Ask “Mr. Music”
Jerry Osborne



FOR THE WEEK OF JUNE 6, 2016

DEAR JERRY: You once credited Columbia with making the first long playing 33-speed album, or words to that effect.

My grandfather, who once worked for RCA Victor, says that they actually invented the LP many years earlier.

He recalls that getting a suitable player, combined with the Great Depression, were two reasons why it wasn't successful.

Does he remember correctly?
—Stephen McKinney, Kodiak, Alaska

DEAR STEPHEN: Grandpa is correct on all counts.

To be clear, Columbia should not be credited for "inventing" the vinyl LP, rather for making it a commercially successful music format.

Their voluminous LP catalog in late 1948 paved the way for vinyl albums for the next 68 years, and still counting.

Just as important as Columbia's record albums in the late 1940s was their essential collaboration with Philco Electronics.

Unlike RCA Victor, who, when they introduced the 45 rpm single record and simultaneously manufactured the appropriate players, Columbia did not have a phonograph making division.

Fortunately for them, Philco did.

So they partnered with Philco Radio & Electronics, and the rest is history.

In September 1931, almost exactly 17 years before Columbia's LPs, RCA Victor unveiled the first commercially available 33-speed long playing album: "Beethoven's Fifth Symphony," by Leopold Stokowski directing the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra.

This selection was extraordinary in that it was the first album recorded directly to a 33 1/3 rpm master.

Most Victor LPs then were mastered from previously issued 78 rpm singles, and the quality suffered because of it.

Many technical problems plagued RCA Victor's first LPs, and, as grandpa recollects, their efforts were compounded by the dreadful U.S. economy in the first half of the 1930s.

DEAR JERRY: After reading about the horrific plane crash that killed Otis Redding, and five of the Bar-Kays, it got me wondering how many popular groups have lost three or more of their members — regardless of what caused their death.

That would provide some interesting and informative reading.
—Shawna Hicks, Branson, Mo.

DEAR SHAWNA: Let me add another "three" decree, lest we may not finish by my deadline.

To qualify for this grim list, a group must have at least three songs that made the Top 100.

Also, I won't include groups that recorded before 1950. No one would be surprised to know the Mills Brothers, Ink Spots, and others from long ago have all passed on.

A name duplicated indicates a member of more than one group, such as Clyde McPhatter who sang with the Dominoes and the Drifters.

List is alphabetical by name, then chronological by each member's year of death. Includes original and subsequent members:

BAND (The Band):
Richard Manual (1986)
Rick Danko (1999)
Levon Helm (2012)

BAR-KAYS:
Ronnie Caldwell (1967)
Phalon Jones (1967)
Carl Cunningham (1967)
Jimmy King (1967)
Ben Cauley (2015)

BEATLES:
Stu Sutcliffe (1962)
John Lennon (1980)
George Harrison (2001)

BILL BLACK'S COMBO:
Bill Black (1965)
Tommy Cogbill (1982)
Carl McVoy (1992)
Bobby Emmons (2015)

BREAD:
James Griffin (2005)
Mike Botts (2005)
Larry Knechtel (2009)

BYRDS:
Clarence White (1973)
Gram Parsons (1973)
Gene Clark (1991)
Mike Clarke (1993)

CADILLACS:
Bill Harris (1988)
Harold Lucas (1994)
Billy Mitchell (2002)
Earl "Speedoo" Carroll (2012)

CAPRIS:
Nick Santo (2010)
Mike Minnicieli (2015)
Wayne Smith (2016)

CHAMPS:
Benjamin Van Norman (1958)
Dean McDaniel (2006)
Chuck Rio (2006)

CHORDETTES:
Janet Ertel Bleyer (1988)
Jinny Osborne (2003)
Nancy Overton (2009)
Dorothy Schwartz (2016)

COASTERS:
Bobby Nunn (1986)
Cornelius Gunter (1990)
Will "Dub" Jones (2000)
Billy Guy (2002)
Carl Gardner (2011)
Earl "Speedoo" Carroll (2012)

CRESTS:
Patricia Vandross (1993)
Johnny Maestro (2010)
Talmadge Gough (2014)

DeCASTRO SISTERS:
Babette DeCastro (1992)
Olgita DeCastro-Marino (2000)
Peggy DeCastro (2004)
Cherie DeCastro (2010)

DEL-VIKINGS:
Clarence Quick (1983)
Kripp Johnson 1990)
John Byas (1999)
Frank Ayers (1999)
Dave Lerchey (2005)
"Sweet Lou" Velez (2008)
Reggie Walker (2010)
Norman Wright (2010)

DIAMONDS:
John Felten (1982)
Bill Reed (2004)
Ted Kowalski (2010)
"Diamond" David Somerville (2015)

DOMINOES (Billy Ward and the Dominoes):
Clyde McPhatter (1972)
Eugene Mumford (1977)
Jackie Wilson (1984)
Billy Ward (2002)

DOOBIE BROTHERS:
Bobby LaKind (1992)
Cornelius Bumpus (2004)
Keith Knudsen (2005)
Mike Hossack (2012)

DRIFTERS:
Rudy Lewis (1964)
Clyde McPhatter (1972)
Doc Green (1989)
Elsbeary Hobbs (1996)
Johnny Moore (1998)
Bill Pinkney (2007)
Ben E. King (2015)

DUPREES:
Joe Santollo (1981)
Joey Vann (1984)
Mike Arnone (2005)

FLAMINGOS:
Nate Nelson (1984)
Paul Wilson (1988)
Sollie McElroy (1995)
Jake Carey (1997)
Zeke Carey (1999)
Johnny Carter (2009)

FONTANE SISTERS:
Geri Fontane 1993)
Bea Fontane (2002)
Marge Rosse (2003)

FOUR ACES:
Al Alberts (2009)
Dave Mahoney (2012)
Lou Silvestri (2013)
Rosario Vacarro (2013)

FOUR FRESHMEN:
Don Barbour (1961)
Ken Albers (2007)
Bob Flanigan (2011)
Ross Barbour (2011)

FOUR LADS:
Johnny D'Arc (1999)
James Arnold (2004)
Corrado "Connie" Codarini (2010)

FOUR PREPS:
Ed Cobb (1999)
Marv Ingram (1999)
Glen Larson (2014)

FOUR TOPS:
Lawrence Payton (1997)
Renaldo "Obie" Benson (2005)
Levi Stubbs (2008)

GRATEFUL DEAD:
Ron "Pigpen" McKernan (1973)
Keith Godchaux (1980)
Brent Mydland (1990)
Jerry Garcia (1995)
Vince Welnik (2006)

HIGHWAYMEN:
Chan Daniels (1975)
Dave Fisher (2010)
Bob Burnett (2011)

HILLTOPPERS:
Seymour Spiegleman (1987)
Billy Vaughn (1991)
Jimmy Sacca (2015)

KINGSTON TRIO:
Dave Guard (1991)
John Stewart (2008)
Nick Reynolds (2008)

LYNYRD SKYNYRD:
Ronnie Van Zant (1977)
Steve Gaines (1977)
Allen Collins (1990)
Leon Wilkeson (2001)
Billy Powell (2009)
Bob Burns (2015)

MAMAS & THE PAPAS:
"Mama" Cass Elliot (1974)
John Phillips (2001)
Denny Doherty (2007)

MAR-KEYS:
Charles Packy Axton (1974)
Al Jackson Jr. (1975)
Isaac Hayes (2008)
Donald "Duck" Dunn (2012)

MOONGLOWS (Harvey and the Moonglows):
Bobby Lester (1980)
Billy Johnson (1987)
Prentiss Barnes (2006)
Alexander Graves (2006)
Harvey Fuqua (2010)

PLATTERS:
David Lynch (1981)
Nate Nelson (1984)
Paul Robi (1989)
Tony Williams (1992)
Zola Taylor (2007)
Herb Reed (2012)

TEENAGERS (Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers):
Frankie Lymon (1968)
Sherman Garnes (1977)
Joe Negroni (1978)

TEMPTATIONS:
Paul Williams (1973)
Elbridge "Al" Bryant (1975)
David Ruffin (1991)
Eddie Kendricks (1992)
Melvin Franklin (1995)
Ricky Owens (1996)
Ray Davis (2005)
Harry McGilberry (2006)
Ali-Ollie Woodson (2010)
Damon Harris (2013)
Richard Street (2013)

VENTURES:
Howie Johnson (1988)
Mel Taylor (1996)
Bob Bogle (2009)

IZ ZAT SO? If the source our reader referred to does indeed say "five of the Bar-Kays" died in the 1967 plane crash, that would be incorrect.

Ronnie Caldwell; Phalon Jones; Carl Cunningham; and Jimmy King did die at the crash site, but Bar-Kays trumpeter Ben Cauley miraculously survived the impact.

Ben lived for nearly 48 years longer, until September 21, 2015 when he died at age 67.





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