Ron Hynes born 7 December 1950

Ron Hynes (December 7, 1950 – November 19, 2015) was a folk singer-songwriter from Newfoundland and Labrador. Commonly refered to as The Man of a Thousand Songs, he was especially known for his composition "Sonny's Dream", which has been recorded worldwide by many artists and was named the 41st greatest Canadian song of all time on the 2005 CBC Radio One series 50 Tracks: The Canadian Version. 

Ron Hynes was born in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador in December 1950, and raised in Ferryland. He began his career in the late 1960s on the St. John's and Toronto pub and coffeehouse circuits. His first solo album, Discovery (1972), was the first album of entirely original material by a Newfoundland artist. From 1974 to 1976, Hynes was the composer-in-residence for the Mummers Troupe, a St. John's theatre company. 

He was a founding member of The Wonderful Grand Band, one of Newfoundland's most popular performing groups, and has released seven solo albums. His debut album, Discovery, released in 1972, was the first album composed of totally original content by a Newfoundland artist.  In 1976, Hynes released the folk classic “Sonny's Dream.” The song has been covered by many artists, including Emmylou Harris, Stan Rogers and Great Big Sea. From 1978 to 1983, Hynes performed with the Wonderful Grand Band, a successful folk-rock and comedy collective he formed with a number of Newfoundland musicians and comedians. 

                                     

By 1992, Hynes had amassed an extensive collection of original songs and had signed a recording contract with EMI Music Canada. Although his two EMI-endorsed albums, Cryer's Paradise (1993) and Face to the Gale (1996), achieved little commercial success, they were critically acclaimed and allowed him to establish a national fan base. Despite his growing success, Hynes was dropped by the label. He independently released his next three albums: 11:11 Newfoundland Women Sing (1997), Standing in Line in the Rain (1998), and The Sandcastle Sessions (2002). In 2002, Hynes signed with the folk label Borealis. He subsequently released Get Back Change (2003), Ron Hynes (2006), and Stealing Genius (2010). 

Hynes became a seven-time East Coast Music Awards winner, and past Juno and Canadian Country Music Awards nominee. He was named Artist of the Year ('92) and in 2002, Hynes received an honorary Doctor of Letters from Memorial University in St. John's in recognition of his original songwriting and his contribution to the cultural heritage of Newfoundland. In 2004 he was presented with the prestigious Arts Achievement Award  by the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council. 

In 2006, Hynes was honored as the recipient of the St. John's Folk Arts Council's Lifetime Achievement Award. Hynes picked up more awards including Entertainer of the Year, Songwriter of the Year and Folk/Roots Artist of the Year. In 2007 he was the winner of Male Solo Recording of the Year at the East Coast Music Awards. 

Widely regarded as one of Canada's premier singer-songwriters with a career spanning over 30 years, Hynes' songs have become part of the fabric of Newfoundland culture. His work is also known outside the province; Hynes' songs have been covered worldwide by over 100 artists, including Emmylou Harris, Valdy and Christy Moore. Hynes narrated two audio books and also had occasional acting roles, including in the films The Adventure of Faustus Bidgood, Secret Nation, Anchor Zone, Violet and The Bingo Robbers, and the television series Dooley Gardens and Emily of New Moon. 

A documentary on Hynes, entitled Man of a Thousand Songs and directed by William D. MacGillivray, debuted at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. In July 2012, it was announced that Ron Hynes was diagnosed with throat cancer. On August 11, 2012, Hynes performed to a sold-out crowd of more than 3,000 at the Mile One Centre in St. John's. This was his last performance before undergoing cancer treatment. The concert included a reunion of Hynes' old band, The Wonderful Grand Band. In the fall of 2013, he was in remission and back on tour, including participation in a Vinyl Cafe tour broadcast on CBC Radio. Hynes died at a hospital in St. John's on November 19, 2015, at the age of 64. 

After Hynes' death, actor and writer Joel Thomas Hynes, his nephew, announced on Facebook that Hynes suffered from drug addictions that led to his demise.He said,  "He remained a hardcore addict right to his final days. And it killed him."

He was posthumously inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame during the East Coast Music Awards in July 2020. 

(Edited from Wikipedia & The Canadian Encyclopedia)

 

George Williams born 6 December 1935

George Williams (6 December 1935 - 28 July 2004) was an American soul singer and songwriter, best known as the longtime lead vocalist for the Philly soul group the Tymes. 

George Reginald Williams Jr., was born in Philadelphia and was a graduate of  the ([Thomas) Edison High School. He joined the Army in the early 1950s where he was nicknamed "The Fox". After his discharge, the smooth-sounding lead vocalist joined the Latineers, a harmony group comprising the first tenor Albert "Caesar" Berry III, second tenor George Hilliard, baritone Norman Burnett and bass singer Donald Banks, in 1961. The Philadelphia quartet had been together five years and became a more polished quintet with the addition of Williams, who was heavily influenced by the phrasing and delivery of Johnny Mathis. 

In 1963, they entered a local Talent Hunt sponsored by the manufacturers of Tip Top bread and the Philadelphia radio station WDAS and made such an impression that one of the judges recommended them to Billy Jackson, the A&R director of Cameo-Parkway Records, who signed the group and renamed it the Tymes. When the multi-tasking Jackson heard "As We Stroll Along", a work-in-progress song by George Williams, he improved on the original idea with the help of his fellow producer Roy Straigis and created the gorgeous ballad "So Much in Love". 

                                    

Released in June 1963 complete with birds and waves sound effects and finger snaps recalling the golden-era of doo-wop, "So Much in Love" caught the imagination of American teenagers and crossed over from the R&B chart to the Hot 100. By August, the song had replaced Jan and Dean's "Surf City" at the top of the US charts and made No 21 in the UK after it was featured on an edition of BBC Television's Juke-Box Jury with the Beatle John Lennon among the panelists. 

Their follow-up single was a cover version of Johnny Mathis's "Wonderful! Wonderful!", which made the US Top Ten, and the next single, "Somewhere", proved a smash but the Tymes struggled to maintain their momentum and supplemented their income by doing backing vocals on recordings by other Cameo-Parkway acts. They left Cameo-Parkway for a short spell with MGM in 1966 and issued a version of the standard "These Foolish Things" on their own Winchester label before their cover of Barbra Streisand's "People" on Columbia charted on both sides of the Atlantic in 1968. 

The producers and songwriters Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, who nearly signed them to their embryonic Sound of Philadelphia International label, described Williams as the finest singer they had ever heard. With Charles Nixon replacing George Hilliard the Tymes hit their stride again on RCA in 1974 with the catchy proto-disco "You Little Trustmaker" and the soulful "Ms Grace" which knocked "Down Down" by Status Quo off the No 1 slot in the UK in January 1975. 

However, "God's Gonna Punish You", "It's Cool" and "Goin' Through the Motions" proved only minor hits in 1976 and Williams left the group in 1978 to settle in London and then Kent. During the mid 80’s he recorded with the British jazz-funk group the Chosen Three. Immaculately turned out and much in demand as an entertainer on the nostalgia and cabaret circuit, Williams brought the house down with renditions of the Tymes' biggest hits which also included "People" (from the 1968 film Funny Girl), "You Little Trustmaker" and "God's Gonna Punish You". 

He founded the StefCourt Music Publishing Co and delighted European audiences when performing his oldies well into the new millennium before returning to the US in 2002. In his spare time, Williams also fixed televisions, radios and served as a block captain. He died in his Maple Shades apartment, New Jersey, 28 July 2004, after a battle with cancer. He was 68 years old. 

(Edited from obits at the Independent & Philadelphia Tribune. 

 

Willie James Lyons born 5 December 1938

Willie James Lyons (December 5, 1938 – December 26, 1980) was an American Chicago blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He worked primarily in the West Side of Chicago from the late 1950s up to his death. Lyons was an accompanist to many musicians who included Luther Allison, Jimmy Dawkins and Bobby Rush. A noted performer in his own right, Lyons work was influenced by B.B. King and Freddie King, T-Bone Walker and Lowell Fulson. His only solo album was Chicago Woman, recorded in France in 1979. 

Lyons was born in Alabama, United States. He was, according to the 1940 United States Census, living in Aliceville, Alabama, with his parent, brother, and sister. Details of his early life are sketchy, but he had relocated to Chicago, Illinois, by the mid-1950s. In 1971, Willie Kent took up residence at Ma Bea's Lounge in West Madison, Chicago. The house band became known as Sugar Bear and the Beehives, headed by Kent (the Sugar Bear) with guitarist Willie James Lyons and drummer Tyrone Centuray. The house band's proficient playing led to their recording a live album in October 1975 at Ma Bea's, billed as Ghetto. 

                Here’s “I Got Trouble On My Mind2 from above LP 

                         

For the next six years, this troupe backed visiting musicians, such as Fenton Robinson, Hubert Sumlin, Eddy Clearwater, Jimmy Johnson, Carey Bell, Buster Benton, John Littlejohn, Casey Jones, and Mighty Joe Young. The house band's proficient playing led to their recording a live album in October 1975 at Ma Bea's, billed as Ghetto. In the 1970s, Lacy Gibson also played alongside Lyons at the Poinciana on the West Side. In October 1977, Lyons played on Robert "Big Mojo" Elem's album, Mojo Boogie. 

In December 1979, Lyons played guitar on Johnny "Big Moose" Walker's album, Going Home Tomorrow. He also appeared on Lefty Dizz's album, Somebody Stole My Christmas. The latter was recorded ten days after Walker's album, but not released until 1980. Lyons solo album, Chicago Woman, was recorded between December 1, and 22, 1979, at the Decca Studio, in Paris, France. The participants on the recording were Lyons on vocals and guitar, Johnny "Big Moose" Walker playing piano with Jimmy Johnson on second guitar, Robert "Big Mojo" Elem on bass guitar, and Odie Payne playing the drums. 

L-R: Lyons, Detroit Junior & Highway Man

All three of these albums were released on the French record label, Isabel Records. Chicago Woman included Lyons re-working of Lowell Fulson's song "Reconsider Baby", in addition to covering other blues standards such as "Little Red Rooster" and "Hoochie Coochie Man" and "Rock Me Baby". However, Chicago Woman incorporated three of Lyons own compositions; "I've Got Trouble on My Mind", "Groovin' In Paris", plus the title track. 

Lyons died on December 26, 1980, in Chicago at the age of 42. An obituary for him appeared in Living Blues magazine (issue No. 50) in early 1981.  (Edited from Wikipedia)

Bob Mosley born 4 December 1942

Bob Mosley (born James Robert Mosley, December 4, 1942, in Paradise Valley, California) is principally known as the bass player and one of the songwriters and vocalists for the band Moby Grape. 

Mosley spent his adolescence in San Diego, where he graduated from Kearny High School. One of the first bands that he organized in San Diego was called The Misfits, who had one single on Imperial Records and one on Troy Records in the early 1960s. His varied career was spent in a number of other garage combos, including  the Strangers, the Frantics and The Ducks. After playing with the Joel Scott Hill Trio, he relocated to San Francisco in 1966, where he played with The Vejtables for a brief period. Next up was the start of an extended and frustrating relationship with the ill-fated Moby Grape with a lineup of Bob Mosley, Peter Lewis, Skip Spence, Don Stevenson, and Jerry Miller.   

A soulful singer whose songs deftly bridged the gap between country and blues, Mosley contributed "Mr. Blues," "Bitter Wind," "Rose Colored Eyes," "Trucking Man," "Hoochie," "Lazy Me," "Come in the Morning," and other solid songs to the Grape canon in the early years. If ever a band was snake-bitten, it was Moby Grape, and thanks to backfiring publicity stunts, poor management, and record company snafus, the band never found a steady mass audience. It didn't help, either, that at least two of the members (Spence and Mosley) begin to show signs of mental disorder. Moby Grape managed to record two more albums with its original configuration participating before Spence and then Mosley left the band following the release of "'69". 

As the story goes, Mosley was paying his bills working as a school janitor and was about to be drafted when he decided to volunteer for the Marine Corps in 1969. Mosley made it through basic training, however an extended military career was not in the cards. Following a fight with an officer, nine months into his enlistment he was diagnosed as suffering from paranoid-schizophrenic (a mental condition that also afflicted Skip Spence) and discharged. Returning to California, he rejoined the original Moby Grape line-up in time to record 1971's "20 Granite Creek" for Reprise Records. Unfortunately, in another episode of self-sabotage shortly after the album was released the group again called it quits. 

                                    

Mosley next signed with Reprise Records and his solo album, Bob Mosley, was released in 1972. Sadly, this lost classic vanished without a trace. In 1973 Bob Mosley joined the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's Chris Darrow and formed the Darrow Mosley Band, drawing on the energy and style of vintage Stones and Faces and adding more than a dash of the prevalent Southern Californian country rock scene to the mix. Bob and Chris were joined by lead guitarist Frank Reckard, keyboard player Loren Newkirk and drummer Johnny Craviotto. They cut 3 songs to try and get Warner Bros interested. Sadly Warners passed on the demos and the band split soon after. The demos lain unheard for ages until later issued as a limited edition 10” vinyl EP. 

1973 found Mosley rejoining Jerry Miller and Peter Lewis in another resurrected Moby Grape. An album he recorded in 1974 with members of Buddy Holly's band, the Crickets with James Burton on guitar, was never released, because of Mosleys reputation and because this band never got back together in studio or live. However it was released in 1999 by the German label Taxim. 

Fine Wine

Meanwhile, unable to perform as 'Moby Grape" (they didn't own the name), they resorted to playing California clubs as Maby Grope or The Original Grape, eventually recording a 1976 album as Fine Wine (it was only released in Germany).  1977 found Mosley as a member of the Ducks, who backed Neil Young on a series of impromptu bar gigs around Santa Cruz in 1977. Two years later saw another Grape reunion in the form of " Live Grape". 

In 1989 the odd Live at Indigo Ranch by Mosley Grape was released, and Mosley joined former Grape members Miller, Stevenson, and Lewis as the Melvilles to record Legendary Grape, which was released on cassette that same year, and has floated around as a bootleg ever since. Eventually the album was reissued on CD with eight bonus tracks in 2003 by DIG Music. 

By the mid-’90s Mosley was homeless, sleeping under a freeway overpass in San Diego. Other members of Moby Grape  attempted at various times to help Mosley, and he occasionally surfaced to play a show, but he appeared to prefer life on the street, either by design or as a result of his illness, but it wasn't until 1996 when the band regained use of their name, that their efforts saw success until 2001 when they disbanded again.  

Mosley released “True Blue,” a solo album in 2005 before rejoining Moby Grape in 2006 and according to Wikipedia is still a member in 2024. 

(Edited from Last.fm, Bad Cat Records & Wikipedia)

 

Delbert Barker born 3 December 1932

Delbert Barker (3 December 1932 – 5 March 2024) was an American Rockabilly singer known within the industry as “The King of the Covers.” 

Delbert D. Barker was an East Kentucky Appalachian born in Frenchburg, who migrated to Southwest Ohio. While both regions are known as cradles of bluegrass music, there were also quite a number of country musicians who followed this same pathway, young Barker among them. He learned some musical fundamentals in his native Menifee County. His family migrated to Ohio in 1944 in search of a better life, so Delbert took his cultural skills to the Buckeye State, continuing his guitar picking in his adopted home. 

As a teenager, he won several local talent shows in the Cincinnati-Hamilton-Middletown area. One of those wins led to a performance on the Harris Rosedale televition program in Cincinnati. This led to a job on local radio and then at age 17 to a Saturday television program. Between 1951 and 1953 he performed alongside other local favourites (including the Davis Sisters) on Mid-Day Merry Go-Round, a daytime show on WCPO-TV, Cincinnati. These appearances brought Barker to the attention of Paul Burkhardt, who ran a small recording studio and pressing plant, and specialised in producing cheap cover versions of recent hits on low-budget labels. 

Barker signed with him and within the industry became known as "King of the Covers." He recorded over one hundred tracks sounding nearly like those whose songs he sang. He used different aliases when recording such as Buzz Williams, Clem McCoy, Johnnie Pipher, Jug Scott and Terry Wall. He later reflected that he had five different voices which included Carl Smith, Hank Williams, Hank Thompson, Faron Young and Lefty Frizzell. These appeared on such labels as Kentucky, Gateway, Big Four, Queen City, Tops and Parade of Hits. 

                                   

He married the former Alma Jean Pence on January 23, 1953 which took him away from music for a while, but by 1956 he returned to picking and singing. Veteran artist Louis Innis who was working for King at the time signed him to that label where he recorded eight sides. Innis viewed him as King's answer to Carl Perkins. His best known titles for King were the rockabilly numbers "No Good Robin Hood" and "Jug Band Jump" (previously unreleased). 

In 1957, Delbert went to Philadelphia for a time and then to New Jersey where he worked for a year with Shorty and Smokey Warren. A short promo article for an appearance for Shorty Warren and his Western Rangers indicated that along with Del, Shorty's band included Whitey Murphy, Nick Nastos and Tex Cast. In 1959, he came back to Middletown and, in 1960 he left the music business. He then went into law enforcement in Middletown, rising to the rank of lieutenant in charge of detectives. 

He continued to play music in his spare time, singing and playing both guitar and steel guitar. He wrote a song, “You Almost Slipped My Mind”, originally recorded by Kenny Price but later picked up by Charley Pride, who took it to #1 on the country charts. After his retirement from the police department in 1985, he became a partner in Central Recording Studio in Middletown and started the Central record label which issued custom records by local country, bluegrass, and gospel artists. 

In the mid 2000s, he was performing on the Midwest Opry in New Paris. Later, he was making guest appearances at various small opry-type shows in the local area and usually played twice a month at a Senior Center. He was a member of the Delbert Barker Gospel Trio. And he was inducted to the Rock-A-Billy Hall of Fame.

He died 5 March 2024 at his home in Ohio (age 91 years). 

(Edited from Hillbilly Music, Discogs, Rocky 52 & Swart Funeral Home obit)

Here's  a clip of Delbert Barker singing during WDFB's Share-A-Thon May 2009

Gene Russell born 2 December 1932

Gene Russell (December 2, 1932 – May 5, 1981), was an American pop, jazz, and soul keyboardist who played acoustic and Fender Rhodes and is best known as the founder of the legendary '70s Oakland funk and soul-jazz label Black Jazz Records. 

A favorite of vinyl crate-diggers and DJs, Russell's label was home to recordings by Walter Bishop, Jr., Doug Carn, Henry Franklin, and others. Following his 1967 debut for Dot Records, he released his own albums on Black Jazz, including 1971's New Direction and 1972's Talk to My Lady. 

William Eugene Russell was born in Los Angeles, California and was a cousin of guitarist Charlie Christian. He played piano from a young age and spent time studying at Julliard in New York, working with a bevy of well-known performers, including Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Zoot Sims, and the Three Sounds, to name but a few. He also released two 1967 hard bop albums, Takin' Care of Business and Up and Away. He studied with Hampton Hawes. In the 1960s and 1970s, he composed music for film and television also appearing as an actor. 

                                    

Russell eventually settled in Oakland, California where in 1969 he launched Black Jazz Records to promote and showcase Black jazz, soul, and funk artists. The label, which was partially funded by percussionist and Ovation label-owner Dick Schory, gained some early recognition during its brief six-year run, releasing albums by spiritual jazz couple Doug and Jean Carn, former Count Basie Band bassist Cleveland Eaton, bassist Henry Franklin, guitarist Calvin Keys, vocalist Kellee Patterson, and others. Russell also recorded his own albums for the label, releasing 1971's New Direction and 1972's Talk to My Lady. 

By 1975, Russell had sold the label and launched Aquarican Records with plans to focus less on jazz and more on soul and funk sounds. He signed vocalist Talita Long (mother of actress Nia Long) and together they released 1981's Autumn Leaves. However, Russell died following a brief illness at the Vetrans Hospital, Westwood , California on May 5, 1981 at the age of 48. In the decades following his passing, Black Jazz Records developed a cult-following with albums finding their way into the hands of DJs and hip-hop artists. In 2020, Black Jazz was part of a significant reissue campaign by Real Gone Music. 

(Edited from AllMusic, Wikipedia & Jet Magazine)

Jim Nesbitt born 1 December 1931

Jim Nesbitt (December 1, 1931 – November 29, 2007) was an American South Carolina deejay who had a flair for tongue-in-cheek humor. This talent put his name on the Country charts thirteen times between 1964 and 1970. Many of his "songs" tended toward Talking Blues and recitations, but most displayed a clever wit--often directed to political satire-which delighted numerous radio audiences and those who attended many of the package shows in that era. He was known by some as the "The Old Syrup Sopper" and 'King of Country Comedy.' 

James Thomas Nesbitt, Jr. was born in Bishopville, South Carolina. When he was 11 years old his family moved near Lake City where at the age of 12 his uncle gave him a guitar. He learned the chords from his mother and learning came naturally. In high school Jim won several talent contests and after graduating with honors in 1949 he got his own show on WFEG radio in Sumter, SC. Soon afterward he joined WJMX in Florence, SC. After about a year he became a disc jockey at WAGS in Bishopville, SC. There he made TV appearances with Slim Mims and his Dream Ranch Boys. 

During his stay at WAGS he recorded his first hit, "Please Mr. Kennedy" in the spring of 1961. The song, based on The Ballad of Davy Crockett was initially released on the Country Jubilee and ACE labels. When it was released on DOT records it became a hit. It would reach #1 on the Billboard charts. He followed up with "New Frontier" (#11 Billboard) on the Rush label in 1962.  From WAGS Jim moved up to WINX in Rockville, MD where he was named the second leading country & western disc jockey in the greater Washington, DC area. Quite an accomplishment! 

                                    

Jim has also worked at WCKI in Greer, SC, WBLU in Salem, VA and WYMB in Manning, SC. In 1964 he approached Slim Williamson at WPEH Radio with a song he thought would be a sure-fire hit. His first release on Chart went straight up the charts! "Lookin' For More In '64" reached #11 on the Billboard charts and #8 on the Cash Box charts. Done in a Talking Blues style, the single satirized the level of rising expectations that resulted from the current presidential election. A North Carolina gubernatorial hopeful, Dan K. Moore, used it successfully for a campaign theme. It inspired a series of sequels: Still Alive in '65, Heck of a Fix in '66, Clear the State in '68 and Having Fun in '71, the first two of which also charted in the Top 40. 

In between these singles, Jim had other humorous ditties like Mother-in-Law (Top 20, 1964), A Tiger in My Tank (Top 15) and The Friendly Undertaker (Top 25) (both 1965), You Better Watch Your Friends (Top 50, 1966) and Runnin' Bare (Top 20, 1970). As a country music singer, he only played once in the Grand Ole Opry, but sang with George Jones, Dolly Parton, Connie Smith and numerous other singers. Other songs by Jim poked gentle fun at the problem of Air Pollution, Spiro (Agnew) and Social Security. 

Jim vanished from the charts after 1970, but in 1975 Slim Williamson formed Scorpion Records and what better way to kick off the new label than with the man that kicked off Chart! Jim released "Phone Call From The Devil" on that label in 1975. Unfortunately this would be his last LP. He recorded several singles on other labels but none ever made the Billboard or Cash Box charts. "The Lizard Man" was a regional smash for Jim in 1988 and was his last studio effort. After that, Nesbitt seemingly dropped from the national scene and was engaged in the mobile home business, but was inducted into the South Carolina Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame in 2000. 

Nesbitt died of congestive heart failure in his Florence, South Carolina home on November 29, 2007, at age 75. 

(Edited from The Ultimate Enclyclopedia of Country Music & it's Performers, Wikipedia & Hillbilly Music)