On This Day

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Musicians Who Died in 1973

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  • Jan 2 Joseph Arthurlin "Joe" Harriott, Jamaican-British be-bop and free-form jazz alto saxophonist (Abstract), dies of cancer at 44
  • Jan 3 Wilbur De Paris, American swing and Dixieland jazz trombone player, dies at 72
  • Jan 11 Rudolf Kubin, Czech cellist, dies a day after 64th birthday
  • Jan 15 Jef Alpaerts, Flemish pianist, educator, and conductor (Collegium Musicum Antverpiense), dies at 68
  • Jan 23 Edward "Kid" Ory, American New Orleans style jazz trombonist, and band leader, dies of pneumonia and a heart attack at 86
  • Jan 26 Jay C. Higginbotham, American swing jazz trombonist (Luis Russell'; Red Allen;, Benny Carter), dies at 67
  • Jan 29 Johannes Paul Thilman, German composer, dies at 67
  • Feb 3 Edward Lockspeiser, British composer and musicologist (Debussy: His Life and Mind), dies at 67
  • Feb 12 Benjamin Frankel, British composer, dies at 67
  • Feb 27 Lucijan Marija Skerjanc, Yugoslav conductor and composer, dies at 72
  • Feb 28 (Pablo) "Tito" Rodríguez, Puerto Rican timbalero, singer, bandleader ("Inolvidable"), and television host, dies of leukemia at 50
  • Mar 4 (Calvin) "Scotty" Stoneman, American bluegrass fiddler (The Stoneman Family; The Kentucky Colonels), dies of anti-alcoholism medication overdose at 50
  • Mar 5 Michael Jeffery, British music manager (The Animials; Jimi Hendrix), dies in a mid-air plane collision over France at 39)
  • Mar 6 Paul Kletzki [Paweł Klecki], Polish-Swiss violinist, composer, and conductor, dies during orchestral rehearsal at 72
  • Mar 8 Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, American rock singer, harmonica player, and occasional keyboardist (Grateful Dead, 1965-72), dies of a gastrointestinal hemorrhage at 27
  • Mar 12 Esther Williamson Ballou, American organist, composer and educator, dies at 57
  • Mar 14 Rafael Godoy, Colombian composer, dies at 65
  • Mar 18 Lauritz Melchior, Danish-American baritone tenor (National Symphony), dies at 82
  • Mar 19 Brew Moore [Milton Aubrey Moore], American jazz saxophonist, dies from injuries sustained in fall down a flight of stairs at 48
  • Mar 21 Antoni Szałowski, Polish-French composer (The Resurrection of Lazarus; 2 Pieces for Ondes Martenot), dies of a heart attack at 65

Noël Coward (1899-1973)

Mar 26 English playwright (Hay Fever; Private Lives), director (In Which We Serve -1942 Academy Award), actor and singer, dies of heart failure at 73

Noël Coward
  • Mar 26 Safford Cape, American-Belgian conductor, composer and music historian, dies at 67
  • Mar 27 Boyan Georgiev Ikonomov, Bulgarian composer, dies at 72
  • Mar 31 Kurt Thomas, German composer, dies at 68
  • Apr 1 Gus Aiken, American jazz and blues trumpeter (Jenkins Orphanage Band), dies at 70
  • Apr 2 Jascha Horenstein, Russian-born American conductor, dies at 74
  • Apr 7 Nick Stuart, Romanian-born American bandleader and actor (Secrets of Chinatown), dies of cancer at 69
  • Apr 16 István Kertész, Hungarian orchestral and operatic conductor, dies at 43
  • Apr 20 Elisabeth Hauptmann, German writer (co-author of The Threepenny Opera), dies at 75
  • Apr 29 Manfred Gurlitt, German composer, dies at 82
  • May 2 June Hutton [Cowan], American pop vocalist (Charlie Spivak Orchestra; The Pied Pipers, 1944-50 - "I'll Never Smile Again"; Afterglow), dies at 52 [1]
  • May 6 Ernest MacMillan, Canadian organist, conductor and composer, dies at 79
  • May 21 Vaughn Monroe, American singer and orchestra leader (Vaughn Monroe Show), dies at 61
  • May 28 Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt, German composer and conductor (Hassan), dies at 73
  • May 29 P. Ramlee, Malaysian film actor, director, singer and songwriter, dies of a heart attack at 44
  • May 29 Voltaire "Volly" De Faut; American jazz reed player (New Orleans Rhythm Kings; Jean Goldkette), dies at 69
  • May 30 Hal Hastings, American orchestra leader (Chevrolet on Broadway), dies at 66
  • Jun 8 Eino Linnala, Finnish composer, pedagogue (university of Helsinki, 1927-66), and musicologist dies at 76
  • Jun 13 Alvin Derold Etler, American oboist, and composer, dies at 60
  • Jun 13 Frantisek Suchy, Czech composer and folk song collector, dies at 82
  • Jun 18 Fritz Mahler, Austrian composer, dies at 71
  • Jun 22 Jacques Wolfe, Romanian-American composer, dies at 77
  • Jun 26 Arnold Richardson, composer, dies at 59
  • Jun 29 Tin-Tan [Germán Valdés], Mexican actor, singer and comedian (Spanish dubbing of The Jungle Book, The Aristocats), dies from cancer at 57
  • Jul 1 Laurens Hammond, American engineer and musical instrument inventor (Hammond organ), dies at 78
  • Jul 1 Mario Labroca, Italian composer, dies at 76

Betty Grable (1916-1973)

Jul 2 American singer, dancer, pin-up girl and actress (I Wake Up Screaming, How to Marry a Millionaire, Gay Divorcee), dies of lung cancer at 56

Betty Grable
  • Jul 3 Karel Ančerl, Czechoslovak conductor (Czech Philharmonic, 1950-68; Toronto Symphony, 1968-73), composer, and Auschwitz survivor, dies at 65
  • Jul 6 Otto Klemperer, German-American conductor (Los Angeles Philharmonic, 1933-39), and composer (Das Ziel), dies at 88
  • Jul 11 Alexander Vasilyevich Mosolov, Russian composer (Zavod), dies at 72
  • Jul 13 Marțian Negrea, Romanian conductor, composer (The Glacier from Scărișoara), and teacher, dies at 80
  • Jul 15 Clarence White, American session and country-rock guitarist (The Byrds, 1968-73 - "Ballad of Easy Rider"), struck and killed by a drunk driver at 29
  • Jul 23 Marius-François Gaillard, French pianist (DeBussy), conductor and composer (La passion noire), dies at 72
  • Jul 30 Erich Katz, German-born American composer and musicologist, dies at 72
  • Aug 1 Gian Francesco Malipiero, Italian composer, pedagogue (Venice Liceo Musicale, 1932-52), and musicologist (Claudio Monteverdi, Antonio Vivaldi). s at 91
  • Aug 4 Eddie Condon, American jazz guitarist (Eddie Condon's Floor Show), dies at 68
  • Aug 6 Memphis Minnie [Lizzie Douglas], American blues musician, dies at 76
  • Aug 12 Perry Botkin, American jazz and session guitarist, banjo player, composer, and musical director (Bing Crosby), dies at 66
  • Aug 17 Jean Barraqué, French composer, dies at 44
  • Aug 17 Paul Williams, American baritone singer and choreographer (The Temptations - "Cloud Nine"), commits suicide at 32
  • Aug 24 Sláva Vorlová [Miroslava Johnová], Czech composer (Bílá oblaka (White Clouds)), dies at 79
  • Sep 6 William Henry Harris, English composer, dies at 90
  • Sep 12 Eduard Flipse, Dutch conductor and composer, dies at 77
  • Sep 15 Victor Jara, Chilean folk singer-songwriter, and political activist, killed by Augusto Pinochet's military interrogators at 40
  • Sep 17 Hugo Winterhalter, American composer, dies at 63
  • Sep 19 Gram Parsons [Cecil Ingram Connor III], American country-rock singer-songwriter (Byrds - Sweethearts of the Rodeo; Flying Burrito Brothers; "Grievous Angel"), dies of a drug overdose at 26
  • Sep 20 Ben Webster, American jazz tenor saxophonist, dies at 64
  • Sep 20 Jack Marshall, American jazz and session guitarist, film and television composer, arranger, and record producer (Capitol Records), dies at 51

Jim Croce (1943-1973)

Sep 20 American singer-songwriter ("Time in a Bottle"; "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown"), dies in a plane crash at 30

Jim Croce
  • Sep 20 Maurice T. "Maury" Muehleisen, American musician and songwriter (Jim Croce), dies in a plane crash at 24
  • Sep 21 William Plomer, South African-British libretto writer (Curlew River), dies at 69
  • Sep 23 Manuel Borguñó, Spanish pianist, composer, choral director, and pedagogue, dies at 89
  • Oct 6 Arnold Maria Walter, Canadian composer, dies at 71
  • Oct 9 Sister Rosetta Tharpe [Nubin], American gospel and R&B singer, songwriter, and electric guitarist ("This Train"; "Down By The Riverside"), dies of a stroke at 58
  • Oct 16 Gene Krupa, American jazz and swing drummer ("Sing, Sing, Sing"), dies of heart failure while battling leukemia and emphysema at 64 [1]
  • Oct 22 Pablo Casals [Pau Casals i Defilló], Spanish cellist, conductor and composer, dies at 96
  • Oct 29 Heathcote Dicken Statham, English organist, composer, and conductor, dies at 83
  • Oct 30 Ernst-Lothar von Knorr, German composer, and music educator, dies at 77
  • Oct 31 Lucha Reyes 'Morena de Oro', Peruvian singer (Siempre criolla), dies of a heart attack at 37 [1]
  • Nov 10 Stringbean [David Akeman], American country singer, comedian, and banjo player (Hee Haw), murdered by burglars at his home at 58
  • Nov 13 Bruno Maderna, Italian conductor, and avant garde composer (Quadrivium; Satyricon), dies of lung cancer at 53
  • Nov 20 Allan Sherman, American parody singer and songwriter ("Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah"), dies from emphysema at 48
  • Nov 23 Jennie Tourel [Davidovich], Russian-American mezzo-soprano (Paris Opera, 1931-38; Metropolitan Opera,1937-47), dies at 73
  • Nov 26 John Rostill, British rock bassist (The Shadows, 1963-70 - "The Rise and Fall of Flingel Bunt"), and songwriter ("If You Love Me, Let Me Know"), dies of barbiturate poisioning at 31
  • Nov 27 Frank Christian, American jazz trumpeter, dies at 86
  • Nov 30 Bruce Yarnell, American actor (Outlaws) and singer, dies when single‐engine plane he was piloting crashes into northern Los Angeles county (California) mountain slope at 37 [1]
  • Dec 3 Emile Christian, American jazz trombonist, dies at 78
  • Dec 6 Justus Hermann Wetzel, German composer, dies at 94
  • Dec 14 Yitzhak Edel, Israeli composer, dies at 77
  • Dec 15 Orest Evlahkov, Russian Soviet composer and educator (Leningrad Conservatory), dies at 61
  • Dec 17 Patrick Hadley, English composer (La Belle Dame sans merci; The Hills), pedagogue, and conductor, dies of throat cancer at 74
  • Dec 18 Julio César Brero [or Giulio Cesare], Italian-born Argentine composer (Novella), and lawyer, dies at 64
  • Dec 20 Bobby Darin [Walden Robert Cassotto], American singer ("Mack the Knife"; "Splish-Splash"; "Beyond the Sea"), and actor, dies of a heart attack at 37
  • Dec 22 Domingo Julio Gomez Garcia, composer, dies at 87
  • Dec 30 Henri-Paul Busser, composer, dies at 101


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