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Los Angeles (CNN) -- Don Cornelius, the founder of the "Soul Train" television show, was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head Wednesday, authorities said. He was 75.Cornelius died of a gunshot wound at a house on Mulholland Drive, said Los Angeles police Officer Tenesha Dodine. Police responded to the call about 4 a.m. (7 a.m. ET), Dodine said.Co1rnelius was pronounced dead at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, according to Lt. Larry Dietz of the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office.Los Angeles police investigators reported to the coroner that Cornelius died from a "self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head," coroner's Assistant Chief Ed Winter said. The coroner's office will perform an autopsy to confirm the cause of death.  Cornelius created a pilot for "Soul Train" using $400 of his own money, according to the website biography.com. The show was named after a promotional event he put together in 1969, the site said. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ LOS ANGELES -- Etta James' performance of the enduring classic "At Last" was the embodiment of refined soul: Angelic-sounding strings harkened the arrival of her passionate yet measured vocals as she sang tenderly about a love finally realized after a long and patient wait.In real life, little about James was as genteel as that song. The platinum blonde's first hit was a saucy R&B number about sex, and she was known as a hell-raiser who had tempestuous relationships with her family, her men and the music industry. Then she spent years battling a drug addiction that she admitted sapped away at her great talents.The 73-year-old died on Friday at Riverside Community Hospital from complications of leukemia, with her husband and sons at her side, her manager, Lupe De Leon said."It's a tremendous loss for her fans around the world," he said. "She'll be missed. A great American singer. Her music defied category."James' spirit could not be contained - perhaps that's what made her so magnetic in music; it is surely what made her so dynamic as one of R&B, blues and rock `n' roll's underrated legends."The bad girls ... had the look that I liked," she wrote in her 1995 autobiography, "Rage to Survive." `'I wanted to be rare, I wanted to be noticed, I wanted to be exotic as a Cotton Club chorus girl, and I wanted to be obvious as the most flamboyant hooker on the street. I just wanted to be.""Etta James was a pioneer. Her ever-changing sound has influenced rock and roll, rhythm and blues, pop, soul and jazz artists, marking her place as one of the most important female artists of our time," said Rock and Roll Hall of Fame President and CEO Terry Stewart. "From Janis Joplin to Joss Stone, an incredible number of performers owe their debts to her. There is no mistaking the voice of Etta James, and it will live forever."Despite the reputation she cultivated, she would always be remembered best for "At Last." The jazz-inflected rendition wasn't the original, but it would become the most famous and the song that would define her as a legendary singer. Over the decades, brides used it as their song down the aisle and car companies to hawk their wares, and it filtered from one generation to the next through its inclusion in movies like "American Pie." Perhaps most famously, President Obama and the first lady danced to a version at his inauguration ball.The tender, sweet song belied the turmoil in her personal life. James - born Jamesetta Hawkins - was born in Los Angeles to a mother whom she described as a scam artist, a substance abuser and a fleeting presence during her youth. She never knew her father, although she was told and had believed, that he was the famous billiards player Minnesota Fats. He neither confirmed nor denied it: when they met, he simply told her: "I don't remember everything. I wish I did, but I don't."She was raised by Lula and Jesse Rogers, who owned the rooming house where her mother once lived in. The pair brought up James in the Christian faith, and as a young girl, her voice stood out in the church choir. James landed the solos in the choir and became so well known, she said that Hollywood stars would come to see her perform.But she wouldn't stay a gospel singer for long. Rhythm and blues lured her away from the church, and she found herself drawn to the grittiness of the music."My mother always wanted me to be a jazz singer, but I always wanted to be raunchy," she recalled in her book.She was doing just that when bandleader Johnny Otis found her singing on San Francisco street corners with some girlfriends in the early 1950s. Otis, a legend in his own right, died on Tuesday."At the time, Hank Ballard and the Midnighters had a hit with `Work With Me, Annie,' and we decided to do an answer. We didn't think we would get in show business, we were just running around making up answers to songs," James told The Associated Press in 1987And so they replied with the song, "Roll With Me, Henry."When Otis heard it, he told James to get her mother's permission to accompany him to Los Angeles to make a recording. Instead, the 15-year-old singer forged her mother's name on a note claiming she was 18."At that time, you weren't allowed to say `roll' because it was considered vulgar. So when Georgia Gibbs did her version, she renamed it `Dance With Me, Henry' and it went to No. 1 on the pop charts," the singer recalled. The Gibbs song was one of several in the early rock era when white singers got hits by covering songs by black artists, often with sanitized lyrics.After her 1955 debut, James toured with Otis' revue, sometimes earning only $10 a night. In 1959, she signed with Chicago's legendary Chess label, began cranking out the hits and going on tours with performers such as Bobby Vinton, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Gene Vincent, Jerry Lee Lewis and the Everly Brothers."We would travel on four buses to all the big auditoriums. And we had a lot of fun," she recalled in 1987.James recorded a string of hits in the late 1950s and `60s including "Trust In Me," `'Something's Got a Hold On Me," `'Sunday Kind of Love," `'All I Could Do Was Cry," and of course, "At Last.""(Chess Records founder) Leonard Chess was the most aware of anyone. He went up and down the halls of Chess announcing, `Etta's crossed over! Etta's crossed over!' I still didn't know exactly what that meant, except that maybe more white people were listening to me. The Chess brothers kept saying how I was their first soul singer, that I was taking their label out of the old Delta blues, out of rock and into the modern era. Soul was the new direction," she wrote in her autobiography. "But in my mind, I was singing old style, not new."In 1967, she cut one of the most highly regarded soul albums of all time, "Tell Mama," an earthy fusion of rock and gospel music featuring blistering horn arrangements, funky rhythms and a churchy chorus. A song from the album, "Security," was a top 40 single in 1968.Her professional success, however, was balanced against personal demons, namely a drug addiction."I was trying to be cool," she told the AP in 1995, explaining what had led her to try heroin."I hung out in Harlem and saw Miles Davis and all the jazz cats," she continued. "At one time, my heavy role models were all druggies. Billie Holiday sang so groovy. Is that because she's on drugs? It was in my mind as a young person. I probably thought I was a young Billie Holiday, doing whatever came with that."She was addicted to the drug for years, beginning in 1960, and it led to a harrowing existence that included time behind bars. It sapped her singing abilities and her money, eventually, almost destroying her career.It would take her at least two decades to beat her drug problem. Her husband, Artis Mills, even went to prison for years, taking full responsibility for drugs during an arrest even though James was culpable."My management was suffering. My career was in the toilet. People tried to help, but I was hell-bent on getting high," she wrote of her drug habit in 1980.She finally quit the habit and managed herself for a while, calling up small clubs and asking them, "Have you ever heard of Etta James?" in order to get gigs. Eventually, she got regular bookings - even drawing Elizabeth Taylor as an audience member. In 1984, she was tapped to sing the national anthem at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, and her career got the resurgent boost it needed, though she fought addiction again when she got hooked on painkillers in the late 1980s.Drug addiction wasn't her only problem. She struggled with her weight, and often performed from a wheelchair as she got older and heavier. In the early 2000s, she had weight-loss surgery and shed some 200 pounds.James performed well into her senior years, and it was "At Last" that kept bringing her the biggest ovations. The song was a perennial that never aged, and on Jan. 20, 2009, as crowds celebrated that - at last - an African-American had become president of the United States, the song played as the first couple danced.But it was superstar Beyonce who serenaded the Obamas, not the legendary singer. Beyonce had portrayed James in "Cadillac Records," a big-screen retelling of Chess Records' heyday, and had started to claim "At Last" as her own.An audio clip surfaced of James at a concert shortly after the inauguration, saying she couldn't stand the younger singer and that Beyonce had "no business singing my song." But she told the New York Daily News later that she was joking, even though she had been hurt that she did not get the chance to participate in the inauguration.Upon hearing of her death, Beyonce released a statement on her website that read: "This is a huge loss. Etta James was one of the greatest vocalists of our time. I am so fortunate to have met such a queen. Her musical contributions will last a lifetime. Playing Etta James taught me so much about myself, and singing her music inspired me to be a stronger artist. When she effortlessly opened her mouth, you could hear her pain and triumph. Her deeply emotional way of delivering a song told her story with no filter. She was fearless, and had guts. She will be missed."James did get her accolades over the years. She was inducted into the Rock Hall in 1993, captured a Grammy in 2003 for best contemporary blues album for "Let's Roll," one in 2004 for best traditional blues album for "Blues to the Bone" and one for best jazz vocal performance for 1994's "Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday." She was also awarded a special Grammy in 2003 for lifetime achievement and got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.Her health went into decline, however, and by 2011, she was being cared for at home by a personal doctor.She suffered from dementia, kidney problems and leukemia. Her husband and her two sons fought over control of her $1 million estate, though a deal was later struck keeping Mills as the conservator and capping the singer's expenses at $350,000. In December 2011, her physician announced that her leukemia was terminal, and asked for prayers for the singer.In October 2011, it was announced that James was retiring from recording, and a final studio recording, "The Dreamer," was released, featuring the singer taking on classic songs, from Bobby "Blue" Bland's "Dreamer" to Guns N' Roses "Welcome To the Jungle" - still rocking, and a fitting end to her storied career.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pioneering rhythm-and-blues singer, songwriter, drummer, bandleader and disc jockey Johnny Otis made the kind of conscious
life choice early on that few people have the inclination, or circumstance, to carry out. Born white, the son of Greek immigrant
parents, and raised in a predominantly black neighborhood in Northern California in the 1920s, Otis decided as a youth that
he'd rather be black. The choice put him on a path to a life in music during which he created the sensually pulsing 1958 hit
"Willie and the Hand Jive." It also gave him a deep connection to black culture that helped him discover such future stars of
R&B and rock as Etta James, Little Richard, Jackie Wilson, Hank Ballard and Little Esther Phillips. "Yes, I chose," Otis told The Times in 1979, "because
despite all the hardships, there's a wonderful richness in black culture that I prefer." Otis died Tuesday (January 17,
2012) in the Los Angeles area, where he had lived for much of his life, said Tom Reed, a black-music historian. He was 90. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, Otis continued leading a big band R&B, jazz, soul, gospel and roots-rock revue in recent years, literally and figuratively beating the drum for
the music that fired his imagination. "I get a wave of pride in America when I look back at what we've accomplished in
the field of music," Otis told the San Francisco Chronicle in 2000. "People are going to wake up to this great reservoir
of music we've created in America — cakewalks, one-steps, boogie-woogie, country and western. I had a bit to do with one of those traditions." "I'm not suggesting our music is the only
music," he told The Times in 1986 when the once-endangered musical style he helped create was staging a comeback, "but
I am suggesting that there are certain elements in America's culture that are so precious that it would be a shame for them
to go down the drain." He was born John Veliotes on Dec. 28, 1921, in Vallejo, northeast of San Francisco, and was raised
in Berkeley, where his father ran a grocery store in a largely black community. "When I got near teen age, I was so happy
with my friends and the African American culture that I couldn't imagine not being part of it," Otis told the San Diego
Union-Tribune in 1991. He started playing drums with big bands and jazz combos, and in his early 20s came to L.A. to join
Harlan Leonard's Kansas City Rockers, the house band at Club Alabam on the thriving Central Avenue jazz-blues-R&B club
scene. "Man, you could go into one club and there'd be [jazz saxophone giant] Lester Young jamming, go into another and you'd find T Bone [Walker, the Texas blues guitarist and singer], and
down the street Miles [Davis] would be blowing," Otis said in 1979. "Yeah, L.A. was happening." But tough times
in the late 1940s forced bandleaders to pare their large ensembles back to a small handful of players — the perfect
size, as it turned out, for the new styles of R&B and rock 'n' roll that were emerging. "To compensate for all the instruments we were eliminating, we had to put
in some new ones, each with a fuller sound: an electric guitar, a blues guitar, a boogie piano," Otis told The Times
in 1984, and "the sound changed too, into more of a cross between swing and country blues.... We ended up creating a
whole new art form: a hybrid music that became known as rhythm and blues." Otis scored a signature hit of that nascent
style in 1946 with the moody, saxophone-driven instrumental "Harlem Nocturne," which was revived in 1960 by the white New Jersey rock group the Viscounts. At one point, Otis was
asked to judge a talent competition in Detroit and selected three winners: Wilson, Ballard and Little Willie John. Otis' talent,
he once said, was being able to "see something before anyone else." He wrote the song that became James' first charting
hit — vaulting her to No. 1 on the R&B chart in 1955 — with "The Wallflower," popularly known as
"Roll With Me Henry." It was a female-centric response to Ballard's sexually charged hit "Work With Me Annie"
that raised eyebrows for its frankness. Then he came up with a variant on Bo Diddley's signature 1955 hit "Bo Diddley" using the same five-count "shave-and-a-haircut, two-bits!"
beat and created a smash of his own in "Willie and the Hand Jive." It's been recorded dozens of times by a wide
variety of musicians, most notably by Eric Clapton in 1974. Otis wrote other R&B hits, including "So Fine," "Double Crossing Blues"
and "All Nite Long," and produced early recordings for Little Richard, Big Mama Thornton and Johnny Ace. He also
hosted early radio and television shows in L.A. and later guided new generations of listeners through music history on oldies radio shows at KPFK-FM (90.7) in L.A. and a sister station in the Bay Area. With the British Invasion
in the early 1960s, "the white boys from England came over with a recycled version of what we created. We were out of
business, man," Otis said in 1994. He saw a brief revival of interest in original R&B in the late 1960s and 1970s,
when he performed with a band that included his teenage son, Shuggie, on guitar. But with the arrival of disco, then punk, hard rock and heavy metal in the 1970s, Otis was effectively forced to retire. He turned
his home in the West Adams District into the nondenominational Landmark Church and became its pastor, often leading a choir
that included some of the greatest voices in pop music, including James and Esther Phillips. In 1968, he published the book
"Listen to the Lambs," a sociological critique he wrote in the wake of the Watts riots. He chronicled the music
scene he knew so well in the 1994 book "Upside Your Head! Rhythm and Blues on Central Avenue." Otis even found his
way into politics, serving as deputy chief of staff for Mervyn M. Dymally as the Democrat rose in state politics and served
in the U.S. House of Representatives. While cultivating his interest in painting and sculpture, Otis tended homegrown crops in Altadena
and in Sebastopol in Northern California's wine country. He also opened a short-lived grocery store and for a time marketed
Johnny Otis Apple Juice. "Today's musicians are better technically," Otis said in 1979, "but that's not a virtue
in itself. What's important is the emotional impact.... Most rock or disco today doesn't stir up anything in my heart —
not the way a Picasso does, not the way the blues or gospel does." Otis and his wife of 60 years, Phyllis, had severalchildren
and grandchildren. randy.lewis@latimes.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- James Walter "Jimmy" Castor (June 23, 1940 –
January 16, 2012) was an American pop and funk musician. He is best known as a fun disco/funk saxophonist, with his biggest hit single being 1972's million seller, "Troglodyte (Cave Man)".[ Castor started as a doo-wop singer in New York. He wrote and recorded "I Promise to Remember" in 1956. Castor then replaced Frankie Lymon in The Teenagers in 1957 before switching to the saxophone in 1960. He had a solo hit with "Hey Leroy, Your Mama's Callin' You" on Smash Records in 1966. Castor also played sax on Dave "Baby" Cortez's hit "Rinky Dink." He formed the Jimmy Castor Bunch in 1972 and signed with RCA. As leader of The Jimmy Castor Bunch in the 1970s, and also as a solo artist, he has released several successful albums and singles. The group reached the peak of their commercial success in 1972 with the release of their album, It's Just Begun, which featured two hit singles: the title track and "Troglodyte (Cave Man)," which was a large hit in the U.S., peaking at #6 in the Billboard Hot 100. The track stayed in the chart for 14 weeks and was a million seller by 30 June 1972, and received a gold disc award from the R.I.A.A.[2]Castor continued the trend in 1975 with "The Bertha Butt Boogie" and later recorded "E-Man Boogie,"
"King Kong," "Bom Bom," and "Potential." The Castor band included keyboardist/trumpeter Gerry Thomas, bassist Doug Gibson, guitarist Harry Jensen, conga player Lenny Fridle, Jr., and drummer Bobby Manigault.[2] Thomas, who simultaneously recorded with the Fatback Band, left in the '80s to exclusively record with them. Castor recorded as a solo performer from 1976 until 1988. He had one of
his bigger hits in many years with a 1988 revival of "Love Makes a Woman," which paired him with disco diva Joyce Sims. Castor had his own record label, Long Distance, in the 1980s . Many of the group's tunes have been heavily sampled in films and in hip-hop. In particular, the saxophone hook and groove from "It's Just Begun" and the spoken word intro and groove from "Troglodyte" (namely,
"What we're gonna do right here is go back...") have been sampled extensively. He died in 2012 from heart
failure.[3]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sorry to
have to be saying goodbye to another from our vocal group family. Dennis Diamond, a member of the original Bon-Aires, passed
away on Jan. 4, 2012. Dennis was an original member of the Bon-Aires from 1961 thru 1965. Dennis sang
baritone and tenor with the Bon-Aires. Their biggest hit was the "Shrine of St. Cecilia." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Doo-wop singer Fred Milano, who rose to fame as a member of Dion and the Belmonts in the late 1950s, died Sunday, January 1, 2012 in New York at age 72. The Belmonts (Milano, born August 22, 1939, Angelo D'Aleo, 71, and Carlo Mastrangelo, 74) took their name from Belmont Avenue in the Bronx, the street where the members grew up. They first recorded for Mohawk Records in 1957. Paired soon after with Dion DiMucci, who became the quartet's lead singer, Dion and the Belmonts scored a series of hits with songs like "I Wonder Why", "A Teenager in Love", "Where Or When", "No One Knows", and "That's My Desire" and continued performing after Dion left in 1960. Milano recorded with the group on all their later hits including "Tell Me Why", "Come On Little Angel", "We Belong Together" and "I Confess" and the criticall7y acclaimed 1972 acappella album, Cigars, Acappella, and Candy. Dion and the original Belmonts reunited to record a studio album in 1966 and a live concert disc in 1972. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fred Ferrara, baritone singer with the Del Satins, who backed up Dion on hits like "Runaround Sue" and "The Wanderer" and who later was a member of the Brooklyn Bridge ("The Worst That Could Happen"), died Friday (October 21) of cardiac arrest. Dion described Fred as "a beautiful and wonderful man-- he sang with great heart. I will remember [him] with great love and affection." -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Donald Banks, original bassist for the Tymes, died Friday (October 7) of complications from a stroke and cancer. Donald helped form the group with Albert Berry, Norman Burnett, and George Hilliard in Philadelphia in 1956 as the Latineers. Changing their name to the Tymes in 1960 (and adding George Williams on lead) they charted with such hits as "So Much In Love" (#1-1963), "Wonderful Wonderful" (#7-1963) and "Somewhere" (#19-1964). By 1969 the group found itself without a recording contract, playing clubs around Philadelphia for four years before joining RCA Records and releasing "You Little Trustmaker" (#12-1974). And while its follow-up, "Ms. Grace" only reached #91 in the U.S. that year, it was a #1 record in Britain. The group added two female singers but failed to chart again after Donald left in 1977. He became a manager of a fast food restaurant, but returned to perform with the group on the oldies circuit in 1980. The Tymes were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2005 Sylvia Robinson, a singer, songwriter and record producer who formed the pioneering hip-hop group Sugarhill Gang and made the first commercially successful rap recording with them, died on Thursday (9/29/11) in Edison, N.J. She was 75.  Jack Vartoogian/FrontRowPhotosSylvia Robinson receiving an award from the Rhythm & Blues Foundation in200.She had been in a coma at the New Jersey Institute of Neuroscience and died there of congestive heart failure, a family spokeswoman said. Ms. Robinson lived in Englewood, N.J. Ms. Robinson had a successful career as a rhythm and blues singer long before she and her husband, Joe Robinson, formed Sugar Hill Records in the 1970s and went on to serve as the midwives for a musical genre that came to dominate pop music. She sang with Mickey Baker as part of the duo Mickey & Sylvia in the 1950s and had several hits, including “Love Is Strange,” a No. 1 R&B song in 1957. She also had a solo hit, under the name Sylvia, in the spring of 1973 with her sultry and sexually charged song “Pillow Talk.” In the late 1960s, Ms. Robinson became one of the few women to produce records in any genre when she and her husband founded All Platinum Records. She played an important role in the career of The Moments, producing their 1970 hit single “Love on a Two-Way Street.” But she achieved her greatest renown for her decision in 1979 to record the nascent art form known as rapping, which had developed at clubs and dance parties in New York City in the 1970s. She was the mastermind behind the Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight,” the first hip-hop single to become a commercial hit. Some called her “the mother of hip-hop.” “Back in the days when you couldn’t find females behind the mixing board, Sylvia was there,” said Dan Charnas, the author of “The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop” (2010). “It was Sylvia’s genius that made ‘Rapper’s Delight’ a hit.” At the time, the label the Robinsons had founded was awash in lawsuits and losing money. Facing financial ruin, Ms. Robinson got an inspiration when she heard Lovebug Starski rapping over the instrumental breaks in disco songs at the Harlem World nightclub. “She saw where a D.J. was talking and the crowd was responding to what he was saying, and this was the first time she ever saw this before,” her son, Joey Robinson, recalled in a 2000 interview with NPR. “And she said, ‘Joey, wouldn’t this be a great idea to make a rap record?’ ” Using Joey Robinson as a talent scout, she found three young, unknown rappers in Englewood — Big Bank Hank, Wonder Mike and Master Gee — and persuaded them to record improvised rhymes as the Sugarhill Gang (sometimes rendered as Sugar Hill Gang) over a nearly 15-minute rhythm track adapted from Chic’s “Good Times.” The song was “Rapper’s Delight,” and the Robinsons chartered a new label, Sugar Hill Records, to produce it. It sold more than 8 million copies, reached No. 4 on the R&B charts and No. 36 on Billboard’s Hot 100, opening the gates for other hip-hop artists. Ms. Robinson later signed Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, and in 1982 she was a producer of their seminal song, “The Message.” It was groundbreaking rap about ghetto life that became one of the most powerful social commentaries of its time, laying the groundwork for the gangsta rap of the late 1980s. Born Sylvia Vanderpool in New York City in 1936, Ms. Robinson made her recording debut at 14 singing blues with the trumpet player Hot Lips Page on Columbia Records while she was still a student at Washington Irving High School in lower Manhattan. She went on to make several other blues recordings for the label, including “Chocolate Candy Blues,” before joining forces with Mr. Baker in 1956. After several hits, Mickey & Sylvia broke up in 1962 when Mr. Baker moved to Paris. Two years later, Ms. Robinson married Joseph Robinson, a musician, and settled in Englewood, where the couple opened an eight-track recording studio, Soul Sound, and established the All Platinum label. Ms. Robinson’s survivors include her sons Joey, Leland and Rhondo and 10 grandchildren. Mr. Robinson died of cancer in 2000. Carl Gardner was born in Tyler, Texas, to Rebecca and Robert Gardner.[1] As a singer, his first major career success came with The Robins, a rhythm and blues group which had a big hit in the early 1950s, "Smokey Joe's Café".[1]After leaving that group, Gardner formed the Coasters with Bobby Nunn in 1955, at the behest of the songwriting/producing team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. The Coasters went on to produce several enduring classics of 1950s rock and roll music including "Yakety Yak", "Charlie Brown", and "Poison Ivy".[1]Together with the other members of the Coasters – Cornell Gunter, Billy Guy and Will "Dub" Jones – Gardner was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.[2]Gardner's son, Carl Jr., officially joined The Coasters in late 2005, after Gardner semi-retired, although Carl Jr.
had been touring with them since at least 1998. Carl Gardner, Sr. died on June 12, 2011, after suffering with congestive heart
failure and vascular dementia (according to the Coasters website).[3] His son Carl, Jr., having taken over as lead singer, carries on with the group. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Willie Davis, the powerful gospel-influenced tenor who led a string of successful R&B vocal group records by the Jacks in the 1950s including “Why Don’t You Write Me” died in Grand Prairie, Texas on February 20, 2011 at age 78 of complications from advanced Alzheimer’s Disease. Born in Dallas on October 30, 1932 , Davis began singing in his local church choir at the age of 9, and eventually relocated to Los Angeles , California where he sang in area churches with his own gospel group. At one of these gatherings, Davis met Aaron “A. C.” Collins (1930-1997) and the duo soon formed the Santa Monica Soul Seekers with Lloyd McCraw (1915-1976), adding bass Will J. “Dub” Jones (1928-2000), Austin “Ted” Taylor (1937-1987), and Glendon Kingsby in rapid succession. The sextet had initially planned to record spiritual music for Modern Records in Culver City until A&R director Maxwell Davis suggested they focus their attention on rock’n’roll and rhythm’n’blues. Kingsbury dissented, but the other five signed a three-year deal with the company on April 10, 1955 and were christened the Cadets by label mogul Joe Bihari. “We were going to record spirituals and got mixed up in the rock’n’roll thing,” confirmed Davis in 1999. “It didn’t make any real difference to me. When God gives you a talent, it doesn’t matter how you use it. What is important is that the love of God is in your heart.” Initially, the Cadets were utilized to cover up-and-coming records in the R&B field. When Modern couldn’t release the records fast enough under the Cadets name, they began utilizing a second name, calling the group the Jacks, on their RPM subsidiary. Generally, Collins or Jones would lead the uptempo songs on Modern. Davis, who possessed a strong, emotional tenor, handled the bulk of the RPM ballads under the Jacks name. In covering the Feathers’ “Why Don’t You Write Me”, the Davis-led Jacks scored their biggest chart success, hitting #3 on Billboard’s R&B list during a 14-week chart run in the summer of 1955. During their Modern/RPM run, Davis was featured on a number of additional first-class efforts including “I’m Confessin’”, “So Wrong”, “How Soon”, “Heaven Help Me”, and “Why Did I Fall in Love”. As the Cadets, they covered the Marigolds’ “Rollin’ Stone”, jumped on the answer record bandwagon with “Annie Met Henry”, and scored their signature hit with a polished version of the Jayhawks’ novelty, “Stranded In The Jungle”, which hit #15 pop and #4 R&B in the summer of 1956. By 1956, McCraw had retired from the road, Taylor left to pursue a solo career, and Thomas “Pete” Fox of the Flairs was added. The new lineup recorded prolifically through 1957. No further hits followed. Essentially broke, and tired of the road, the Jacks/Cadets went their separate ways when their contract expired in April of 1958. “It was a joke,” Davis remarked bitterly. “We were dumb and didn’t know any better, and they knew that. We were supposed to have gotten royalties, but we never did see any of it.” That spring, Jones embarked on a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame career with the Coasters. Davis ’ next recording came as lead singer of the Rocketeers (formerly the Rhythm Aces on Vee Jay and the Rockets on Modern) on “My Reckless Heart”, for McCraw, Jones, and Collins’ own MJC label in 1958. Davis and Collins kept the Jacks/Cadets name alive into the early 1960s with new members Thomas Miller, George Hollis, and Randy Jones. “Car Crash” (Jan-Lar, 1960), featuring Davis’ frantic crying and sobs, and “A Place In My Heart”, a strong Davis-led ballad issued under the name of the Peppers (Ensign, 1961) sold lightly but are fondly recalled by R&B vocal group harmony collectors today. At one point, Davis performed under the name Willie Pepper. By 1961, Collins was writing and occasionally recording with the Flares. That summer, Davis and Collins- singing a duet lead- were joined by Hollis and Miller to record “Foot Stompin’”, which hit #25 on the national pop chart. “I was glad to be back out there,” Davis admitted. “It brought back a lot of old memories. It was just a part-time thing. I just made ‘Foot Stompin’” with them.” In 1962, Davis surfaced again as lead singer of the Thor-Ables, a trio that included Bobby Baker and James Lanier. “Our Love Song”, a fine ballad, was issued on the tiny Titanic label. Davis and Collins kept the Jacks/Cadets going into the mid-1960s, but with musical tastes changing, the singers eventually disbanded. In 1999, Davis, Pete Fox, Randy Jones, and new member Thomas Turner reformed the Jacks/Cadets to perform at the United In Group Harmony Association Hall of Fame awards in New York City . Wildly received, they began performing sporadically. In 2000, they traveled to Great Britain and appeared in PBS-TV’s successful Doo Wop 51 concert event. Despite Jones’ death in 2002, the group persevered, returning to the United Kingdom again in 2003. Diagnosed with liver cancer in 2005, Davis subsequently developed Alzheimer’s Disease and relocated from El Monte , California to the Dallas area in 2010 to be cared for by his daughter, Sharon Davis, and her family. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Country Hall of
Famer Ferlin Husky passed away Thursday (March 17) at the age of 86. Ferlin had been hospitalized with breathing
trouble in suburban Nashville earlier in the month and at one time was in critical condition. Upon his release he was under
hospice care. Ferlin has been hospitalized each of the last two years with pulmonary and cardiac problems. Born in 1925 in
Cantwell, Missouri, he served in the Merchant Marines in World War II before returning as a disk jockey in Bakersfield, California.
It was there he performed under the name of Terry Preston. He initially recorded under that name for Capitol Records before
switching to his real name, but also recorded parody records as Simon Crum. He joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1955 and moved
to Nashville. Ferlin appeared 51 times on the Country charts from 1953-1975. More importantly, six of his songs crossed over
to the Pop charts, including "A Dear John Letter" (with Jean Shepard, #4-1953), "Gone (#4-1957) and "Wings
Of A Dove" (#12-1960). He was elected to the Country Hall of Fame in 2010.
Bob Marcucci, who discovered and managed Frankie Avalon and Fabian, who started Philadelphia's Chancellor Records with a $10,000 loan and whose story was loosely brought to television in the movie, "The Idolmaker," died Wednesday (March 9) in Ontario, California at the age of 81. Ironically, MGM had just announced their intentions of doing a remake of "The Idolmaker" film. His later clients included actress Amy Dolenz, daughter of Monkee Micky Dolenz. He also co-produced the Bill Murray film, "The Razor's Edge." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Johnny Preston, a protege of the Big Bopper
who had three top 40 records, died of heart failure in a Beaumont, Texas hospital Friday (March 4) at the age of 71. He had
experienced lingering problems after heart bypass surgery last year. Born John Preston Courville in 1939 in Port Arthur, Texas,
he attended Lamar State College of Technology (now Lamar University) and sang in a group there called the Shades, who performed
at the Twilight Club in Port Neches, Texas. It was there in 1957 that Johnny came to the attention of the Big Bopper (J.P.
Richardson), who was a DJ at KTRM in Beaumont. The Bopper got Johnny signed to his record label, Mercury, and took him into
a Houston recording studio in 1958 to cut a song he had written called "Running Bear" (with fellow Texan George
Jones providing the Indian cries). Release of the song was delayed for months after the Bopper's death in a plane crash, but
when it was released, it traveled to #1 for three weeks in January of 1960, staying on the charts for 27 weeks. It was followed
that year by "Cradle Of Love" (#7) and "Feel So Fine (#14). Though follow-ups were less successful ("Charming
Billy" #105-1960, "Leave My Kitten Alone" #73-1961 and "Free Me" #97-1961), Johnny continued to perform
all his life, recording for the Imperial, Hallway and Kapp labels. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On January 14th, Donald Trump announced the contestants on his next edition of "Celebrity Apprentice" on NBC. They include Dionne Warwick, David Cassidy, Meat Loaf & Gary Busey (who played Buddy Holly in the "Buddy Holly Story"). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rock impresario Don Kirshner, who gave the music world the Monkees, the Archies and “Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert” TV program, died Monday (January 17) of heart failure at his home in Boca Raton, Florida. He was 77. Don-- known as “the man with the golden ear”-- first hooked up with Bobby Darin, writing commercial jingles in the mid-1950s, then formed his Aldon Music publishing firm with Al Nevins near New York’s Brill Building. He employed such songwriters as Carole King, Neil Sedaka and Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil and even managed to release a hit record on his own label (the Ran-Dells’ “Martian Hop” on Chairman Records in 1963). By the mid-60’s, Don became involved with Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider, the producers of “The Monkees” TV show, handling music chores for the show. Utilizing writing talent like Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart (“Last Train To Clarksville”) and Neil Diamond (“I’m A Believer”), the show became a huge success, both on television and in the record stores. A disagreement with Michael Nesmith over the unauthorized release of a single without a Nesmith composition in 1967 led to Don’s dismissal. But he quickly jumped on the bubblegum bandwagon, utilizing artists like Ron Dante, Andy Kim and Toni Wine as the “real” group behind the Saturday morning “Archies” cartoon show. Releasing the fictitious group’s recordings on his own Calendar label (and later Kirshner Records, which was also known for the group Kansas), he scored a #1 record with “Sugar, Sugar” in 1969. In 1972, Don became executive producer and creative consultant to ABC-TV on their “In Concert” program, but left shortly afterwards to create his own “Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert” show with himself as host. He also co-produced the short-lived musical sitcom, “A Year At The Top,” in 1977. Don was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2007. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Grady Chapman Born in Greenville, South Carolina, Chapman joined The Robins in 1952,[2] singing alongside Bobby Nunn, Billy Richards, Roy Richards, Ty Terrell, and later Carl Gardner. During that time, the Robins recorded for RCA, and later Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's Los Angeles -based "Spark" label. In 1955, when Leiber and Stoller took Robins members Nunn and Gardner east to form the Coasters, the Robins recruited H. B. Barnum, and continued recording for the Whippet label. In 1958, he wrote "Sweet Pea" (Class Records #232) for Bob and Earl. Chapman would later become a member of one of the the Coasters' many spin-off groups, The Coasters Mark II,[3] which included Bobby Nunn, Bobby Sheen, and Billy Richards, Jr. In 1977, along with Billy Guy and Jerome Evans, he sang on "Paid The Price" on Michelle Phillips' album Victim Of Romance. Chapman would also substitute for Carl Gardner a few times in the 1990s and 2000s with The Coasters.[4] He still performed as Grady Chapman & The Robins with various back-up musicians, until his death, from congestive heart failure, on January 4, 2011.[1] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Born in Union, South Carolina,[1]Bobby Robinson moved to New York and opened "Bobby's Record Shop" (later "Bobby's Happy House") in 1946.[3] His was the first black-owned business on Harlem's famed 125th Street. Located on the corner of 125th St. and Frederick Douglass Boulevard (formerly, "8th Avenue"), his shop remained open until January 21, 2008, forced to close only because its landlord planned to raze the building for new construction. Robinson's store outlasted large chain store competitors, including HMV and the Wiz. [1]The store became a focal point for the independent record producers establishing themselves in New York City, and Robinson spent some time assisting Ahmet Ertegun at Atlantic Records.[3] He produced his first recording, "Bobby's Boogie" by saxophonist Morris Lane and his band, in 1951, but originally specialised in recording vocal groups including the Mello-Moods, the Rainbows, the Vocaleers and the Du-Droppers. However, he also recorded blues performers such as Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, and had his first major success with "Shake Baby Shake" by Champion Jack Dupree in 1953. The record was released on Red Robin Records, which Robinson had established the previous year, originally under the name Robin Records until forced to change the name after legal threats by another company.[2][4]Having enjoyed healthy local sales with doo-wop and blues discs in the early to mid-1950s, he established several more record labels in the 1950s and '60s, some in partnership with his brother, Danny Robinson. Among them were Whirlin' Disc Records in 1956, Fury Records and Everlast Records in 1957, Fire Records in 1959, and Enjoy Records in 1962. He launched Fire and Fury as vehicles for rhythm and blues and rock and roll artists, most of which were produced by him in New York, but some were produced by others and acquired by him in various Southern cities.Robinson produced numerous million-selling records by such notable performers as Wilbert Harrison, The Shirelles, Lee Dorsey, and Dave "Baby" Cortez. He produced Gladys Knight & the Pips' first hit, "Every Beat of My Heart" (after he signed them to Fury; the original version was recorded in Atlanta, issued locally on Hintom and leased to Vee Jay, who had the bigger hit). Robinson also produced several of Elmore James' greatest records as well as recordings by other leading blues musicians including Lightnin' Hopkins, Arthur Crudup, and Buster Brown.[2] King Curtis's "Soul Twist" was the first release of his Enjoy label in 1962, and over twenty years later, he released the highly successful hit, "I’m The Packman (Eat Everything I Can)" by The Packman, on the same label. "The common thread that connected all of Robinson's various record labels was his uncanny ability to bring out the best in his artists. While most producers at that time attempted to soften the edges of rhythm & blues singers in hopes of appealing to the pop market, Robinson delighted in capturing raw-edged artists like Elmore James and Buster Brown just as they were."Robinson himself said:[5] "I record things that touch me. And I try to record them pure, 100%, no water added." ----------------------------------------------------------------- Nick Santo (Santamaria), lead singer of the Capris, lost his battle with cancer Thursday (December 30). He was 69. Nick had retired from performing and disbanded the group over three years ago to battle the disease. The Capris were formed in 1957 by teenagers in Queens, New York. Answering an ad placed by fledgling record producers, they cut "There's A Moon Out Tonight" in 1958, which was bought and released by Planet Records. The song went nowhere and the group disbanded. That is, until a New York City disk jockey played it two years later. Released again on Lost Nite Records (and then picked up for national distribution by Old Town Records), the song spenta week in the #3 position on the Billboard charts in early 1961. The group re-assembled and hit the charts three more times, with "Where I Fell In Love" (#74-1961), "Girl In My Dreams" (#82-1961) and "Limbo" (#98-1962). By the latter release, though, Nick had left for a solo career and ended up with the New York City Police Department. He rejoined the Capris in 1982 and continued with the group until its dissolution. His composition, "Morse Code Of Love," though it never charted, is still considered a doo-wop standard. The Capris were named to the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2007. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gil Garfield, a member of the Cheers
(along with future game show host Bert Convy and Sue Allen), died Saturday (January 1) of cancer in Los Angeles at the age
of 77. Gil joined the other two in forming the group while a college student at the University of Southern California. They
hooked up with producer/songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and Gil’s dad (who owned a chain of drugstores) reportedly
financed the production of the Cheers’ recording of their tune “Bazoom (I Need Your Lovin’)” in 1954.
Leiber and Stoller managed to get it released on Capitol Records, where it got to #15-- the first success by white artists
for the producers. It was followed by “Black Denim Trousers And Motorcycle Boots,” a #6 record in 1955. Six more
Leiber and Stoller tunes followed to little success and, within three years, the group disbanded. Gil moved on to real estate
and later, art. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dorothy Jones, founding member of the Cookies, who charted
four times for Dimension Records and sang backup on tunes like "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" by Neil Sedaka and "The
Loco-Motion" by Little, died Christmas Day of Alzheimer's disease in a hospital in Columbus, Ohio at the age of 76. Dorothy
formed the group in 1954 with her cousin, Beulah Robertson and Darlene McCrea. Darlene left two years later and Beulah helped
form Ray Charles' backup singers, the Raelettes, in 1958. Dorothy continued with her cousin, Margaret Ross and Darlene's singer,
Earl-Jean and the group turned out such hits as "Chains (#17-1962), "Girls Grow Up Faster Than Boys" (#33-1964)
and their biggest hit, "Don't Say Nothin' Bad (About My Baby)" (#7-1963). They also recorded as the Cinderllas in
1964, bubbling under at #134 with "Baby, Baby (I Still Love You)." Other names they recorded under were the Palisades,
Honey Bees and the Stepping Stones. The group disbanded in 1967. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Legendary performer and writer Harvey Fuqua
died from a heart attack Tuesday (July 6) in a Detroit hospital. He was 80. Born in Louisville, Kentucky (the nephew of Charlie
Fuqua of the Ink Spots), he founded what would become the Moonglows after leaving the service for Cleveland in 1952. DJ Alan
Freed found out about the group, which included Bobby Lester, Pete Graves and Prentiss Barnes, and recorded them on his own
label. He changed their name from the Crazy Sounds to the Moonglows after his own on-air nickname, the "Moondog."
With Bobby on lead, "I Just Can't Tell No Lie" became a regional hit in Cleveland, but failed to chart nationally.
So the group traveled to Chicago, where they signed with Chance Records. With Alan Freed often listed as co-writer, they continued
to find success in Cleveland and now Chicago, with tunes like "Baby Please," "Hey Santa Claus," "Just
A Lonely Christmas," "Secret Love" and "I Was Wrong." The group moved across the street to Chess
Records in 1954 and "Sincerely" became their first chart hit-- reaching #1 R&B but only #20 pop (thanks to a
cover version by the McGuire Sisters). It was followed by "Most Of All" (#5 R&B-1955), "We Go Together
(#9 R&B-1955) and "See Saw" (#25 pop, #6 R&B-1956). Harvey was co-lead singer in the group with Bobby, usually
on the up-tempo numbers. As Harvey asserted more authority over the group, Bobby left and the group became Harvey and the
Moonglows. "The Ten commandments Of Love" got to #22 pop and #9 R&B-1958. But the next year, Harvey fired the
rest of the group and instituted the Marquees (including young Marvin Gaye) out of Washington, DC, as his new Moonglows. Despite
singing background on hits by other Chess artists, the Moonglows had no more on their own and by 1960 Harvey moved to Detroit.
His Tri-Phi label introduced the Spinners and Johnny Bristol to America. He also married Anna Gordy, sister of Motown President
Berry Gordy, Junior, and was there for the early years of Motown, eventually folding his label and moving his acts there.
Harvey headed artist development at Motown and wrote such hits as "What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)" and "Someday
We'll Be Together." In later years he produced Marvin Gaye's hit, "Sexual Healing" and is credited with discovering
disco acts like the Weather Girls, New Birth and Sylvester. Harvey (along with the Moonglows) appeared in the Alan Freed movie,
"Rock Rock Rock" in 1956. They was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 2000 a year after joining the
Vocal Group Hall of Fame. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Marvin
Isley,
a bassist who provided the foundation for his family’s hit-making R&B band, the Isley Brothers, died on Sunday,
June 6, 2010, at Weiss Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, a hospice near his home . He was 56. The cause
was diabetes, said Chris Jasper, a brother-in-law who was the Isley Brothers’ keyboard player for many years. Marvin
Isley had fought diabetes for more than 20 years and in 1997 lost his legs to the disease. The band had two distinct
phases. The first, in the late 1950s and early ’60s, was as a vocal group made up of the three older brothers: Ronald,
as the booming lead singer, and O’Kelly and Rudolph as backup. Then in 1973, Marvin Isley, Ernie Isley, a guitarist,
and their cousin Chris joined the group. It was the start of the band’s greatest run of hits. From 1975 to 1980, the
Isley Brothers had 14 Top 10 R&B records, including “Fight the Power Part 1,” “Harvest for the World,”
and “Livin’ in the Life.” In 1984, Marvin, Ernie and Chris split from the older brothers and
formed their own group, Isley Jasper Isley, and in 1985 had a No. 1 R&B hit, the gospel-inspired “Caravan of Love.”
Marvin Isley was born in Cincinnati on Aug. 18, 1953, the youngest son of O’Kelly and Sally Isley.
He graduated from C. W. Post College on Long Island in 1976, with a degree in music. Besides his brothers Ernie, Ronald and
Rudolph, he is survived by his wife, the former Sheila Felton; a son, Corey; and two daughters, Sidney and Jalen. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jimmy
Dean, television host, actor, entrepreneur and country singer who was due to be inducted into the Country Music Hall
of Fame in October, died Sunday night (June 13) of natural causes at the age of 81. Born in Olton, Texas in 1928, Jimmy dropped
out of high school at the age of 16 and joined the Merchant Marines for two years before enlisting in the Air Force. Stationed
at a base in Washington D.C., Jimmy played in an area band, then formed his own after he was discharged. In 1952 he recorded
his first single for Four Star Records. "Bummin' Around" reached #5 on the country charts and launched his career.
He was offered a local television program, which introduced viewers to artists like Elvis Presley and Patsy Cline. In 1957
he moved to New York to host a morning network program for CBS-TV and signed with Columbia Records. It was then that his spoken-word
recordings crossed over to the pop charts. "Big Bad John" in 1961 topped at #1 for five weeks. It was followed by
"Dear Ivan" (#24-1962), "The Cajun Queen" (sequel to "Big Bad John" which got to #22 in 1962)
and it's flip-side, "To A Sleeping Beauty" (#26-1962) and "P.T. 109" (the World War II story of John F.
Kennedy which made #8 in 1962). His last appearance on the pop charts was "I.O.U." (#35) in 1976, though it re-appeared
two more times on the country cahrts. All told, he charted 26 times on the country charts and 14 times on the pop charts.
Jimmy was the first guest host of Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show" on NBC-TV and hosted his own variety program, "The
Jimmy Dean Show" on ABC from 1963-1966 (where he gave a big break to puppeteer Jim Henson who was later to create the
Muppets). He also appeared on TV's "Daniel Boone" and played the villian in the 1971 James Bond film, "Diamonds
Are Forever." In the late '60s, he began the Jimmy Dean Meat Company and became the spokesperson for its pork sausage.
The company was sold to Sara Lee but he continued to perform in its commercials for twenty more years. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Johnny
Maestro, the pure-toned tenor who as the lead singer for the Crests, the Del-Satins and the Brooklyn Bridge recorded rock ’n’ roll hits like “Sixteen Candles” and “The Worst That Could Happen,” died Wednesday at his home in Cape Coral, Fla. He was 70 and had lived in Islip, N.Y.,
until seven years ago. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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