Harry Chapin (1942-1981)
One of America's best-loved singer/songwriters, Harry had many hits including “Cat's in the cradle”, “WOLD” and “Taxi”, and his songs, particularly “Cat's in the cradle”, dealing with his coming-to-terms with his own son growing up and moving away from him, and seeing that he is now being treated by the son as he treated him growing up, covered many times. He was also a dedicated humanitarian who fought to end world hunger. Harry died in a car accident, July 17 1981.
Herbert von Karajan (1908-1989)
A child prodigy on the piano, Herbert found his true calling as a conductor of classical music, although this did not stop him from being the most successful classical recording artist, selling over two hundred million records in his time. He is one of the most respected conductors in the business, and in 2002 he had a music award founded in his name. He died of heart attack July 16 1989.
Jon Lord (1941-2012)
As usual, sadly, we have to include someone who has died this year, barely a week ago today. Co-founder of Deep Purple, Jon Lord was regarded as its leader until 1970, and wrote or co-wrote many of their greatest songs, including “Speed king”, “Child in time”, “Smoke on the water” and “Highway star”. Jon later joined Whitesnake, where he was never really happy, referring to himself as Gillan's “hired hand”. He rejoined Deep Purple in 1984, and also found time to put out some solo albums, including recording two classical suites. Jon died of pancreatic cancer, July 16 of this year.
Billie Holliday (1915-1959)
Born Eleanora Goughy, she was one of the most famous and revered female jazz singers, pioneering a whole new way of singing and having a way of being able to personally connect with those she sang to on an almost intimate level. She was feted by her peers, and assured her place in the annals of music history. She died of cirrhosis of the liver, July 17 1959.
John Coltrane (1926-1967)
A massive influence in the world of jazz music, Coltrane worked with other greats in the genre such as Thelonius Monk and Miles Davis. He was a bandleader and composer, and one of the most accomplished tenor jazz saxophonists in the world. He was even beatified by the African Orthodox Church as Saint John William Coltrane. He died of liver cancer, July 17 1967.
Chas Chandler (1938-1996)
Perhaps most famous as “the man who discovered Hendrix”, Bryan “Chas” Chandler originally found fame as bass player and backing vocalist with The Animals, before moving on to rock management, where he saw Hendrix, who was going by the name of Jimmy James, playing at a New York club and brought him back to England to form the Jimi Hendrix Experience, which he managed and produced. He later took over management of Slade, and guided them to several top chart hits in the seventies. Chandler died of an aortic aneuryism, July 17 1996.
Kevin Wilkinson (1958-1999)
Session drummer, affiliated with many bands in varying styles and genres, among them The Waterboys, Squeeze, Fish, China Crisis and the Proclaimers. He committed suicide July 17 1999 by hanging himself.
(Note: because he was a session musician, it's hard to tie Wilkinson down to playing on any particular album of any of the artistes listed above. These are the only ones I've come across on which he is namechecked in the album's personnel list, and so we can be reasonably sure he played on.)
Nico (1938-1998)
Born Christa Paffgen, she is best remembered for her work with Lou Reed and Velvet Underground, their debut album bearing her name as the artist --- The Velvet Underground and Nico --- but she also had a solo singing career, and worked as an actress and a model. She was closely associated with
enfant terrible Andy Warhol, and worked with Bob Dylan and Jimmy Page. She died as a result of a cycling accident, July 18 1998.
Jerry Goldsmith (1929-2004)
Composer of some of the most iconic film scores and also television music, he scored among others the theme for “Star Trek: the next generation”, “Star Trek Voyager”, “The man from U.N.C.L.E” and “The Waltons”, as well as countless film soundtracks, such as “Logan's run”, “The omen”, “Poltergeist”, “Rambo”, “Total recall”, “Air Force One” and more recently “Hollow man” and “The sum of all fears”. He died of cancer, July 21 2004.
(Okay, so I'm a Star Trek Nerd, and you didn't think I'd pass up the opportunity to run the theme, did you? Seriously?)
John Collins Dawson IV (1945-2009)
A founder member, with the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia, of the band New Riders of the Purple Sage, Dawson, who went under the name of “Marmaduke”, infused psychedelia and rock with country music, and recruited several members of the Dead to play with the New Riders, the two bands often playing together. Dawson also guested on some of the Dead's albums. In 1997 he relocated to Mexico to become a teacher, and it was there that he died of stomach cancer, July 21 2009.
Sascha Distel (1933-2004)
French singer and guitarist who became a household name after his cover of “Raindrops keep falling on my head” was a hit. He was considered a heart-throb, and having started his career in jazz had worked with the greats like Dizzy Gillespie, Tony Bennet and Quincy Jones. He starred in many French films and had his own television show in the USA. He died after a long illness July 22 2004.
Don Arden (1926-2007)
Born Harry Levy, he became known as “The English Godfather” and “The Al Capone of Pop”, due to his aggressive and often illegal business practices and his uncompromising style. As a tough band manager, he guided the careers of among others, ELO and Black Sabbath. He was the father of Sharon, who married Ozzy Osbourne, and took over management of Sabbath from her father, who was reportedly livid and cut off all communications between the two. He died of Alzheimer's Disease, July 22 2007.
Amy Winehouse (1983-2011)
Singer, songwriter and guitarist, Amy Winehouse hit gold with her second album, “Back to black”, which won a total of five Grammy Awards and put her on the musical map. She became one of the world's biggest-selling female artists, with her mix of soul, rhythm and blues and jazz music, and her rebellious attitude was taken up by teenagers across the globe. Despite her talent though, her heavy misuse of drugs and alcohol, combined with violent moods swings, depression and instances of self-harm, landed her in rehab, where she refused to stay, discharging herself. Her substance abuse virtually put an end to her musical career, as the one overshadowed the other, and it became more of interest what outrageous thing she had done last than what her latest single or album was. She eventually died of alcohol poisoning, July 23 of last year. She had only released two albums, with a posthumous collection being released after her death.
Peter Sellers (1925-1980)
Actor and musician best known and beloved for his roles in Blake Edwards' “Pink Panther” series of movies, in which he played the bumbling Inspector Clouseau six times (once posthumously, with previous footage inserted of him for the final movie), the amazing “Dr Strangelove”, in which he played three separate roles at once, and his participation in the radio comedy sketch show “The Goons”. He died of a heart attack. July 23 1980.
Dan Peek (1950-2011)
Onetime member of the band America, Dan wrote some of their hits and also collaborated on two of their bigger numbers, “Ventura Highway” and “Horse with no name”. In addition to singing, he played guitar, keyboards, bass and harmonica. When he left America in 1977 he rediscovered his Christianity and became one of the first crossover artists in the field of Christian contemporary music, scoring a hit with the single “All things are possible”. Dan died in his sleep, July 23 of last year.
Charlie Rich (1932-1995)
Country singer and piano player, Charlie had hits with “The most beautiful girl in the world” and “Behind closed doors”, and starred as himself in the Clint Eastwood movie “Every which way but loose”. He won two Grammy awards, and was even namechecked by Tom Waits in his song “Putnam County”. Charlie died in his sleep from a blood clot on his lung, July 25 1995.
Mary Wells (1943-1992)
Known as “The First Lady of Motown” and “The Queen of Motown”, she was one of the first motown singing superstars, with her signature hit, “My guy”, going to number one, only four years after she had been discovered by Motown boss Berry Gordy. She went on to work with legends like Bobby Womack, Smokey Robinson and Jackie Wilson. She developed throat cancer in 1990 and this put an end to her long music career, finally also putting an end to her life, July 26 1992.
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Composer best known and loved for his four-part violin suite, “The Four Seasons”, Vivaldi also composed over forty operas, and in addition to being a musician and composer was a priest. He was invited to Vienna in 1728 by the then Emperor Charles VI, but soon after he arrived, expecting imperial patronage and a decent income, the emperor died, leaving Vivaldi destitute. Not long after the penniless composer died, of “internal infection”, and was buried in a pauper's grave.
(Incidentally, if anyone is really that into Vivaldi, someone has posted a SIX HOUR video on YT! I kid ye not! Just search under “Vivaldi” and it's on the first page. Bit too much for me though.)
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
A hugely influential German composer, and part of the powerful dynasty of classical musicians that came out of the Bach family, Johann Sebastian (often shorted to J.S) was known for such works as “The Brandenburg Concertos”, “Toccata and fugue” and was admired by some of the greats, including Mozart, Mendelssohn, Chopin and Beethoven. His music features three times on the record of human achievement sent into space on the Voyager probes, more than any other artist, living or dead. He died after falling into a decline, July 28 1750.
Mama Cass (1941-1974)
Born Ellen Naomi Cohen, she changed her name to Cass Elliot but was widely known as Mama Cass, fronting the folk band The Mamas and the Papas, who had huge hits with songs like “Dream a little dream of me” and “California dreamin'”. After the group disbanded, Cass went on to a successful solo career, but died of a heart attack after the last concert of a two-week sold out gig in London, July 28 1974.
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Hungarian pianist and composer who is widely regarded as the most technically proficient of his age, and one of the greatest pianists of all time, Liszt experimented with new techniques and advanced the art of piano music well ahead of his time. He died of pneumonia, July 31 1886.
Jim Reeves (1923-1964)
“Gentleman Jim” was born in Texas, one of the most loved country singers of his generation, with hits like “He'll have to go” and “Welcome to my world”, as well as the Christmas favourite “Silver bells”. He became known for his deep, rich baritone voice and was inducted posthumously into the Country Music Hall of Fame three years after his death. He died in a plane crash, July 31 1964.