May 27
Southern rock lost its last original brother on this day in 2017 when Gregg Allman died at 69 from liver cancer, ending the career of the Allman Brothers' soulful organist-vocalist whose heroin addiction and seven marriages proved as legendary as his Hammond work before his death closed the final chapter… Academic recognition met Beatle brilliance today in 2008 when Yale University awarded Sir Paul McCartney an honorary Doctor of Music degree, the institution recognizing six decades of songwriting genius while proving that even dropouts who changed popular music could receive scholarly validation… We remember jazz piano's most accessible voice Ramsey Lewis on his birthday today in 1935, the Chicago musician whose "The In Crowd" proved that jazz could dominate pop charts while his trio's groove-oriented approach influenced soul-jazz and made him one of the genre's best-selling artists before his death in 2022… We honor Memphis blues' smoot...
