Guitarist/inventor Les Paul dead at 94

Les Paul, who pioneered the solid-body electric guitar later wielded by a legion of rock 'n' roll greats, died Thursday of complications from pneumonia. He was 94.
According to Gibson Guitar, Paul died at White Plains Hospital. His family and friends were by his side...MORE - SHOP Les Paul

Singer Eartha Kitt dies

Eartha Kitt, a sultry singer, dancer and actress who rose from South Carolina cotton fields to become an international symbol of elegance and sensuality, has died, a family spokesman said. She was 81.

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Jazz pianist, composer Page Cavanaugh dies at 86

Page Cavanaugh, whose trio played in films and on Frank Sinatra's radio show, died Dec. 19, 2008 of kidney failure in Granada Hills, Calif. He was 86.
In the late '40s and early '50s, The Page Cavanaugh Trio was popular as a nightclub act, on recordings and in feature films such as "Romance on the High Seas" with Doris Day.

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Conductor Ray Ellis...85

Conductor/arranger Ray Ellis, who arranged such classics as "Chances Are" by Johnny Mathis, "Splish Splash" by Bobby Darin and "Standing on the Corner" by the Four Lads, died Monday, 27 October 2008, in Encino of complications from melanoma. He was 85. During a career that spanned almost 65 years, the Philadelphia native also arranged for acts including Tony Bennett, Doris Day, the Drifters, Connie Francis, Judy Garland and Ray Price.

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Singer Connie Haines dies at 87

Connie Haines, a peppy, petite, big-voiced singer with a zippy, rhythmic style who most famously teamed up with Frank Sinatra as lead vocalists with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, then went on to a prolific career of her own, died on Monday, 23 SEP 2008, in Clearwater Beach, Fla. She was 87. Born Yvonne Jasme she began singing and dancing at an early age. Her big break came in 1935, at age 13, when she won an amateur contest on Fred Allen's NBC radio program. During the late 1930s she worked for Howard Lally's orchestra. In 1939 bandleader Harry James heard Haines rehearsing at a New York music publishing company and hired her for his band, changing her name. She left the following year and kept busy with solo engagements around the New York area before being hired by Tommy Dorsey, where she joined former James bandmate Frank Sinatra. In 1941 Haines landed the spot as featured vocalist on Abbott and Costello's radio program.

NYTimes Obit - WEB - Shop: CONNIE HAINES

Singer Ralph Young dies at 90

Ralph Young, a singer best known as the English-language half of the popular multilingual duo Sandler & Young, died on Friday at his home in Palm Springs, Calif. He was 90. Young was also a legend of the big band era, born in the Bronx in 1918, he sang with Les Brown's Band and formed his own band when he served stateside in the Army during World War II. Later he joined Belgian-born singer Tony Sandler and their baritone voices blended well, with Sandler singing songs in their original language while Young sang along with an English translation. Their first album sold more than a million copies. The pair recorded 22 albums, appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and "The Tonight Show," and headlined concerts at legendary nightclubs in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York City and Europe.

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