Duane Jarvis was one of those great talents that should have been more famous than they were. Although Jarvis was born in Portland, OR, both Los Angeles and Nashville like to claim him as their own as well. Much more than a supurb singer and songwriter, Jarvis was also a master of the guitar, mandolin and bass. Over the years he has worked with the Divinyls, Rosie Flores, Dave Alvin, John Prine, Victoria Williams, Dwight Yoakam, M. Ward, Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits. Duane Jarvis passed away on March 31, 2009 while in hopice care for cancer.
Thanks to Craig Rosen at Number1Albums for the lead.
Selena Quintanilla-Perez
April 16, 1971 – March 21, 1995
SelenaQuintanilla was a Texas-born Tejano star who was quickly becoming a worldwide superstar when her life was tragically cut short. Known simply as Selena, she began building a following within the Spanish speaking community in and around the Houston area in the mid ’80s and by 1987, she was at the top of her field when she won Best Female Vocalist at the Tejano Music Awards which she would continue to rule over the next several years. Signed to EMI Records in the States, Selena was soon being groomed to cross over much the same way Gloria Estefan had before her. By the early ’90s, Selena was approaching superstar status, designing her own clothing line, opening boutiques in Texas and appearing in Spanish novellas and alongside Johnny Depp, Faye Dunaway and Marlon Brando in Don Juan DeMarco. In 1994, her Amor Prohibido was nominated for a Grammy, and she began work on an English language album. And by 1995, she was drawing upwards of 65,000 to her concerts in Texas. Around this time, her family discovered that Yolanda Saldivar, the president of her fan club and manager of one of her clothing stores was embezzling from the company. After being fired, Saldivar agreed to meet Selena at her hotel in Corpus Christi to return some financial paperwork. Instead, Saldivar shot Selena in the back as she was exiting the room. She died later that day.
Perhaps best known as the front man for L.A. psychobilly band, the Gun Club, Jeffrey Lee Pierce also worked for Bomp Records, wrote for a handfull of punk ‘zines, and ran the Blondie fan club. With the Gun Club, Pierce made an influential though not commercial impact on music with their swampy blues punk sound that drew strongly from such blues giants as Charley Patton and Howlin’ Wolf. Gun Club were a direct influence on the White Stripes, Screaming Trees and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. By the ’90s, Pierce was struggling with personal demons and drugs, leading to a marked decline in his creative output. He died of a brain hemmorage on the final day of March, 1996. He was just 37.
Sean Levert was the son of O’Jays singer, Eddie Levert. Along with his older brother Gerald Levert and friend Marc Gordon, he formed the group LeVert and scored a handful of R&B hit in the late ’80s/early ’90s, The group earned two gold albums and received a Grammy nomination. In March of 2008, Levert entered prison to serve a year for unpaid child support in excess of $89,000. Within days of entering the prison, Levert was taken to a hospital suffereing from high blood pressure and hallucinations. He died in the hospital on March 31, 2008. The cause was determined to be a combination of high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, sarcoidosis and withdrawal from Xanax. The sentencing judge claimed to have had no knowledge of his health problems prior to her ruling.
Born on Christmas Day 1937, O’Kelly Isley would, along with his brothers, Ronald Isley, Vernon Isley and Rudolph Isley would group up to write and record some of the greatest songs of R&B. Such hits as “Shout,”“It’s Your Thing,” and “The Lady (Part 1).” The Isley Brothers’ songs have been recorded by the, James Brown, Eric Clapton, Yardbirds, Alicia Keys, Aaliyah, the Beatles, and many many more! And who could forget the great scene in Animal House when Otis Day & The Knights’ version of “Shout!” made a great movie even better. O’Kelly Isley passed away from a sudden heart attack in 1986. He was 48.
Maurice Jarre was an the three-time Oscar-winning French composer best known for his scores for such films as Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, A Passage To India and Dead Poets Society. He composed music for more than 150 over his career. He is the father of Jean-Michel Jarre, a revered composer and musician as well. Maurice Jarre passed passed away at 84 as a result of cancer.
Monte Hale (Born Buren Ely)
June 8, 1919 – March 29, 2009
Born in Ada, Oklahoma, Monte Hale was best known for his “singing cowboy” roles in many Republic Pictures westerns of the ’40s and ’50s. Prior to that, Hale made his living playing country music at local rodeos and vaudeville shows. He also co-founded the Autry Museum of Western Heritage with Gene Autry. Hale passed away after a lenghty illness at the age of 89.
Jeanine Deckers (Born Jeanne-Paule Deckers)
October 17, 1933 – March 29, 1985
As a Belgian nun, Jeanine Deckers earned a place in pop culture due to her international hit single, “Dominique,” released in 1963. When John F. Kennedy was assasinated in November of that year, many US radio stations played the song in heavy rotation as part of their tributes to the late President. This lead to Deckers becoming a popular concert draw around the United States and beyond as well as an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in January of 1964. Hollywood took notice and cast Debbie Reynolds in a film entitled The Singing Nun which Deckers denounced as pure fiction. The following year, Sally Field was cast as the lead in a television comedy, The Flying Nun, a spoof of sorts on the film. By 1968, Deckers’ music career was over and she had left the convent to open a school for autistic children. The Belgian government came calling for their share of the profits from her first album (over $50,000), which she claimed went to the convent, making her exempt. She eventually lost the court case that ensued. Around this time she developed an addiction to drugs and alcohol and was suffering from depression and nervous breakdowns. Blaming financial problems in a note left behind, Deckers took her own life by an overdose of barbiturates and alcohol on March 29, 1985. Ironically and without her knowledge, Deckers was awarded $300,000 in back royalties that very day. The amount was significantly greater than the money she owed.
Joe Williams (Born Joseph Goreed)
December 12, 1918 – March 29, 1999
Joe Williams has been called the last great big-band singer. His beautiful baritone has been heard alongside such greats as Lionel Hampton and Coleman Hawkins, and carried him to prominence with the Count Basie Orchestra during the ’50s. He continued to perform and record alongside the greatest names in jazz over the next three decades, earning numerous awards including a Grammy and a star along Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. Williams worked up until he passed away of natural causes at the age of 80.
Annunzio Paolo Mantovani
November 15, 1905 – March 29, 1980
The undisputed King of Easy Listening passed away on this date in 1980. If you’re under 40, you probably never heard of Mantovani unless you worked ina “real” record store in the ’70s or ’80s. He released over 40 albums in the US, 11 of which landing in the Top 10. He passed away in his home at the age of 74.
William Christopher Handy
November 16, 1873 – March 28, 1958
W.C. Handy was born in Florence, Alabama in a log cabin that was built by his grandfather. By the time he was a teenager he was playing both trumpet and clarinet in a band. He would become a teacher by trade and was soon writing songs that would become blues standards. His “St. Louis Blues” as recorded by Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong is considered one of the finest songs of the era. Along with his autobiography, Handy wrote five books on the subject of music, blues and African American life in the early 20th century. In 1943, Handy was blinded as a result of a fall from a subway platform. He passes away at the age of 84 fom pneumonia. An estimated 25,000 people attended his funeral while an additional 125,000 gathered in nearby streets to pay their respects.
Born Raymond Rogers, Freaky Tah was a rapper from Queens, New York. He worked primarily with The Lost Boyz, a chart topping and gold selling hip hop group during the mid to late ’90s. Tah was gunned down as he left a birthday party for fellow Lost Boy, Mr. Cheeks.
Big Boy Crudup was a Mississippi blues man whose “That’s Alright, Mama” would be one of Elvis Presley’s biggest hits, but he still had to work most of his life as a laborer and moonshiner to put food on the table. Sadly, even though there are countless covers of his tunes, he still lived in near poverty for his entire life. Artists like Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Creedance Clearwater Revival, John Lee Hooker, Wanda Jackson, Elton John, Junior Wells and the Stray Cats owe a lot more than just gratitude to Arthur Crudup who had to labor most of his life until he passed away from complications of heart disease and diabetes at 71.
Ian Dury was one of rocks most beloved cult heroes. Besides making quirky music, he had a somewhat odd appearance partially due to childhood polio, and that endeared him to his devoted fans. Dury signed to the legendary Stiff Records in 1978 where he began to release songs that combined elements of punk and disco which at the time were mortal enemies. Songs like “Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick” and “Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll” made him a star in England and built him that cult following in the US. His quirky lyrics and thick cockney accent kept him from breaking out of that cult status beyond the UK. The 80s found Dury devoting more time to his other passion, acting as he appeared in several TV shows and movies, including The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover and Roman Polanski’sPirates. In 1998 Dury made public his battle with colon cancer and that the disease had spread to his liver. He lost his battle to the disease on March 27, 2000.
Anthony “Duster” Bennett
September 23, 1946 – March 26, 1976
Duster Bennett was a blues singer and musician who emerged from the British blues scene of the last ’60s as a popular club performer. He was equally adept at the harmonica, guitar and drums, at times even performing as a one-man blues band. As a session player, Bennett could be heard on countless John Peel programs as well as on recordings by early Fleetwood Mac and later, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. Following a gig with Memphis Slim on March 26, 1976, Bennett allegedly fell asleep while driving home and was killed when he crashed into a truck.
Paul Hester was the much-adored drummer Australian new wavers Split Enz for about a year before they called it quits. The Enz leader, Neil Finn and Hester went on to form Crowded House with bassist Nick Seymour. The band’s catchy pop tunes would help usher in what we now know as “Alternative Rock” and would gain them world wide fame. But ten years into the ride, Hester decided to leave the group to devote more time to his new daughter. His post-House life was just as, if not more, productive. He opened a restaurant and made numerous regular appearances on Australian radio and television including a recurring role as Paul the Cook on The Wiggles. He also hosted a popular ten-part variety-type show called Hessie’s Shed followed by the concert series, The Max Sessions. Tragically, Hester hanged himself on March 26, 2005. To many fans it was a shock to learn that Hester reportedly suffered from depression, since he always seemed so happy and fun-loving on stage.
Nikki Sudden was an English post-punk singer-songwriter who, along with his brother Epic Soundtracks, built a loyal following in Swell Maps and later Nikki Sudden & the Jacobites. Fans (including this author) gravitated toward Sudden’s music due in part to its sound that was noticeably influenced by early Stones, Faces, T.Rex and Johnny Thunders. Sudden died of a drug overdose after a show on March 26, 2006. He had been working on a new album which was released later that year.
With Dean Torrence, Jan Berry successfully recorded as Jan and Dean, one of the true pioneers of what would become known as surf music. Along with the Beach Boys, they ruled the genre during the late ’50s through the mid ’60s. Their smash hits included “Surf City,” “The Little Old Lady From Pasadena,” and the prophetic “Dead Man’s Curve.” If being pop stars didn’t take enough time, Berry was also an exceptional college student attending both UCLA and what is now known as the UC Irvine School Of Medicine. Two years into med school, tragedy struck. While on his way to a business meeting, Berry crashed his Corvette into a parked gardener truck on a Beverly Hills road not far from the actual “Dead Man’s Curve” of Sunset Blvd. The accident left Berry with brain damage and partial paralysis from which he never fully recovered. He was able to stay productive through the ’70s and ’80s as a producer and sometime performer and was involved with several Jan and Dean reissue packages into the 2000s. Berry passed away at age 62.
Eazy-E (Born Eric Wright)
September 7, 1963 – March 26, 1995
Eric “Eazy-E” Wright was born September 7, 1964, in Compton, CA, a rough part of the Los Angeles metro area that N.W.A. would later make notorious. A high school dropout, Wright turned to drug dealing to support himself, and eventually used the profits to start his own rap label, Ruthless Records, with partner and music-business veteran Jerry Heller. E discovered a major performing talent in the D.O.C., and recruited Ice Cube and Dr. Dre to write songs for his stable of artists. When their composition “Boyz-N-the Hood” was rejected by Ruthless signee HBO, Cube, Dre, and E formed the first version of N.W.A. to record it themselves. Their first album, N.W.A. and the Posse, was released in 1987 and largely ignored; after a few tweaks of the lineup and the rough-edged subject matter, 1988’s Straight Outta Compton made N.W.A. into superstars. E seized the opportunity to release a solo project later in the year, titled Eazy-Duz-It, which would be the only full-length album he would complete; it would sell well over two-million copies. After Ice Cube’s bitter departure from N.W.A. toward the end of 1989 (precipitated in part by Heller’s business tactics), Eazy-E took over his not inconsiderable share of the rapping and songwriting duties, becoming the group’s dominant voice on 1991’s Efil4zaggin. His taste for cartoon-ish vulgarity began to undermine the claims of realistic inner-city reporting that the group had used to defend themselves. Disputes between the members led to N.W.A.’s breakup that summer, and a court battle between Ruthless and Dre’s new label Death Row soon followed, with Eazy alleging that Death Row head Suge Knight had coerced Ruthless into releasing Dre from his contract. The case was eventually thrown out, but a bitter feud between Dre and Eazy raged for the next several years; Dre’s seminal solo debut The Chronic made merciless fun of Eazy. E’s 1992 solo EP 5150 Home 4 tha Sick sold well, but did little to dispel his increasingly cartoon-ish image; he found more success running the Ruthless label, with a roster that included Above the Law, N.W.A. bandmate MC Ren, the poorly received all-female group H.W.A. (Hoez With Attitude), and, eventually, the lucrative Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. Eazy addressed his feud with Dre on the 1993 EP It’s On (Dr. Dre) 187um Killa, which famously included an actual photo of Dre wearing makeup and sequins during his World Class Wreckin’ Cru days. Still, save for dissing Dre, Eazy didn’t seem to have much to say, and despite healthy record sales, his artistic credibility was declining at an alarming rate. Eazy didn’t help matters much when, in early 1993, he spoke out in support of Theodore Briseno, the only LAPD officer involved in the Rodney King beating to express displeasure; later in the year, he paid 2,500 dollars to attend a Republican fund-raiser, which his detractors saw as a further betrayal of his roots. In early 1995, Eazy entered the hospital with respiratory difficulties, believing he had developed asthma. The diagnosis was far more serious: he had contracted AIDS. Eazy announced his plight to the public shortly thereafter, winning admiration for his straightforward attitude. Sadly, just a few weeks later, on March 26, 1995, the disease claimed his life. – Steve Huey (allmusic)
Louis Chauvin was a ragtime contemporary of Scott Joplin and quite possibly the first member of the 27 Club.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri of a Mexican Spanish-Indian father and an African American mother, [Louis Chauvin] was widely considered the finest pianist in the St. Louis area at the turn of the century. He was part of the ragtime community that met at Tom Turpin’s Rosebud bar, along with Joe Jordan and others. Chauvin died in Chicago. Whereas his death certificate lists causes of death as “multiple sclerosis, probably symphlitic,” and starvation due to coma, a modern diagnosis would probably conclude he had a neurosyphilitic sclerosis and not link it to multiple sclerosis. He is buried in Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis, MO. He left only three published compositions and died without having recorded, so his ability is hard to judge today. However, he was long remembered by his peers as an exceptionally gifted performer and composer. He is primarily remembered today for Heliotrope Bouquet, the rag he wrote with Scott Joplin, in which the first two strains are his and the last two Joplin’s. – From wikipedia
Duane Jarvis was one of those great talents that should have been more famous than they were. Although Jarvis was born in Portland, OR, both Los Angeles and Nashville like to claim him as their own as well. Much more than a supurb singer and songwriter, Jarvis was also a master of the guitar, mandolin and bass. Over the years he has worked with the Divinyls, Rosie Flores, Dave Alvin, John Prine, Victoria Williams, Dwight Yoakam, M. Ward, Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits. Duane Jarvis passed away on March 31, 2009 while in hopice care for cancer.
Born on Christmas Day 1937, O’Kelly Isley would, along with his brothers, Ronald Isley, Vernon Isley and Rudolph Isley would group up to write and record some of the greatest songs of R&B. Such hits as “Shout,” “It’s Your Thing,” and “The Lady (Part 1).” The Isley Brothers’ songs have been recorded by the, 
The undisputed King of Easy Listening passed away on this date in 1980. If you’re under 40, you probably never heard of Mantovani unless you worked in a “real” record store in the ’70s or ’80s. He released over 40 albums in the US, 11 of which landing in the Top 10. He passed away in his home at the age of 74.
Paul Hester was the much-adored drummer Australian new wavers Split Enz for about a year before they called it quits. The Enz leader, Neil Finn and Hester went on to form Crowded House with bassist Nick Seymour. The band’s catchy pop tunes would help usher in what we now know as “Alternative Rock” and would gain them world wide fame. But ten years into the ride, Hester decided to leave the group to devote more time to his new daughter. His post-House life was just as, if not more, productive. He opened a restaurant and made numerous regular appearances on Australian radio and television including a recurring role as Paul the Cook on The Wiggles. He also hosted a popular ten-part variety-type show called Hessie’s Shed followed by the concert series, The Max Sessions. Tragically, Hester hanged himself on March 26, 2005. To many fans it was a shock to learn that Hester reportedly suffered from depression, since he always seemed so happy and fun-loving on stage.
With Dean Torrence, Jan Berry successfully recorded as Jan and Dean, one of the true pioneers of what would become known as surf music. Along with the Beach Boys, they ruled the genre during the late ’50s through the mid ’60s. Their smash hits included “Surf City,” “The Little Old Lady From Pasadena,” and the prophetic “Dead Man’s Curve.” If being pop stars didn’t take enough time, Berry was also an exceptional college student attending both UCLA and what is now known as the UC Irvine School Of Medicine. Two years into med school, tragedy struck. While on his way to a business meeting, Berry crashed his Corvette into a parked gardener truck on a Beverly Hills road not far from the actual “Dead Man’s Curve” of Sunset Blvd. The accident left Berry with brain damage and partial paralysis from which he never fully recovered. He was able to stay productive through the ’70s and ’80s as a producer and sometime performer and was involved with several Jan and Dean reissue packages into the 2000s. Berry passed away at age 62.
