Died On This Date (October 7, 1959) Mario Lanza / Iconic Tenor
themusicsover Mario Lanza (Born Alfred Cocozza)
January 31, 1921 – October 7, 1959
Mario Lanza was an American tenor vocalist and actor who was a household name during the ’40s and ’50s. He was arguably the biggest opera draw of his generation as well as a direct influence on Luciano Pavorotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras. He transitioned to film in the late ’40s, starring in The Midnight Kiss, The Toast of New Orleans and The Great Caruso. Lanza was the first artist ever signed to the RCA Victor label as well as the first to two and a half million albums. Ailing in his later years, Mario Lanza died of a pulmonary embolism at just 38 years of age.
What You Should Own
Shelby Singleton’s music career began during the ’50s working at Mercury Records as a producer. While moving up in the ranks, he became instrumental in numerous hits and was eventually rewarded with his own imprint, Smash Records where he signed Jerry Lee Lewis, 
Smiley Lewis was a New Orleans R&B artist who got his start in the clubs throughout the French Quarter during the late ’30s. He released his first album, Here Comes Smiley Lewis on DeLuxe Records in 1947. In 1950, producer Dave Bartholomew recorded Lewis for Imperial Records. The sessions resulted in his biggest hits, “Tee Nah Nah,” “The Bells Are Ringing,” and the first recorded version of the R&B standard, “I Hear You Knocking” which would later be recorded by the likes of Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, Dave Edmunds, and Canned Heat. His “Blue Monday” became a hit for Domino while his “One Nigh,t” as covered by 
Johnny Kidd was the lead singer and songwriter for Johnny Kidd and the Pirates, a British band that was building momentum just before the Beatles broke, but soon became overshadowed by them. There sound was the blueprint from which garage rock was built. In 1960, the band released the Kidd-written “Shakin’ All Over” which shot to the top of the UK charts. The Guess Who had a hit in the US with it in 1965, and the Who’s 1970 live version from Live At Leeds ultimately became the recognizable version of it. Johnny Kidd was 30 years old when he was killed in a car accident on October 7, 1966.
Nelson Riddle was an orchestra bandleader who was hired by Capitol Records in 1950 to arrange for their stable of the era’s great vocalists. While at Capitol, Riddle worked with 