FOR THE WEEK OF AUGUST 4, 2014
DEAR JERRY: You have created many lists requested by readers who could not get the information on their own. Now it's my turn.
Nowhere have I seen a chronological listing of prominent vinyl era musicians who died young, meaning under age 60.
Their style of music doesn't matter, but please limit the coverage to 50 years — 1950 through 1999.
I don't require obituaries, or details on how and why they died, just their name and age at time of passing.
—Bernie Foster, Denver
DEAR BERNIE: A reasonable request indeed, as long as you don't mind getting it in two chunks.
About the only commentary I'll add will be for decedents whose notoriety is primarily based on a group, or ones who share the same name with a different performer, such as Carl Perkins.
Just having a name makes finding an online bio-obit easy.
There are some lesser-known group members who are not included at this time; however, they may be added in the future.
Here is part one, from 1950 through 1979:
1950
July 7: Theodore "Fats" Navarro (26)
1951
December 12: Mildred Bailey (44)
1953
January 1: Hank Williams (29)
May 16: Django Reinhardt (43)
1954
December 25: Johnny Ace (22)
1955
March 12: Charlie Parker (34)
1956
June 26: Clifford Brown (25)
November 26: Tommy Dorsey (51)
1957
June 12: Jimmy Dorsey (53)
1958
March 17: Carl Perkins (29) (jazz pianist, not the R&R singer)
April 10: Chuck Willis (30)
December 8: Julia Lee (56)
1959
February 3: Buddy Holly (22); Ritchie Valens (17); The Big Bopper (28)
February 7: Guitar Slim (32)
July 17: Billie Holiday (44)
April 17: Eddie Cochran (21)
September 8: Oscar Pettiford (37)
November 5: Johnny Horton (35)
1961
October 5: Booker Little Jr. (23)
1962
April 10: Stu Sutcliffe (21) (of the Beatles)
August 5: Marilyn Monroe (36)
1963
January 13: Conrad "Sonny" Clark (31)
March 5: Patsy Cline (30); Cowboy Copas (30); Hawkshaw Hawkins (41)
March 7 Jack Anglin (46) (of Johnny and Jack)
October 10: Edith Piaf (47)
December 14: Dinah Washington (39)
1964
May 20: Rudy Lewis (27) (of the Drifters)
June 29: Eric Dolphy (36)
July 31: Jim Reeves (40)
August 14: Johnny Burnette (30)
December 11: Sam Cooke (33)
1965
October 21: Bill Black (39) (of Bill Black's Combo)
1966
July 18: Bobby Fuller (23) (of the Bobby Fuller Four)
July 31: Bud Powell (41)
1967
January 1: Moon Mullican (57)
May 29: J.B. Lenore (38)
July 17: John Coltrane (40)
December 10: Otis Redding (26) and four members of the Bar-Kays
1968
February 15: Little Walter (37)
February 27: Frankie Lymon (25)
May 25: Little Willie John (30)
June 15: Wes Montgomery (45)
August 13: Joe Hinton (38)
1969
January 4: Paul Chambers (33)
June 22: Judy Garland (47)
July 3: Brian Jones (27) (of the Rolling Stones)
July 20: Roy Hamilton (40)
November 23: Spade Cooley (58)
January 17: Billy Stewart (32)
March 14: Mary Ann Ganser (22) (of the Shangri-las)
March 16: Tammi Terrell (24)
September 3: Al Wilson (27) (of Canned Heat)
September 18: Jimi Hendrix (27)
October 4: Janis Joplin (27)
October 28: Baby Huey (26)
November 25: Albert Ayler (34)
1971
March 13: Arlester "Dyke" Christian (28) (of Dyke and the Blazers)
July 3: Jim Morrison (27) (of the Doors)
August 7: Henry "Homer" Haynes (51) (of Homer and Jethro)
August 13: "King" Curtis [Ousley] (37)
October 12: Gene Vincent (36)
October 29: Duane Allman (24) (of Allman Brothers Band)
November 18: Little Junior Parker (44)
1972
January 23: "T" Texas Tyler (55)
February 19: Lee Morgan (33)
May 3: Leslie Harvey (27) (of Stone the Crows)
June 13: Clyde McPhatter (39)
September 28: Rory Storm (26)
November 18: Danny Whitten (29) (of Neil Young's Crazy Horse)
March 8: Ron McKernan (27) (of the Grateful Dead)
August 17: Paul Williams (34) (of the Temptations)
September 19: Gram Parsons (26)
September 20: Jim Croce (30)
November 21: Allan Sherman (48)
December 20: Bobby Darin (37)
1974
February 28: Bobby Bloom (28)
April 20: Savannah Churchill (53)
May 8: Graham Bond (36)
July 2: Jimmy Ricks (46) (of the Ravens)
July 29: "Mama" Cass Elliot (32)
September 23: Robbie McIntosh (24) (of Average White Band)
November 25: Nick Drake (26)
1975
February 10: David Alexander (27) (of the Stooges)
April 24: Pete Ham (27) (of Badfinger)
June 29: Tim Buckley (28)
July 7: George Morgan (51)
July 19: Lefty Frizzell (47)
December 8: Gary Thain (27) (of Uriah Heep)
1976
February 12: Sal Mineo (37)
February 22: Florence Ballard (32) (of the Supremes)
April 9: Phil Ochs (35)
May 14: Keith Relf (33) (of the Yardbirds)
August 29: Jerry Reed (50)
December 4: Tommy Bolin (25) (of the James Gang)
December 28: Freddy King (42)
1977
August 16: Elvis Presley (42)
September: 16 Marc Bolan (29) (of T-Rex)
October 20: Ronnie Van Zant (29) (with other members and friends of Lynyrd Skynyrd)
December 5: Rahsaan Roland Kirk (42)
1978
January 23: Terry Kath (31) (of Chicago)
January 31: Gregory Herbert (30)
March 11: Claude François (39)
April 21: Sandy Denny (31) (of Fairport Convention)
September 7: Keith Moon (32) (of the Who)
October 6: Johnny O'Keefe (43)
October 9: Jacques Brel (49)
October 21: Mel Street (45)
December 27: Bob Luman (41)
1979
January 13: Donny Hathaway (33)
January 31: Grant Green (43)
February 2: Sid Vicious (21) (of the Sex Pistols)
June 29: Lowell George (33) (of Little Feat)
July 6: Van McCoy (39)
July 12: Minnie Ripperton (31)
August 19: Dorsey Burnette (46)
September 27: Jimmy McCulloch (26) (of Wings)
November 29: Ray Smith (45)
IZ ZAT SO? In this group (1950-1979) Ritchie Valens is the youngest to die (Feb. 2, 1959). At just 17, Ritchie is also the only teenager overall.
The youngest female is 23-year-old Mary Ann Ganser, a member of the Shangri-las. The exact cause of her death (March 14, 1970) remains undetermined.
The oldest male here is Spade Cooley who died at 58 (Nov. 23, 1969), and the female is 56-year-old Julia Lee (Dec. 8, 1958). Both of these will be replaced with other names next week in part two (1980-1999).
Jerry Osborne answers as many questions as possible through this column. Write Jerry at: Box 255, Port Townsend, WA 98368 E-mail: jpo@olympus.net Visit his Web site: www.jerryosborne.com
All values quoted in this column are for near-mint condition.
Copyright 2014 Osborne Enterprises - Reprinted By Exclusive Permission
