Multi-talented Jimmy Castor, the all-around musician, dies
Creator of million-selling hits
Jimmy Castor, a New York-born musician known as “The Everything Man” because of his ability to write, produce, perform and transcend music genres from Doo Wop to Hip Hop, died Jan. 17 of apparent heart failure in a Las Vegas hospital. He was 71 years old.
Castor began his music career as a Doo Wop singer in 1956. The following year he replaced Frankie Lymon in the group the Teenagers and wrote and recorded a song the group sang called “I Promise to Remember.” It would be his first million-selling single.
In 1960, the versatile performer switched to saxophone. He also formed his own band and wrote the million-selling hit “Hey Leroy, Your Mama’s Callin’ You” for Smash Records in 1966.
Continuing to make music, he formed the Jimmy Castor Bunch in 1972, signed with RCA Records and hit it big again with the release of the album “It’s Just Begun” the same year he formed the band.
Two singles from the album—the title track and “Troglodyte (Cave Man)” hit the charts.
“Troglodyte” rose to No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on the boards for 14 weeks. It sold a million copies. Both of these tracks have been heavily sampled in movies and Hip Hop music.
But Castor wasn’t finished. In 1975, his album “Butt of Course” feature the singles “The Bertha Butt Boogie,” and “Potential.” “E-Man Boogie,” from the same disc was a disco tune that was ranked at No. 10 on Billboard’s annual disco poll.
Just before his death in Henderson, Nev., Castor had booked dates for a European tour, according to his son, Redondo Beach filmmaker Jimmy Castor Jr.
He is survived by his wife Sandi and son.
Gil Scott-Heron the seminal author, poet, and musician died at the age of 62 on May 27 of undisclosed causes at St. Luke’s Hospital in New York’s Manhattan borough. A funeral service was scheduled for 8:30 am, at the Riverside Church, with a public viewing in the evening from 6 to 9 pm at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home at Madison Avenue and 81st Street. Scott-Heron is survived by his wife, Blaxploitation actress Brenda Sykes, and their daughter Gia Scott-Heron.
Memorial services were being set for Norma Merrick Sklarek, a celebrated African American architect who accomplished numerous firsts in the field.
Sklarek died Monday at her home in Pacific Palisades. She was 85.
Whitney Houston’s family is free to collect her body from the Los Angeles County coroner’s office and make funeral arrangements, a coroner’s lieutenant said Monday morning.
Houston’s mother has arranged to have the body flown back to Atlanta as early as Tuesday, TMZ reported. While police have placed a security hold on autopsy results, no such hold has been placed on the body, Winter said.
Whitney Houston died this afternoon ... a rep for the singer told the Associated Press.
Houston won two Emmy Awards, six Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards during her record-breaking career. Her album "Whitney" was the first female album to ever debut at #1 on the Billboard Charts. She has sold 200 albums world wide.
Houston holds an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities from Grambling State University in Louisiana.
Houston had one child, Bobbi Kristina, with husband Bobby Brown. Houston and Brown were married from 1992-2007.
Boy, maybe it’s just me, but January 2012 is turning out to be a transitional doorway for a substantial number of those who have spent an enormous portion of their time here contributing mightily to the growth and expansion of our human engagement and civilization in diverse ways.
