Happy Birthday this week to:
Jul 26
1937 ● Al Banks → Soaring falsetto lead vocals for Philly R&B/doo wop The Turbans, “When You Dance” (#33, R&B #3, 1955), joined the reconstituted Drifters in 1972, died 7/7/1977
1938 ● Bobby Hebb → R&B/soul-pop singer and songwriter, “Sunny” (#2, 1966), died of lung cancer on 8/3/2010
1940 ● Dobie Gray (Leonard Victor Ainsworth) → Versatile R&B/soul, country and pop singer, “Drift Away” (#5, 1973), disco “You Can Do It” (#37, 1979) and country “That’s One To Grow On” (Country #35, 1986)
1941 ● Brenton Wood (Alfred Jesse Smith) → Two hit wonder R&B/soul-pop vocalist, “Gimme Little Sign” (#9, 1967) and “The Oogum Boogum Song” (#19, 1967)
1941 ● Darlene Love (Wright) → Lead vocals for Phil Spector girl group The Blossoms, backing for Sam Cooke, Dionne Warwick, The Beach Boys and many others, sang lead with The Blossoms on “He’s A Rebel” (#1, 1962), which was credited to The Crystals, another Spector group
1941 ● Neil Landon (Patrick Cahill) → Vocals for pre-fab Brit psych-pop one hit wonder The Flower Pot Men, “Let’s Go To San Francisco” (UK #1, 1967), then moved over to pre-fab pop White Plains, “My Baby Loves Lovin'” (#13, 1970)
1943 ● Michael Philip “Mick” Jagger → Frontman, lead singer and songwriter for megastar hard rock The Rolling Stones, “Brown Sugar” (#1, 1971), duet with David Bowie, “Dancing In The Street” (#7, 1985) and solo, “Don’t Tear Me Up” (Mainstream Rock #1, 1993)
1949 ● Roger Meddows Taylor → Founding member, drummer, songwriter and vocals for camp rock/mock-opera/hard pop Queen, “Bohemian Rhapsody” (#9, 1976) and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” (#1, 1980), wrote and sang “Radio Ga Ga” (#16, 1984), solo
1961 ● Andy Connell → Founder and keyboards for Brit sophisti-pop Swing Out Sister, “Breakout” (#6, 1987), previously played with post-punk The Immediates and New Wave funk A Certain Radio, producer
1961 ● Gary Cherone → Co-founder and lead vocals for hard rock Extreme, “More Than Words” (#1, 1991), joined hard rock Van Halen in 1996 as lead vocalist, “Humans Being” (Mainstream Rock #1, 1996), solo
1962 ● Miranda Joyce → Saxophone and vocals for Brit all female ska/pop-rock The Belle Stars, “Sign Of The Times” (UK #3, 1983) and “Iko Iko” (#14, 1989)
1963 ● Scott Francis Crago → Session drummer, worked with Eagles since 1994, plus appearances for Bryan Adams, Jackson Browne, Sheryl Crow, Chris Isaak, Stevie Nicks, Bonnie Raitt, Bob Seger, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder and others
1967 ● Headliner (Timothy Barnwell) → DJ and rapper for progressive funk-soul-blues hip hop Arrested Development, “Mr. Wendal” (#6, 1992)
1980 ● Dave “Brown Sound” Baksh → Guitarist for Canadian indie punk-pop Sum 41, “We’re All To Blame” (Mainstream Rock #36, 2004), quit in 2006 to form his own band Brown Brigade
1984 ● Alexandra Parks → Winner of the BBC talent contest show Fame Academy in 2003, “Maybe That’s What It Takes” (UK #3, 2003) from the UK #5 album Introduction (2003)
Jul 27
1922 ● Bob Thiele → Jazz and jazz-pop record producer and record label executive, founded Signature and worked for Decca, Impulse, ABC/Bluesway, Flying Dutchman and others, co-wrote and produced “What A Wonderful World” for Louis Armstrong (#116, UK #1, 1967), worked with John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Dizzy Gillespie and countless others, died from kidney failure on 1/30/1996
1927 ● Guy Carawan → Folk musician and musicologist best known for introducing the black spiritual “We Shall Overcome” to the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the American civil rights movement in 1960, the song has since become the standard for protests around the world, died from complications of dementia on 5/2/2015
1928 ● Harvey Fuqua → Founder and frontman for 50s R&B/doo wop The Moonglows, “Sincerely” (R&B #1, 1955), then Motown A&R and producer, died 7/6/2010 of a heart attack
1933 ● Nick Reynolds → Founding member, vocals and guitar for definitive folk-pop The Kingston Trio, “Tom Dooley” (#1, 1958) and nine other Top 40 hits, died 10/1/2008 from respiratory complications
1943 ● Allan Ramsey → Bassist for pop-rock Gary Lewis & The Playboys, “This Diamond Ring” (#1, 1965) plus 11 other US Top 40 hits between 1965 and 1968
1944 ● Bobby Gentry (Roberta Lee Streeter) → Grammy-winning country-pop and adult contemporary singer, songwriter and guitarist, “Ode to Billy Joe” (#1, 1967)
1947 ● Andy McMaster → Keyboards for early pub rock Ducks Deluxe, then power pop/rock The Motors, “Airport” (UK #4, 1978)
1949 ● Henry “H-Bomb” Weck → Drummer for one hit wonder rock band Brownsville Station, “Smokin’ In The Boys Room” (#3, 1973)
1949 ● Maureen McGovern → Adult contemporary pop singer, “The Morning After” (#1, 1973) from the movie The Poseidon Adventure and the Academy Award-winning “We May Never Love This Way Again” from The Towering Inferno (1974)
1949 ● Roderick “Rory” Macdonald → Bass and vocals for Scottish Celtic folk-rock Runrig, “An Ubhal As Airde (The Highest Apple)” (UK #18, 1995) and 13 albums
1950 ● Michael Vaughan → Guitarist for pop/rock one hit wonder Paper Lace, “The Night Chicago Died” (#1, UK #3, 1974), a second single “Billy, Don’t Be A Hero” (#96, UK #1, 1974) qualifies them as a two hit wonder in the UK
1953 ● Suzi Carr → Vocals for mellow adult pop-rock cover trio Will To Power, “Baby I Love Your Way/Freebird” (#1, 1988)
1960 ● Conway Savage → Bassist for alt rock Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds, “Where The Wild Roses Grow” (Australia #2, UK #11, 1995)
1963 ● Karl Mueller → Bassist for garage rock superstar group Soul Asylum, “Runaway Train” (#5, 1993), died from throat cancer on 6/17/2005
1964 ● Rex Brown → Bassist in alt metal Pantera, “Planet Caravan” (Mainstream Rock #21, 1994)
1967 ● Juliana Hatfield → Singer, songwriter, guitarist and frontwoman for indie rock/power pop Blake Babies, solo, “My Sister” (Modern Rock #1, 1993) and “Spin The Bottle (#39, 1994)
1973 ● Abe Cunningham → Drummer for Grammy-winning alt heavy metal Deftones, “Change (In The House Of Flies)” (Mainstream Rock #9, 2000)
Jul 28
1901 ● Hubert Prior “Rudy” Vallée → Hugely popular 1930s crooner and vaudeville entertainer, often singing through a megaphone, “Stein Song” (The University Of Maine)” (#1, 1930), became a film, radio stage and TV performer in the 50s, 60s and 70s, died from cancer on 7/3/1986
1915 ● Frankie Yankovic → The “King of Polka,” Grammy-winning and hugely popular Slovenian-American polka musician, composer, radio DJ, TV host and bandleader with over 200 albums in a five decade recording and performing career, died on 10/14/1998 from heart failure
1935 ● Simon Dee (Cyril Nicholas Henty-Dodd) → British TV personality and radio DJ, twice-weekly BBC TV chat show Dee Time during the 60s with musical guests including Jimi Hendrix and Lulu, died of bone cancer on 8/29/2009
1938 ● George Cummings → Steel guitar for AM pop-rock Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show, “Sylvia’s Mother” (#5, 1972) plus nine other Top 40 hits
1940 ● Philip Proctor → Comedian, small-role TV actor, voice actor and member of 60s/70s eclectic, satiric, surrealistic radio-friendly comic quartet The Firesign Theatre, the group’s nearly 40 albums were cult hits, particluarly for college audiences, lent his voice to roles in multiple cartoons, video games and movies, including Toy Story, Rugrats and PlayStation games
1943 ● Michael Bloomfield → Celebrated blues-rock guitarist for urban electric blues The Butterfield Blues Band, formed blues/psych rock/jazz fusion Electric Flag in 1967, played with Al Kooper and Stephen Stills on the remarkable Super Session album, solo and multiple collaborations, #22 on Rolling Stone magazine’s 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, died of a heroin overdose on 2/15/1981
1943 ● Richard Wright → Founding member, keyboards, vocals and songwriter for of space rock Pink Floyd, “Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)” (#1, 1979), dismissed from the band by frontman Roger Waters in 1980 but returned after Waters left in 1987, solo, died of cancer on 9/15/2008
1946 ● Jonathan Edwards → Light folk-rock and country-pop one hit wonder singer/songwriter, “Sunshine” (#4, 1971)
1948 ● Gerald “Jerry” Casale → Founding member, bassist, synthesizer player, video director and “chief strategist” for quirky 80s pop-rock Devo, “Whip It” (#14, 1980), also produced videos for The Cars, Rush, Foo Fighters, Soundgarden and others, directed TV commercials for Diet Coke, Miller Lite, Honda and others
1949 ● Peter Doyle → Guitar and vocals for folk-sunshine pop The New Seekers, “I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing” (#7, 1972), died 10/13/2001
1949 ● Simon Kirke → Drummer for proto-metal/hard rock Free, “All Right Now” (#4, 1970) and hard rock Bad Company, “Can’t Get Enough” (#5, 1974), session work for Jim Capaldi, Ringo Starr, Ron Wood and many others
1949 ● Steve Peregrine Took → Founding partner, bass and percussion for psych rock Tyrannosaurus Rex, was fired for drug abuse and bizarre behavior shortly before former partner Marc Bolan and the band hit it big as proto-glam rock T. Rex, “Bang A Gong (Get It On)” (#10, 1971), died 10/27/1980 after choking on a cocktail cherry
1954 ● Steven J. Morse → Canadian rock and jazz-rock fusion guitarist, founder of acclaimed Southern instrumental rock fusion band Dixie Dregs, issued several solo albums, divided time between hard rock Kansas and hard rock Deep Purple from 1994-2009
1962 ● Rachel Sweet → Teenage rock ‘n’ roll singer who signed to Stiff Records at age 18, “Everlasting Love” (#32, 1981), issued several other singles and became a TV host
1965 ● Nick Banks → Drummer for alt rock/Britpop Pulp, “Common People” (UK #2, 1995)
1972 ● Dan Warton → Drummer for indie punk-rock Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, “Not Sleeping Around” (Modern Rock #1, 1992)
1980 ● Noel Sullivan → Singer for pre-fab mockstar dance-pop Hear’Say, “Pure And Simple” (UK #1, 2001), refocused on musical theater following the group’s disbandment in 2003
1986 ● Jaoby Dakota Shaddix → Lead singer for hard rock/heavy metal Papa Roach, “Scars” (#15, Mainstream Rock #4, 2005)
1990 ● Soulja Boy (DeAndre Cortez Way) → Rapper, “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” (#1, 2007), record producer
Jul 29
1916 ● Charlie Christian → Swing and jazz guitarist, early and important electric guitar performer, played with Benny Goodman, Thelonius Monk, Dizzy Gillespie and others, died from tuberculosis on 3/2/1942 at age 25
1923 ● James Charles “Jim” Marshall → The “Father of Loud” and pioneer of guitar amplification with iconic products used by Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend, Jimmy Page and countless others from garage bands to superstars, often in a “Marshall stack” or wall of black, vinyl-clad cabinets mounted one atop the other, founded and led his company, Marshall Amplification well into his eighties, now considered one of the four major contributors to the development of rock music equipment along with Leo Fender, Les Paul and Seth Lover, died on 4/5/2012 from cancer
1930 ● Jim Stewart → Part-time country music fiddler who co-founded Stax Records in Memphis with his sister, Estelle Axton, and recorded and published some of the top Southern soul and Memphis soul acts of the 60s and 70s, including house band Booker T. & The MG’s, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, Staple Singers and many others
1946 ● Neal Doughty → Co-founder, songwriter, keyboards and only constant member of arena rock REO Speedwagon, “Keep On Lovin’ You” (#1, 1980)
1947 ● Carlo Santanna → Guitar for pop/rock one hit wonder Paper Lace, “The Night Chicago Died” (#1, UK #3, 1974), a second single “Billy, Don’t Be A Hero” (#96, UK #1, 1974) qualifies them as a two hit wonder in the UK
1953 ● Geddy Lee (Gary Lee Weinrib) → Bassist, lead vocals and founding member of Canadian arena rock/power trio Rush, “New World Man” (Mainstream Rock #1, 1982) and 24 other Mainstream Rock Top 20 singles
1953 ● Vivienne Patricia “Patty” Scialfa → Backing vocals for Bruce Springsteen‘s E Street Band, solo, wife of The Boss since 6/8/1991
1959 ● John Sykes → Guitarist for Irish hard rock Thin Lizzy (1982-83), then hard rock Whitesnake, “Here I Go Again” (#1, 1987), then formed hard rock Blue Murder, solo
1962 ● Martin McCarrick → Guitar for Irish grunge rock/alt metal Therapy?, “Screamager” (, 1993)
1966 ● Martina McBride (Martina Mariea Schiff) → The “Celine Dion of Country Music”, singer and songwriter, “A Broken Wing” (Country #1, 1997)
1966 ● Miles Hunt → Frontman, guitar and vocals for alt rock The Wonder Stuff, “Welcome To The Cheap Seats” (Modern Rock #28, UK #8, 1992), TV host
1967 ● Chris Gorman → Drummer for alt pop-rock Belly, “Feed The Tree” (#1, Modern Rock, 1993), now a commercial photographer
1972 ● Simon Jones → Bassist for neo-psych-pop The Verve, “Bittersweet Symphony” (#12, 1998)
1973 ● Wanya Jermaine Morris → Lead vocals for R&B/urban soul a cappella Boyz II Men, “End Of The Road” (#1, 1992)
1977 ● Danger Mouse (Brian Joseph Burton) → Multi-instrumentalist musician, Grammy-winning producer and songwriter, released the mashup album The Grey Album in 2004 combining The Beatles‘ White Album (1968) with rapper Jay-Z‘s The Black Album (2003), co-founded alt. neo-soul Gnarls Barkley, “Crazy” (#2, 2006), produced albums for Gorillaz, Beck, The Black Keys and U2
Jul 30
1900 ● 0-Jan → 0-Jan
1926 ● Christine McGuire → Vocals for immensely popular sibling singing trio the McGuire Sisters, “Sugartime” (#1, 1958)
1936 ● George “Buddy” Guy → Pioneering and highly influential Chicago blues guitarist and singer, “Stone Crazy” (R&B #12, 1962), #30 on Rolling Stone magazine’s 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time
1938 ● Edd “Kookie” Byrnes (Edward Byrne Breitenberger) → TV actor (played the character Gerald Lloyd Kookson III on 77 Sunset Strip) and one hit wonder novelty-pop singer, “Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb” (#4, 1959), a take-off from his character’s constant combing of his pompadour
1941 ● Paul Anka → Canadian-born teen idol/contemporary pop/easy listening crooner and songwriter, “Lonely Boy” (#1, 1959), wrote the theme for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and Tom Jones‘ “She’s A Lady” (#2, 1971) and the lyrics to Frank Sinatra‘s “My Way” (#11, 1969)
1944 ● Chris Darrow → Highly-skilled and sought-after multi-instrumentalist L.A. session musician, co-founded 60s eclectic folk-rock cult band Kaleidoscope, replaced Jackson Browne in country-rock the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (“Mr. Bojangles,” #9, 1971), worked in Linda Ronstadt‘s backing band, recorded several solo albums and did studio work for James Taylor, Helen Reddy and many others, continues to record and produce folk- and country-rock music into the 10s
1945 ● David Sanborn → Influential jazz-pop saxophonist with the blues-rock The Butterfield Blues Band, jazz-rock fusion The Brecker Brothers, “Sneakin’ Up Behind You” (#58, Disco #3, 1975), Grammy-winning solo career, “Bang Bang” (#53, Adult Contemporary #23, 1992), session work for David Bowie, James Taylor, Stevie Wonder and others
1946 ● Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond → Bassist for long-lived Brit folk-rock Jethro Tull, “Living In The Past” (#11, 1973)
1949 ● Hugh Nicholson → Guitarist and songwriter for Scottish freakbeat/psych-pop The Poets, “She Blew A Good Thing” (#45, R&B #2, 1966), then Scottish pop-rock Marmalade, “Reflections Of My Life” (#10, 1970) and pop-rock Blue, “Gonna Capture Your Heart” (#88, UK #18, 1977)
1949 ● Joyce Jones → Singer for Philly R&B/disco female vocal group First Choice, “The Player, Part 1″ (R&B #7, 1974)
1956 ● Phil Fearon → Jamaican-born guitarist and singer for R&B/funk-pop Galaxy, “Dancing Tight” (1983), independent label record company executive
1957 ● David Joseph → Keyboards and lead vocals for North London-based R&B/disco-funk boy band Hi-Tension, “British Hustle” (UK #8, 1978)
1957 ● Rat Scabies (Chris Millar) → Founding member and drummer for first-wave punk rockers The Damned, “Eloise” (UK #3, 1986), solo and collaborations
1958 ● Kate Bush → Hugely successful Brit alt pop-rock singer and songwriter, “Wuthering Heights” (UK #1, 1978) and “Love And Anger” (Modern Rock #1, UK #38, 1990)
1959 ● Vaughan Toulouse (Cotillard) → Lead vocals for New Wave ska-pop Department S, “Is Vic There?” (#67, UK #22, 1981), died from AIDS related illness on 8/22/1991
1963 ● Tex Axile (Anthony Doughty) → Keyboards for punk-pop-dance Transvision Vamp, “Baby I Don’t Care” (, 1983)
1966 ● Craig Gannon → Rhythm guitarist for 80s Scottish New Wave pop-rock Aztec Camera, jangle-pop-rock The Bluebells, “Young At Heart” (UK #1, 1983) and indie rock The Smiths, “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now” (UK #10, 1984), now a television and film composer/producer and session guitarist for multiple artists
1966 ● Jyoti Mishra → India-born frontman, composer and multi-instrumentalist for one man band, one hit wonder alt dance-pop White Town, “Your Woman” (#23, UK #1, 1997)
1968 ● Louise Wener → Vocals for Britpop Sleeper, “Sale Of The Century” (UK #10, 1996)
1968 ● Sean Moore → Drummer for Brit alt rock/neo-punk Manic Street Preachers, “The Masses Against The Classes” (UK #1, 2000)
1970 ● MC Trouble (LaTasha Sheron Rogers) → First female rapper signed to Motown Records, issued one album and a minor hit (“(I Wanna) Make You Mine,” Rap #15, 1990), died in her sleep from heart failure during an epileptic seizure on 6/4/1991 while recording her second album
1971 ● Brad Hargreaves → Drummer for post-grunge indie pop Third Eye Blind, “Semi-Charmed Life” (#4, 1997)
1977 ● Ian Watkins → Singer for Welsh alt hard rock Lostprophets, “Last Train Home” (Mainstream Rock #10, 2004)
Jul 31
1923 ● Ahmet Ertegun → Turkish immigrant who co-founded and became chief executive of Atlantic Records, a dominant force in jazz, R&B and pop/rock and a prime force in moving Black American music into the mainstream, died on 12/14/2006 seven weeks after falling at striking his head on a concrete floor backstage at a Rolling Stones benefit concert for the Clinton Foundation
1932 ● Morey Carr → Vocals for novelty pop/rock ‘n’ roll The Playmates, “Beep Beep” (#4, 1958) plus 4 other Top 40 hits
1937 ● Bonnie Brown → Vocals for 50s-60s country-folk harmony sibling vocal trio The Browns, “The Three Bells” (#1, 1959), solo
1939 ● John West → Electric organ (“Cordovox”) for pop-rock Gary Lewis & The Playboys, “This Diamond Ring” (#1, 1965) plus 11 other US Top 40 hits between 1965 and 1968
1943 ● Lobo (Roland Kent Lavoie) → Country-folk-pop singer/songwriter and guitarist, “Me And You And A Dog Named Boo” (#5, 1971)
1946 ● Bob Welch → Pop/rock guitarist for pre-superstardom Fleetwood Mac, “Hypnotized” (1973), left in 1974 for largely unsuccessful solo career, “Sentimental Lady” (#8, 1978)
1946 ● Gary Lewis (Gary Harold Lee Levitch) → Frontman, drums and vocals for pop-rock Gary Lewis & The Playboys, “This Diamond Ring” (#1, 1965) plus 11 other US Top 40 hits between 1965 and 1968, son of comedian/actor Jerry Lewis
1947 ● Karl Green → Guitarist for British Invasion pop-rock Herman’s Hermits, “Mrs. Brown You’ve Got A Lovely Daughter” (#1. 1965)
1951 ● Carlo Karges → Guitarist for German pop-rock band Nena, “99 Luftballons” (#2, 1984)
1953 ● Hugh McDowell → Cello for pop-rock Electric Light Orchestra, “Don’t Bring Me Down” (#4, 1979) and 26 other Top 40 hits
1957 ● Daniel Ash → Guitarist for seminal goth-rock Bauhaus, “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” (1979) and goth-pop Love And Rockets, “So Alive” (#3, 1989) , solo
1958 ● Bill Berry → Drummer for influential post-punk R.E.M., “The One I Love” (#9, 1987), left the band in 1997 to work his hay farm in Georgia
1960 ● Malcolm Ross → Guitarist for Scot New Wave pop-rock Aztec Camera, “The Crying Scene” (Modern Rock #3, 1990)
1963 ● Fatboy Slim (Norman Quentin Leo Cook) → Bassist for Brit jangle-guitar pop-rock The Housemartins, “Caravan Of Love” (UK #1, 1986), DJ and remixer for electronic dance-pop Beats International, “Dub Be Good To Me” (Dance/Pop #1, 1990), founder of acid jazz Freak Power, “Turn On, Tune In, Cop Out” (UK #29, 1993), dance-pop Pizzaman and Brit-hop producer and solo artist, “The Rockafeller Skank” (#72, UK #6, 1998)
1964 ● Jim Corr → With three sisters, guitars and keyboards in Irish folk-pop-rock sibling act The Corrs, “Breathless” (Adult Top 40 #7, 2000)
1964 ● Robert “Fuzz” Townsend → Drummer for dance-rock Pop Will Eat Itself, “X, Y & Zee” (Modern Rock #11, 1991)
1971 ● John 5 (John Lowery) → Guitarist for industrial-pop-metal/shock rock Marilyn Manson, “The Dope Show” (Mainstream Rock #12, 1998), five solo instrumental guitar albums, sessions for Garbage, Meat Loaf, Ozzy Osbourne and Lynyrd Skynyrd
1978 ● Will Champion → Drummer for Brit-pop/anthem rock Coldplay, “Speed Of Sound” (#8, 2005)
Aug 01
1898 ● Morris Stoloff → Violinist, composer and arranger, wrote and performed “Moonglow” (#1, 1956), the love theme from the film Picnic (1956), arranged film scores for several other movies, including Lawrence Of Arabia (1962), died 4/16/1980
1929 ● Samuel Charters → Grammy-winning music historian, record producer, musician, poet and widely published author of books on blues and jazz music, his first book, The Country Blues (1959) and accompanying album of the same name are credited with inspiring the folk music revival of the early 60s and injecting forgotten blues artists into the consciousness of dozens of blues-rock artists like The Allman Brothers Band, Cream and The Rolling Stones, died from bone marrow cancer on 3/18/2015
1931 ● Ramblin’ Jack Elliott (Elliot Charles Adnopoz) → Influential country-folk guitarist, one time protégé of folk legend Woody Guthrie, played in Bob Dylan‘s Rolling Thunder Revue and with Pete Seeger, Jerry Garcia, Grateful Dead and others, Grammy-winning blues album A Stranger Here in 2009
1941 ● Rock Robert Scully → San Francisco rock promoter and manager for psych/folk rock/jam band Grateful Dead (“Truckin’,” #64, 1970) from 1965 to 1985, during which he negotiated the band’s first contract with Warner Brothers and helped orchestrate the transformation from a loose folk and bluegrass outfit to one of rock music’s most memorable and enduring acts, died from lung cancer on 12/16/2014
1942 ● Jerome John “Jerry” Garcia → Founding member, lead guitarist, vocals, songwriter and de facto frontman for rock’s longest, strangest trip Grateful Dead, “Sugar Magnolia” (#91, 1973) and “Touch Of Grey” (#9, 1987), solo and various collaborations, died from a drug-related heart attack on 8/9/1995
1946 ● Raymond “Boz” Burrell → Bassist for prog/space-rock King Crimson, “The Court Of The Crimson King” (#80, 1970), founding member of hard rock supergroup Bad Company, “Can’t Get Enough” (#5, 1974), died 9/21/2006 of a heart attack
1947 ● Rick Anderson → Bassist for camp-rock pop-rock satirists The Tubes, “She’s A Beauty” (#10, 1978)
1947 ● Rick Coonce → Drummer for AM Top 40 pop-rockers The Grass Roots, “Midnight Confessions” (#5, 1968), left the band in 1971 and moved to Canada to become a farmer and social worker, died 2/25/2011 from heart failure
1949 ● Jim Carroll → Author, poet, punk rock bandleader, “People Who Died” (#51, 1980), wrote the autobiography The Basketball Diaries, which became a film starring Leonardo DiCaprio (1995), died 9/11/2009 from a heart attack
1951 ● Tim Bachman → With his brothers Randy and Robbie, guitarist for Canadian hard rockers Bachman-Turner Overdrive, “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” (#1, 1974), left in 1974 to pursue a music production career
1951 ● Tommy Bolin → Underrated and short-lived blues-rock guitarist, first with hard rock Zephyr, then with jazz-rock fusion drummer Billy Cobham on the classic Spectrum album, replaced Joe Walsh in the James Gang, joined Deep Purple in 1972 to replace Ritchie Blackmore, left for solo career, died of a heroin overdose on 12/4/1976 at age 25
1953 ● Robert Cray → Grammy-winning contemporary blues guitarist and vocalist , “Smoking Gun” (#22, Mainstream Rock #2, 1986)
1958 ● Michael Penn → Late-80s pop/rock singer, songwriter and guitarist, “No Myth” (#13, 1989), brother of actor Sean Penn
1958 ● Robert Buck → Guitarist and songwriter with folk-pop 10,000 Maniacs, “These Are Days” (Alt-Rock #1, 1992), also played in folk-pop John & Mary with other bandmates, died on 12/19/2000 from liver disease
1959 ● Joe Elliott → Vocals for hard rock/Brit New Wave of Heavy Metal band Def Leppard, “Love Bites” (#1, 1988), formed hard rock Down ‘N’ Outz in 2009
1960 ● Chuck D. (Carlton Douglas Ridenhour) → Rapper and vocals for influential early hip hop group Public Enemy, “Fight The Power” (Rap #1, 1989), author, producer
1960 ● Suzi Gardner → Guitar and vocals for all-girl post-punk/grunge band L7, “Pretend We’re Dead” (Alt Rock #8, 1992)
1963 ● Coolio (Artis Leon Ivey, Jr.) → Musician, reality TV show actor, producer and rapper, “Gangsta’s Paradise” (#1, 1995)
1964 ● Adam Duritz → Piano, guitar, vocals, songwriting and frontman for alt-rock Counting Crows, “Mr. Jones” (Modern Rock #2, 1994), solo, producer and record company executive
1964 ● Nick Christian Sayer → Guitarist for punk-pop-dance Transvision Vamp, “Baby I Don’t Care” (, 1983)
1968 ● Dan Donegan → Guitarist for Chicago-based heavy metal Disturbed, “Another Way To Die” (Mainstream Rock #1, 2010)
1970 ● Kenwyn House → Guitar for hard-edged Brit pop Reef, “Place Your Hands” (Mainstream Rock #29, 1997) from the UK #1 album Glow
1978 ● Dhani Harrison → Guitarist and son of George Harrison, completed his father’s final album, Brainwashed, after his death in 2001, now founder, lead guitar and vocals for alt rock Thenewno2
1981 ● Ashley Angel (Ashley Ward Parker) → Vocals for pre-fab teen idol boy-band O-Town, “All Or Nothing” (#3, 2001)
