P.C gone for 10 year service

Looks like my compie needs a doctor, So it's been sent to a PC Hospice for repair. Maybe a week. Watch this space.

Si Zentner born 13 June 1917

 

Simon Hugh "Si" Zentner (June 13, 1917 in New York City – January 31, 2000 in Las Vegas, Nevada) was an American trombonist and jazz big-band leader. While big bands seemed to be fading fast during the late '50s and early '60s, bandleader Si Zentner was one of the few to front a successful big band -- enjoying both critical and commercial acclaim.  
 

Zentner played violin from age four and picked up trombone a few years later. As a teenager, he was awarded the Guggenheim Foundation Philharmonic Scholarship. He attended college for music and had intended to pursue a career in classical music, but became more interested in pop music after recording with Andre Kostelanetz. Zentner played in the bands of Les Brown, Harry James, and Jimmy Dorsey in the 1940s. 
 

Zentner then relocated to Los Angeles, where he worked regularly as a studio musician -- and from 1949 through 1955, was on the MGM staff (working on such hit movies as Singing in the Rain and A Star Is Born).. Zentner was very successful as a studio musician and did quite well for himself financially. However his dream was to lead his own big band. Bucking the odds and with a lot of determination, he proceeded to do just that. 

 

From 1957 to 1959 the Zentner studio big band recorded for the Bel Canto label. Although the band's output was generally geared toward a dance crowd (his recordings rarely ran longer than three minutes)  Zentner employed many fine Jazz soloists during this period. Among them, Bob Enevoldson, Frankie Capp, Jackie Mills, and Don Fagerquist. On his first release Zentner used the arranging skills of Billy May. 
 
Si began recording for Liberty in 1959, and after assembling a large touring swing outfit, toured steadily, (he once claimed that his band played 178 consecutive one-night stands). A great PR man and promoter, Zentner's bands won an amazing 13 straight Down Beat polls for “Best Big Band.” Perhaps the most important among the regular members of the bands Zentner formed was pianist Bob Florence, whose 1961 arrangement of a ”twist” version of Hoagy Carmichael's "Up a Lazy River," crossed over into the top 50 pop charts, winning a Grammy for Best Instrumental, and gave Zentner his biggest hit. 

 

 

                              

 

Eventually however, the public's interest in big bands had dwindled to the point that even Zentner's fine band found it increasingly hard to attract a substantial audience on tour. Zentner landed back on his feet in 1965, when he moved to Las Vegas and opened the Tropicana Hotel's lounge, the Blue Room, accompanying Mel Tormé.   

Three years later, Zentner was named musical director for one of Las Vegas' longest-running floor shows, Folies Bergere. But once more, Zentner couldn't turn his back completely on taking a big band on the road, as he assembled another touring group.   

Bookings came less frequently in his later years because Zentner refused to perform with less than a 15-piece band or downscale his arrangements. The '90s saw such new releases as Road Band, Country Blues, and Blue Eyes Plays Ol' Blue Eyes, but later in the decade, Zentner was diagnosed with leukemia. Admirably, Zentner kept performing up until six months prior to his passing, on January 31, 2000 in Las Vegas. 

(Compiled and edited mainly from Swingmusic.net.,Wikipedia & AllMusic)

Pookie Hudson born 11 June 1934

Thornton James "Pookie" Hudson, ( 11 June 1934 - 16 January 2007) was the lead singer of one of the finest doo-wop groups of the 1950s, the Spaniels.  

The warm singing on his own composition "Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight" (1954) is truly romantic and, although the Spaniels lost sales to a bland cover by the McGuire Sisters, their original version has become the best known and is heard in such films as Three Men and a Baby (1987), Diner (1982) and American Graffiti (1973). Hudson's singing has been praised by James Brown and Jerry Butler, while Aaron Neville has commented, "Pookie had the hippest style of all the doo-wop singers. He was so smooth and tender. Gerald Gregory would be leaning over Pookie's shoulder with that deep voice. He'd shake the room."  

Thornton James Hudson was born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1934 but the family moved to a housing project in Gary, Indiana, when he was two. He acquired the nickname of Pookie because he would regularly soil his trousers, a name that unfortunately stayed with him. His relations included Fats Waller and Josephine Baker and he became immersed in music at a young age, loving the vocal harmonies of the Ink Spots. He sang in church and in his late teens he was singing in clubs as part of the Three B's, their repertoire being bop, ballads and blues.  

A teacher at Roosevelt High School asked him to form a group for a Christmas show and he was so pleased with the results that he formed a close harmony group with himself as lead vocalist, Ernest Warren (first tenor), Opal Courtney Jnr (baritone), Willis C. Jackson (baritone) and Gerald Gregory (bass). When Gregory's wife joked that they sounded like a bunch of dogs, they became the Spaniels.

Vivian Carter and Jimmy Bracken, the owners of a local store, Vivian's Record Shop, borrowed $500 to convert a garage into a recording studio. They could spot talent and the first two releases on their Vee Jay label, in July 1953, were "Roll and Rhumba" by Jimmy Reed and "Baby It's You" by the Spaniels. "Baby It's You", written by Hudson and Gregory, was taken up by Chance Records, who released it nationally and it made the R&B Top Ten. Carter became the group's manager and soon they were touring the United States.

 

                             

When Hudson was walking home from a girlfriend's house, the idea for "Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight" came to him. The Spaniels recorded the song in 1954 and it might have been a million-seller had it not been covered by a white group, the McGuire Sisters. The song crossed over to the country market with a version by Johnnie and Jack.

The DJ Alan Freed closed his rock'n'roll show every night with the Spaniels' version and, when they played the Apollo Theatre in New York, they stole the show from Big Joe Turner. They appeared in Las Vegas but had to be housed with black residents as none of the hotels would allow them to stay there. 

"Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight" may be an innocent song, but Hudson was to have a complex love life. He married a 15-year-old girl when he was 20 and, over the years, he was to marry five times and father seven children. He had to beat off the advances of LaVern Baker, who was "too pushy" for his tastes. He talks frankly about himself in the 1994 biography of the Spaniels, Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight, by Richard G. Carter. The book explains how he was cheated out of his songwriting royalties and describes his fondness for illegal substances.  

The Spaniels had further successes with "Let's Make Up" and "You Painted Pictures" (both 1956), but the group's personnel changed because of conscription. Hudson was usually around and they recorded a gospel ballad, "(You Gave Me) Peace of Mind" (1956), and had another hit with "Everyone's Laughing" (1957).

Among their more unusual records are an up-tempo version of the standard "Stormy Weather" and a reworking of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "People Will Say We're in Love" with a different melody. They strayed into the Coasters' territory with "The Posse". 

Hudson went solo in 1961. After working odd jobs for many years and struggling with alcoholism also being homeless for a time, he succeeded in recovering most of his song writing credits and by the end of the decade was a fronting a Spaniels line-up which embraced soul music and had some success with "Fairy Tales" (1970). 

In 1991 the Spaniels received a Smithsonian Institution award for their contribution to American music, and they performed with Hudson at various festivals. In 2005, Hudson came to the UK for a vibrant solo performance at a rock'n'roll festival at Hemsby. 

Hudson died on January 16, 2007, after a lengthy battle with cancer. Courtney, Jr. died on September 18, 2008, after suffering a heart attack. Ernest Warren died in May 2012 in Gary, Indiana, at the age of 78. (Info mainly edited from The Independent obit)

Here's the original group performing on "Spaniels night" - 3-1-97

Jackie Wilson born 9 June 1936

Jack Leroy "Jackie" Wilson Jr. (June 9, 1934 – January 21, 1984) was an American soul singer and performer. A tenor with a four-octave vocal range, he was nicknamed "Mr. Excitement", and was important in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. He was considered a master showman, and one of the most dynamic and influential singers and performers in R&B and rock 'n' roll history 

Jackie Wilson was born Jack Leroy Wilson in Detroit, Michigan, the only child of Jack and Eliza Wilson from Columbus, Mississippi. He grew up in Highland Park, Michigan. He started singing at the age of 6. At 12 he joined the "Ever Ready Gospel Singers". They became very popular in Detroit's black churches. Truancy during high school landed him in the Lansing Correctional Institute. 

While at Lansing he took up boxing. His Mother Eliza, not a boxing fan, made him pursue a much more promising career, Singing! In 1953, Wilson made music his career, joining Billy Ward and his Dominoes as the group's lead singer; he was brought in to replace Clyde McPhatter and sang with them for three years. The biggest hit Jackie had with the Dominos was "St Therese of the Roses", reaching number 13 on the charts in 1956.
 

 

                             

Wilson launched his solo career in 1958 with Brunswick Records and soon had a minor hit with "Reet Petite," co-written with Berry Gordy, Jr and Roquel "Billy" Davis. Gordy/Davis also co-wrote Wilson's major pop and R&B smash hits "To Be Loved," "That's Why," and "I'll Be Satisfied," and his top R&B and pop hit classic "Lonely Teardrops." Wilson appeared in the film Go, Johnny, Go singing "You Better Know It." Deciding that Wilson should not limit himself to singing rock and roll, Nate Tarnopol (Jackie's manager) had veteran band leader and Decca arranger Dick Jacobs produce most of Jackie's recordings from 1957 through 1966. Jacobs knew Jackie could sing and revelled in all styles, so he combined him with huge orchestral accompaniments.  

Performing engagements at major Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and New York nightclubs and recording a variety of material, including bland pop material and classical adaptations such as "Night," "Alone at Last," and "My Empty Arms," Wilson suffered through intrusive arrangements and critical neglect in the early '60s. Nonetheless, he scored four two sided crossover hits in 1960-1961 with "Night"/"Doggin' Around," "All My Love"/"A Woman, a Lover, a Friend," "Alone at Last"/ "Am I the Man," and "My Empty Arms"/"The Tear of the Year." "Night" was a pop smash, while "Alone at Last" and "My Empty Arms," were near pop smashes. "Doggin' Around" and "A Woman, a Lover, a Friend" were top R&B hits. 

By 1961 Jackie was involved with Harlean Harris, a former girlfriend of Sam Cooke and an  Ebony magazine fashion model while at the same time having a relationship with a Juanita Jones. February 15, 1961, Jones shot Wilson twice as he returned with Harris to his Manhattan apartment. Despite his wounds, Wilson made it downstairs where he was taken to the Roosevelt Hospital. Life saving surgery was performed followed by weeks of medical care. Wilson lost a kidney and would carry the bullet that was too close to his spine to be removed, around for the rest of his life.  

A month and a half later Jackie was discharged and, apart from a limp and discomfort for a while, he was quickly on the mend. He discovered that despite being at the peak of success, he was broke. Around this time the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) seized Jackie's Detroit family home. Tarnopol and his accountant were supposed to take care of such matters. At the time Jackie had declared annual earnings of $263,000, while the average salary a man earned then was just $5,000 a year. Yet the fact was he was nearly broke. Fortunately Jackie made arrangements with the IRS to make restitution on the unpaid taxes and to re-purchase the family home at auction. 

However, his wife's patience had finally run out due to Jackie's notorious philandering and she filed for divorce. Jackie didn't contest it and so their thirteen year marriage was annulled in 1965. Freda was granted the house, $10,000 and a modest $50-per-week for each of their four children. For the rest of her life Freda regretted seeking the divorce and, moreover, Jackie still treated her as though she was still his wife.  

Although he continued to have hits over the following years, Wilson didn't have another major pop and smash R&B hit until he began recording in Chicago with producer Carl Davis. Under Davis, Wilson staged a dramatic comeback with "Whispers (Getting Louder)," and the classic "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher," a top R&B and smash pop hit, and "I Get the Sweetest Feeling." Wilson recorded with Count Basie in 1968 and managed his last near smash R&B and moderate pop hit with "This Love is Real" in the late '70s. He was subsequently relegated to the oldies revival circuit, despite having continued R&B hits.  

On the night of September 29, 1975 While playing Dick Clark's oldies show at the Latin Casino in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, Wilson was stricken with a massive heart attack. One of the first to reach Jackie was Cornell Gunter of the Coasters group who immediately noticed he wasn't breathing. Gunter applied resuscitation and got him breathing again. An ambulance quickly got him to the nearby hospital where he remained in a coma for over three months.

Jackie gradually improved to the stage of semi-coma state, but obviously he had suffered severe brain damage and, at 41, a tremendous career was ended. Although he never uttered another word, he remained clinging to life for a further eight and a quarter years. He remained hospitalized until his death on January 21, 1984, at the age of forty-nine. 

Jackie Wilson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.

(Info edited from various sources, mainly history-of-rock.com)

Lloyd Lindroth born 6 June 1931

Lloyd Edward Lindroth (June 6, 1931 – June 9, 1994) was an American harpist. 

Originally from Seattle, Washington, Lloyd began his study of the harp at age 14, and was quickly recognized for his unique showmanship and ability to take the harp beyond its normal parameters, pioneering the world's first electronic harp. He played in the U.S. Army Band and performed five times in the White House during the Eisenhower administration. He also performed worldwide, and was nicknamed "Liberace of the Harp". 

He headlined all the major resorts in Las Vegas for many years, and from 1983 until his death was the star attraction in the lobby of the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, where his Cascading Waters Show was the ultimate one-of-a-kind showstopper. 

Mr. Lindroth, who did not sing, owned four harps and wore a $7,000 harp-shaped ring and beaded costumes during his performance six nights a week. His repertoire included all styles of music, from "Beer Barrel Polka" to "Rocky Top" to "America the Beautiful." 

 

  

    Here’s “Somewhere My Love” from the album "Love Drops.”
 

                            

He also took his harp to stages where the instrument was a stranger: the Grand Ole Opry and the syndicated television show "Hee Haw." He played on the soundtrack of the television mini-series "Roots" and performed periodically on cable TV's Nashville Network . "I live for my harp," he said in a 1991 Associated Press interview. 

He underwent a heart transplant in October 1993 and resumed
performing after six weeks, but later died after a bout with pneumonia. Even during his most recent hospitalization, Lindroth wanted to keep playing his harp. "He asked to leave the hospital so he could go do his shows and then come back, but the doctor said no," George Michaud, his long-time manager, said."And he wanted me to bring a harp to the hospital room so he could keep his fingers up."

He had played for millions of people at the time of his death and is buried in Palm Memorial Park, Las Vegas, Clark County, Nevada, USA.

(Info mainly edited from various obits)

Gordon Waller born 4 June 1945

Gordon Trueman Riviere Waller (4 June 1945 – 17 July 2009) was a British singer–songwriter–guitarist, best known as Gordon of the 1960s pop music duo Peter and Gordon, whose biggest hit was the No. 1 million-selling classic "A World Without Love". 

Waller was born in Braemar, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, the son of a prominent surgeon. The family later moved to Middlesex, when Waller was a child, where Waller gained entrance to Westminster School. While attending Westminster School, he met fellow student Peter Asher, also the son of a doctor, and they began playing together as a duo – Peter and Gordon. Asher mentioned in a 2006 interview that "Our voices are quite different, Gordon's and mine, but we tried singing together experimentally and we found that we could achieve this very nice harmony." 

Asher is the older brother of actress and businesswoman Jane Asher, who in the mid-1960s was girlfriend of The Beatles' Paul McCartney. Through this connection he and Waller were often given unrecorded Lennon–McCartney songs to perform, most notably their first and biggest hit, "A World Without Love" (1964). 

 

 

                       
 
Their other two 1964 hits were, "Nobody I Know" and "I Don't Want to See You Again." They did continue to hit the charts for a couple of years, with updates of the oldies "True Love Ways" (Buddy Holly) and "To Know You Is to Love You" (a variation of the Teddy Bears' "To Know Her Is to Love Her").

There was also a Top Ten cover of Del Shannon's "I Go to Pieces," and the brassy, McCartney-penned "Woman." The overtly cute British novelty "Lady Godiva," though, became their last big hit in late 1966.

 

Peter and Gordon disbanded in 1968. Afterward, Waller attempted a solo career with little success, releasing one record.”…And Gordon.” On this album Waller used a New York-based group White Cloud, featuring Teddy Wender on keyboards. He also appeared in a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat as Pharaoh in 1971, a performance that he reprised on the LP. Waller first performed

"Joseph" at the Edinburgh Festival, later reprising the role at the Albery Theatre in London's West End. Moving out of the record business, he became a landscape gardener. 
In 1995, he moved to Los Angeles, California, and started a publishing company, Steel Wallet International. Ltd  with his long-time friend and girlfriend, Georgiana Steele. After his divorce from Gay Robbins was final, he and Georgiana married on 15 August 1998, although they divorced in 2007.  

In 2007, Waller released a solo album Plays the Beatles, featuring a new recording of "Woman", which Paul McCartney wrote under the pseudonym of Bernard Webb, and which had been a Peter and Gordon hit in the mid-1960s. In 2008, he followed up with the release of Rebel Rider.   
On 19 July 2008, Peter and Gordon performed together at The Cannery Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Also on the bill were Chad & Jeremy. Both duos sang the final concert song ("Bye Bye Love") together for only the second time. On 21 August 2008, they performed a free concert on the pier in Santa Monica, California, briefly accompanied by Joan Baez. On 2 February 2009 Gordon performed with Asher at the Surf Ballroom as part of a tribute concert marking the 50th anniversary of "The Day The Music Died.  
 

 They subsequently performed in Chicago, New Jersey and at the

Festival for Beatles Fans convention in Las Vegas, 1 and 2 July 2009, where, according to a report by journalist Peter Palmiere for Beatlefan magazine, the pair were the performing highlight of the convention. 

Gordon went into cardiac arrest on the evening of 16 July 2009, and died aged 64 of a heart attack early in the morning of 17 July 2009 at Backus Hospital in Norwich, Connecticut. His cause of death was listed as cardiovascular disease. 

Waller married three times. The first two ended in divorce. His first wife was Gay Robbins; his second marriage was to Georgiana Steele. His third marriage, to Josenia (Jen) Couldrey, lasted from March 2008 until his death. 

On May 29, 2010, a sold-out tribute performance for Gordon Waller was held at the Cannery Casino and Hotel, which was Waller's favourite Las Vegas venue. Performers included Peter Asher, Chad and Jeremy, Denny Laine, Terry Sylvester of The Hollies, Ian Whitcomb, John Walker of the Walker Brothers and DJ Fontana, Elvis Presley's drummer. (Edited mainly from Wikipedia)

Bob Wallis born 3 June 1934

Robert Wallis (3 June 1934 – 10 January 1991) was a British jazz musician, who had a handful of chart success in the early 1960s, during the UK traditional jazz boom. 

Wallis was born in Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire, where his father became harbour master. At an early age Wallis joined the local Salvation Army band with his friend, Keith Avison, who was to play trombone with Wallis for a number of years. By the age of twenty, Wallis discovered jazz and set up his own band in Bridlington, which also played in Hull. His influence as a trumpeter was Henry Red Allen. Wallis played predominately with the Storyville Jazz Band, although earlier and later in his career he played with other bands. 

He went to Denmark for a short spell, and recorded a couple of records there as the vocalist with the 'Washboard Beaters'. Once relocated to the UK, he went to London and played for a short time with Ken Colyer's Omega Brass, as well as joining Acker Bilk. These bands were recording mainly for the specialist 77 Records label. 
 

Wallis joined up with Hugh Rainey's All Stars (Ginger Baker was their drummer at the time) and shortly afterwards the band changed its name to The Storyville Jazz Band, fronted by Wallis. In 1959 the band recorded an album for Top Rank Records, Everybody Loves Saturday Night. It peaked at No. 20 in the UK Albums Chart in June 1960. Two singles followed, and then the band moved to Pye Records, where they made three albums and a number of singles.

 

 

                                 

 

Those singles included "I'm Shy Mary Ellen, I'm Shy" (1961) and "Come Along Please" (1962), which made No. 44 and No. 33 respectively in the UK Singles Chart.Wallis' Band also appeared in two films, It's Trad, Dad! and Two Left Feet. At this time the band was made up of Wallis on trumpet, Keith 'Avo' Avison (trombone), Doug Richford (clarinet), Pete Gresham (piano), Hugh Rainey (banjo and later guitar), Brian 'Drag' Kirby (bass) and Kenny Buckner (drums).  For the third album, The Wallis Collection, Al Gay replaced Richford and, following an illness, Buckner left to be replaced by Alan Poston.  

In 1963, Wallis and his band, who had been television regulars, as well as having a summer season at the London Palladium, broke up. Wallis played with one or two other bands before moving to the Continent where he spent most of his remaining years, still playing with reconstituted versions of the Storyville Jazzmen (variously billed as Storyville Jazz Band). Occasionally these bands included former colleagues, such as Avison and Gresham. Poston was still playing with the band when it made its final recordings in the mid 1980s. Clarinettist Forrie Cairns was also with the band for much of this time. 

In January 1963, the British music magazine, NME reported that the biggest trad jazz event to be staged in Britain had taken place at Alexandra Palace. The event included George Melly, Diz Disley, Acker Bilk, Chris Barber, Kenny Ball, Ken Colyer, Monty Sunshine, Alex Welsh, Bruce Turner, Mick Mulligan and Wallis. 

Ultimately Bob settled in Zurich with a residency at the Casa Bar, where he finally found his spiritual home, much appreciated by residents and visitors alike. He continued to make records for European labels such as Storyville, WAM and Pebe, but the chart appearances were long gone. Nevertheless the band remained true to the Wallis ideals, with a driving style that owed much to his energy and fine sense of humour. Phil Kent, who was the bass-player with Bobs band during their residency in Zurich, is one of the few remaining members of the Storyville Jazzmen. He is still playing bass, and lives in Lydeard St Lawrence, near Taunton, Somerset. 

When it became clear in 1990 that his ill health was not going to improve, he returned to England with his wife, Joyce, where he died in hospital in 1991. His long battle with illness was over but his records attest to the fact that Wallis was one of the great British jazzmen of his time. His son, Jay, carries on the family tradition of playing trumpet. 

(Info edited from Wikipedia & AllAboutJazz)