Died On This Date (August 29, 2012) Bill Tillman / Blood, Sweat & Tears
themusicsover Bill Tillman
DOB Unknown – August 29, 2012
Bill Tillman was a gifted saxophone player and flutist who is perhaps best remembered for his three years playing in popular American rock band, Blood, Sweat & Tears. Like contemporaries, Chicago, BS&T pioneered the use of a horn section as a lead instrument in rock music. Tillman played in the group’s horn section between 1974 and 1977 and can be heard on eight of their albums. Born and raised in Texas, Tillman was recognized by the Texas Public School Board as the most outstanding musician of 1965. He soon hit the road, playing tours for the likes of Gladys Knight – as music director, the Coasters, Chuck Berry, and Roy Orbison. In 1978, Tillman began a two-year run as a soloist for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. He also released a handful of his own albums beginning in the ’80s and culminating with 2000’s Altogether. On August 29, 2012, Bill Tillman passed away after reportedly hitting his head during a fall in his bathroom. He was 65 and was awaiting a was apparently on a waiting list for a kidney transplant.
Steve Popovich was a long-time music industry powerhouse who, over a career that spanned some 50 years wore many hats. He started in the Columbia Records warehouse in 1962, and quickly moved into radio promotion, sales, TV promotion and even inventory control. In those early years, he helped promote the likes of Blood, Sweat & Tears, Simon & Garfunkel, and Paul Revere & The Raiders. In 1972, he became Columbia’s Vice President of Promotion – appointed by Clive Davis. At just 26, he was the youngest VP there ever. In 1974, he moved over to Epic Records where he helped launch the careers of Boston, Cheap Trick, and Ted Nugent, to name just a few. In 1977, Popovich founded Cleveland International Records where he would release Meat Loaf’s landmark album Bat Out Of Hell, which went on to sell upwards of 40 million copies during an era when most new releases sold at best, 5000 copies. He later went on to work as Sr Vice President at Polygram Nashville where he was responsible for numerous other successes. In recent years, Popovich found himself embroiled in a legal battle with Sony Music over royalties and failure to put the Cleveland International logo on millions of CDs. Steve Popovich died of an apparent heart attack on June 8, 2011. He was 69.
Bill Chase, John Emma, Wally Yohn and Walter Clark were members Chase, an early ’70s jazz rock band whose sound was not dissimilar to Chicago or Blood, Sweat & Tears. Formed in the late ’60s by Bill Chase, a trumpet player who had previously played with 
One of the most influential bassists of all time, Jaco Pastorius was arguably the greatest modern jazz bass player of all time. Regarded as a gifted athlete growing up, Pastorius began to focus on his second love, music following a football injury to his wrist at the age of 13. At the time he was playing to drums, but the injury was bad enough that he had to give up the sticks and find another instrument to excel at. It was then that he picked up the bass. As he developed, his interests began to lean toward jazz and R&B. He began playing with then-unknown Pat Metheny, with whom he made his first recordings. He got is break in 1975 when Bobby Colomby, then of Blood, Sweat & Tears helped him get a deal with CBS Records who released his self-titled solo debut in 1976. With a stellar cast that included David Sanborn, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, many consider Jaco Pastorius to be the best bass album ever recorded. Shortly thereafter, Pastorius was invited by 
