Died On This Date (June 10, 2004) Ray Charles / Pop Music Icon

Ray Charles (Born Ray Robinson)
September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004

With Ray Charles

Ray Charles was one of America’s greatest voices.  He was called “the only true genius in the business” by none other than Frank Sinatra.  The son of a share cropper, Charles lost his sight at the age of five.  While attending a school for the deaf and blind, Charles was taught classical piano, but after his mother died, he left the school and changed his focus to the music he loved and would forever be associated with.  By the time he was 17, he was making records for Swing Time Records, scoring his first R&B hit, “Confession Blues” in 1949.  In 1951, Ahmet Ertegun signed him to Atlantic Records, starting him down the road that would eventually lead him to the status of American icon.   Ray Charles died of liver cancer on June 10, 2004.

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Modern Sounds In Country and Western Music, Vol. 1 & 2 - Ray Charles



Died On This Date (April 22, 2008) Paul Davis / Had Hit With “I Go Crazy”

Paul Davis
April 21, 1948 – April 22, 2008

Mississippi born singer-songwriter Paul Davis was in his early 20s when he landed his first record deal with BANG Records, the boutique label formed by Bert Berns, Ahmet Ertegun, Nesuhi Ertegun, and Jerry Wexler.  For the next ten years, Davis released a string of semi-hits that barely cracked the Top 50, but in 1978, hit big with “I Go Crazy” which reached #7 on the Billboard charts.  At the time, it set the record for most consecutive weeks (40) for a rock era song in the Top 100.  What followed was a string of pop and country hits for himself as well as others including “Meet Me in Montana” which was a #1 country hit for Dan Seals and Marie Osmond.  Davis died of a heart attack on April 22, 2008.

Thanks to Craig Rosen at Number1Albums for the assist.

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Paul Davis

Died On This Date (March 10, 1997) LaVern Baker / R&B Great

LaVern Baker
November 11, 1929 – March 10, 1997

Originally going by the stage name of Little Miss Sharecropper, the early queen of R&B rose to fame when she signed to Ahmet Ertegun’s Atlantic Records and changed her professional name to Lavern Baker. In the 60s, Miss Baker went to Vietnam to entertain the troops and on the advice of a friend, she stayed in the Philippines for the next 22 years and worked as the entertainment director at a Marine Corps nightclub for the US government. LaVern Baker passed away from a heart condition on this date in 1997.

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Soul On Fire: The Best of LaVerne Baker - LaVern Baker

Died On This Date (December 14, 2006) Ahmet Ertegun / Iconic Label Head

Ahmet Ertegun
July 31, 1923 – December 14, 2006

ahmet-ertegun

Ahmet Ertegun was arguably the most celebrated record label executives in the history of recorded music. In 1947, he and Herb Abramson formed Atlantic Records to focus on R&B, jazz and gospel music.  Over the next decade, they brought Ertegun’s brother, Nesuhi Ertegun, and Jerry Wexler on board, while building an artist roster that included Ray Charles, Ruth Brown, and Big Joe Turner.  By putting more focus on the development of their artists’ talents and careers, Atlantic Records quickly established itself as one of popular music’s premier labels.  When the ’60s hit, Ertegun and other head’s of the label decided to broaden its focus to include soul and rock, signing such acts as Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Led Zeppelin, and Crosby, Still, Nash & Young.  The Erteguns sold Atlantic to Warner Bros. in 1969, but Ahmet stayed involved for many years to come.  On October 29, 2006, Ertegun fell and hit his head on the concrete floor, while in the VIP backstage area of a Rolling Stones concert.  He sustained head injuries that eventually lead to a coma.  On December 14 of that same year, Ahmet Ertegun, 83, passed away.



Died On This Date (November 17, 2006) Ruth Brown / Early R&B Great

Ruth Brown (Born Ruth Weston)
January 12, 1928 – November 17, 2007

ruthbrown

Ruth Brown was an R&B singer who, like her idols, Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington and Billie Holiday became one of popular music’s most important vocalists of her generation.  So vital was she, that her young label at the time, Atlantic Records, would come to be known as “The House That Ruth Built.”  After running away from home with trumpeter and future husband, Jimmy Brown, in 1945,  Brown began singing in clubs in the Washington DC area.  A local disc jockey caught her act and recommended her to Ahmet Ertegun at Atlantic.  She soon signed to the fledgling label and began releasing a string of R&B hits that included “Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean,” “So Long,” “Oh What a Dream” and “I’ll Wait For You.”  Brown stepped away from the business to raise her family during the ’60s, but came back strong during the mid ’70s when she starred in a Broadway musical, Black and Blue, which won her an Tony and a Grammy for the soundtrack.  She also had a role on the sitcom, Hello Larry and in the John Waters film, Hairspray.  Brown became and advocate for musicians’ rights during the late ’80s, and in 1993, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  On November 17, 2006, Ruth Brown, 78, died of complications from a stroke and heart attack she had suffered the previous month.

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Ruth Brown