Died On This Date (August 20, 2012) John Stockfish / Bassist For Gordon Lightfoot
themusicsover John Stockfish
DOB Unknown – August 20, 2012
John Stockfish was the original bassist for iconic Canadian singer-songwriter, Gordon Lightfoot. Stockfish, who received his training at the esteemed Royal Conservatory Of Music in Toronto, was hired by Lightfoot in 1965. He recorded and toured with him for four years and can be heard on such songs as “Sundown,” Song For A Winter’s Night,” and “Black Day In July.” Throughout his career, Stockfish also worked with Jim Croce, Mel Torme, and Cab Calloway, to name a few. John Stockfish was 69 when he died of natural causes on August 20, 2012.
Thanks to Scott Miller for the assist.
The great Pearl Bailey was a singer and actress who went from the vaudeville stage to television and Broadway, eventually winning an Emmy and Tony award. She began her career as a teenager singing and dancing in clubs in the Philadelphia area. By the early ’40s she was entertaining troops with the USO. Upon her return to the states, Bailey settled in New York where she performed with the likes of 
Cozy Cole was a jazz drummer whose career spanned from the 1930s to the 1970s. After his first job backing Wilber Sweatman in 1928, Cole joined up with the great 
Cab Calloway was a popular scat singer whose all African American band was one of the most popular big bands of the ’30s and ’40s. He was also arguably the most dynamic performer of the era. Calloway began singing and learning music at a very young age, and although his parents disapproved, he started gravitating toward the sounds of jazz. After high school, he joined a traveling musical review that is sister, a bandleader herself, was involved with. When the tour ended in Chicago, Calloway stayed behind to further pursue his music career. It was there that he met 