Died On This Date (March 31, 2011) Mel McDaniel / Country Music Star
themusicsover Mel McDaniel
September 6, 1942 – March 31, 2011
Mel McDaniel was a successful country music artist who scored several hits during the 1980s. Born and raised in Oklahoma, McDaniel was one of millions of kids who were inspired to make music after witnessing Elvis Presley on television. Thankfully for us, he remained faithful to that dream. McDaniel eventually landed in Nashville where, during the mid ’70s, he landed a deal with Capitol Records. By the late ’80s, McDaniel had released such hit records as “Louisiana Saturday Night,” “Baby’s Got Her Blue Jeans On,” and the Bruce Springsteen-penned, “Stand On It.” In 1996, he was seriously injured when he took a fall from a Lafayette, Louisiana stage and never fully recovered. He then suffered a major heart attack in 2009. But it was ultimately cancer that took Mel McDaniel’s life on March 31, 2011. He was 62.
What You Should Own
Joe Morello was a world renowned jazz drummer who is perhaps best remembered for his 12-year run with the Dave Brubeck Quartet. Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, Morello had a birth defect that partially impaired his vision, so he tended to spend much of his free time participating in indoor activities . He took up the violin first and soon found himself as a featured soloist in the Boston Symphony Orchestra. At the age of 15, he switched over to the drums and eventually moved to New York City to further his career. It was there he began playing with the likes of 
Eddie Serrato was the original drummer for the legendary Michigan garage band, ? and the Mysterians. It is he you can hear playing on their classic hit, “96 Tears.” Formed when Serrato was recruited from a local Mexican band in 1962, ? and the Mysterians went on to be called by some as the world’s first punk band – if not exactly that, they were without a doubt one of the first Latin rock bands to score a #1 pop hit in America. The success of that record – which has been covered live or recorded by the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Iggy Pop, Garland Jeffreys, and Aretha Franklin – was enough to get the band a nationally televised performance on American Bandstand. The group released several more moderately successful records throughout the rest of the ’60s, many of which were co-written by Serrato. He left the band 1968, with ? and various configurations of the Mysterians, both with and without him, continuing to perform well into the 2000s. Serrato himself went on to produce Tejano music during the latter part of his life. On February 24, 2011, Eddie Serrato died of a heart attack at a local hospital where he had been recuperating from an undisclosed surgery. He was 65.
Bruce Jackson was a sound engineer who helped Bruce Springsteen create his storied concert experiences as his concert sound engineer for over ten years. Jackson started with Springsteen during his historic Darkness On The Edge Of Town tour of 1978 and stayed on board through 1987’s Tunnel Of Love Express tour. And if that weren’t impressive enough, Jackson also worked with the likes of 