George William Weidler (January 11, 1926, Los Angeles, California – December 27, 1989, Los Angeles) was an American saxophonist and songwriter. He was the second husband of singer-actress Doris Day (married 1946–1949) and older brother of former child actress Virginia Weidler.
Jamie Lee Thurston is an American country music singer. He was raised in Waterbury, Vermont and performed with his father starting at age 15. After moving to Los Angeles, California, he moved again to Nashville, Tennessee in 1999.In 2003, he released the album I Just Wanna Do My Thing via View 2. The album included the single "It Can All Be Gone", which peaked at number 59 on the Hot Country Songs charts. He later signed to Warner Bros. Records Nashville, then to Country Thunder.Thurston wrote Rodney Atkins' 2009 single "15 Minutes", and cuts by Trace Adkins and Montgomery Gentry. In 2013, Thurston appeared on Game Show Network's Family Trade to compose a jingle for G. Stone Motors in exchange for a new truck. The jingle, "We Trade for Anything" was also used as the show's opening credits theme music.Thurston's life is the basis of a screenplay co-written by Tim Rhys, the founder of MovieMaker magazine.
Thomas O. Hancock (March 25, 1929 – January 1, 2020) was an American musician widely regarded as the godfather of West Texas music.
Hancock was born and raised in Lubbock, Texas, and his grandmother had him classically trained in violin. At age 16, Tommy joined the military and traveled overseas as a paratrooper and military policeman, serving in the Pacific towards the end of World War II. Upon his discharge at the end of the war, he returned to Lubbock, where he led a popular swing band called the Roadside Playboys. The Playboys had various members over time, including performers such as guitarist Sonny Curtis and fiddler Benjamin "Tex" Logan.: 69 In the late 1940s, Hancock hired Charlene Condray as a singer; they went on to marry. Together with five of their children, they toured the Rocky Mountains as "The Supernatural Family Band". Today, three of their children still tour as the "Texana Dames."
In the early 1970s, Hancock was introduced to fellow performer Jimmie Gilmore. They bonded over a desire to seek out new spiritual experiences. Hancock noted that "my whole thing with taking acid was I want to know God. If there's a god, I want to know him. And Jimmie was the first intelligent person I'd ever run into who was searching for God." Hancock played fiddle for Jimmie Dale's band, The Flatlanders.During the 1970s, Hancock and his family became followers of Guru Maharaj Ji.In 1980, the Hancock family settled in Austin, Texas.
In March 2000, Tommy was inducted into the Austin Chronicle Music Awards Hall of Fame. In 2002, The Supernatural Family Band was inducted into the Country Music Association of Texas Hall of Fame. In 2012, Tommy was inducted into the West Texas Walk of Fame in Lubbock, TX.
On January 1, 2020, Hancock died at age 90.
Garrett List (September 10, 1943 – December 27, 2019) was an American trombonist, vocalist, and composer.
List was born in Phoenix, Arizona. He studied at California State University, Long Beach, and the Juilliard School. He was a member of Italian band Musica Elettronica Viva from 1971. In 1980, he began teaching at the Royal Conservatory of Liège. List died in Liège, Belgium, aged 76.
Sandy West (July 10, 1959 – October 21, 2006) was an American singer, drummer and songwriter. She was one of the founding members of The Runaways, the first teenage all-girl hard rock band to record and achieve widespread commercial success in the 1970s.
Elvira Louise Redd (September 20, 1928 – February 6, 2022) was an American jazz alto saxophone player, vocalist and educator. She was active from the early 1950s and was known primarily for playing in the blues style. She was highly regarded as an accomplished veteran, and performed with Count Basie, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Linda Hopkins, Marian McPartland and Dizzy Gillespie.
Anthony Robert "Tony" Ortega (June 7, 1928 – October 30, 2022) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, and flautist.
