Died On This Date (July 27, 2001) Leon Wilkeson / Lynyrd Skynyrd
themusicsover Leon Wilkeson
April 2, 1952 – July 27, 2001
Leon Wilkeson was an up-and-coming bassist in and around Jacksonville, Florida when he was asked to join Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1972. Although he didn’t play on the band’s debut album due to his own apprehension, he played with them for the better part of the next 30 years. With his help, Lynyrd Skynyrd became one of the biggest rock bands of the ’70s. In 1977, tragedy struck when the band’s plane crashed killing band members, Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines, and road manager Dean Kilpatrick. Wilkeson was one of the few passangers who survived. The band undertandably dissolved by reformed with the surviving members in 1987. Leon Wilkeson died of emphysema and liver disease on July 27, 2001.
What You Should Own
Brent Mydland was the keyboardist for the Grateful Dead for an eleven year period that would see the band’s highest charting successes. Born a military child in Munich, Germany, Mydland moved with his family to San Francisco as an infant. As a child, Mydland learned to play the flute, accordion and piano. After graduating from high school in 1971, played in bands in and around the Bay area, ultimately landing in the Bob Weir Band in 1978. A year later he replaced 
Mary Wells was an American R&B singer whose voice helped usher in the Motown sound with such earl hits as 1964’s “My Guy.” Although Wells’ only #1 hit, it will go down in history as the song that broke the Beatles’ 1964 chart-topping streak. After a few moderate hits, Wells left Motown in 1965 and made a comparatively small amount of recordings until she all but retired in 1970. The late ’80s found Wells launching a much-welcomed comeback, releasing a couple well-received albums. But then in 1990, Wells was diagnosed with larynx cancer for which she had to spend what was left of her money on treatment. Thankfully friends and fans like Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, Martha Reeves, Bruce Springsteen, Rod Stewart and more donated large sums of money to help her out. On July 26, 1992, while in a hospital getting treated for pneumonia, Wells passed away from the effects of the cancer at the age of 49.
Ben Keith was a successful Nashville session player, producer, and singer-songwriter who is perhaps best remembered for his many collaborations with Neil Young. Keith first began making a name for himself in Nashville during the ’50s and ’60s when he played on numerous country and early rock ‘n roll hits. That list includes his steel guitar on