Archive for Musicians

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Alice Faye and Phil Harris

Posted in Forest Lawn Cathedral City with tags , , , , , on October 19, 2026 by Cade

May 05, 1915 – May 09, 1998
June 24, 1904 – August 11, 1995

Celebrity couples take note. This is how you do it.

Alice Faye was a singer and actor who was one of the top box office draws throughout the 1930s and ’40s. Working under contract for 20th Century Fox (and its head, Darryl Zanuck), Faye made over 30 movies during her early career including hits like In Old Chicago, Alexander’s Ragtime Band and The Gang’s All Here. Her most famous song, “You’ll Never Know” from the 1943 movie Hello, Frisco. Hello won an Academy Award and remained her signature for year.

Phil Harris started his career in show business playing in a number of swing orchestras in California, including several that he founded. He was known for his distinct baritone singing voice and comic timing. He appeared in dozens of movies and television shows over his decades-long career. In 1950, he recorded the hit novelty song “The Thing”. Harris also did extensive voice acting work including iconic roles in classic Disney films like The Jungle Book, The Aristocats and Robin Hood. His version of “The Bare Necessities” from The Jungle Book remains a fan favorite to this day.

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Ritchie Valens

Posted in San Fernando Mission Cemetery with tags , , , on September 21, 2026 by Cade

May 13, 1941 – February 03, 1959

Three hit songs, a coin flip and a day that changed American music forever. That’s the bitter legacy of Richard Steven Valenzuela.

Better known by his stage name, Ritchie Valens, the young rock and roll pioneer gained popularity playing theaters in his native San Fernando valley in California. He was discovered in the spring of 1958 and signed to a record deal while still in high school. His first day in the studio, he recorded “Come On, Let’s Go.” The single immediately sold well and within months, Valens had recorded a new single called “Donna”, based on his real-life girlfriend at the time. “Donna” was released with a B-Side recording of his take on the Mexican folk song, “La Bamba”. The record sold a million copies and high school was no longer needed.

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John Phillips

Posted in Forest Lawn Cathedral City with tags , , on September 14, 2026 by Cade

August 30, 1935 – March 18, 2001

Look, life is complicated.

Greenwich Village in New York City in the early 1960s was a hotbed for musical creativity and countercultural movements. Nearly two decades into the influential American Folk Revolution, a new generation of singers and musicians all gravitated toward the lower east side of Manhattan. It was in this incubator, that a young singer-songwriter from Virginia named John Phillips met Denny Doherty and Cass Elliot.

Phillips had moved to New York with his band, the Journeymen, and soon-to-be wife, Michelle Gilliam, in search of a record deal. The Journeymen recorded 3 albums with Capitol Records and gained a fair following. Phillps married Michelle, the British Invasion started getting ALL the attention and the Journeymen quietly fell apart. John and Michelle continued to perform as a duo in and around the Village. In 1964, Denny Doherty – fresh off the breakup of his own group, the Mugwumps – joined them. Shortly thereafter, fellow Mugwump, Cass Elliot, also joined and the Mamas & the Papas was born.

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Quincy Jones

Posted in Hillside Memorial Park with tags , , , on September 7, 2026 by Cade

March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024

If you had to choose one person, and one person only, to serve as a lens to view the entirety of 20th Century American music, you wouldn’t even need a full name. A single letter would more than suffice: Q

Quincy Jones was perhaps best known as the groundbreaking and uber-successful record producer that shaped pop music for decades. But, he was also a talented musician in his own right, playing trumpet and, eventually, keyboards with some of the biggest names on the planet. I’ll get the name dropping out of the way early so we can focus on his accomplishments, but throughout his extraordinary 70 year career, Jones worked with the likes of Louis Armstrong, Tommy Dorsey, Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Charles, Sarah Vaughn, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Diana Ross, Billy Preston, Aretha Franklin, Lesley Gore, Little Richard, Chaka Kahn, George Benson, Tevin Campbell, Usher, Snoop Dogg and, of course, Michael Jackson.

And that’s not even counting the stars he worked with on the monumental 1985 charity recording of “We Are the World”…which he produced and conducted.

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Victor Herbert

Posted in Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx) with tags , , on July 6, 2026 by Cade

February 1, 1859 – May 26, 1924

Cellist and composer, Victor Herbert, had a string of successful operettas in early-Broadway era New York. While the operetta artform was exploding at the end of the 19th Century thanks to the success of the British duo, Gilbert and Sullivan, and theatre in New York becoming more and more accessible to the middle class, Herbert churned out hits like The Fortune Teller, Babes in Toyland, The Red Mill and Naughty Marietta. His shows explored more intimate themes and varied styles of popular music, helping bridge the gap between classic opera and what would become known as the “Broadway musical.”

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Johnny Hodges

Posted in Flushing Cemetery with tags , , on June 22, 2026 by Cade

July 25, 1907 – May 11, 1970

When Charlie Parker and John Coltrane – arguably two of the most influential and beloved saxophone players of all time – both point to one man as being the best, it’s probably a good idea not to argue.

Johnny Hodges was born and raised in Boston. He played piano and drums as a kid, but eventually, it was the sax that found its way into his soul. Impressing everyone he played for, Hodges made his way to New York City in his late teens where he met up with one, Mr. Duke Ellington.

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Lionel Hampton

Posted in Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx) with tags , , on June 8, 2026 by Cade

April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002

Lionel Hampton was one of the biggest names in jazz for nearly all of his 75 year career. A percussionist, Hampton started out as a drummer in Chicago while he was still a teenager. He moved to California, where he wowed audiences with his energetic drumming and acrobatic drumstick moves at venues like Sebastian’s Cotton Club. At the age of 22, he was starting to expand his repertoire when a visiting Louis Armstrong overheard him practicing the vibraphone, liked what he heard and offered Hampton a job.

And when Louis Armstrong says you’re a vibraphonist, brother, you’re a vibraphonist.

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Dizzy Gillespie

Posted in Flushing Cemetery with tags , , on May 25, 2026 by Cade

October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993

There were trumpet players in jazz before Dizzy Gillespie. And there were trumpet players after Dizzy Gillespie. But, before or since, there was never another trumpet player LIKE Dizzy Gillespie.

John Birks Gillespie grew up in South Carolina with a bandleader father and regular access to musical instruments. John taught himself how to play trombone, piano and – of course – the trumpet. When his family relocated to Philadelphia, Gillespie began to find work in professional bands. When he was 22, he joined Cab Calloway‘s band, where he spent two years flourishing and perfecting his unique soloing style before ultimately stabbing Calloway in the leg. Seriously.

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Ace Frehley

Posted in Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx) with tags , , on May 11, 2026 by Cade

April 27, 1951 – October 16, 2025

Paul “Ace” Frehley was the lead guitarist and a founding member of the renowned rock band, KISS. Born and raised in the Bronx, New York City, Frehley came from a family of musicians and sought out rock and roll as an alternative to getting pulled into street gang life in his neighborhood. Frehley’s career in music started early as he joined his first band in high school. He played in a half dozen bands in New York City in the late 1960s and early ’70s. In 1972, he answered an ad in the Village Voice that was seeking  a guitarist for a new band. The audition went well and Frehley joined Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and Peter Criss on a new rock and roll endeavor. The foursome eventually settled on the name KISS.

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Louis Armstrong

Posted in Flushing Cemetery with tags , , on April 27, 2026 by Cade

August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971

An argument can be made – and made well – that Louis Armstrong is the single most important figure in American music. While the likes of Elvis, MJ and Aretha “merely” excelled at their respective genres, Armstrong introduced his to the world. Of course, no one person can be credited with creating jazz, but the uniquely American music genre  can certainly trace its roots to New Orleans…and Louis Armstrong was right there at the start.

Born and raised in poverty in the Big Easy, Armstrong’s early life was peppered with struggle. He was arrested at the age of 11 and sent to live in a reform school for black boys. While at the desolate school, Armstrong joined the band and learned to play the cornet.

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