September 3

 

Jazz-rock's perfectionist Walter Becker passed away on this date in 2017 at 67, ending the life of Steely Dan's meticulous guitarist and co-founder whose obsessive attention to detail helped create some of popular music's most sophisticated compositions…

 

Blues-rock tragedy struck today in 1970 when 27-year-old Alan Wilson of Canned Heat was found dead in Bob Hite's Topanga Canyon garden, adding another name to the cursed age of 27 and silencing the band's harmonica-playing vocalist…

 

Fate dealt a cruel hand today in 2010 when ELO cellist Mike Edwards was killed in a freak accident when a hay bale crashed through his van windshield, ending the life of the classical musician who helped create the orchestra-rock fusion sound…

 

We remember blues guitar fire Freddie King on his birthday today in 1934, the Texas-born master whose aggressive style and hits like "Hide Away" influenced everyone from Eric Clapton to Stevie Ray Vaughan before his death in 1976…

 

The Beach Boys' harmony architect Al Jardine was born today in 1942, the guitarist and vocalist whose falsetto helped create the California sound that defined American pop music in the 1960s…

 

Grand Funk Railroad's powerhouse Don Brewer celebrates another year today, the drummer and occasional vocalist whose driving beats helped make the Michigan trio one of the early 1970s' biggest arena rock acts…

 

Thin Lizzy's original guitar hero Eric Bell was born on this day in 1947, the Northern Irish guitarist whose early work with Phil Lynott helped establish the twin-guitar attack that would become the band's signature sound…

 

Soul music lost a smooth voice today in 1994 when R&B singer Major Lance died peacefully in his sleep at 55, taking with him the Chicago performer who gave us "The Monkey Time" and other dance floor classics…

 

Blues piano's Memphis master was born on this date in 1915 when Peter Chatman, better known as Memphis Slim, entered the world, destined to become one of the genre's most influential boogie-woogie players before his death in 1988.