Lowell Fulson born 31 March 1921

Lowell Fulson (March 31, 1921 – March 7, 1999) was an American blues guitarist and songwriter, in the West Coast blues tradition. He also recorded for contractual reasons as Lowell Fullsom and Lowell Fulsom. After T-Bone Walker, he was the most important figure in West Coast blues in the 1940s and 1950s. 

Fulson was born on a Choctaw reservation in Atoka, Oklahoma to Mamie and Martin Fulson. He stated that he was of Cherokee ancestry through his father but also claimed Choctaw ancestry. His father was killed when Lowell was a child, and a few years later he moved with his mother and brothers to live in Clarita and attended school at Coalgate. 

Exposed to the Western swing of Bob Wills, as well as indigenous blues while growing up in Oklahoma, Fulson joined up with singer Texas Alexander for a few months in 1940, touring the Lone Star state with the veteran bluesman. Fulson was drafted in 1943. The Navy let him go in 1945. After a few months back in Oklahoma, he was off to Oakland, CA, where he made his first 78s for fledgling producer Bob Geddins. 

Soon enough, Fulson was fronting his own band and cutting a stack of platters for Big Town, Gilt Edge, Trilon, and Down Town (where he hit big in 1948 with "Three O'Clock Blues," later covered by B.B. King). Swing Time records prexy Jack Lauderdale snapped up Fulson in 1948, and the hits really began to flow: the immortal "Every Day I Have the Blues" , "Blue Shadows," the two-sided holiday perennial "Lonesome Christmas," and a groovy mid-tempo instrumental "Low Society Blues" that really hammers home how tremendously important pianist Lloyd Glenn and alto saxist Earl Brown were to Fulson's maturing sound (all charted in 1950!). 

                             

Fulson toured extensively from then on, his band stocked for a time with dazzling pianist Ray Charles and saxist Stanley Turrentine. After a one-off session in New Orleans in 1953 for Aladdin, Fulson inked a long-term pact with Chess in 1954. His first single for the firm was the classic "Reconsider Baby," cut in Dallas under Stan Lewis' supervision with a sax section that included David "Fathead" Newman on tenor and Leroy Cooper on baritone. 

The relentless mid-tempo blues proved a massive hit and perennial cover item -- even Elvis Presley cut it in 1960, right after he got out of the Army. But apart from "Loving You," the guitarist's subsequent Checker output failed to find widespread favour with the public, which was baffling, since Fulson's crisp, concise guitar work and sturdy vocals were as effective as ever. Most of his Checker sessions were held in Chicago and L.A. (the latter his home from the turn of the '50s). 

Fulson stayed with Checker into 1962, but a change of labels worked wonders when he jumped over to Los Angeles-based Kent Records. 1965's driving "Black Nights" became his first smash in a decade, and "Tramp," a loping funk-injected workout co-written by Fulson and Jimmy McCracklin, did even better, restoring the guitarist to R&B stardom, gaining plenty of pop spins, and inspiring a playful Stax cover by Otis Redding and Carla Thomas only a few months later that outsold Fulson's original. A couple of lesser follow-up hits for Kent ensued before the guitarist was reunited with Stan Lewis at Jewel Records. 

After a quiet period in the 1970s, Fulson rejoined the international blues circuit in the mid-1980s, he sounded almost untouched by the years. As the blues producer Dick Shurman wrote in the notes to his 1988 album It's A Good Day: 'Fulson has seemingly frozen time. He continues to tour widely, write new tunes and record . . . with stocky countenance and black beard, he presents the flashing eyes and grin of a man trying to keep the location of the fountain of youth a secret.' 

A show entitled California Blues: Swingtime Tribute opened in 1993 at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, California, with Fulson, Johnny Otis, Charles Brown, Jay McShann, Jimmy Witherspoon, Jimmy McCracklin and Earl Brown. Fulson's last recording was a duet of "Every Day I Have the Blues" with Jimmy Rogers on the latter's 1999 Atlantic Records release, The Jimmy Rogers All-Stars: Blues, Blues, Blues. 

 Fulson was never been absent for long on disc; 1992's Hold On and its 1995 follow-up. Them Update Blues, both for Ron Levy's Bullseye Blues logo, were among his later efforts, both quite solid. Fulson continued to perform until 1997, when health problems forced the career bluesman into a reluctant retirement. 

A resident of Los Angeles, Fulson died in Long Beach, California, on March 7, 1999, at the age of 77. His companion, Tina Mayfield, stated that the causes of death were complications from kidney disease, diabetes, and congestive heart failure. He was the father of four and grandfather of thirteen. Fulson was interred in Inglewood Park Cemetery, in Inglewood, California. 

(Edited from Wikipedia, AllMusic & The Guardian)

Randy VanWarmer born 30 March 1955

Randy VanWarmer (March 30, 1955 – January 12, 2004) was an American songwriter and guitarist best remembered for his 1979 pop smash, "Just When I Needed You Most." 

Randy VanWarmer was born Randall Van Warmer in Indian Hills, CO. After his father was killed in a 1967 auto accident, VanWarmer and his mother relocated to Cornwall, England; he began writing and performing while in his teens, and upon returning stateside in 1978 settled in Woodstock, NY. 

In 1979, after struggling in obscurity for a few years, Bearsville Records in New York released a VanWarmer single, "Gotta Get Out of Here," a mildly catchy pop tune. "Just When I Needed You Most" was the B-side of the single. Somewhere, on a whim, a DJ decided to play the flip side instead, and it slowly rose to the Top 10 in a market saturated with disco. As VanWarmer told Release, Albert Grossman, the head of Bearsville, who was acting as VanWarmer's manager, would not let him do television or tour the United States, a strategy that did not prove successful. 

                   

His follow-up album, Terraform, appeared in 1980, trailed a year later by Beat of Love -- neither record was a pop hit, but VanWarmer was gaining increasing industry fame as a composer, especially after his "I'm in a Hurry (And Don't Know Why)" topped the country charts for Alabama in 1982. A fourth solo LP, The Things That You Dream, was issued to diminishing commercial returns in 1983. 

A year later the Oak Ridge Boys hit number one with his "I Guess It Never Hurts to Hurt Sometimes." The song appeared on his 1981 album Beat of Love, which also included the pop tune "Suzi Found a Weapon", which hit No. 55 on the Billboard Hot 100.The song was a tribute to a Bearsville public relations rep whom VanWarmer would later woo and marry, and which went to No. 1 in Alaska and gained a certain amount of post mortem acclaim. But Grossman died soon thereafter, and VanWarmer's future was in doubt. 

VanWarmer relocated to Nashville in 1985 to ply his trade as a country songwriter. His songs have been featured on albums by Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, Laura Branigan, Smokie and Billie Joe Royal among others. In 1988, he resurfaced as a solo artist with I Am, scoring a pair of country hits with "I Will Hold You" and "Where the Rocky Mountains Touch the Morning Sun." Subsequent efforts include 1990's Every Now and Then, 1994's The Vital Spark, and 1995's Third Child. 

His final album was a tribute to Stephen Foster, released posthumously only in Japan. According to the CD's liner notes, VanWarmer played all the instruments. The notes also indicate that he completed work on the record a few days after learning he had leukemia.. After a long battle with the cancer, VanWarmer died in Seattle on January 12, 2004. 

In line with one of his greatest loves, some of his cremated remains were sent into space in 2007, and then again in 2012 aboard the first successful private space flight to the International Space Station, the SpaceX Dragon vehicle. (Edited from Wikipedia & AllMusic)

 

Jimmy Work born 29 March 1924

Jimmy Work (March 29, 1924 – December 22, 2018) was an American country musician and songwriter who isn't a name that most country music fans are familiar with, even though he was responsible for "Tennessee Border," "Making Believe," and "That's What Makes the Jukebox Play." Like a handful of performers, he worked happily at music for many years but felt privileged simply to have had the opportunity to record and perform, and gladly kept his day job as a millwright. 

Jimmy Work was born in Akron, Ohio. In 1926 his parents moved to a farm in Dukedom, Tennessee. He began playing guitar when he was seven years old after he picked up a guitar his father had originally bought for his mother. His two biggest influences at that point in his life, and for many years after, were Gene Autry and Roy Acuff, and one can safely include Jimmie Rodgers on the list as well. He was in a band in high school, and was a good enough fiddle player to win contests on that instrument as well. He began writing songs before he was in his teens, and was encouraged by reactions to his music. 

By 1945, he had begun playing professionally in Pontiac, Michigan, where many Southerners had moved to take jobs in the automotive industry. He appeared on local radio and published a songbook late in the decade, in addition to recording two singles for the Trophy Records label. His third single was "Tennessee Border", for Alben Records; his version was not a hit, but the following year, the song became a hit for Red Foley, Bob Atcher, Jimmie Skinner, and Tennessee Ernie Ford. Hank Williams also recorded the tune, but didn't chart with it. 

The success of those records got Jimmy Work his first major-label contract with Decca Records in 1949, and "Tennessee Border" also got him invited to appear on the Grand Ole Opry; Work also played at the Ernest Tubb Midnight Jamboree. By the time of his second session for Decca in August of 1949, Work was being backed by Red Foley's Pleasant Valley Boys, which included Jerry Bird and Delmore Brothers veteran Zeke Turner on guitars, Ernie Newton on bass, and the legendary Tommy Jackson on fiddle. 

Unfortunately, despite the quality of the players and the momentum imparted by the success of "Tennessee Border," Work never had any hits from his Decca work, and by 1950 he was released from the label. After a short stay with the tiny Bullet label in 1950, Work jumped to the London label in 1951, which yielded "Pickup Truck," his witty slice-of-Southern-life song, and "Do Your Honky Tonkin' at Home." 

During this period, Work's music, mostly by virtue of the bands he was using for backup, was heavily influenced by the honky tonk style of Lefty Frizzell. It may have been the derivative nature of his sound, coupled with the indifferent nature of the material, that left Work out in the cold where sales of his own records were concerned during this period. 

                             

Still without a hit of his own to his credit, Jimmy Work signed with Capitol Records in 1952, and although his first four songs yielded no hits, the label stuck with him. It was only after a second round of sessions that he was dropped from the label's roster in 1953. He then moved to the Dot label, and it was there that he cut two of his most popular songs, "Making Believe" and "That's What Makes the Jukebox Play." "Making Believe," issued in 1955, rose to number 11 for Work, but it was Kitty Wells, releasing a rival version, who saw the lion's share of record sales with a number two single. 

Elvis, Bob Neal, Jimmy Work & Onie Wheeler

"That's What Makes the Jukebox Play" became a number six single for Work in the summer of 1955. Work's success boosted his concert activity during the mid-'50s, and he happened to share a number of concerts in 1955 with Elvis Presley, who was still a regional phenomenon. 

His future with Dot Records was secure for the time being, with two major hits behind him, and Work continued playing dates, recording, and writing songs; occasionally he would experiment with new sounds, as with his rockabilly-style cover of "Rock Island Line," issued in the wake of English skiffle king Lonnie Donegan's hit version (which charted in America). 

Work wasn't a rockabilly player or a rock & roller, however, and the rise of the new music took away just enough of the impetus from country music in general that he eventually was forced to give up the music business. He sold real estate and cut some singles (including yet another version of "Tennessee Border") for the All label, based in Whittier, CA. 

By 1959, it was all over, and Work knew it; the music had passed him by, and the honky tonk style wasn't even in favor among the country audience that did remain. He returned to the job he was trained for and knew best, a millwright, on the farm in Dukedom, TN, near the border with Kentucky for several years before fully retiring. He lived in Dukedom with his wife. 

Work died at his home on December 22, 2018, at the age of 94.

Ben Webster born 27 March 1909

Benjamin Francis Webster (March 27, 1909 – September 20, 1973), a.k.a. "The Brute" or "Frog," was an influential American jazz tenor saxophonist. He was considered one of the three most important "swing tenors" along with Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young. 

A native of Kansas City, Missouri he studied violin, learned how to play blues on the piano from Pete Johnson, and received saxophone lessons from Budd Johnson. He played with Lester Young in the Young Family Band. He recorded with Blanche Calloway and became a member of the Bennie Moten Orchestra with Count Basie, Hot Lips Page, and Walter Page. For the rest of the 1930s, he played in bands led by Willie Bryant, Benny Carter, Cab Calloway, Fletcher Henderson, Andy Kirk, and Teddy Wilson. He was a soloist with the Duke Ellington Orchestra in the 1940s, appearing on "Cotton Tail". He considered Johnny Hodges, an alto saxophonist in the Ellington orchestra, a major influence on his playing. 

Ellington, Webster & Jimmy Hamilton

Webster left the band in 1943 after an altercation during which he allegedly cut one of Ellington's suits. Clark Terry said the departure was because Webster slapped Ellington. Webster worked on 52nd Street in New York City, where he recorded frequently as a leader and sideman. During this time he worked with Raymond Scott, John Kirby, Bill DeArango, Sid Catlett, Jay McShann, and Jimmy Witherspoon. For a few months in 1948, he returned briefly to Ellington's orchestra. 

In 1953, he recorded King of the Tenors with pianist Oscar Peterson, who would be an important collaborator with Webster throughout the decade in his recordings for the various labels of Norman Granz. Along with Peterson, trumpeter Harry "Sweets" Edison and others, he was touring and recording with Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic package. In 1956, he recorded a classic set with pianist Art Tatum, supported by bassist Red Callender and drummer Bill Douglass. Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster with fellow tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins was recorded on December 16, 1957, along with Peterson, Herb Ellis (guitar), Ray Brown (bass), and Alvin Stoller (drums). The Hawkins and Webster recording is a jazz classic, the coming together of two giants of the tenor saxophone, who had first met back in Kansas City. 

                              

In the late 1950s, he formed a quintet with Gerry Mulligan and played frequently at a club in Los Angeles called Renaissance. It was there that the Webster-Mulligan group backed up blues singer Jimmy Witherspoon on an album recorded live for Hi-Fi Jazz Records. That same year, 1959, the quintet, with pianist Jimmy Rowles, bassist Leroy Vinnegar, and drummer Mel Lewis, also recorded Gerry Mulligan Meets Ben Webster for Verve Records. 

Webster worked steadily, but in late 1964 he moved to Europe, working with American jazz musicians and local musicians. He played when he pleased during his last decade. He lived in London and several locations in Scandinavia for one year, followed by three years in Amsterdam, and made his last home in Copenhagen in 1969.Webster appeared as a sax player in a low-rent cabaret club in the 1970 Danish blue film titled Quiet Days in Clichy. In 1971, Webster reunited with Duke Ellington and his orchestra for a couple of shows at the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen; he also recorded "live" in France with Earl Hines. He also recorded or performed with Buck Clayton, Bill Coleman and Teddy Wilson. 

Webster suffered a cerebral bleed in Amsterdam in September 1973, following a performance at the Twee Spieghels in Leiden, and died on 20 September. His body was cremated in Copenhagen and his ashes were buried in the Assistens Cemetery in the Nørrebro section of the city. 

After Webster's death, Billy Moore Jr. created The Ben Webster Foundation, together with the trustee of Webster's estate. Since Webster's only legal heir, Harley Robinson in Los Angeles, gladly assigned his rights to the foundation, The Ben Webster Foundation was confirmed by The Queen of Denmark's Seal in 1976. In the Foundation's trust deed, one of the initial paragraphs reads: "to support the dissemination of jazz in Denmark". 

It is a beneficial Foundation, which channels Webster's annual royalties to musicians, both in Denmark and the U.S. An annual Ben Webster Prize is awarded to a young outstanding musician. The prize is not large, but considered highly prestigious. Over the years, several American musicians have visited Denmark with the help of the Foundation, and concerts, a few recordings, and other jazz-related events have been supported. 

Ben Webster's private collection of jazz recordings and memorabilia is archived in the jazz collections at the University Library of Southern Denmark, Odense. Ben Webster used the same saxophone from 1938 until his death in 1973. Ben left instructions that the horn was never to be played again. It is on display in the Jazz Institute at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey.       

(Edited from Wikipedia)

Teddy Pendergrass born 26 March 1950

Theodore DeReese Pendergrass (March 26, 1950 – January 13, 2010) was a smooth Philadelphia soul and R&B star. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he initially rose to musical fame as the lead singer of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. After leaving the group over in 1976, Pendergrass launched a successful solo career under the Philadelphia International label, releasing five consecutive platinum albums (a record at the time for an African-American R&B artist). 

Teddy Pendergrass started singing gospel music in Philadelphia churches, becoming an ordained minister at ten years old. While attending public school, he sang in the citywide McIntyre Elementary School Choir and in the All-City Stetson Junior High School Choir. A self-taught drummer, Pendergrass had a teen pop vocal group when he was 15. By his late teens, Pendergrass was a drummer for local vocal group the Cadillacs. 

In the late '60s, the Cadillacs merged with another more established group, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. In 1970, when the Blue Notes broke up, Melvin, now aware of Pendergrass' vocal prowess, asked him to take the lead singer spot. It's no secret that Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff wanted Marvin Junior of the Dells for their Philadelphia International Records roster. Since the Dells were signed to Chess, they were unavailable. 

 When the gruff 'n' ready vocals of Pendergrass came their way, they eagerly signed the group. Beginning with "I Miss You," a steady stream of hit singles flowed from the collaboration of Pendergrass and Gamble & Huff: "If You Don't Know Me by Now," "The Love I Lost," "Bad Luck," "Wake Up Everybody" (number one R&B for two weeks in 1976), and two gold albums, To Be True and Wake Up Everybody. Unfortunately, the more success the group had, the more friction developed between Melvin and Pendergrass.

Despite the revised billing of the group, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes featuring Theodore Pendergrass, Pendergrass felt that he wasn't getting enough recognition. Around 1976, Pendergrass left Melvin's Blue Notes and formed his own Blue Notes, featuring Teddy Pendergrass. Briefly, there was some confusion as to which Blue Notes were which. The resolution came when Pendergrass disbanded his Blue Notes in favour of a solo career and Melvin's group signed a recording contract with Source Records, distributed through ABC Records, scoring a hit with "I Want to Be Your Lover." 

                              

Pendergrass signed a new contract with Philadelphia International Records in late 1976/early 1977. He burst back on the scene with Teddy Pendergrass, a platinum solo debut that included the top-notch singles "I Don't Love You Anymore," "You Can't Hide from Yourself," and "The More I Get the More I Want." 

Around this time, Pendergrass began to institute his infamous "Ladies Only" concerts. His next three albums went gold or platinum: Life Is a Song Worth Singing (1978), Teddy (1979), and Teddy Live (Coast to Coast). The hit single "Close the Door" was used in the film Soup for One, where Pendergrass had a small role. 

The singer received several Grammy nominations during 1977 and 1978, Billboard's 1977 Pop Album New Artist Award, an American Music Award for best R&B performer of 1978, and awards from Ebony magazine and the NAACP. The '70s ended, but Pendergrass kept racking up the hits. TP, his fifth solo album, went platinum in the summer of 1980 off the singles "Turn Off the Lights," "Come Go with Me," "Shout and Scream," "It's You I Love," and "Can't We Try." It's Time for Love gave Pendergrass another gold album in summer 1981, which included the hit singles "Love TKO" and "I Can’t Live without Your Love." 

A 1982 car accident left Pendergrass paralyzed from the waist down and wheelchair-bound. After almost a year of physical therapy and counselling, Pendergrass returned to the recording scene, signing a contract with Elektra/Asylum in 1983. His ninth solo album and Elektra/Asylum debut, Love Language went gold the spring of 1984. Philadelphia International issued two albums of unreleased tracks, This One's for You (1982) and Heaven Only Knows (1983). Other albums included Workin' It Back (1985), Joy (1988, whose title track went to number one R&B for two weeks), and Little More Magic (1993). 

The latter half of the '90s found Pendergrass recording for the Surefire/Wind Up label. Truly Blessed, the name of an 1991 Elektra album, is also the title of the autobiography Pendergrass co-authored with Patricia Romanowski. Apart from an appearance at a 2007 ceremony held in his honour, Pendergrass spent his later years away from the spotlight. 

On June 5, 2009, Pendergrass underwent surgery for colon cancer and returned home to recover. A few weeks later he returned to the hospital with respiratory issues. After seven months, he died on January 13, 2010 with his wife Joan by his side, at Bryn Mawr Hospital in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. He was 59.    (Edited from AllMusic & Wikipedia)

Frankie Carle born 25 March 1903

Frankie Carle (March 25, 1903 – March 7, 2001) was an American pianist and bandleader. As a very popular bandleader in the 1940s and 1950s, Carle was nicknamed "The Wizard of the Keyboard". "Sunrise Serenade" was Carle's best-known composition, rising to No. 1 in the US in 1938 and selling more than one million copies. 

Carle was born Francis Nunzio Carlone in Providence, Rhode Island, on March 25, 1903. Born the son of a factory worker who could not afford a piano, he practiced on a dummy keyboard devised by his uncle, pianist Nicholas Colangelo, until he found a broken-down instrument in a dance hall. In 1916, a teenage Carle began working with his uncle's band as well as a number of local bands in the Rhode Island area. His first break was playing piano in Ed. J. McEnelly’s dance band with whom he made one of his earliest recordings, “Spanish Shawl”, issued by Victor Records circa 1925. 

To gain further popularity in an America which still held prejudices against many Italian Americans, Carle did what many singers, such as Dean Martin and Jerry Vale, did during this time period; he changed his name from Carlone to Carle. He started out working with a number of mainstream dance bands and in 1934 joined Mal Hallett’s popular New England-based outfit and stayed for approximately four years. 

On February 17, 1939, his composition, “Sunrise Serenade” was recorded by Glen Gray’s famous Casa Loma orchestra for Decca Records in New York City, with Frankie Carle playing piano on the session.  This disc charted the week of April 8, 1939 and remained on the national chart for 16 weeks, peaking at #1 in August. Glenn Miller followed with his own recording of this song bookending it on the flip side of this theme “Moonlight Serenade” and it’s his version which has stood the test of time, ultimately selling over 1 million copies.“ 

That same year, his performing career took a giant step forward when he joined Horace Heidt and His Musical Knights as the popular orchestra’s featured pianist. Carle was held in such high regard by his peers that when one of Heidt’s competitors, pianist bandleader, Eddy Duchin entered the service in 1941, he tempted Carle with an offer to take over the Duchin orchestra. This was a deal Carle couldn’t and didn’t refuse.  In 1943, he became the band’s co-leader. 

During his stint with Heidt, Carle experienced all the perks of being a member of a big-time organization such as phonograph records that sold well (five Top Ten hits in 1941), appearances on radio (“Tums Treasure Chest” on NBC from 1940-1943) and film (“Pot o’ Gold”, a 1941 flick starring Jimmy Stewart and Paulette Goddard, based on Heidt’s radio show of the same name).  His experience as featured pianist, band conductor and now business partner, prepared him well, so when Horace Heidt retired in 1944, Carle was ready to helm his own outfit and continue his journey to the top of the pop music world. 

                             

During the early ’40’s, the Big Band/Swing Era was still happening, but the wartime draft drained many bands of their key personnel, while a concurrent Musicians’ Union strike forced record labels to limit releases of new material to vocalists.  

Frankie & his daughter Marjorie Hughes

For the big bands there were few bright spots but Frankie Carle’s orchestra was one of the brightest.  Between September 1944 and March 1949, Frankie Carle placed 19 records on Billboard’s charts, 10 of them reached the Top Ten. His biggest year was 1946 when he had two #1 smashes, “Oh, What It Seemed to Be”  and “Rumours are Flying”. 

He became the subject of a Walter Winchell “scoop” when the broadcaster revealed to his millions of listeners that the band’s female vocalist Marjorie Hughes, singer of both hits, was really Carle’s daughter.  Frankie explained that when he was auditioning female singers, his wife slipped him a demo of his daughter taken from a local radio broadcast and he didn’t find out who it was until after she was chosen.  “I liked the record and when my Mrs. said it was my daughter, I was asked to give her a chance with my band.  I did not want the public to know she was any relation of mine until I found out whether she could make the grade or not.  I gave her three months and had her change her name to Marjorie Hughes”. 

The huge success he had during this period afforded him many show-biz opportunities including radio programs, films, and continued personal appearances.  He kept composing and recording.  In 1955, he broke up his band but continued to perform solo or with small units.  He was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame for recording on February 8, 1960. Carle semi-retired during the 1960s but became active again during the big band revival of the 1970s. He last toured in 1983, and was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1989. 

He retired to Mesa, Arizona, to be near his daughter, where he died of natural causes on 7 March 2001, a few weeks shy of his 98th birthday. He is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills). 

(Edited mainly from the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame Historical Archives)