Died On This Date (January 19, 2010) C.T. Tucker / Beloved New Jersey Blues Musician

C.T. Tucker (Born Christopher Harshorne)
DOB Unknown – January 19, 2010

Photo by Alison Goessling

C.T. Tucker was a popular northwestern New Jersey R&B band leader and restaurateur.  His band, Blue Sparks From Hell, formed in 1977 and played upwards of 250 shows a year while occasionally sharing the bill with the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Mel Tillis, Doc Watson, Willie Dixon and Muddy Waters.  The band was a local favorite thanks to its lively shows that incorporated blues, R&B and swing.  During the ’90s, Tucker opened Tucker’s Breakfast King which served breakfast and lunch during the day, and then re-opened as a venue in the evenings.  Acts such as the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Loudon Wainwright III graced its stage.   In later years, Tucker and his wife ran an animal casting business which provided critters for film and television.  On January 19, 2010, C.T. Tucker died of lymphoma at the age of 57.

Thanks to Diane Schaer for the assist.



Died On This Date (December 28, 1976) Freddie King / Texas Blues Great

Freddie King
September 3, 1934 – December 28, 1976

Freddie King was a Texas blues guitarist who directly inspired no less than Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Clapton.  He, B.B. King, and Albert King were known as the “Three Kings of the Blues Guitar.”  Over a career that spanned almost 30 years, King released over a dozen albums that included such classic blues recordings as “Hide Away,” “Have You Ever Loved a Woman,” and “I Love the Woman.” Rolling Stone magazine listed King at #25 on their list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.  In 1973, Grand Funk Railroad honored King by namechecking him in their classic song, “We’re an American Band,” an homage to life on the road for a rock ‘n roll band.  The lyric, “Up all night with Freddie King / I got to tell you poker’s his thing / Booze and ladies keep me right / as long as we can make it to the show tonight.”  Freddie King was just 42 when he died of heart failure on December 28, 1976.

What You Should Own

Click to find at amazon.com

Ultimate Collection: Freddie King - Freddie King

Died On This Date (December 23, 2008) Don Randall / Co-Founder of Fender Guitars; Coined “Stratocaster”

Don Randall
October 30, 1917 – December 23, 2008

Photo by Robert Perine
Photo by Robert Perine

Don Randall was one of the driving forces behind the success of Fender Guitars.  It was Randall’s marketing savvy that helped secure such loyalists as Ritchie Valens, Jimi Hendrix and Dick Dale.  Randall also had to responsibility of naming the guitars that the company created.  In that capacity, he coined the name Stratocaster, given to the 1954 model that would help revolutionize the way musicians approached the instrument.  It was popularized by Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Holly and countless others.  In 1965, Randall helped negotiate the sale of the company to CBS and stayed on as Vice President and General Manager until is retirement from the company in 1969.  He later launched the successful Randall Instruments that built amplifiers and PA systems.   Don Randall passed away on December 23, 2008 at the age of 81.



Died On This Date (December 21, 1992) Albert King / Blues Guitar Great

Albert King
April 25, 1923 – December 21, 1992

Albert King was a singer and electric guitarists who is considered one of the all-time greats of the blues.  What distinguished him from the others is that he was left-handed but played a right-handed guitar upside-down.  He also prefered to play what is called a “flying V” guitar that is usually played by metal guitarists.  King scored a few minor hits during the early days of his career, but after signing with Stax Records in 1966, he found himself being backed by Booker T. and the MGs on what would become numerous influential records.  His hits included “Crosscut Saw” and “Born Under a Bad Sign,” which has since become a blues standard.  King has been cited as a direct influence on the likes of Gary Moore, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Joe Walsh, and Stevie Ray Vaughan.  Albert King died of a heart attack on December 21, 1992.  He was 69 years old.

What You Should Own

Click to find at amazon.com

In Session (With Stevie Ray Vaughan) [Remastered] - Albert King