band, Smack. Smack were a glam-punk band who were active between 1982 and 1990. The band, who were not dissimilar to the New York Dolls, were very popular in and around Finland, but never achieved much more that a cult following here in the US, despite moving to Los Angeles in 1989. In 1990, Peltola left the band to move back to Finland where he formed a new band, the Fishfaces. He died of heart failure on September 22, 1996.
Raymond “Boz” Burrell
August 1, 1946 – September 21, 2006
Boz Burrell is best remembered as a singer for King Crimson during the early ’70s and as the bassist for Bad Company from 1973 until 1999 (on and off). But before all that, Burrell was pegged to replace the Who’s Roger Daltrey when the other band members decided to fire him in the mid ’60s. That never came to be, and Burrell went on to record several singles on his own. Boz Burrell suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 60.
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