Archive for Singers

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Dave Peverett

Posted in Woodlawn Cemetery (FL) with tags , , on June 16, 2025 by Cade

April 16, 1943 – February 07, 2000

As legend would have it, young Dave Peverett and his brother, John, parlayed their active childhood imaginations into one of the best-selling rock groups of the 1970s. While playing a word game with John, Dave coined the nonsense word “foghat”. This led to an imaginary friend named “Junior Foghat” and the adoption of the personal persona of “Lonesome Dave.” Both would shape much of the rest of Peverett’s life.

Born in London, in 1943, Dave Peverett grew up idolizing blues musicians like Chuck Berry. He learned to play guitar and eventually joined the band, Savoy Brown, in the late 1960s. The band found some decent success, releasing 5 albums during Peverett’s tenure. By the early 1970s, Lonesome Dave wanted to embark on something new, so he and fellow Savoy bandmates Roger Earl and Tony Stevens teamed up with guitarist, Rod Price, and formed a new band…called Foghat.
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Pete Moore

Posted in Palm Memorial Park Northwest with tags , , , on May 19, 2025 by Cade

November 19, 1938 – November 19, 2017

When Motown records was founded in 1959, there was the Miracles.

The 5 Detroit performers were the first to catch producer Berry Gordy’s eye and convince him to start his own label. Founded by childhood friends, Smokey Robinson, Ronnie White and Pete Moore, the Miracles would become the prototype for all successful Motown acts to follow.

In addition to providing bass vocals for the group, Warren “Pete” Moore served as one of the talented songwriters for, not only the group, but also many of Motown’s biggest stars. Moore wrote the Miracles’ multi-platinum megahit, 1965’s “Tracks of My Tears” as well as their post-Smokey disco anthem, “Love Machine.” Over Moore’s prolific writing career, his songs were recorded by countless legends including Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, the Temptations and the Rolling Stones.

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Rudi Maugeri

Posted in Palm Memorial Park Northwest with tags , on May 12, 2025 by Cade

January 27, 1931 – May 7, 2004

Rudi Maugeri was a co-founder and lead/baritone singer for the Canadian doo-wop group, the Crew Cuts. Formed in school in Toronto, Rudi and his bandmates originally performed as the Candelaires around Ontario and New York. While appearing on a Cleveland radio program, the disc jockey referred to them as “the Crew Cuts” – citing their distinctive and uniform hairstyle – and the name stuck.

Maugeri wrote a number of songs for the Crew Cuts, including their first minor hit “Crazy ‘Bout You, Baby” which was later featured in the Off-Broadway hit, Forever Plaid. But, the Cuts’ biggest success came from pop covers of R&B songs like “Earth Angel” and “Sh-Boom”.  The latter becoming their biggest hit.

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Jimmy Ruffin

Posted in Palm Memorial Park Northwest with tags , , on April 28, 2025 by Cade

May 07, 1936 – November 17, 2014

Jimmy Ruffin was an R&B and soul singer who performed from a young age alongside his little brother, David. By the time he was 25, Jimmy found himself in Detroit and was a session singer in the Motown hit machine. He recorded his own stuff, too, though he was unable to find a hit. After a stint in the U.S. Army, Jimmy returned to Motown and was briefly considered as a replacement for the vacant lead singer role for the Temptations. That job eventually went to his brother, but Jimmy forged ahead as a solo artist.

In 1966, he recorded what would become his biggest hit. “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” became a Top 10 hit on both the R&B and Billboard Hot 100 charts. It would remain his enduring signature song for decades.

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K. T. Oslin

Posted in Woodlawn Memorial Park (TN) with tags , , , on September 30, 2024 by Cade

May 15, 1942 – December 21, 2020

As the old adage goes: “Good things come to those who wait.” For Kay Toinette “K. T.” Oslin, this doesn’t EXACTLY fit…but it’s not a bad start.

K. T. Oslin grew up in the American south (Arkansas>Alabama>Texas, to be precise). As a theatre major in college, she discovered a love for folk music. She would form a folk trio alongside a young Guy Clark, and enjoyed performing in clubs and anywhere there was an audience. At the age of 24, Oslin joined the touring production of Hello Dolly! that eventually led to her moving to New York to pursue acting. While in New York, she appeared in a number of musicals, found work in commercials and – most importantly – began to explore songwriting. At this same time, she began to have an affinity for country music and the possibilities her songwriting might have in that genre.

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Jim Seals

Posted in Woodlawn Memorial Park (TN) with tags , , on August 26, 2024 by Cade

October 17, 1942 – June 6, 2022

Jim Seals grew up in the rough and tumble west Texas oil fields. Born into a family of musical talent, “Jimmy” learned to play the fiddle and the saxophone alongside his brother, Dan. He played in some local bands as a youth, meeting drummer, Dash Crofts, and before too long, the two were off to Los Angeles. Seals – still a teenager at this point – found some success in the LA rock scene of the late 1950s. He played with acts like Eddie Cochran and the Champs (along with Crofts) and wrote songs.

Seals and Crofts soon left the Champs along with guitarist, Glen Campbell, to form a new band with Campbell at the lead. After a couple of years, this group broke up and Seals and Crofts went their separate ways. They would not be apart for long.

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Jean Shepard

Posted in Hendersonville Memory Gardens with tags , , , , on July 8, 2024 by Cade

shepard1November 21, 1933 – September 25, 2016

One of the pioneering female voices in country music, Jean Shepard rose to fame in the early 1950s with the hit duet “A Dear John Letter” with Ferlin Husky. The song reached number 1 on the country charts and the duo recorded a follow-up single later the same year. Jean would go on to record more than two dozen albums and chart more than 40 singles over the course of her 60 year career.

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Herb Reed

Posted in Puritan Lawn Memorial Park with tags , , on July 1, 2024 by Cade

August 7, 1928 – June 4, 2012

A “Platter” by any other name…

Herb Reed was the bass vocalist and a founding member of the American vocal group, The Platters. Claiming to have come up with the name, Reed joined the fledgling group in Los Angeles in 1953 and would become the last surviving original member and the only member to appear on every Platters’ recording from 1953 to 1969.

After 1969, well…it gets a little…litigious.

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Lynn Anderson

Posted in Woodlawn Memorial Park (TN) with tags , , on June 10, 2024 by Cade

September 26, 1947 – July 30, 2015

Lynn Anderson never promised you a rose garden, but – in the end – you got one anyway.

As a young girl, Anderson’s family relocated from California to Nashville when her mother, Liz Anderson, began getting noticed for her songwriting. When she wasn’t singing and performing, Lynn spent her free time with horses. In addition to her career in music, she raised quarter horses and raced them professionally.

Living in Nashville in the ’60s with a mom who was a prolific songwriter had its benefits. Lynn was discovered while singing with her mom at a party and was signed to a record deal. Her first Top 10 hit was 1967’s “If I Kiss You (Will You Go Away)”…which was written by Liz.

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Chita Rivera

Posted in Saint Anthony's Catholic Cemetery with tags , , , , on April 29, 2024 by Cade

January 23, 1933 – January 30, 2024

Broadway legends aren’t super rare, but Broadway icons are much more precious and exceptional. And friends, Chita Rivera was an ICON.

Born Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero in Washington D.C., the dancer, actress and singer who would eventually become “Chita Rivera” took dance lessons as a teenager and found her way to New York by way of her growing reputation. By the time she was 18, she was already getting dancing roles in hit Broadway musicals like Guys and Dolls and Can-Can. Then, in 1957, Rivera landed her first featured role: Anita in a new musical called West Side Story.

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