Felix Pappalardi
December 30, 1939 – April 17, 1983
Felix Pappalardi wore many hats during his music career. As a producer, he worked with the likes of Joan Baez, the Youngbloods, and most famously, Cream. As an arranger, he worked on albums by Tom Paxton and Fred Neill. As a musician, he played bass for Mountain. And as a songwriter, he co-wrote one of Cream’s biggest hits, “Strange Brew.” It has been reported that Pappalardi had to retire early because he became partially deaf due to the loudness of Mountain shows. On April 17, 1983, Felix Pappalardi was gunned down by his wife, Gail, in what she claimed was an accident. She was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide.
Sam Gesser was a Canadian concert promoter who brought the likes of Joan Baez, Pete Seeger and Janis Joplin to Montreal in the ‘60s. With a career that spanned over 50 years, Gesser started as radio and television writer, later joining the Folkways label as their Canadian representative. While with Folkways, he produced over 100 albums. He switched to concert promotion in the ‘60s and produced shows and tours by Harry Belafonte, Van Cliburn, Peter, Paul & Mary, Janis Joplin, Joan Baez, Pete Seeger and many more. Gessar died of cancer on April 2, 2008 at the age of 78.
Donald “Dave” Guard
November 19, 1934 – March 22, 1991
Dave Guard was an influential American folk singer, best remembered as a founding member of the Kingston Trio. Formed in 1957, the group helped launch the folk revival of the ’60s while becoming one of the first groups to enjoy big sales on the LP format. Their first hit single, “Tom Dooley” is considered one of the most important songs of the era. Artists like Brian Wilson, Joan Baez, Lindsey Buckingham, Jimmy Buffet, and Tim Buckley have all been cited as having been influenced by the Kingston Trio. Guard left the group in 1961 and formed the Whiskeyhill Singers who released one album and sang a handful of songs on the soundtrack for How The West Was One. After the Whiskeyhill Singers, Guard kept busy working with other artists while writing and recording music. He all but retired from the public eye during the final two decades of his life, making only a few local public appearances and Kingston Trio semi-reunions. On March 22, 1991, Dave Guard died of lymphoma. He was 56 years old.
Sam “Lightnin'” Hopkins
March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982
Meeting Blind Lemon Jefferson at the age of eight was likely the moment that sent Lightnin’ Hopkins down the blues highway. But it wasn’t until 1946 that Hopkins got his break when he was convinced by Aladdin Records to go to Los Angeles to record with pianist Wilson Smith. It was the beginning of one of the most prolific runs in music history, as Hopkins made as many as 1000 recordings over the course of his career, believed to be the most of any bluesman. During the ’60s, Hopkins benefited from the blues and folk revival that lead to him playing alongside Pete Seeger and Joan Baez at Carnegie Hall. Lightnin’ Hopkins died of cancer on January 30, 1982. He was 69 years old.
Odetta Holmes
December 31, 1930 – December 2, 2008
Odetta Holmes was a politically charged folk, blues and gospel singer-songwriter and activist who has been called “the voice of the civil rights movement.” Most prominent during the folk movement of the ’60s, Odetta was not only a peer, but an influence on such folk greats as Joan Baez, Bob Dylan and Harry Belafonte. She was born in Birmingham, AL but raised in Los Angeles where she studied music and received opera singing lessons as a young teen. After taking a stab at musical theater, she turned her focus to folk singing in 1950 and set out across America to sing at all the usual suspect folk clubs and gatherings. She began releasing albums in 1954, and over the course of her career, recorded for such highly regarded labels as Fantasy, Folkways, RCA Victor, and Vanguard Records who continue to keep her legacy alive thanks to the tireless work of Morgana Kennedy, Dan Sell and Stephen Brower. In September of 1999, President Bill Clinton presented Odetta with the National Endowment for the Arts’ National Medal of Arts, the highest honor presented to an artist on behalf of the American people. Odetta stayed active as a performer and activist up until her final days. In 2008, she embarked on what would be her final tour of North America at the age of 77. Odetta ill in late 2008 and though planning to perform at President Barack Obama’s inauguration in January of 2009, she died of heart disease on December 2, 2008.
Thanks to Craig Rosen of Number1Albums for the assist.