Died On This Date (April 5, 2012) Jim Marshall / Founder Of Marshall Amps

Jim Marshall
July 29, 1923 – April 5, 2012

Photo by Ralph Orlowski

Jim Marshall, or has he was commonly known throughout the rock world, “The Lord of Loud,” was the founder of Marshall Amplification.  It was while he owned a London music shop in the early ’60s that Marshall and a young apprentice began tinkering with designs that would soon become the Marshall amp.  The idea was born out of complaints from such young customers as Pete Townshend and Ritchie Blackmore that they couldn’t get the sound they were looking for out of their own amps.   With s new prototype in hand, Marshall launched Marshall Amplification in 1962 and ran the company ever since.  Over the decades, Marshall amp loyalists have included almost every notable rock guitarist the world has ever known.  Marshall, along with Leo Fender, Les Paul, and Seth Lover, has been called one of the four forefathers of rock music.  Jim Marshall was 88 when he passed away on April 5, 2012.

Thanks to Harold Lepidus for the assist.



Died On This Date (August 12, 2009) Les Paul / Influential Guitarist and Innovator

Les Paul (Born Lester Polfuss)
June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009

Les Paul With Author

Les Paul was one of popular music’s most important figures.  Besides recording a string of hits with wife, Mary Ford during the ’40s and ’50s,  Paul was a guitar legend who not only invented the Les Paul guitar which would be used by future guitar heroes to this day, he also developed multi-track recording, which changed popular music forever.  It allowed singers and musicians to record their parts separately and then pieced together later for the final record.  Les Paul died of pneumonia in a New York hospital at the age of 94.

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Les Paul with Mary Ford - The Best of the Capitol Masters: 90th Birthday Edition - Les Paul & Mary Ford

Died On This Date (October 4, 1994) Danny Gatton / Rock Guitar Great

Danny Gatton
September 4, 1945 – October 4, 1994

Danny Gatton was a guitar player’s guitar player.  His playing was admired by no less than Slash, Eric Clapton, Les Paul and Willie Nelson.  He’s been in the touring bands for Robert Gordon and Roger Miller, and he’s gone lick for lick on stage with the likes of Alvin Lee, Jimmie Vaughan and Roy Buchanan.  And Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at #63 on their 2003 list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.   Sadly though, Danny Gatton ended his own life by shooting himself in his garage at the age of 49.   

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88 Elmira St. - Danny Gatton

Died On This Date (September 30, 1977) Mary Ford / Popular ’50s Vocalist, Wife of Les Paul

Mary Ford (Born Iris Summers)
July 7, 1924 – September 30, 1977

Mary Ford was the wife and musical partner of Les Paul.  She sang and played guitar when performing and recording with her famous husband.  They were extremely popular in the early ’50s, scoring sixteen top-10 hits and selling over six million records in 1951 alone.  Ford married Paul in 1949 and the two almost immediately launched a radio show on NBC.  The signed to Capitol records at around the same time and began releasing a string of hits.  Their popularity began to wane in the late ’50s, and the two divorced, thus ending their professional relationship in 1964.   Ford spent the latter years of her life performing occasionally with her sisters and brother.  She died of complications from diabetes on September 30, 1977.  She was 53 years old.

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Les Paul with Mary Ford - The Best of the Capitol Masters: 90th Birthday Edition - Les Paul & Mary Ford