gerry rafferty (63, january 4)
when i moved to la grande back in september 2010, i had a song stuck in my head the entire trip. it was a song about ditching a souless big city for a nice quiet town. go figure! after spending the three excruciating years in a rotten city, the chance to come to this desert mecca was sweet music to my ears. ffwd to january 4, 2011, coincidentally my aunt baker’s birthday, i started a class at blue mountain community college – baker city campus. baker city happens to be in baker county, but the one-building campus turned out to be on baker street. that same day, classic rocker gerry rafferty passed away. his song baker street, the tune that fueled my car all the way to la grande, wasn’t his only “hit” by the way. he had several, including the one used during the most famous scene that quentin tarrantino ever filmed.
hazel dickens (75, april 22)
the first lady of bluegrass was kid yoshida’s favorite musician that passed away this year. hazel dickens was as one of eleven kids in a west virginia coal mining family. her dad was a banjo player, baptist minister, and coal truck driver. such an upbringing led hazel into a career as a big time protest singer. anyone who saw the last mountain this year might appreciate hazel. she championed blair mountain and fought hard to end mountain top removal. she also made a cameo in john sayles’ classic film maetwan. she fought hard for non-union labor workers and feminist rights. lots of songs of that ilk, a first rate rabble rouser!
yochekira: they’ll never keep us down / coal miner’s blues / fire in the hole / rebel girl / are they gonna make us outlaws again / coal tattoo
trish keenan (42, january 12)
singer for the uk band broadcast died after a bout with pneumonia. i’m not sure broadcast was known well in the united states, which is a loss for listeners here. just watching videos makes me wish i could have seen this band live. keenan had a surreal gothic-type stage presence influenced by the likes of gertrude stein, h.g. wells and edgar allen poe. she had a sultry voice set to soft psychedelic brit pop. enjoy it if you can find it.
yochekira: winter now
sylvia robinson (75, september 29)
another reason why i turn away from phrases like one hit wonder is that sylvia could be thought of as such because pillow talk was her one big solo hit. but that would be unfair and not exactly relevant because she was too busy creating an entire black counterculture to try to think about her own singing career. sylvia was a blues/jazz/soul singer, who also did talent scouting, songwriting, production and recording. she was one of the first female producers. even today, female producers are a rare find. according to the ny times, sylvia was the "midwife of rap." she put together a group known as the sugarhill gang and wrote what is often considered the first rap song, rapper’s delight. grandmaster flash was signed to her label and she produced/co-wrote his groundbreaking work the message. sylvia also sang a theme for the tv show kojak in the 70s, but what surprised me most was that her singing career started way back in 1950. as a 14-year-old high school student she made her first appearance singing with legendary trumpeter hot lips page! she was then part of a duo called mickey & sylvia who had a song called love is strange, which will prove once again that white people stole rock and roll from black people. listen to that song and then try to give buddy holly credit for originality. you can’t do it, because sylvia had the vocal prowess to make buddy holly jealous. she was an original, an innovator. and she was way sexy.
gil scott-heron (62, may 27)
if sylvia was the godmother of hip hop, gil scott-heron was the godfather. he didn’t particularly like the title or listen much himself. he was more into jazz, but gil can still be heard on last year’s kanye west song who will survive in america? there's also a longer and better version of the same spoken piece with kanye and bon iver called lost in the world. gil scott-heron was a poet, whose album called small talk at 125th & lenox in 1970 really set into motion the scenes that would turn into the hip hop parties that sylvia robinson would stumble onto in the mid 70s. small talk featured one of the most often sampled and quoted songs of the century, the revolution will not be televised. post 1970s, gil laid low. disillusioned by the rather passé 80s and 90s, he found the life he preached against and struggled hard with drug addiction and served a couple stints at rikers island over the past decade. miraculously, last year, he released to critical acclaim, his newest album in 15 years called i’m new here.
carl gardner (83, june 12)
jerry leiber (78, august 22)
carl gardner was the singer and founding member of one of the earliest bands inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame ~ the coasters. He was also singer for the robins. outside of perhaps elvis,
the coasters were the biggest beneficiary of the songwriting duo leiber and stoller. jerry leiber was the lyricist, who also passed away this year. he once told stoller that he had written a song for elvis presley, stoller said elvis who? they went on to write the majority of elvis’ most well known songs.
howard tate (73, december 2)
jerry ragovoy (80, july 13)
another gardner/leiber type association was that of howard tate and jerry ragovoy. soul singer howard tate is more remembered for being a guy that other people (jimi, b.b., janis, ry cooder, etc.) covered for their own successes. he recorded get it while you can in the 1960s and then toured with aretha franklin at the height of her respect era. tate did get it while he could and soon left the biz because of how predatory it is.
his career took some nasty turns. he sold insurance, then his daughter died, then he got divorced, then he became a crack addict, then he became homeless, then he became a minister, then he made a grand comeback with 3 critically acclaimed albums in the last 8 years. the man who produced tate’s early music and wrote most of his classics, also died this year. jerry ragovoy meant as much to rock and roll history as jerry leiber. think of any 50s or 60s classic and chances are either leiber or ragovoy had something to do with it. many of jerry ragovoy’s biggest songs were recorded by janis joplin. he actually wrote a song for her called i’m gonna rock my way to heaven, but she died before she could record it. it was performed for the first time in the 2011 musical one night with janis joplin.
marv tarplin (70, september 30)
started out playing guitar for the primettes, who were the females answer to the primes (the primes went on to become the temptations, the primettes went on to become the supremes). smokey robinson saw tarplin playing for them and quickly hired him away. tarplin became the guitar magic behind the miracles and went on to write some motown classics. tracks of my tears in particular had a guitar riff so good that mojo magazine felt compelled to call it the fifth best song of all time. yochekira: going to a go go / come on do the jerk
honeyboy edwards (96, august 29)
pinetop perkins (97, march 21) hit by a train ~ and lived!
willie “big eyes” smith (75, september 16)
mojo buford (80, october 11)
hubert sumlin (80, december 4)
the blues community is so tight knit that virtually everyone are best friends, especially the older cats that have survived the years. these five guys are some big time legends that dated back to their years with robert johnson (for whom we celebrated his centennial in 2011). honeyboy edwards was a close collaborator of johnson, allegedly he was in the house when johnson died in 1937. honeyboy had an 85 year career in the music industry. you wouldn’t really think of guys from the great depression still being relevant today, but honeyboy won a grammy in 2008 for his album last of the great mississippi delta bluesmen. 
that album featured pinetop perkins on piano, who also had 80+ year in the music industry, including some time with robert johnson. pinetop has won a grammy even more recently. in february 2011, he won a grammy for the album joined at the hip, a collaboration with willie ‘big eyes’ smith. their history dates way back to the 1960s, when perkins replaced otis spann as the pianist in muddy waters band. they and other members of muddy’s band then formed the legendary blues band. the legendary blues band was also john lee hooker’s backing band in the blues brothers movie. pinetop perkins won a lifetime achievement grammy award and is a member of the blues hall of fame. for people like pinetop, such accolades are just footnotes in a spectacular career. he didn’t need such validation. he was an everyday magic man. in 2004, at the age of 91 and still driving cars, he got hit by a train! his car was totaled, but the relentless and indestructible dude walked away. this year’s grammy made pinetop the oldest grammy winner of all time. until then, he had merely been tied with george burns. sadly, pinetop died a month later. worse yet, his collaborator willie ‘big eyes’ smith also passed away this year. ‘big eyes’ smith was a harmonica player, turned drummer, turned singer, pretty much did whatever job was in demand. ‘big eyes’ son is the drummer, kenny ‘beedy eyes’ smith, who actually plays drums on joined at the hip. 
lest it get more confusing, another harmonica player…another old connection to muddy waters…another member of the legendary blues band…mojo buford had replaced little walter in muddy waters band and went on to spend 20-30 years with muddy, in the midst of six grammy winning albums. 
last but not least, hubert sumlin played git for howlin wolf from 1955 until wolf passed away in 1976. he played on howlin wolf’s legendary rocking chair album, which mojo magazine named the 3rd best guitar album of all time. hubert also made a record called legends with pinetop perkins in 1999. sumlin was inducted into the blues hall of fame in 2008. and though i never agree with these lists, rolling stone just came out with their newest list of the 100 best guitarists of all time. hubert sumlin is #43 on that list. to think about the connections… pinetop and honeyboy both played with robert johnson. all five of these guys played with muddy waters. pinetop and sumlin played with howlin wolf. honeyboy and pinetop made a couple records together. pinetop and sumlin made a record together. sumlin and honeyboy toured together just this year with big head todd as part of the robert johnson centennial tribute. whew! blues legends all, all related in many ways. all back with the masters that taught them.
wade mainer (104, september 12)
if honeyboy edwards was the last surviving link to the delta blues, wade mainer must be the last of the old bluegrass, mountain music legends. i celebrated wade mainer twice this year. once on his 104th birthday, and again when he sadly passed away at the end of summer. mainer taught himself banjo at a very young age by going to dancehalls and picking up the instruments musicians had set down when they went on break. in the 1920s and 1930s, he was playing in his brother’s band j.e. mainer & the mountaineers. they honed their chops playing for coworkers at various jobs like corn shuckings. the famous musicologist john lomax recorded them for an album called smoky mountain ballads, which also introduced bill monroe, the carter family and others to the world outside appalachia. wade started his own band the sons of mountaineers, who played at the white house for fdr. wade became “that guy” standing too close to the kitchen door when elanor walked in. the door hit wade and ice cream went all over her dress. wade had been invited to join the grand ol opry, but his record contract wouldn’t allow it. instead, he retired from the biz in 1953 to take a blue collar job for general motors in flint, michigan. wade finally did join the grand ol opry when he was 95 years old.
doyle bramhall (62, november 12)
singer, songwriter doyle bramhall was blues royalty in austin, texas. his high school band, the chessmates, featured jimmie vaughan. they started another band called texas storm, which featured appearances by stevie ray. later in the 70s,
doyle and stevie ray had a band called the nightcrawlers. doyle worked with the vaughan brothers all the way up to stevie ray’s death. he wrote several songs for stevie and played drums on family style. it wasn’t until 1994 that doyle started his own solo career. he released three stellar albums, the last one being is it news on yep roc records in 2008. the crown has been passed on, his son doyle bramhall II is an accomplished guitar player, who has played in eric clapton’s band for the last decade or more and co-produced clapton’s most recent disc.
charlie louvin (83, january 26)
louvin released his newest album just two months before he died. he had a 50 year career with the grand ole opry and is a member of the country music hall of fame. charlie louvin was part of a gospel duo with his brother ira. fast living ira lovin died in 1965. charlie carried on a long and successful solo career right up into this year. he sang live on the marty start show just a couple weeks before he died. his newest album the battles rage on was released two months before he died and featured a verison of the bluegrass standard smoke on the water, with an updated lyric that takes aim at another “celebrity” that died later this year as well. too bad charlie didn’t live to see it happen, but at least we can say he saw it coming.
marshall grant (83, august 17)
the final member of the tennessee three (aka johnny cash & the tennessee two). in the film i walk the line, there were two men learning how to play guitar with johnny. one was luther perkins who died in a house fire in 1968. johnny died in 2003. the other was marshall grant, who became bass player. he wrote an autobiography a few years back called i was there when it happened. check it out for some juicy inside scoop of all the exciting times.
clarence clemons (69, june 18)
the big man behind the e street band had a stroke in june and died a week later. a really charismatic dude, from all accounts. he wanted so badly to join bruce springsteen’s band that, as legend goes, he walked to the club and opened the back door when the band was back stage. it was a windy, stormy night and the door literally flew off the hinges and down the street. what’s bruce supposed to say when a huge black dude rips the door off and storms in wanting to be in the band? you can find that and other great stories in his 2009 autobio called big man: real life and tall tales. the story is referenced in the song tenth avenue freeze out. in his career he played sax for everyone from twisted sister to lady gaga.
eugene mcdaniels (76, july 29)
the son of a minister, gene mcdaniels was singing practically from birth. he started his first band when he was 11. his professional career as a soul-pop singer yielded big hits early on. 50 years ago, his first major release hit #1 with 100 pounds of clay in 1961. he charted several more top tens over the next couple years, but when soul music started to become deeper and more introspective, turning from pop music, mcdaniels reinvented himself with socially conscious jazz. he recorded two under appreciated classics
outlaw and headless heroes of the apocalypse. the latter caused vice president agnew to call atlantic records to complain about the lyrical content. that’s how you know you’re a successful rabble rouser! mcdaniels renvented himself again as a writer and producer. among other things, mcdaniels was the man behind roberta flack’s feel like making love and les mccann’s compared to what? appropriate that mcdaniels had later success with mccann because it was with mccann that mcdaniels first established himself in the industry in the 1950s.
frank foster (82, july 26)
maybe the biggest of all the jazz legends to pass away this year. he played sax as sideman early in his career with sinatra, sarah vaughan, etc. foster had the same birthday as coltrane, though foster was two years younger. he said that if he had been born on the same year, he probably wouldn’t have been able to walk on the ground. wanna raise your kids to be super musicians? step 1, induce labor on a day another legend was born. step 2, teach them the way frank foster’s family did. he had a rich musical education as a youngster and claimed to have seen all the major operas by the time he was ten. by his senior year in high school, he was leading a 12-piece band, writing and arranging everything. by the summer of 1949, he made his break into the big time when he was hired by trumpeter snooky young (who also passed away in 2011). the short run of dates with snooky, led foster into the detroit scene of guys like kenny burrell. following the korean war, foster invaded the san francisco scene by getting in with dexter gordon’s band. foster was just some square in a army uni carrying a beat up tenor sax. he lied and told them he had played with sonny stitt, so they gave him a shot. boom! he went from recieveing a medal of honor in korea to receiving praise from charlie parker himself. you think a medal of honor or praise from charlie parker meant more to foster? yeah, flying high with bird meant the world. that was validation, especially after an early career let down when lester young didn’t appreciate him. foster then went on to spend a lot of years as a tenor with count basie as well as starting his own loud minority band. he wrote and arranged some scores for basie, including shiny stockings. in fact, basie told him he had really done some good work, but on shiny stockings he really dropped it. the ultimate compliment. foster became band leader following basie’s death in 1986. he also won jazz master from national endowment for the arts in 2002. uh, yeah. do they get any better?
wurzel (61, july 9)
motorhead has always been lemmy’s band. He gave the growling vocals, bowling bass that the revolving door of guitarists couldn’t match for the first ten years. when the brian robertson (from thin lizzy) experiement lasted for all of one album, lemmy tried out several more gits in 84 and narrowing the choice to two, phil campbell and wurzel. he couldn’t decide, so he kept them both. wurzel and campbell fed a vicious monster for some great motorhead albums, specifically 1986’s orgasmatron and 1987’s rock n roll. The bending stylistics that wurzel pulled out added much needed flavor to the straight ahead aggressive rock motorhead has always been known for. And when wurzel left the band, they struggled for a long time to get back to form.
wild man fischer (66, june 16)
the new york times called wild man fischer an “outsider musician” and he did live every second of his life a few hundred miles beyond the fringe of society. first committed to a mental institution at 16, he went on to spend most of his life in and out of mental wards and on the streets. he had lived in an assisted living mental facility since 2004. the 2005 documentary dErailRoaDed gives a pretty deep insight into his life. wild man got his start in the music world by touring with solomon burke in the sixties. he lived on the streets where frank zappa and rosemary clooney both found him doing street performances. zappa made a thrilling album called an evening with wild man fischer and rosemary clooney recorded a memorable duet with him, but success drove him to more paranoia. it was a sad demise, but made him one of the most interesting people in an otherwise mundane music industry.
zoogz rift (58, may 22)
former professional wrestler turned musician in the mold of zappa and beefheart, zoogz rift made some crazy interesting music. he made the music you never heard until some guy like me plays it for you and then you ask what the hell is this supposed to be? zoogz rift put out several great albums on sst records throughout the 80s. most of which we have on vinyl at keol.
andrew gold (69, june 3)
one of those unheralded people that used his talents to make other people big stars. gold provided the talent, songwriting, playing any number of instruments,
production, etc. he was a total musician. for example, when you hear linda ronstadt sing you’re no good, you’re hearing andrew gold playing all the intsruments on the album. he came from a good music stock. his mother, marni nixon, provided singing voices for actresses on film (ie, natalie wood in west side story, deborah kerr in the king and i, and audrey hepburn in my fair lady. his father, ernest gold, won an academy award for composing the soundtrack to exodus in 1960. though andrew was majorly successful as a backing musician, he had only a few commercial successes under his own name. he made, halloween howls, probably the best record of halloween music ever. he wrote and recorded thank you for being a friend, which became theme for a certain 80s tv show.
billy bang (63, april 11)
violin is not typically used in jazz. and due to violin not being a very manly instrument, bang was subject to torment and ridicule as a child, which drove him to join the military. after serving in vietnam, he was scarred considerably and became an alcoholic/drug addict upon his return to the states. years later, he saw a violin in a pawn shop and was almost immediately immersed in experimental jazz. he made a lot of music cathartic from his horrors of war and the racial and social tensions of the military. in 2008, a documentary about him was made called redemption song.
joe yamanaka (64, august 7)
japanese psych rocker was the singer for the legendary flower travellin’ band. julian cope listed their album satori #1 in his book japrocksampler. it certainly was early influential stuff for many bands. released in 1970, it just sounds like judas priest and slayer, years before those bands were around. more interestingly, yamanaka was not only a heavy pysch rocker in japan, he was also a reggae singer in jamaica. after bob marley passed away in 1981, yamanaka took over for a brief time as the singer for the wailers.
gary moore (58, february 6)
the irish blues rocker played in a band called skid row in the late 1960s that featured phil lynott on vocals. in turn, moore would play with thin lizzy for three separate stints. he was only a featured player on one album, after brian robertson left thin lizzy to join motorhead. but the album with gary moore was probably thin lizzy’s best, black rose: a rock legend. moore went on to a long solo career, often working with phil lynott, including a song called out in the fields that turned out to be one of the last recordings phil made before he died in 1986. moore recorded still got the blues with albert king, albert collins and george harrison. his final performance was at montreaux 2010. it is available on cd.
phoebe snow (60, april 26)
folk singer songwriter, phoebe snow became a pretty big pop star for a brief time in the mid to late 1970s, but then kind of settled down for family life and remained fixed into the folk circles. cbs sunday morning did an episode on her called phoebe snow: back and better than ever a couple of years ago which chronicles the life of her and her daughter.
cornell dupree (68, may 8)
jazz & blues guitarist cornell dupree served as a sideman and session player with (name the artist). …james brown, miles davis, roland kirk, ray charles, king curtis and so on… put it this way, when you hear the bending guitar parts on aretha’s version of respect that is cornell dupree’s guitar. i just started noticing after he passed away that every old jazz record i picked up had dupree in the credits. it turns out that this is mostly because jerry wexler, 
who was running atlantic records, hired dupree as a studio hand to shape the soul of atlantic tracks. dupree was an efficient choice because he could play lead and rhythm at the same time. and because dupree’s early influences varied from county guys like ernest tubbs and hank williams to funky blues players like bobby ‘blue’ bland and johnny ‘guitar’ watson, he was versatile enough for anyone in the sudio. in his later years, he played in a band called soul survivors that also featured les mccann.
jackie leven (61, november 14)
scottish folkie & spirited storyteller, jackie leven had a weird life growing up. targeted by gang members for being too outside the norm, and not fitting in with any socal groups, he felt compelled to flee his hometown. this put him into what he said was years of rootless wandering. in the late 1970s, he started a post punk band called doll by doll, that was, by critical accounts quite successful. just after that band had broken up in 1983, leven was strangled in a street attack which left him unable to talk for a few years. he set up a foundation called the c.o.r.e. trust, which helps people overcome addictions. meanwhile. he prolifically recorded and, once able to sing again, he put out some amazing music under several different pseudonyms. his album entitled the mystery of love is greater than the mystery of death was called one of the 100 best albums of all time by q magazine. leven just released a record with longtime collaborator michael cosgrave called wayside shrines & codes fo the traveling man back in september, but jackie leven sadly passed away a month later.
joe lee wilson (75, july 17)
to quote joe lee wilson, “one day is your whole life.” his rationale was, there is day, there is night, and then the next day starts, a new life passes, a new one starts. why is genius so simple? left the family farm for l.a. when he was 15. he walked past a club where he heard eddie jefferson singing inside. he asked his aunt what that was, she told him it was the devil’s music. within a year, joe lee was good friends with eddie jefferson. joe lee did tie for first place with sly & the family stone on nbc’s talent search in 1968, but he was never much interested in mainstream success, which probably made him more interesting. and joe lee was certainly interesting. part african american, part cree native american, the dude had the appearance of a tribal chief. and the wisdom too apparently, because his background/education made him try a fusion of raw blues and free jazz that, while it wasn’t bound to be sell records, it did give him devoted life long friends among superstars like sarah vaughan, who he sang with often. In the company of people like her, miles davis, and all the greats, wealth and fame mean absolutely nothing. what means something is the soul that came from within.
in order to keep this a blog from becoming a book, i will name drop the others who passed away in 2011. you can do the research. just think, i played some of all these people on the year end show...it was a looong show!
ferlin husky (country music hall of fame)
dan peek (one third of america; wrote lonely people)
john walker (vocalist for the walker brothers)
andy tielman (the godfather of indorock)
tom king (vocalist for the outsiders)
rob grill (vocalist for the grass roots)
benny spellman (vocalist; fortune teller, lipstick traces on a cigarette)
norma zimmer (seattle native; champagne lady on lawrence welk show)
billy grammer (country vocalist; gotta travel on)
mack self (singer, songwriter; rock a billy hall of famer)
johnny wright (country singer; part of johnny & jack; kitty wells husband for 74 years)
johnny country mathis (country singer; part of jimmy & johnny)
mel mcdaniel (country singer; louisiana saturday night)
taz digregorio (pianist for charlie daniels band)
jody rainwater (bass player, singer, comedian; foggy mountain boys)
bob brunning (first fleetwood mac bassist; biographer)
snooky young (trumpeter for johnny carson’s band)
sam rivers (jazz bandleader; clarinet, flute, sax)
dan terry (big band leader; jazz trumpet)
eddie kirkland (guitarist for john lee hooker)
calvin russell (austin rebel roots rocker; lived in switzerland)
leonard dillon (vocalist for the ethiopians)
smiley culture (british reggae singer; cockney translation)
nick ashford (lyricist; vocalist for ashford & simpson)
daryl pandy (house vocalist; love can’t turn around)
loleatta holloway (disco vocalist; good vibrations)
heavy d (rapper; somebody for me)
amy winehouse
dobie gray (country/soul singer; drift away)
bill morrissey (folk singer; party at the u.n.)
gaye delorme (canadian guitarist; third member of cheech & chong)
coyote mccloud (nashville dj; where’s the beef?)
gary garcia (novelty lyricist; half of buckner & garcia; pac man fever)
martin rushent (producer; engineer)
roger nichols (producer; engineer)
jim sherwood (aka "motorhead" saxophonist in mothers of invention)
sean bonniwell (singer songwriter for the music machine)
bob brookmeyer (valve trombonist)
billy jo spears (country singer)
conrad schnitzler (electronic keyboardist; originally for tangerine dream)
thee ram jam (bass player with bootsy collins)
john du cann (70s prog rockguitarist/vocalist with hard stuff & atomic rooster)
gerard smith (bassist for tv on the radio)
jani lane (singer for warrant)
mike starr (bassist for alice in chains & sun red sun)
poly styrene (vocalist for x ray spex)
seth putnam (singer, guitarist; founder of ax cx)
andrew mcdermitt (vocalist for uk metal band threshold)
vikk real (vocalist, guitarist for byfist)
taiji sawaka
mikko lane
other celebrities who passed away in 2011...
jane russell (89, february 28) one of the sexiest actresses of all time, begs the question, do gentlemen really prefer blondes??
elizabeth taylor (79, march 23) cleopatra; a place in the sun; giant; who’s afraid of virginia wolf; countless marriages
jackie cooper (88, may 3) one of the few surviving original “our gang kids”
james arness (88, june 3) marshall matt dillon in gunsmoke; older brother of peter graves (d. 2010)
harry morgan (96, december 7) colnel potter on m*a*s*h*, billy gannon on dragnet
harold schnitzer (april 27) uo, psu donor, ohsu, the paramount (schnitz)
gil robbins (april 5) spokane folk musician; father of tim robbins; owner of gas light café
evelyn lauder (75, november) socialite; exec at estee lauder created the clinique line, popularized the pink ribbon for breast cancer awareness
osama bin laden (54, may 2)
moamar gaddafi (60 something, whenever it happened...)
kim jung il (who cares)
david wilkerson (79, march 27) cross & the switchblade
geraldine ferraro (75, march 26)
ellen mccormack (84, march 27) independent pres candidate 1980, 32,327 votes
betty ford (93, july 8)
leonard weinglass (77, march 23) civil rights attorney for abbey hoffman, patty hearst…
mark o hatfield (89, august 7) popular former governor of oregon
jack kevorkian (83 june 3) doctor of death
geronimo pratt (63, june 2) bronze star, silver star, 2 purple hearts in vietnam; minister of defence in the black panther party. convicted of murdering a 27 year old school teacher in 1968, conviction vacated in 1997 and awarded a 4.5 million settlement for false imprisonment.
athletes
duke snider (89, feb 27) the silver fox
wally yonamine (85, feb 28) double racism; japanese american baseball player
lou gorman (april 1, 89) died on lou gorman day
gino cimoli (81, february 12) pirates 1960, 8th inning lead off hit
paul splittorff (64, may 24) royals second all time wins
randy savage (58, may 20) snap into a slim jim
jaret peterson (29, july 25) 2010 olympic silver medal, mens downhill
rick rypien (27, august 15) vancouver canucks, winnipeg jets
brad mccrimmon (52, september 7) plane crash in russia killed entire team
dan weldon (33, october 16) 2011 indy 500 winner
al davis (82, october 8) raider owner
bob forsch (62, november 3) cardinals third all time wins
ed macauley (83, nov 8) st louis hawks; youngest ever basketball ha of famer
matty alou (72, nov 3)
joe frazier (67, nov 7) first to beat muhammed ali
harmon killebrew (75, may 17) from ontario, oregon; minnesota twins hall of famer
some of the centennials that occured in 2011; looking ahead 2012 will not be as good in this regard...
gustav mahler d. 5/18/1911
births:
jack ruby 4/26/1911 killed the man who didn't kill president kennedy
tennessee williams 3/26/2011 playwright
lucille ball 6/6/1911 i love lucy
ginger rogers 7/16/1911 from independence, missouri. performed vaudeville at the craterian in medford, oregon. the theatre was restored in 1997, renamed the craterian ginger rogers theatre.
roy rogers 11/5/1911 100+ movies with his horse trigger
floyd council 9/2/1911 north carolina piedmont blues singer, the “floyd” of pink floyd
roy eldridge 1/30/1911 trumpeter; predecessor to dizzy gillespie
robert johnson 5/8/1911 king of the delta blues
big joe turner 5/18/1911 the man who started rock and roll
bill monroe 9/13/1911 godfather of bluegrass
sonny terry 10/24/1911 piedmont legend blues singer from north carolina
mahalia jackson 10/26/1911 rock n roll hall of fame hof, gospel hall of fame, hollywood walk of fame, 6 grammys, u.s. postage stamp
spike jones 12/14/1911 original weird al?
vaughan monroe 10/7/1911 jazz arranger who wrote ghost riders in the sky
stan kenton 12/15/1911 jazz orchestra arranger, created “wall of sound” that phil spector stole the idea from
buck clayton 11/12/1911 trumpeter
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