Otha Young (Born Robert O. Young) DOB Unknown – August 6, 2009
Otha Young was a guitarist and songwriter who worked with Juice Newton for many years. Over the course of his career, Young wrote such Newton hits as 1981’s “The Sweetest Thing (I’ve Ever Known)” The two began playing together as Dixie Peach, but by the time Newton released her first album on RCA Records in 1975, she was using her own name. As a gifted guitarist, Young played alongside Newton through most of their careers. He can be heard on most of her hit records. Otha Young died as a result of cancer at the age of 66.
Leon “Bix” Beiderbecke
March 10, 1903 – August 6, 1931
Bix Beiderbecke was primarily a cornetist who was considered one of the premier jazz talents of the 1920s, or the Jazz Age. When it came to the cornet, Beiderbecke had perhaps just one equal, and that was Louis Armstrong. Over a career that roughly lasted just six years, Beiderbecke recorded many songs that would go on to become standards. That list includes “Georgia On My Mind,” “Riverboat Shuffle,” and “Copenhagen.” He also recorded with such greats as Hoagy Carmichael, Joe Venuti and Jimmy Dorsey. A heavy drinker, Beiderbecke died of what was presumed to be alcohol withdrawal. The official cause was brain edema and lobar pneumonia. Beiderbecke was just 28 years old.
Catfish Collins is best remembered as the rhythm guitarist on several influential recordings by P-Funk, Parliament-Funkadelic, and Bootsy’s Rubber Band, which was lead by his brother, Bootsy Collins. During the late ’60s, Collins and his brother, Bootsy, and Phillipe Wynne helped form a band called the Pacemakers, that was soon hired by James Brown and transformed into his legendary backup band, the J.B.’s. Collins played on such classics as “Super Bad” and “Get Up (I Feel Like A) Sex Machine.” The Collins brothers eventually left Brown and formed Funkadelic. Catfish Collins was 66 when he died of cancer on August 6, 2010.
Thanks to Craig Rosen at Number1Albums for the assist
Marilyn Monroe
(Born Norma Jean Mortenson, baptized Norma Jean Baker)
June 1, 1926 – August 5, 1962 Although better known for her other iconic attributes, Marilyn Monroe definitely earned herself a spot in pop music history. After a less-than-spectacular childhood and early adult life, Monroe signed a contract with 20th Century Fox who began her with acting, singing and dancing lessons. Fox quickly dropped her. She was quickly picked up by Columbia Pictures who gave her first significant part in the 1949 musical, Ladies Of The Chorus, in which she sang two numbers. Four years later, she was well on her way to becoming a superstar, co-starring in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, where she performed the scene-stealing “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend.” in 1954, Monroe signed to RCA Victor Records and co-starred in the hit musical, There’s No Business Like Show Business. Throughout her career, she added her distinctive voice to songs written by the likes of Hoagy Carmichael, Johnny Mercer, and Irving Berlin. Perhaps her most lasting musical impression came on May 19, 1962 when she lead a Madison Square Garden crowd a sultry rendition of “Happy Birthday To You” for President John F. Kennedy. Three months later, 36-year-old Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her home of a barbiturate overdose. It will perhaps never be known if her death was accidental, suicide or murder.
Born in Louisiana but raised in Los Angeles, Willie Egan began playing the piano while still a pre-teen, and by the time he turned 15, he had a record deal and was cutting his first sides. Over the next decade, Egan would release such early R&B gems as “Wow Wow” and “Wear Your Black Dress.” Unfortunately, Egan never broke out as he should have – some blame poor management and sub par distribution of his records. By the late ’60s he was all but forgotten, working as a hospital orderly. In the early ’80s, Egan presumed dead, was located down-and-out in Los Angeles by a British record label head who arranged for him to perform in the UK, sparking a minor comeback. A live album of that event as well as another studio album followed shortly thereafter. On August 5, 2004 Walter Egan passed away after years suffering with cancer.