Hardrock Gunter Dies at 88

HARDROCK GUNTER, Rockabilly hero and Rock n’ Roll pioneer passed away at age 88 on March 15, 2013!  He died from complications from pneumonia.  His 1950 recording of “Birmingham Bounce” (Bama Records) makes our ever-growing list of possible “first rock n’ roll records” and man does it JUMP!  He had two single releases for Sun Records: “Fallen Angel” b/w “Gonna Dance All Night” in 1954 and “Jukebox, Help Me Find My Baby” b/w “Fiddle Bop” in 1956 as The Rhythm Rockers.  We’ve lost another great rock n’ roll pioneer…this time from the country side of the tracks.

Eddie Bond Dies at 79

JIMMY McCRACKLIN

JIMMY McCRACKLIN passed away on Thurs, December 20th at the age of 91. He made history in 1958 with his HUGE crossover success of “The Walk” for Checker (hit #7 pop and #5 R&B). In 1961, he hit #2 R&B with “Just Got To Know” and scored many hits for the Imperial label in the mid-1960s. Personally, I’m a big fan of the singles he cut for Minit Records, like “Get Together” and “Dog.” McCracklin was an influential cat and R&B music has lost a legend. I’m only sorry I didn’t find out about this until now. So dig on some REAL vintage R&B as we remember JIMMY McCRACKLIN.