Ray Edward Cochran
Eddie Cochran, the man behind “Summertime Blues” and “C’mon Everybody,” was killed on April 17, 1960 when the taxi carrying
him from a show in Bristol, England, crashed en route to the
airport in London, where he was to catch a flight back home to
the United States. He had been on a triumphant concert tour of
Britain. Cochran was only 21.
1959
Hector Vincent “Heck Harper” Flateau (1919 – 1998)
English rock / blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter Eric
Patrick Clapton is regarded as one of the most successful
and influential guitarists in rock music. He ranked second
in Rolling Stone‘s list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All
Time and fourth in Gibson‘s "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time."
In 2023, Rolling Stone named Clapton the 35th best guitarist
of all time. He was also named number five in Time magazine’s
list of "The 10 Best Electric Guitar Players" in 2009.
ROSS SIMPSON
John Warnock Hinckley Jr. will be 69 in May.
Singer, songwriter, musician, and actor.Waylon Jennings is
considered one of the pioneers of the outlaw movement in
country music.
Jennings started playing guitar at age eight and performed
at fourteen on KVOW radio, after which he formed his first
band, the Texas Longhorns. Jennings left high school at age
sixteen, determined to become a musician, and worked as a
performer and DJ on KVOW, KDAV, KYTI, KLLL, in Coolidge,
Arizona, and Phoenix. In 1958, Buddy Holly arranged Jennings’
first recording session, a cover of Jole Blon, and hired him to
play bass. Jennings gave up his seat on the ill-fated flight in
1959 that crashed and killed Holly, J. P. "the Big Bopper"
Richardson and Ritchie Valens.
Jennings died in his sleep from complications of diabetes at
his home in Chandler, Arizona, aged 64.
Waylon Jennings ,left, on bass guitar and Buddy Holly.
