Died On This Date (February 23, 1997) Tony Williams / Jazz Drummer
themusicsover Tony Williams
December 12, 1945 – February 23, 1997
Tony Williams was an influential jazz drummer who is generally remembered for his early work with Miles Davis. He played with Davis throughout most of the ’60s. Under his own name, Williams released 14 albums between 1964 and his death, most of which were with Blue Note. As a sideman, Williams added drumming talents to albums by the likes of Allan Holdsworth, Branford Marsalis, Eric Dolphy, Herbie Hancock, and Stan Getz, to name a few. Williams also played drums on Album by former Sex Pistols lead singer, John Lydon’s band, Public Image Ltd. Tony Williams was 51 when he died of a heart attack on February 23, 1997.
What You Should Own
John Fahey was an influential folk and blues guitarist who is revered for his minimalistic steel string finger-picking style of play. Fahey bought his first guitar at the age of 13, and by the time he was 20, he was making his own recordings. Besides his amazing guitar skill, what separated Fahey from most other musicians at the time, was that he started his own record label, Takoma Records through which to release while he was still just a teenager. Through all this, Fahey continued his education, eventually earning a Master’s degree in folklore from UCLA. As a musicologist, Fahey tracked down the long forgotten blues great, 
Florence Ballard was a founding member of influential Motown singing group, the Supremes. Born and raised in Detroit, Ballard began singing in local groups while still a teenager. In 1959, she successfully auditioned for a female vocal group called the Primettes who, after a few personnel changes eventually signed with Motown Records as the Supremes, with the most successful formation of the group including Ballard, Diana Ross and Mary Wilson. Over the next eight years with the Supremes, Ballard sang on nearly a dozen #1 hits and helped the women become one of the most influential female groups in history. In the spring of 1967, Ballard left the group and launched a solo career, but it failed to bring her back into the spotlight. Personal and financial problems plagued Florence Ballard during the final years of her life, and on February 22, 1976, she died of cardiac arrest. She was 32.
Ian Wallace was an accomplished session rock drummer who is most often remembered for his short stint in King Crimson during the early ’70s. He can be heard playing on Islands and their live album, Earthbound. Throughout the years, Wallace played with a who’s who of rock music. He played on such albums as Bob Dylan’s Street Legal and At Budokon, Bonnie Raitt’s Nine Lives, Don Henley’s Building A Perfect Beast, Rodney Crowell’s Houston Kid, Stevie Nicks’ Wild Heart, and many more. He released just one album, 2003’s Happiness With Minimal Side Effects. Ian Wallace was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in August of 2006, and subsequently died of it on February 22, 2007. He was 60.
