April 23, 1936 - December 6, 1988
Roy Orbison was one of the great voices of Rock 'n' Roll. Born Roy Kelton Orbison on April 23, 1936 in Vernon, Texas; he recorded his first songs with Sun Records at the age of 20 and achieved a modest hit with his first single, Ooby Dooby.
By his mid-20s, Orbison had shifted his focus from singing to songwriting, penning the song Claudette, which was later recorded by the Everly Brothers.
After a brief stint with the RCA label, Orbison switched to Monument Records, where he released his 1960 hit, Only the Lonely, and his most famous song, Oh! Pretty Woman, in 1964.
Orbison’s personal life took a series of devastating hits beginning in 1966, when his wife died in a motorcycle accident. A few years later, Orbison’s house burned to the ground, claiming the lives of two of his sons.
Orbison had a brief comeback in the 80s, joining George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Jeff Lynne in the star-studded band,
The Traveling Wilburys. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
On the heels of his Wilburys success, Orbison recorded
Mystery Girl, his first solo album in over 20 years.
The album reached #5 and spawned the top ten hit "You Got It." However, Orbison did not live to see the album ride up the charts; a heart attack claimed his life in 1988 just before the album was released.
| 10/19/1988 | 86 | Son House | delta blues pioneer | Cancer of the larynx | Detroit
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| 10/09/1988 | 58 | Cliff Gallup | Gene Vincent's Blue Caps, guitarist | Heart Attack | Detroit
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| 08/30/1988 | 57 | Papa Dee Allen | War | Brain Aneurysm (on stage) | Vallejo, CA
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| 08/14/1988 | 43 | Robert Calvert | Hawkwind | Heart Attack | Ramsgate, UK
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| 08/14/1988 | 48 | Roy Buchanan | blues guitarist | Suicide (hanging) | Fairfax, VA
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| 07/29/1988 | 55 | Pete Drake | pedal steel guitarist | Lung Cancer | Nashville
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Roddis Franklin "Pete" Drake
October 8, 1932 - July 29, 1988
Pete Drake was a highly sought-after Nashville pedal steel guitarist, producer and record company founder.
He played on many country and rock hits including Bob Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay", Charlie Rich's "Behind Closed Doors" and on several of Elvis Presley's movie soundtracks.
His innovative use of what would be called the "talk box", later used by Peter Frampton, Joe Walsh and Jeff Beck, added novel effects to the pedal steel guitar.
Drake played on some of rock's most important albums: Bob Dylan's
Nashville Skyline, George Harrison's classic solo debut
All Things Must Pass, and on Ringo Starr's 1970 album
Beaucoups of Blues.
As a producer, we worked with B. J. Thomas, the Four Freshmen, and Leon Russell. He founded Stop Records and First Generation Records.
| 07/18/1988 | 49 | Nico | Velvet Underground | Motorcycle Accident | Ibiza, Spain
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| 06/25/1988 | 26 | Hillel Slovak | Red Hot Chili Peppers, guitarist | Heroin Overdose |
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| 06/22/1988 | 43 | Jesse Ed Davis | session guitarist | Heroin Overdose | Venice, CA
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| 05/06/1988 | 53 | Paul Wilson | The Flamingos |
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| 04/09/1988 | 50 | Dave Prater | Sam & Dave | Car Accident | Sycamore, Georgia
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| 03/10/1988 | 30 | Andy Gibb | Bee Gees | Myocarditis, drug related | Oxford, UK
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| 02/24/1988 | 72 | Memphis Slim | blues pianist | Renal Failure | Paris, France
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| 02/13/1988 | 37 | John Curulewski | Styx | Stroke | La Grange, Illinois
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| 12/09/1987 | 31 | Will Shatter | Flipper/Negative Threat | Heroin Overdose |
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| 09/21/1987 | 35 | Jaco Pastorius | Weather Report, bassist | Beating | Ft. Lauderdale, FL
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Jaco Pastorius
December 1, 1951 - September 21, 1987
Often regarded as the World's greatest Bass player, Jaco Pastorius played his fretless bass with the jazz band Weather Report
and was in demand as a session player, working with Al Dimeola, Ian Hunter, Joni Mitchell, Herbie Hancock,
Blood Sweat and Tears and many others.
Sadly, Jaco was almost forgotten at the time of his death. Long suffering
from mental problems and drug and alcohol abuse, the music industry viewed him as a pariah. No one would hire him.
His problems were dramatized at the 1984 Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl.
Several minutes into the show, Jaco turned up his amplifier and started improvising, playing dissonant notes.
The crowd began booing loudly. One by one, his band members walked off the stage, leaving
Jaco playing alone, crashing wildly about the stage, knocking over equipment. The
performance ended only when the revolving stage was turned around and master of
ceremonies, Bill Cosby, apologized to the crowd and introduced the next band.
Jaco died as a result of a severe beating that occurred outside the Midnight Bottle
Club, an after-hours bar near Fort Lauderdale. Jaco was denied entry into the members-only club because he was drunk and abusive.
The club's bouncer, Luc Havan, claimed that Jaco fell backward and
hit his head on the sidewalk. Haven was charged with second-degree murder, but plea-
bargained and pled guilty to the reduced charge of manslaughter. He served only 4 months in jail.
Jaco died in the hospital nine days after the beating -- a blood vessel burst in his brain.
Paul Butterfield
December 17, 1942 - May 4, 1987
Developing an early interest in Blues music, Paul Butterfield taught himself to play harmonica as a youth and was sitting in with the Muddy Waters Band by 1958. He played steadily in the Chicago Blues scene in the early 1960’s.
In 1964 he formed The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, one of the first integrated Chicago Blues bands, and they recorded their first album for the Elektra label in 1965. Also that year,
they performed at the Newport Folk Festival and backed up Bob Dylan. Their popularity helped to spark a revival in Blues music.
They appeared in the movies "Festival", "You Are What You Eat" and recorded the soundtrack for "Steelyard Blues" in addition to performing at the Woodstock Festival.
In 1973 Butterfield put together a new band, Better Days, but failed to generate the popularity of his previous band.
He was featured in the 1978 film of The Band's The Last Waltz, on which he played behind Muddy Waters and Bob Dylan, as well as performing his own powerful solo of "Mystery Train."
A victim of his own overindulgence in drugs and alcohol, Paul Butterfield died of a drug-related heart failure in 1987.
| 04/17/1987 | 36 | Carlton Barrett | Wailers | Murdered | Jamaica
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| 04/02/1987 | 69 | Buddy Rich | jazz drummer | Heart Failure |
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| 03/21/1987 | 35 | Dean Paul Martin | Dino, Desi & Billy | Air Crash | San Gorgonio Mountain, California
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| 02/08/1987 | | Tony "Stix" Destra | Britney Fox/Cinderella, drummer | Car Accident | Pennsylvania
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| 01/12/1987 | 49 | Bobby M. Peterson | The Grateful Dead, poet/songwriter |
| 01/06/1987 | 39 | Peter Lucia, Jr. | Tommy James and the Shondells, drums | Heart Attack | Los Angeles
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| 12/24/1986 | 29 | Tommy Keiser | Krokus, bass/vocals | Suicide
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| 12/10/1986 | 44 | Kate Wolf | folksinger | Leukemia |
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Kate Wolf
January 27, 1942 - December 10, 1986
Kathryn Louise Allen, known professionally as Kate Wolf, was a folk singer/songwriter who had a significant impact on the folk music scene. Her best-known compositions include "Here in California", "Love Still Remains", "Across the Great Divide", "Unfinished Life", and "Give Yourself to Love".
Kate Wolf's music is celebrated each year at the
Kate Wolf Memorial Music Festival, held at the Black Oak Ranch in Laytonville, California.
| 12/01/1986 | 61 | Lee Dorsey | singer | Emphysema | New Orleans
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| 11/05/1986 | 61 | Bobby Nunn | The Coasters, singer | Heart Attack | Los Angeles
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| 10/23/1986 | 49 | Esquerita | singer/songwriter | AIDS | New York City
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| 10/01/1986 | | Andy McVann | The Farm, keyboards | Car Accident
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| 09/27/1986 | 24 | Cliff Burton | Metallica | Bus Accident | Sweden
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| 08/06/1986 | | Michael Rudetski | Culture Club | Heroin Overdose |
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| 06/06/1986 | | Dick Rowe | Decca A&R man who refused to sign the Beatles | Diabetes |
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| 03/31/1986 | 48 | O'Kelly Isley, Jr. | The Isley Brothers | Heart Attack | Alpine, New Jersey
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| 03/11/1986 | 74 | Sonny Terry | Harmonica Player | ? | Mineola, New York
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Sonny Terry
October 24, 1911 - March 11, 1986
Sonny Terry (born Saunders Terrell) was a blues musician who, along with Brownie McGee, was a fixture on the folk movement of the 1950's and 1960's.
Their work included collaborations with Woody Guthrie and Moses Asch.
Albert Grossman
May 21, 1926 - January 25, 1986
Albert Grossman made several contributions to the history of Rock 'n' Roll, and was manager for some of the biggest names in music, including Bob Dylan, Odetta, John Lee Hooker, The Band and Janis Joplin.
In 1959, Grossman joined forces with George Wein, who had founded the Newport Jazz Festival, to start up the Newport Folk Festival.
In 1961, Grossman joined Mary Travers, Noel Stookey, and Peter Yarrow together as the folk group Peter, Paul and Mary.
After Bob Dylan signed a management contract with Grossman, he invited Dylan to his Woodstock, New York home. Dylan liked the area so much he purchased a house there in 1965.
The cover of Dylan's album
Bringing It All Back Home was
photographed at Grossman's home in Woodstock. The woman in the cover photo with Dylan, in the red trouser suit, was Albert Grossman's wife, Sally
In 1969, Grossman built the Bearsville Recording Studio near Woodstock, in upstate New York, and in 1970 he founded Bearsville Records. The label signed rock acts including Foghat.
Albert Grossman died of a heart attack while flying on Concorde to London on January 25, 1986 with a plan to sign an unknown British singer to a contract. He is buried behind his own Bearsville Theater near Woodstock, New York.
| 01/04/1986 | 36 | Phil Lynott | Thin Lizzy | Heart Failure, Stroke, drug related | Ireland
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Phil Lynott
August 20, 1949 - January 4, 1986
Philip Parris "Phil" Lynott was the frontman of the Irish hard rock band Thin Lizzy. Their biggest hit was 1976's "The Boys are Back in Town" from the
Jailbreak Album.
He collapsed at his home on Christmas Day 1985 and died of heart failure and pneumonia in a hospital intensive care unit on January 4, 1986 at age 36.
In 2005, a life-sized bronze statue of Phil Lynott was placed outside Bruxelles, on Harry Street, in Dublin, Ireland.
In 2010, a CD entitled Yellow Pearl was released. It is a compilation of Lynott's two solo albums,
Solo in Soho and
The Philip Lynott Album, together with rare singles, remixes and B-sides.
| 12/31/1985 | 30 | Andy Chapin | Steppenwolf, keyboardist | Plane Crash | DeKalb, TX
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Andy Chapin
February 7, 1951 - December 31, 1985
Andy Chapin was a member of the Ricky Nelson Band. He and his bandmates died after their plane crashed on New Year's Eve 1985 in DeKalb, Texas while en route to a performance in Dallas, Texas. Prior
to joining Ricky Nelson, Chapin had been a member of The Association and prior to that he was keyboardist for Steppenwolf, with whom he'd recorded
Hour of the Wolf in 1975, the band's first album recorded without founding keyboardist Goldy McJohn. The
official explanation for his departure from Steppenwolf was that he didn't like touring. He was replaced by Wayne Cook.
| 12/31/1985 | 45 | Rick Nelson | Stone Canyon Band | Plane Crash | DeKalb, TX
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Ricky Nelson
May 8, 1940 - December 31, 1985
| 12/22/1985 | 27 | | D. Boon | Minutemen | Car Accident | Tucson, AZ
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| 12/12/1985 | 47 | Ian Stewart | Rolling Stones, keyboardist | Heart Attack | Inglewood, CA
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| 12/01/1985 | | Kurtis Teal | Iron Butterfly, keyboards | Heart Failure
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| 11/24/1985 | 74 | Big Joe Turner | The Boss of the Blues | Heart Attack | Inglewood, CA
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| 10/12/1985 | 32 | Ricky Wilson | B-52's | AIDS
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| 03/13/1985 | 65 | Bob Shad | Janis Joplin, producer | | Los Angeles
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| 02/28/1985 | 38 | David Byron | Uriah Heep |
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| 01/21/1985 | 56 | Barbara Cowsill | Cowsills | Emphysema
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| 12/28/1984 | 52 | Eddie "Bongo" Brown | The Funk Brothers, percussionist | Heart Failure |
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| 12/08/1984 | 24 | Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley | Hanoi Rocks | Car Accident (Vince Neil Driving) | Redondo Beach, CA
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| 11/24/1984 | 36 | John Angelos | Amboy Dukes, vocals | Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
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| 10/29/1984 | 35 | Wells Kelly | Orleans, Meatloaf, drummer | | Alcohol/drugs? | UK
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| 09/20/1984 | 36 | Steve Goodman | singer/songwriter | Leukemia |
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Steve Goodman
July 25, 1948 - September 20, 1984
Songwriter Steve Goodman was best known for his song "City of New Orleans", which was a hit when recorded by Arlo Guthrie. Goodman had a modest recording career, critical acclaim, and a small but loyal audience.
He toured often, performed at Carnegie Hall, and his songs were covered by Arlo Guthrie, Johnny Cash, and Joan Baez, among others. He believed in traditional folk music. His
songwriting ranged from blues to protest, and was characterized by fine melodies and clever lyrics. Goodman won two Grammy Awards.
Goodman died of leukemia after suffering with the disease for sixteen years.
Harmonica Frank Floyd
October 11, 1908 - August 7, 1984
Harmonica Frank Floyd was the son of poor Mississippi sharecropper parents that separated without giving him a name. He was raised by his grandparents, named himself Frank Floyd, and taught himself to play harmonica by age 10. He soon learned to play guitar as well.
Frank Floyd was a one-man band, able to play harmonica without his hands or the need for a neck brace. While also playing guitar, he perfected a technique of manipulating the harmonica with his mouth while he sang out of the other side. When performing on the medicine-show circuit he would play harmonica with his nose and thus could play two harmonicas at once!
Harmonica Frank was the first white musician to record at Sam Phillips' Sun Studios in Memphis. Phillips had the idea that a white man playing and singing black-oriented music would be successful. While the Harmonica Frank recordings didn't sell well,
Phillips went on to further explore the idea and recorded Elvis Presley - thus making history.
Jimmie Spheeris
November 5, 1949 - July 4, 1984
| 06/01/1984 | 40 | Nate Nelson | The Flamingos | Heart Failure |
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| 04/01/1984 | 44 | Marvin Gaye | | Murdered by his father
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| 02/28/1984 | 40 | Joseph Canzano ("Joey Vann") | The Duprees | Heart Failure |
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| 01/30/1984 | 37 | Candy Givens | Zepher, vocals | Drowned in a Hot Tub on drugs |
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| 01/21/1984 | 49 | Jackie Wilson | R&B singer | Heart Attack/Stroke/Coma |
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| 01/01/1984 | 55 | Alexis Korner | Father of the British Blues | Lung Cancer | London
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| 12/28/1983 | 40 | Dennis Wilson | The Beach Boys | Drowned | Marina Del Ray, CA
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| 11/23/1983 | 36 | Tom Evans | Badfinger | Suicide (hanging)
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| 10/20/1983 | 65 | Merle Travis | country singer/songwriter | Heart Failure | Tahleqush, Oklahoma
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| 08/02/1983 | 47 | James Jamerson | The Funk Brothers | Alcohol | Los Angeles
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| 07/12/1983 | 39 | Chris Wood | Traffic | Pneumonia | Birmingham, UK
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| 06/02/1983 | 33 | Stan Rogers | folk musician | Aircraft Fire | Hebron, Kentucky
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Stan Rogers
November 29, 1949 - June 2, 1983
Stanley Allison Rogers was a Canadian folksinger and songwriter known for his fine voice and traditional songs. His most famous song
"The Mary Ellen Carter" is an inspirational hymn about triumphing over great odds. It tells the story of a heroic effort to salvage a sunken ship, the Mary Ellen Carter, by members of her former crew.
Rogers and 22 other passengers died of smoke inhalation on June 2, 1983, after Air Canada Flight 797 made an emergency landing at the Greater Cincinnati Airport due to an in-flight fire.
Rogers was returning after performing at the Kerrville Folk Festival.
Muddy Waters
April 4, 1913 - April 30, 1983
McKinley Morganfield, better known as Muddy Waters, was born in Clarkson, Mississippi in 1913 (Some sources indicate he was born in Rolling Fork, Mississippi in 1915). He
is considered the father of Chicago blues and one of the greatest bluesmen of all time.
Muddy Waters first recorded his music in the summer of 1941. Alan Lomax came to Stovall, Mississippi, on behalf of the Library of Congress, to record various country blues musicians.
Lomax came back again in July of 1942. Both sessions were eventually released as Down On Stovall's Plantation on the Testament label.
In 1977 Johnny Winter convinced his label, Blue Sky, to sign Waters and release his "comeback" LP, Hard Again.
Felix Pappalardi
December 30, 1939 - April 17, 1983
Felix A. Pappalardi Jr. was the bassist for the rock group Mountain. He is also remembered as the producer for Cream, beginning with their 1967 classic
Disraeli Gears. He also worked with the Youngbloods,
Joan Baez and Tom Paxton.
He was shot and killed by his wife, Gail, on April 17, 1983 in their New York apartment. Gail claimed the shooting was an accident and managed to get the second degree murder charges reduced.
She was convicted and served 16 months before being paroled in 1985. She was last reported to live in Mexico.
Incidentally, Felix and Gail wrote the Cream hit "Strange Brew" with Eric Clapton!
| 04/14/1983 | 30 | Pete Farndon | Pretenders | Drug Overdose
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| 04/05/1983 | 41 | Danny Rapp | Danny & The Juniors | Suicide | Parker, Arizona |
| 02/04/1983 | 32 | Karen Carpenter | Carpenters | Anorexia Nervosa
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| 02/02/1983 | 86 | Sam Chatmon | blues guitarist |
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| 01/19/1983 | 34 | Lamar Williams | Allman Bothers Band, bassist | Agent-orange related Lung Cancer
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| 1983 | 35 | Richard Hughes | Johnny Winter, drummer | Suicide |
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| 12/17/1982 | 79 | Big Joe Williams | blues guitarist | | Macon, Mississippi
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| 12/08/1982 | 57 | Marty Robbins | Country singer/songwriter | Heart Attack | Nashville
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| 07/28/1982 | 28 | Keith Green | Contemporary Christian Musician | Plane Crash | Garden Valley, Texas
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| 06/16/1982 | 25 | James Honeyman-Scott | Pretenders | Drug Overdose | London
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| 06/10/1982 | 42 | Addie "Micki" Harris | The Shirelles | Heart Failure on stage | Atlanta
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| 06/03/1982 | 36 | Rusty Day | Amboy Dukes, Cactus | Murdered | Longwood, Florida |
Rusty Day
December 29, 1945 - June 3, 1982
Russell "Rusty Day" Edward Davidson was a rock vocalist and frontman, best known for his work with the bands Amboy Dukes and Cactus.
Day joined Ted Nugent's band The Amboy Dukes in 1968, after their former vocalist, John Drake, was fired. Day himself had just quit his own band, Rusty Day & The Midnighters. Rusty stayed only for one album, 1969s
Migration.
Cactus was formed by bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice from Vanilla Fudge. Rod Stewart was to be the singer in the group, but he left to join the Faces.
Day sang on three Cactus albums
(Cactus,
One Way...Or Another and
Restrictions) before he was fired from the band in 1971.
In 1982, Day was working on an album with his band Uncle Acid & The Permanent Damage Band, as well as dealing cocaine. Day owed money to Ron Sanders, one of the guitar players in his band, after a minor cocaine deal.
Monte "Mondo" Thomas, Day's lead guitarist and close friend, explained Sanders as: "...a madman, he was a millionaire and a real bad coke fiend." Thomas and Day both lived in Day's house in Longwood, Florida, along with Day's 11-year old son Russell. Thomas had agreed to drive a friend out of town, and was therefore not present when Sanders opened fire with a machine gun, shooting through the windows in Day's house, killing Day, his son Russell, and a house guest, Garth McRae. Ron Sanders shot himself six weeks later, after police had surrounded his house due to entirely different charges than the triple murder weeks before.
| 04/30/1982 | 33 | Lester Bangs | music journalist | Accidental Drug Overdose | New York City |
| 03/19/1982 | 25 | Randy Rhoads | Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne | Plane Crash | Lakeland, Florida |
Randy Rhoads
December 6, 1956 - March 19, 1982
Randall William "Randy" Rhoads was a heavy metal guitarist who formed the band Quiet Riot at age 17.
In 1979, he joined with Ozzy Osbourne's new solo band and moved to the UK to help Ozzy record the LP
Blizzard of Oz which contained the Hit "Crazy Train."
Randy was killed when the Beechcraft Bonanza in which they were flying clipped their tour bus and tree and then slammed into a two-story Florida mansion. The pilot Andrew Aycock, 36, and hairdresser Rachel Youngblood, 58, were also killed in the tragic crash.
Apparently, the plane was buzzing the bus where other members of the tour were sleeping.
Ozzy Osbourne was in the tour bus when the right wing of the plane wings clipped the bus. Ozzy escaped injury.
Randy was inducted into the Guitar Center Rock Walk (on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood, CA), in 2004. Embarrassingly, the original plaque placed there misspelled his name as "Rhodes"!
| 03/17/1982 | | Samuel George | The Capitols, drums & Vocals | Stabbing | Detroit
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Samuel George
Samuel George was the lead vocalist and drummer for the Detroit group The Capitols, a one-hit wonder with the 1966 song "Cool Jerk."
The song is still popular today and has been covered by artists including The Go-Go's and Todd Rundgren. "Cool Jerk" was used in Cool Whip commercials and in many movie soundtracks, including
More American Graffiti (1979) and
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992).
Samuel George died March 17, 1982 after he was fatally stabbed in a domestic dispute.
| 03/05/1982 | 33 | John Belushi | The Blues Brothers, comedian | Drug Overdose | Los Angeles, CA
|
John Belushi
January 24, 1949 - March 3, 1982
John Belushi was a singer for The Blues Brothers and an original cast member of the Saturday Night Live TV show.
In 1971, Belushi joined the Second City comedy troupe in Chicago, Illinois. His spot-on caricature of singer Joe Cocker's intense personality and flailing arms helped him gain the attention of National Lampoon.
While performing on The National Lampoon Radio Hour, Belushi met future Saturday Night Live regulars Gilda Radner, Bill Murray, Brian Doyle-Murray and Chevy Chase.
Belushi was with Saturday Night Live during their first broadcast season in 1975.
Between seasons of the show, he made one of his best-known movies, 1978's
Animal House.
Together with Dan Aykroyd, they created the Blues Brothers and premiered the act on Saturday Night Live with a version of Floyd Dixon's song "Hey Bartender" in the spring of
1978. This was followed with the release of the album
Briefcase Full of Blues.
Died of an overdose of cocaine and heroin (a "Speedball") in Bungalow #3 of the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood. The injection was administered by
Cathy Smith, a former groupie for The Band. She admitted in an article in the National Enquirer, titled "I Killed Belushi", that she had been with Belushi the night of his death and had given him the fatal speedball shot.
Smith was extradited from Toronto, arrested and charged with first-degree murder. A plea bargain reduced the charges to involuntary manslaughter, and she served 18 months in prison.
In one of his last TV appearances, Belushi filmed a cameo for the comedy series Police Squad! Belushi was filmed, face down in a swimming pool, dead. The footage was part of a running gag where the episodes' guest-star wouldn't make it past the opening credit sequence without meeting some gruesome end. Also, as noted in one of the commentary tracks on the DVD, John nearly drowned during the filming of the scene. The scene, of course, never aired.
Lightnin' Hopkins
March 15, 1912 - January 30, 1982
| 01/22/1982 | 48 | Tommy Tucker | Blues singer/songwriter | Inhalation of carbon tetrachloride | Newark, NJ
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| 08/26/1981 | 67 | Lee Hays | The Weavers | Heart Attack |
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| 08/02/1981 | 31 | Alan Henry Malarowitz | Sweetwater, drummer | Car Accident | San Bernardino, CA
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| 07/16/1981 | 38 | Harry Chapin | singer/songwriter | Car Accident | Long Island, NY
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Harry Chapin
December 7, 1942 - July 16, 1981
Born the son of a big band drummer in New York in 1942, Chapin began performing while he was in high school, singing in the Brooklyn Heights Boys' Choir and forming a band with his brothers Tom and Stephen.
Harry Chapin was signed to Elektra Records. His debut album
Heads and Tales contained
the six-minute song "Taxi" which enjoyed success in the US charts. In 1974, Chapin secured the US Christmas number 1 single with his
evocative song "Cat's In The Cradle." With a series of albums, strongly narrative in tone, it was clear that Chapin was capable of extending himself and in 1975 he wrote the Broadway musical
revue, THE NIGHT THAT MADE AMERICA FAMOUS. That same year, he also won an Emmy award for his musical work on the children's television series, MAKE A WISH. The title track to his album SEQUEL,
which was a story sequel to his first hit Taxi, gave him his final US Top 30 entry.
On 16 July 1981, while traveling on the Long Island Expressway to a benefit concert, his 1975 Volkswagen Rabbit was rear-ended by a truck in Jericho, New York. The accident ruptured the gas tank and caused the car to burst into flames.
The driver of the truck, and passers-by were able to get Harry out of the car before it was completely engulfed in flames. He was helicoptered to an area hospital where doctors tried for 30 minutes to revive him.
Chapin was driving illegally. He had several tickets for speeding and moving violations, and
his driver's license was revoked. An autopsy revealed that Chapin had suffered a fatal heart attack. It is unclear if
the heart attack led to the accident or vice-versa, although witness reports indicate he had slowed the vehicle to 15 MPH and had activated the emergency flashers, swerving in front of the tractor-trailer truck just before it hit him.
Chapin was interred in the Huntington Rural Cemetery, Huntington, New York.
His epitaph is taken from his song "I Wonder What Would Happen to this World." It is:
Oh if a man tried
To take his time on Earth
And prove before he died
What one man's life could be worth
I wonder what would happen
to this world
Steve Took
Steve Took formed Tyrannosaurus Rex with Marc Bolan in 1967. "Tookie" died when he choked on a Cocktail Cherry while lounging in bed. He was high on morphine & Magic Mushrooms at the time, likely contributing to his death!
| 10/06/1980 | 54 | Lincoln R. Chase | singer/songwriter |
|
Lincoln R. Chase
June 29, 1926 - October 6, 1980
Lincoln Chase was a prolific songwriter. He wrote "Jim Dandy" for LaVern Baker, but rock fans know the song as recorded by Black Oak Arkansas. With his wife, Shirley Ellis, he co-wrote
well-remembered songs in the novelty genre including "Nitty Gritty" and "Name Game."
| 09/26/1980 | 49 | Pat Hare | blues guitarist | Lung Cancer | St. Paul, MN
|
Pat Hare
December 20, 1930 - September 29, 1980
Pat Hare (Born Auburn Hare in Cherry Valley, Arkansas) was a blues guitarist. He died of lung cancer while in prison for murdering his girlfriend and a policeman. He recorded, ironically, "I'm Gonna Murder My Baby" and "Bonus Pay".
He worked with Howlin' Wolf, James Cotton and Muddy Waters.
| 09/25/1980 | 32 | John Bonham | Led Zeppelin, drummer | Alcohol | Clewer, Windsor, England
|
John Bonham
May 31, 1948 - September 25, 1980
John Bonham was drummer for the rock gods Led Zeppelin.
Keith Godchaux
July 9, 1948 - July 23, 1980
Keith Godchaux joined the Grateful Dead as their keyboardist in 1971. His first show with them was on October 19, 1971, filling in for the ailing
Ron "Pigpen" McKernan. Prior to that time, Keith had been in Dave Mason's band.
Keith only wrote one song during his time with the Dead: "Let Me Sing Your Blues Away," from
Wake of the Flood. It was only performed five times in 1973.
Keith and his wife Donna Godchaux issued the mostly self-written Keith and Donna album in 1975 with
Jerry Garcia as a member of their band. The couple also performed as
part of the Jerry Garcia band. Later, he and his wife formed The Heart of Gold Band.
Godchaux was asked to leave the Grateful Dead in 1979; the next keyboardist to fill his role was Brent Mydland.
Godchaux died after losing control of his car in Marin County, California, at the age of 32. The position of Grateful Dead keyboardist
is ill-fated; Brent Mydland also died prematurely (in 1990), as did Vince Welnick (in 2006).
| 05/30/1980 | 37 | Carl Radle | bassist | Kidney Infection |
|
| 05/18/1980 | 23 | Ian Curtis | Joy Division | Suicide
|
| 04/28/1980 | 30 | Tommy Caldwell | Marshall Tucker Band | Car Accident
|
| 03/29/1980 | 74 | Mantovani | bandleader |
|
| 03/26/1980 | | Jon-Jon Paulos | Buckinghams | Drug overdose
|
| 02/19/1980 | 33 | Bon Scott | AC/DC | Alcohol | London
|
Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott
July 9, 1946 - February 19, 1980
Bon Scott was the lead singer and lyricist of Australian hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980.
1970s