Died On This Date (April 11, 2001) Sandy Bull / Folk Guitar Great
themusicsover Sandy Bull
January 1, 1941 – April 11, 2001
Sandy Bull was a musical genius. Best known for his brilliant folk guitar playing, he was also a master of the banjo, aud, pedal steel and other stringed instruments. Like Vanguard Records label mate, John Fahey, Bull’s finger-picking incorporated various styles of music – in Bull’s case, classical, jazz and middle Eastern. And like Fahey, he rose to prominence during the ’60s folk revival and influenced the likes of Leo Kottke, Ry Cooder, Richard Thompson, and later, M. Ward. Bull struggled with drug addiction which forced him into early retirement in the early ’70s. After successfully completing rehab, Bull was back in the studio and on stage by the early 80s. He died of lung cancer on April 11, 2001 at the age of 60.
What You Should Own
Duane Jarvis was one of those great talents that should have been more famous than they were. Although Jarvis was born in Oregon, both Los Angeles and Nashville like to claim him as their own as well. Much more than a superb singer and songwriter, Jarvis was also a master of the guitar, mandolin and bass. Over the years he has worked with the Divinyls, Rosie Flores, Dave Alvin, John Prine, Victoria Williams, Dwight Yoakam, M. Ward, and Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits. Duane Jarvis died of cancer on April 1, 2009.
John Fahey was an influential folk and blues guitarist who is revered for his minimalistic steel string finger-picking style of play. Fahey bought his first guitar at the age of 13, and by the time he was 20, he was making his own recordings. Besides his amazing guitar skill, what separated Fahey from most other musicians at the time, was that he started his own record label, Takoma Records through which to release while he was still just a teenager. Through all this, Fahey continued his education, eventually earning a Master’s degree in folklore from UCLA. As a musicologist, Fahey tracked down the long forgotten blues great, 
Screamin’ Jay Hawkins was a somewhat outrageous blues and rock ‘n roll singer and musician whose biggest hit, “I Put a Spell On You,” and spooky stage theatrics influenced the likes of Alice Cooper and Black Sabbath. Even Bruce Springsteen has borrowed from Hawkins by coming out of a coffin to kick off his shows around Halloween. After serving in WWII where he was reportedly captured and tortured, Hawkins came home to the U.S. where he became a middleweight boxing champ, and later, a recording artist. In 1956, he released “I Put a Spell On You,” which went on to become a radio staple each year in October and has since been recorded or performed by the likes of Creedance Clearwater Revival, 