Joe Hinton
November 15, 1929 – August 13, 1968
Joe Hinton was a gospel singer who began making non-secular soul music in 1958. Over the next six years, he scored a handful of R&B hits which included, “You Know It Ain’t Right,” “I Want A Little Girl,” and a cover of Willie Nelson’s “Funny How Time Slips Away.” Joe Hinton died of skin cancer at the age of 38.
Ben Keith (Born Bennett Schaeufle)
March 6, 1937 – July 26, 2010
Ben Keith was a successful Nashville session player, producer, and singer-songwriter who is perhaps best remembered for his many collaborations with Neil Young. Keith first began making a name for himself in Nashville during the ’50s and ’60s when he played on numerous country and early rock ‘n roll hits. That list includes his steel guitar on Patsy Cline’s “I Fall To Pieces.” During the early ’70s, Keith was invited to play on Young Harvest album that went on to become the most successful album of 1971 and spawned such rock staples as “Old Man” and “Heart Of Gold,” both of which featured Keith’s playing. That was the beginning of a nearly 40-year musical partnership that found Keith playing on over a dozen Young albums and in countless concerts. Over the course of his career, Keith also collaborated with a group of some of popular music’s most beloved artists. That list includes Waylon Jennings, Jewel, Warren Zevon, Willie Nelson, the Band, Johnny Cash, and Ringo Starr. He also released a handful of his albums. Ben Keith passed away on July 26, 2010 at the age of 73. Cause of death was not immediately released.
William “Lefty” Frizzell
March 31, 1928 – July 19, 1975
Lefty Frizzell was a country singer and songwriter, popular in the 1950s and one of the leaders of the honky tonk movement. His singing and playing style were a major influence on the likes of George Jones, Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson. Frizzell kept very busy throughout most of the ’50s, either recording or touring the honky tonk circuit, and even as rock ‘n roll was dominating the Ameican phsyche by 1959, Frizzell was still scoring hits with his traditional country sound, including the Grammy nominated “Long Black Veil.” By the ’70s, Frizzell had moved to Bakersfield, California and became the first Country artist to perform at the Hollywood Bowl. But unfortunately, Frizzell’s battle with alcohol was starting to catch up with him, both physically and by damaging his business and personal relationships due to his heavy mood swings and angry tirades. Lefty Frizzell died on July 19, 1975 after suffering a stroke.
Garland “Hank” Cochran
August 2, 1935 – July 15, 2010
Hank Cochran was a successful country singer as well as one of the genre’s most respected songwriters. Besides charting several singles himself as a performer, Cochran penned countless hits as performed by the likes of Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, Norah Jones, George Strait, Ella Fitzgerald, George Jones, Brad Paisley, Elvis Costello, and Merle Haggard, to name a few. After a rough childhood in and out of orphanages, Cochran migrated to California while still a teenager to work in the fields. It was there that he met Eddie Cochran and formed the Cochran Brothers even though they weren’t related. By his mid ’20s, he was living and writing in Nashville. Teaming up with Harlan Howard, the pair wrote “I Fall To Pieces” which became a #1 hit for Patsy Cline in 1960. While working for a publishing company, Cochran reportedly helped Willie Nelson get signed on, thus giving Nelson’s early career a significant boost. Cochran’s final years were riddled with significant health issues. In 2008, he had cancerous tumors removed from his lymph node and pancreas, and in early 2010, he had an aortic aneurysm. Hank Cochran was 74 when he passed away on July 15, 2010. Actual cause of death was not immediately released.
Chet Atkins
June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001
Chet Atkins was one of the most influential musicians to come out of Nashville. And yet, he was much more than that. Atkins worked on the business side as well, spending some time as an artist manager as well as Vice President of RCA Records‘ country division where he remarkably signed Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Dolly Parton, Bobby Bare, Connie Smith and Jerry Reed to name just a few. As a producer, Atkins made hits for Elvis Presley, Perry Como, Eddy Arnold, Waylon Jennings and many more. The sounds he created on record are credited as being one of the foundations of what would become known as the Nashville Sound. Atkins’ style of playing was itself influenced by the great Merle Travis and is one of the most difficult sounds to imitate, earning him the nickname, “Mister Guitar.” Over the course of his career, Atkins won fourteen Grammys, nine Country Music Association awards, and the Billboard Century award. He was also inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, invited to the White House to play for every president from Kennedy to Bush Sr., and had a stretch of highway in Georgia named after him. Atkins died of cancer on June 30, 2001.
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