Main Entry Notes (updated 12/05/23)

• At the time of her death, the bedridden Billie Holiday had been placed under house arrest for possession of narcotics. It is believed she had $700 strapped to her leg, the advance for her autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues.

• Some, Stuart Sutcliffe’s mother among them, suggest that his death was actually promoted by a recent fall downstairs, belying the obvious fact that he’d experienced medical problems earlier than 1962. Others point to genetic disorders. Both beliefs are considerably less likely.

• Jesse Belvin, who had notified his family of the hostile reception he and other artists had encountered on the tour, had reportedly received at least six death threats from anti black organizations. The truth behind the crash was fudged for ever, though, when it emerged that Charles Shackleford may have fallen asleep at the wheel and indeed that another car had been involved, in which at least two passengers were also killed.

• A Virginian country DJ was severely reprimanded for clumsily playing Patsy Cline’s I Fall to Pieces in her honour following the breaking news. Meanwhile, not to be outdone country star Jack Anglin was killed in a car crash as he made his way to her funeral. Sometime Patsy Cline collaborator Benjamin Simpson died piloting his own light aircraft in December 2008.

• In 1980, Buddy Holly’s other retrieved belongings, his spectacles and poker dice, along with the Big Bopper’s watch, were returned to their families after turning up in an envelope at the county courthouse where they had remained for over twenty years. The glasses now reside in the Buddy Holly Center, Lubbock, which also contains artefacts like the public telephone from which all three deceased performers made final calls.

• In the wake of Holly’s death, the next two Crickets’ singers also suffered horrific fatalities. His replacement for the tour, Ronnie Smith, born in 1935, hanged himself in October 1962, next, David Box, born in Sulphur Springs, Texas, on 11 August 1943, would die along with a later band in an air crash morbidly reminiscent of Buddy Holly’s, on 23 October 1964. A man often touted as a future Cricket, he’d recorded both one of their songs and one of Buddy Holly’s, was garage rocker Bobby Fuller. He died in extremely suspicious circumstances, July 1966.

• Grammy winning singer Lou Rawls died of cancer in the second week of 2006, Golden Oldies #31.

1965

• Carl Adams - Kidney Failure, born November 7, 1935, died February 2, 1965

• Dave Barbour - Undiagnosed heart condition, born 1912, died December 11, 1965

• Tom ‘Thumb’ Blessing - Auto Accident, died 1965

• Earl Bostic - Heart Attack, born April 25, 1913, died October 28, 1965

• Dorothy Dandridge - Overdose (possibly suicide), born November 9, 1922, died September 8, 1965

• Spike Jones - Emphysema, born December 14, 1911, died May 1, 1965

• Peter LaFarge - Stroke or Alcohol/Pills Overdose, born 1931, died October 27, 1965

• Ira Louvin - Car Crash, born April 21, 1921, died June 20, 1965

• Todd Rhodes - Diabetes Complications, born August 31, 1900, died June 4, 1965

• Terry Thompson - Alcohol/Drug Overdose, born 1941, died November 10, 1965

• Harrison Verrett - Undisclosed, born February 26, 1907, died October 1965

1970

• Little David - Unknown, born 1938, died 1970

• George Bean - Unknown, died 1970

• Neil Boland - Run-over by a Car,  died January 4, 1970

• Tony Clarke - Murdered, born 1944, died 1970

• Ruth ‘Baby Sis’ Davis - Liver Disease, born 1927, died January 2, 1970

• George Goldner - Heart Attack, born 1918, died May 15, 1970

• Earl Hooker - Tuberculosis, born January 15, 1930, died April 21, 1970

• Lonnie Johnson - Stroke , born February 8, 1889, died June 16, 1970

• Nick Pantas - Car Crash, born 1940, died February 12, 1970

• Alexander Sharp - Heart Attack, born 1919, died January 1970

• Otis Spann - Cancer, born March 21, 1930, died April 24, 1970

1975

• Cannonball Adderley - Stroke, born September 15, 1928, died August 8, 1975

• Saul Bihari - Unknown, born March 3, 1918, died February 22, 1975

• Patsy Collins arguing with promoters over $750K owed to the band, he fell down a Jakarta lift shaft and died in a cab on the way to hospital, his body then disappeared, died December 4, 1975

• Chan Daniels - Pneumonia, born January 1, 1940, died August 2, 1975

• Big Daddy Tom Donahue - Heart Attack, born May 21, 1928, died April 28, 1975

• Lefty Frizzell - Brain Haemorrhage, born March 31, 1928, died July 19, 1975

• Ronnie Quinton - Car Crash, died April 10, 1975

• Stephen Taylor - Hit by a Van, born 1944, died 1975

• T-Bone Walker - Bronchial Pneumonia, May 28, 1910, died March 16, 1975

1980 

• Ray Cawley - Car Crash, died 1980

• General Echo - Police Shooting, died 1980

• Bert Kaempfert - Unknown, born 1924, died June 21, 1980

• Bernie Mackey - Unknown, born July 29, 1909, died March 5, 1980

• Mantovani - Unknown, born November 15, 1905, died March 29, 1980

• Louis Neefs - Car Crash, 1937, died December 25, 1980

• Jannie Pought - Stabbing, born 1941, died 1980

• Professor Longhair - Natural Causes, born December 19, 1918, died January 30, 1980

• Les Prior -  Leukaemia, died January 31, 1980

• Carl Radle - Kidney Failure, June 18, 1942, died May 30, 1980

• David Whitfield - Unknown, born February 2, 1925, died January 16, 1980

1985

• Ronnie Appoldt shot when an LA drug

• deal went awry, died 1985

• Tommy Blake mysteriously shot

• dead by his wife Samantha, as he attempted to present her with a Xmas gif, born September 14, 1931, died December 24, 1985

• Abel DeCosta - Unknown, 1929, died 1985

• Lorraine Ellison - Unknown, born 1943, died August 17, 1985

• Fathead - Gun Shot, died December 22, 1985

• Brian Keenan - Heart Attack, born January 28, 1985, died 1985

• Jimmy Stokley - Liver Failure, born October 18, 1943, died August 13, 1985

• Mike Sund - Unknown, born 1944, died 1985

• D’Marie Warren - Car Crash, born 1953, died February 22, 1985

• Ricky West - Long Term Illness, born May 7, 1943, died 1985

• Tex Williams - Lung Cancer, born August 23, 1917, died October 11, 1985

1990

• Floyd Butler - Heart Attack, born June 6, 1990, died April 29, 1990

• Bobby Day - Cancer, born July 1, 1990, died July 27, 1990

• Jim Henson - Pneumonia, born September 24, 1936, died May 16, 1990

• Kripp Johnson - Prostate Cancer, born May 16, 1933, died June 22, 1990

• Jo Ann Kelly - Brain Tumor, born January 5, 1944, died October 21, 1990

• Antonio Martinez - Motorcycle Accident, born October 3, 1945, died 1990

• Sean Oliver - Sickle Cell Anemia, born Unknown, died March 1990

• Dave Prichard - Leukaemia, born November 27, 1963, died February 27, 1990

• Joel Rundell - Suicide, born September 26, 1965, died August 8, 1990

• Bert Sommer - Liver Failure, born 1948, died July 23, 1990

• Hal Worthington - Gun Shot, born 1947, died February 20, 1990

• Evelyn Young - Heart Failure, born 1928, died October 2, 1990

Robin Roberts - Car Crash

A passenger in a car travelling the wrong way on a San Mateo County freeway, was killed at 1.50 am when the vehicle collided with opposing traffic.

Robin Roberts born November 23, 1940, died December 22, 1967

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George Smith - Spinal Meningitis

His condition an open secret for some time, Smith died of spinal meningitis two days before his thirty first birthday as The Manhattans began to fade from the spotlight.

George Smith born December 18, 1939, died December 16, 1970

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Otis Redding - Plane Crash

Early in the afternoon, the Beechcraft took to the skies with eight on board. Just three miles south of Madison’s Municipal Airport the plane began to lose power, and pulled up to circle and make another approach. Then, tragedy, at 3.28 pm, the craft went into a tailspin and plummeted into the icy depths of Lake Monoma, where it broke apart. With all on board exposed to the freezing water, it was sadly only a matter of time before they perished from the impact, drowning or hypothermia.

Otis Redding born September 9, 1941, died December 10, 1967

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Eddie Sulik - Car Crash

Eddie Sulik never made the meeting that would probably have changed his life. The night before the conference in New York City, Sulik was killed in an automobile crash near his home in Connecticut.

Eddie Sulik born October 2, 1929, died December 9, 1965

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Dinah Washington - Heart Failure

Washington’s rapacious drinking hardly helping matters, she recorded seven failed marriages over the years and hid an obsession with weight loss that caused her to consume dietary tablets in frightening quantities. Adding a bizarre spate of mercury injections into the mix, inevitably this combined mania finished her off.

Dinah Washington born August 29, 1924, died December 5, 1963

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Magic Sam - Heart Attack

A triumphant performance at Michigan’s 1969 Ann Arbor Blues Festival proved to be his critical zenith. Then, complaining of heartburn, the mercurial musician collapsed one morning in Chicago, never to recover.

Magic Sam born February 14, 1937, died December 1, 1969

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Sam Cooke - Gun Shot

The manageress now reportedly escaped his clutches and reached for the pistol she kept on her TV set for such eventualities. Firing three times at close range, she hit him between two ribs, the fatal bullet passing through his heart and both lungs. Cooke’s final words were, 'Lady! You shot me!'

Sam Cooke born January 22, 1931, died December 1, 1964

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Tommy Gaither - Car Crash

Gaither took the concept of a drive in restaurant rather too literally, the over tired singer steered his band’s yellow Dodge into the establishment’s front wall.

Tommy Gaither born 1927, died November 5, 1950

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Malcolm Hale - Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Malcolm Hale, who arranged much of the group’s work, died suddenly at his Chicago apartment at the age of twenty seven. There have been conflicting verdicts of walking pneumonia or cirrhosis of the liver, though some reports also suggest that he may have died as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning due to a faulty heater.

Malcolm Hale born May 17, 1941, died October 31, 1968

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James Ramey aka Baby Huey - Heart Attack

Ramey’s heroin related heart attack in Chicago’s Roberts Motel meant that the singer never saw his first record issued, however, his body just wasn’t able to stand the combination of his size and his appetite for illegal substances.

James Ramey aka Baby Huey born August 17, 1944, died October 28, 1970

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Alma Cogan - Throat Cancer

There was still the staple cabaret circuit, which she pursued for several years, and it was at one such date in Sweden in the autumn of 1966 that Cogan mysteriously collapsed. Rushed to hospital, the 34 year old vocalist was diagnosed with throat cancer, within weeks she was admitted to the Middlesex Hospital, where, shortly thereafter, she passed away.

Alma Cogan born May 19, 1932, died October 26, 1966

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Bill Black - Brain Tumour

Bill Black was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Devastated, and feeling his time was limited, he signed over responsibilities for the band to guitarist Bob Tucker before undergoing the first of three operations. On 8 October, after the third operation, Black slipped into a coma from which he did not recover, and died two weeks later at the Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, the very same hospital at which Presley himself was pronounced dead, nearly twelve years later.

Bill Black born September 17, 1926, died October 21, 1965

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