Bobby Fuller: Age 22
(b. 22 October 1943, Baytown, Texas, USA, d.18 July 1966).
An inventive and compulsive musician, Bobby Fuller made his recording debut in 1961.
The Bobby Fuller Four's early releases were regional hits, then in January 1966
the band reached the US Top 10 with an ebullient reading of the Crickets’ I Fought The
Law. This pop classic, later covered by the Clash, was followed up by a Top 30 hit,
Love's Made A Fool Of You.  The singer's stature seemed assured, but on 18 July 1966
any hope for a bright future was cut short when Fuller's badly beaten body was discovered
in a parked car in Los Angeles. His death was attributed to asphyxia through the forced
inhalation of gasoline, but further investigations as to the perpetrators of this deed remain unresolved.

Albert Ayler: Age 34
(b. 13 July 1936, Cleveland, Ohio, USA, d. November 1970).
 His first few albums were taped either in Europe or for European labels, but his reputation
was made with the recordings for the New York label ESP, which was established by
Bernard Stollman particularly to promote Ayler's music.  Until the late '50s the tendency in
the development of jazz had been one of increasing harmonic complexity and sophistication.
Ornette Coleman and Ayler created styles which, though neither atonal nor entirely free,
re-established the primacy of melody.  On 25 November 1970 his body was recovered from
New York City's East River. One bizarre rumour claimed that there was a bullet hole in the back
of the neck. Ayler had not been seen for some 20 days before his body was discovered, and the
circumstances of his death remain unclear. The theory that he had been killed by the police has been
given much currency. However, he had been very depressed about the breakdown suffered by his
brother, Donald Ayler, and close friends have confirmed that he had talked about taking his own life.
But, Gary Peacock is quoted in January 1998 Hot House: "Someone had shot him in the back of
the head.  Some said it was drugs.  But my experience was that he wasn't a druggie.   My own
suspicion is probably female-related in a way."

Blind Lemon Jefferson: Age 32
(b. July 1897, Wortham, (Couchman) Texas, USA, d. December 1929, Chicago, Illinois, USA).
Jefferson was one of the earliest and most influential rural blues singers to record.  His later recordings
seemed to lose some of the originality and impact of his earlier work but he remained popular until his
sudden and somewhat mysterious death. Legend has it that he froze to death on the streets of Chicago,
although a more likely story is that he died of a heart attack while in his car, possibly during a snow storm,
and was abandoned by his driver. At this date it is unlikely that the truth will ever be established.

Lord Buckley: Age 53
(b.Richard Buckley, 1907, Stockton, California, USA, d. 1960).
 A celebrated humourist and raconteur, Lord Buckley began his career in Chicago's
speakeasies where, it is said, he enjoyed the patronage of mobster Al Capone.  A
voracious appetite for artificial stimulants eventually took its toll, and despite rumours
that the cause of his death was a beating by Black Muslims, Lord Buckley's death in
1960 is recorded as the result of prolonged drug and alcohol abuse.

Harry Choates: Age 29
(b. December 26, 1922,  d. July 17, 1951).
Country/cajun fiddler.  By 1950 he had divorced his wife and wound up being arrested for failing
to provide support for her and their children.  Arrested and jailed in Austin, the sudden withdrawal
from alcohol proved too much. His death on July 17,1951 is a fact, though whether it was a result
of delerium, an epileptic fit, police cruelty or some combination of each is pure conjecture.

Don Drummond:  Age 27
Skatalites
(b.1943, Kingston, Jamaica, d. 1969, Kingston, Jamaica).
One of the saddest things about Jamaican music is that one of its principal
innovators died before ever seeing the growth and success of the genre he helped
to create.  His fragile mental condition was not helped by the lack of either financial
rewards or recognition for his talents. 1/1/65: Don Drummond was jailed for the murder of his
girlfriend, Marguerita Mahfood. He was later convicted and remanded to the Belle Vue
Asylum where he ended his days in 1969. Foul play is suspected as he was reported to be
in excellent physical health.
 
Wardell Gray: Age 34
(b. 13 February 1921, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA, d. 25 May 1955).
Gray died on 25 May 1955 in circumstances that have never been fully resolved: his body
was found in the Nevada Desert, his neck broken. The official report gave the cause of death
as a drug overdose, though there was no autopsy, and rumours persisted that Gray had been
murdered—either for failing to pay gambling debts or simply as a random victim of racial violence.