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The Polyester Ball, Sterlington, LA (2025)

09/16/2025

THE MONKEES songwriter BOBBY HART has díed at his Los Angeles home after breaking his hip almost a year ago and going through a time of “poor health.” He was 86. Hart co-wrote several songs with his writing partner Tommy Boyce for Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Peter Tork and Michael Nesmith of the 1960s pop band The Monkees.

The band members also starred in an NBC television series from 1966 to 1968 about the antics of four friends in a rock and roll band. Born Robert Luke Harshman in Phoenix, Arizona, he helped write the ”(Theme from) The Monkees,” the opening credits song for the TV show, as well as was a co-writer on the group’s No. 1 hits “Last Train to Clarksville” and “Valleri,” the top 10 single “Words” and the top 20 song ”(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone.”

Hart and Tommy Boyce also co-produced the chart-topping and 10x Platinum albums “The Monkees” (1966) and ”More of The Monkees” (1967).

At the same time they were writing and producing for The Monkees, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart enjoyed a successful recording career. Boyce & Hart released three albums on A&M Records, and scored a No. 8 single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1968 with “I Wonder What She’s Doing Tonite?,” which sold over one million copies, and was issued a Gold record award.

Hart and his musical partner also wrote the theme song for the daytime NBC TV drama “Days of Our Lives.” The soap opera began airing in 1965, and after 60 years still runs on the NBC streaming service Peacock.

During their professional partnership, Boyce & Hart wrote more than 300 songs, and placed nine singles on the charts with sales of over 42 million records. Also Bobby and Tommy appeared together on the television shows “I Dream of Jeannie” and “The Flying Nun,” and wrote songs for several Columbia Pictures films including “Winter a-Go-Go” (1965), “Murderers' Row” (1966), “The Ambushers” (1967), “Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows” (1968) and “Three's a Crowd” (1969).

Tommy Boyce díed by suícíde in 1994 when he was 55-years-old after suffering a brain aneurysm and clinical depression that followed. Bobby Hart published an autobiography in 2015 called “Psychedelic Bubble Gum: Boyce & Hart, The Monkees, and Turning Mayhem into Miracles” (SelectBooks). - Chuck Halley, Classic Music/TV/Film Blogger

Pictured: Bobby Hart with his songwriting partner and two members of The Monkees in 1975 (l-r) Micky Dolenz, Tommy Boyce, Hart and Davy Jones (credit: Andre Csillag/Shutterstock); (inset) Hart at an autobiography book signing in Brooklyn, New York, in 2015 (credit: Glenn Ballantyne via AP)

09/06/2025

MARK VOLMAN, a founding member of ‘60s pop band THE TURTLES, has died. He was 78. Volman sang harmonies with musical partner Howard Kaylan on their No. 1 hit song “Happy Together” and the top 10 singles “It Ain’t Me Babe,” “She’d Rather Be with Me” and “Elenore.”

Volman died today (Fri., Sept. 5, 2025) in Nashville after revealing a couple of years ago that he had been diagnosed with Lewy body dementia. Volman and Kaylan founded the annual “Happy Together” pop oldies concert tour in 1984, and Mark continued to perform each year up to the last show for the summer of 2025 on August 31st. in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Volman was a founding member, vocalist, and songwriter of The Turtles alongside his stage partner Howard Kaylan. After the band folded, Mark and Howard joined Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention, changing their names to the pseudonyms of "Flo" (Volman) and “Eddie” (Kaylan).

Mark and Howard started The Turtles in 1965 with the band selling over 60 million records worldwide, and earning six top 10 hit singles with “It Ain’t Me Babe,” “She’d Rather Be With Me,” “Elenore,” “You Baby,” “She’s My Girl,” “You Showed Me,” and the chart-topping single “Happy Together.” At the height of their popularity, co-frontman Volman reportedly insured his distinctive frizzy hair for $100,000 “against fire, theft or loss due to illness.”

As the decade of the 1970s began and The Turtles’ success faded, Volman and Kaylan discovered in the terms of their record label contract they were forbidden to use the band’s name—or even their own names—if they wanted to perform outside of the group.

Mark and Howard were forced to use the stage names Flo & Eddie after they were recruited for the satirical rock band Mothers of Invention (they joined in time to appear on the soundtrack of Frank Zappa's humorous pseudo-documentary film “200 Motels”.)

After leaving Zappa’s band, Flo & Eddie wrote songs and provided voices for several animated films including “The Care Bears Movie” and “Strawberry Shortcake,” and also worked in radio broadcasting.

At the age of 45, Volman went back to school at Loyola Marymount University to study for his Bachelor's degree. In 1997, he graduated Magna cm Laude with a B.A. in Communication and Fine Arts, and was the class Valedictorian speaker. During his speech, he led his fellow graduates in a chorus of his band’s biggest hit, "Happy Together."

The kinky-haired tambourine player and backing vocalist of The Turtles eventually earned a Master's degree in Fine Arts from Loyola Marymount. Volman was hired to teach Music Business and Industry courses in the Communications department at the university, and also taught courses in the Commercial Music program at Los Angeles Valley College.

A few years later, Mark Volman became an associate professor and coordinator of Entertainment Industry Studies at Christian college Belmont University in Nashville. He also conducted music industry seminars around the country at various academic institutions and schools.

Volman and Kaylan were the founders of the annual “Happy Together” concert series that featured various ‘60s and ‘70s Oldies acts, and criss-crossed the US every summer (except during the pandemic years.) The summer of 2025 leg of the tour kicked off on May 29th in Melbourne, Florida, with the lineup of Mark Volman and Ron Dante (substituting for the retired Howard Kaylan) performing the hits of The Turtles, Jay & The Americans, Little Anthony (of Little Anthony & the Imperials), Gary Puckett (of Gary Puckett & the Union Gap), The Vogues and The Cowsills.

Volman was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2015, but was given a clean bill of health after undergoing treatment. For many years, the Los Angeles native conducted seminars as an Artist in Residence at the Church of God college Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee. In addition, he offered Music Business and Entertainment consulting through his website “Ask Professor Flo.”

Mark Volman and his wife, Emily, were both active members of Harpeth Presbyterian Church in Brentwood, Tennessee, where they served as Youth Ministers. - Chuck Halley, Classic Music/TV/Film Blogger

Pictured: Mark Volman (second from left) and The Turtles - Howard Kaylan, Jim Pons, John Barbata and Al Nichol (ca. 1967) (credit: Alamy/Minnesota Public Radio); (inset) blogger Chuck Halley (sitting) with (l-r) Mark Volman (The Turtles), Gary Puckett (Gary Puckett & the Union Gap), Howard Kaylan (The Turtles) and Mark Lindsay (Paul Revere & the Raiders) at the "Happy Together” tour at the Hard Rock Cafe in Biloxi, Mississippi, in 2013.

08/18/2025

As tens of thousands of fans of the “King of Rock and Roll” were converging on the city of Memphis, Tennessee, plans were being finalized for the funeral of ELVIS PRESLEY to be held on August 18, 1977. When the legendary singer’s body was transferred from Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis to a local funeral home, the police department's SWAT team descended on the area to protect The King's remains. Also U.S. President Jimmy Carter ordered 300 National Guard troops to the area to help maintain order.

After the body of Elvis was prepared and returned to his home he called Graceland, a public viewing with an open casket was set up in the home’s front foyer where an estimated 30,000 grieving fans filed past his body that had been given a fresh haircut with his sideburns and hair dyed black, and dressed in a white suit and blue shirt provided by his father, Vernon.

But even more tragedy was to accompany Elvis’ déath — about 300 mourners were holding an all-night vigil in front of the King of Rock and Roll’s mansion when two 19-year-old female fans from Monroe, Louisiana, were struck and killed by a drunk driver. As Alice Hovatar and Joanne Johnson stood in the median of Elvis Presley Boulevard, the two young women were run over by a 1963 Ford that barreled through the crowd at around 4:00 a.m.

Elvis Presley's modest funeral was held in Graceland's living room and foyer on that warm August day, and was attended by several of his celebrity friends including Ann-Margret (Elvis’ "Viva Las Vegas" co-star), soul/R&B singer James Brown and actor George Hamilton. The 2:00 p.m. service was led by Vernon Presley’s pastor from Wooddale Church of Christ in Memphis, followed by a brief message from television evangelist Rex Humbard and a testimonial from comedian Jackie Kahane, who had opened many of Elvis' live concerts.

And, of course, some of The King’s favorite hymns were sung at the funeral by some of the veterans of Elvis’ tours — Jake Hess and The Statesmen Quartet ("Known Only To Him” and “His Hand In Mine"), James Blackwood (“How Great Thou Art”), J.D. Sumner and The Stamps Quartet ("Sweet Sweet Spirit” and “When It’s My Turn”) and Kathy Westmoreland (“My Heavenly Father Watches Over Me”.)

While about 200 friends and family were attending the service inside Graceland, over 75,000 fans were gathered outside the Memphis estate’s gates to mourn the passing of the top-selling entertainer of all time, who sold over one billion records worldwide. After the service, a long funeral procession with a white Cadillac hearse and seventeen white Cadillac limousines traveled down Highway 51 South, ending at Forest Hill Cemetery.

A 900-pound copper casket was placed in the cemetery’s mausoleum, with Elvis’ father being the last to pay his respects, as Vernon kissed the casket and repeated several times, "Daddy will be with you soon." - Chuck Halley, Classic Music/TV/Film Blogger

Pictured: Newspaper front page reporting that two Elvis mourners from Monroe, Louisiana, were killed outside of Graceland (credit: Chicago Sun-Times); a white Cadillac hearse carries the body of Elvis out through the gates of Graceland (credit: Associated Press); Mrs. Aloha Johnson (right) with her daughter-in-law, Sandra Johnson, protests the sentence given to the driver of the car that ran over her daughter and another young woman during an all-night vigil held by fans after Elvis’ death (credit: Associated Press) (Graphics creator: glory2glory graphiX)

08/18/2025

(Here’s another great Woodstock ”Love Story” about a couple who met while traveling 56 years ago to the legendary music festival that ran from August 15th and continued through the wee hours of August 18, 1969. - Chuck Halley, Classic Music/TV/Film Blogger)

“For 50 years, Judy and Jerry Griffin have been telling friends and family the fairy tale story of how they met on the way to Woodstock in 1969 and have been together ever since. The only downside to their chance encounter is they never had any physical proof they were at Woodstock together — until the PBS documentary ‘Woodstock: Three Days that Defined a Generation’ aired in 2019.

Judy met Jerry on August 15, 1969 — day one of the iconic Woodstock music festival — when her car broke down on New York’s Tappan Zee Bridge, roughly 90 miles from the concert grounds, and she and the two acquaintances she was traveling with decided to hitchhike.

‘I was just thinking, “Damn, now we can’t go,” and we were dying to,’ recalls Judy, 71. ‘Then Jerry and his friends pulled up. I stuck my head in and I saw that there was a woman in the car. I’d never hitchhiked before, but I figured, “Well, since there was a woman, it was fairly safe, and I probably should just get in the car.” ‘

In that moment Jerry, who was caravanning to the festival with a group of friends in two VW Beetles, thought his luck had definitely changed for the better.

‘I thought, ”Okay, this is definitely unusual. We just picked up this really cute girl. And I’m going to Woodstock and I’ve got a tent and she doesn’t,”’ says Jerry, 72, with a laugh.

That first ride together in the back seat of Jerry’s pal’s 1967 VW Beetle eventually grew into 50 years of love and marriage, including two sons and five grandchildren.

Incredibly, they’d never seen a photo of themselves from the event that started it all until the summer of 2019, thanks to the PBS documentary ‘Woodstock: Three Days that Defined a Generation,’ which featured a brief bit of footage of a rain-soaked Judy and Jerry huddled together under a blanket.

‘We both had cameras, but neither of us took any pictures,’ says Jerry.

They first saw the image after a friend texted him and Judy a snapshot from the film’s trailer.

‘For 50 years we’ve been looking for a picture of ourselves, and out of the blue one shows up,’ he says. ‘We’d known each other less than 48 hours when that was taken.’

Adds Judy: ‘By the time we got out of the car and set up camp, we were into each other, and we basically were together from that point on.’

The native New Yorkers quickly discovered they had a lot in common, like a shared desire to leave the state and start fresh in California. Five months after the festival they packed up a VW bus and drove cross-country to Los Angeles, where Jerry was starting law school. The Griffins eventually settled in Manhattan Beach, where they’ve lived for over 40 years, and were married in December 1975, although they never celebrate that anniversary.

‘We always celebrate August 15th — which is also my birthday and the day we met — as our anniversary,’ says Judy, a retired interior design and architecture teacher at Cal State Northridge.

The iconic festival will always hold a special place in their hearts.

‘The experience was so unexpected,’ says Jerry. ‘It was breathtaking how enormous the crowds were. It was such a positive thing that the music almost faded into the back ground.’” - Kara Warner, “People” magazine, August 14, 2019

("Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation" is available on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV)

Pictured: (left pic) Judy and Jerry at the Woodstock festival in 1969 (credit: PBS); (right pic) Judy and Jerry Griffin in 2019 (credit: Ben Trivett/People); (inset) the Griffin family in 2020 (credit: Judy Griffin) (Graphics creator: glory2glory graphiX)

08/16/2025

If you were alive in 1977, do you remember where you were or what you were doing on August 16th when you heard ELVIS PRESLEY IS DEAD???

Forty-eight years ago, I was taking a nap on that hot Tuesday afternoon when my bride of only four months woke me up with the shocking news that the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll had died. I was working at a country music radio station at the time, and I remember taking my Elvis Presley record collection to the station that evening and playing The King’s music continuously all night long! – Chuck Halley, Classic Music/TV/Film Blogger

08/16/2025

(August 15th - 17th marks the 56th anniversary of the Woodstock Music Festival. Here's a story about the blanketed couple whose pic appeared on the cover of the “Woodstock” 1970 movie soundtrack album.

After the festival, Nick Ercoline and Bobbi Kelly were married and stayed together for over 50 years, but Bobbi sadly passed away in March 2023 after battling Myelodysplastic syndrome, which is also known as pre-leukemia.

Here’s an article from reporter Ashley Csanady of Toronto, Ontario’s “National Post” that relates Nick and Bobbi’s heartwarming love story at Woodstock. - Chuck Halley, Classic Music/TV/Film Blogger)

It’s Sunday, August 17, 1969, the third day of Woodstock, and mud creeps up the long, pink and white blanket swaddling a young couple surrounded by the debris of revelry. A recently returned Vietnam veteran sleeps on the grass behind them. The image would go on to become the cover of the festival’s three-LP album. The couple, in turn, would become unofficial spokespeople for those three days of peace and music on a dairy farm in upstate New York.

“She’s still my best friend. We get along great...for the most part we’re attached at the hip,” said Nick Ercoline, the now grandfather who was once half of the image of a youth counterculture movement. He was watching their one-year-old granddaughter while his wife Bobbi Ercoline was out.

She was a school nurse, he worked for the local county housing department. They still live in Pine Bush, New York, where they raised two sons within a 40-minute drive of the iconic concert that would turn them into unintentional icons.

Every few years, the photo snapped by Burk Uzzle on the cover of the Woodstock album turns them into mini-celebrities.

There’s something so sweet about that image, her cuddled into his protective embrace, that resonates even decades later. When people find the couple during an era of supposed free love are still together, married two years after the festival, it stirs something.

“I try to explain that photo as a couple of 20-year-olds who were in love with each other. It’s us. That’s who we are. Still. You can still find us holding hands and hugging each other. Still,” Ercoline said. Decades later, he sounds as smitten as the young man in the photo. His advice for an enduring relationship: “A lot of communication. Don’t go to bed mad at each other. It’s a give-and-take. Choose your battles.”

Every now and then, their photogenic love story bubbles up online. (At one time) it was the top image on Reddit, sparking hundreds of comments about enduring love. Ercoline said that might have been related to the 10-year anniversary of the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts — a museum, music venue and park built where the original Woodstock was held. The couple in the photo now volunteer there, giving music acts tours of the site before their shows.

“It’s fun. I’m not going to say it’s not fun. There’s nothing bad about it. It’s a responsibility. It’s a responsibility to the event. It’s a responsibility to a generation,” he said.

They met at Dino’s Bar, a local diner, when Bobbi was with another man, a waiter there, in February of 1969.

“She was gorgeous, are you kidding me? Long, blonde hair, she was a gorgeous girl. She’s a gorgeous woman,” Ercoline said.

He was smitten and when that other guy left for Memorial Day weekend, he took his chance. They’ve been together ever since. That August, amid the fuss, they decided to trek to the already teeming festival. They knew the back roads and were able to make it within eight kilometers, but they were so far away they could barely see the stage. They stayed just that one night. And, like most people in attendance, were hardly the ardent hippies many presumed.

“I really think it was a blend. You’re talking a majority of kids that were college aged. But it was in the summer, so you had a lot of professionals off work, like teachers,” he said of the festival’s atmosphere. “Cops who were off work just to see what it was like.”

“It was so hot. (95°F) and 100 per cent humidity” and it poured rain on and off. Between the mud and the heat, most of them were average people who’d go back to school or work the following week. They weren’t marching in protests or staging sit-ins. Yet, the concert did have a peace-minded focus as the war raged in Vietnam: “If you think about it, most of the music was war protest stuff. There was a lot of civil rights music too, but for the most part it was ‘one-two-three-four, what are we fighting for?’ kind of stuff,” he said.

That message was made all the more poignant for the Ercolines by the presence of their friend Jim Corcoran, who’d returned from Vietnam earlier that year and had just recently left the Marine Corps. He’s the one sleeping under the brown blanket on the green tarp to the right of the shot. Like their marriage, that relationship has also endured: “We’re still very close friends.”

Pictured: Bobbi and Nick Ercoline displaying the Woodstock soundtrack album in 2019 (credit: Daily Mail); (inset) autographed “Woodstock” 1970 soundtrack album cover (original photo credit: Burk Uzzle) (Graphics creator: glory2glory graphiX)

08/04/2025

”WKRP in Cincinnati” actress LONI ANDERSON has díed. She was 79. Anderson died after a "prolonged" battle with emphysema, according to a statement from her longtime publicist. The Saint Paul, Minnesota, native’s déath came only two days before her upcoming 80th birthday on August 5th.

"We are heartbroken to announce the passing of our dear wife, mother and grandmother," her family said in a statement on social media. Anderson had been an outspoken spokesperson against Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) after she was a caregiver for both of her parents who suffered from the inflammatory lung disease.

Loni Anderson portrayed Jennifer Marlowe, the receptionist on ”WKRP in Cincinnati,” the CBS hit TV comedy about a failing top 40 rock radio station, which ran from 1978 to 1982. Her role earned her two Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe nominations. Loni’s blonde bombshell character kept the Ohio station running while most of the other personalities were comically incompetent at their jobs. Working alongside the smart and sexy character were cast mates Gary Sandy, Howard Hesseman, Tim Reid, Gordon Jump, Frank Bonner and Jan Smithers.

After starring with actor Burt Reynolds in the 1983 big screen comedy “Stroker Ace,” the couple were married five years later and became tabloid regulars until their divorce was finalized in the mid-‘90s. Loni Anderson was married three other times, and is survived by her fourth husband Bob Flick, daughter Deidra Hasselberg, son Quinton Reynolds, step-son Adam Flick, grandchildren McKenzie and Megan, and step-grandchildren Felix and Maximilian. Anderson's autobiography “My Life in High Heels” was published in 1995. - Chuck Halley, Classic Music/TV/Film Blogger

Pictured: The cast of "WKRP in Cincinnati" — (front row, L-R) Loni Anderson, Howard Hesseman and Jan Smithers (middle row, L-R) Frank Bonner and Gary Sandy (back row, L-R) Richard Sanders, Gordon Jump and Tim Reid (credit: CBS); (inset) Anderson ca. 2019 (credit: TV Insider) (Graphics creator: glory2glory graphiX)

08/02/2025

Country legend JEANNIE SEELY has díed. The Grammy award-winning singer was 85. She passed away on Friday (August 1, 2025) after complications from an intestinal infection. Earlier this year, Seely told fans on social media that she was in recovery after undergoing several back surgeries, two emergency procedures and battling pneumonia (the singer spent 11 days in ICU.)

The Titusville, Pennsylvania, native released 17 albums and 36 singles during her over six-decade long career in music. Seely earned a Grammy in 1967 for her No. 2 country music hit “Don't Touch Me” (the song also reached the top 30 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.) She was just 26-years-old when she won the gilded gramophone trophy for the song, making her one of the youngest people to ever receive a Grammy since the awards honors were introduced eight years earlier.

Loved and respected for her vocal style, Jeannie became known as "Miss Country Soul," and was a trailblazer for many other female country music singers, as she cranked out dozens of hit records in the 1960s and ’70s. Seely had a string of country chart hits during these two decades, including eight U.S. top 20 hits on Billboard and Cash Box magazines’ charts like “It’s Only Love,” “I'll Love You More (Than You Need)” and “Wish I Didn’t Have to Miss You,” which was a No. 2 duet with another Grammy winner, Jack Greene.

Jeannie Seely made over 5,300 appearances on the Grand Ole Opry show that is broadcast over-the-air on Nashville’s 50,000 watt WSM-AM radio station and streamed online. This Saturday night's Opry show will be dedicated to Seely following her passing on Friday. - Chuck Halley, Classic Music/TV/Film Blogger

Pictured: Jeannie Seely ca. 1970 (credit: Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images); (inset) Seely at the 56th annual CMA Awards ceremony in 2022 (credit: Evan Agostini / Associated Press) (Graphics creator: glory2glory graphiX)

08/01/2025

Remembering country music legend JIM REEVES. The rich, baritone-voiced singer díed on July 31, 1964, when his Beechcraft Debonair single-engine airplane crashed about 10 miles south of Nashville, Tennessee. The 40-year-old Galloway, Texas, native had just passed his private pilot's license a month earlier.

The Country Music Hall of Fame member — along with his piano player and manager Dean Manuel — were returning to Nashville on a late Friday afternoon in the small aircraft piloted by Reeves. The two were making the 220 mile return trip from Batesville, Arkansas, where they had just purchased some real estate.

While flying over Brentwood, Tennessee, Reeves’ plane was caught in a severe thunderstorm. Despite being told by a Nashville air traffic controller to make a turn to the right to avoid this storm, the singer decided instead to fly in the opposite direction so he could then visually follow Franklin Road to the airport, which proved to be a fatal error.

Reports from investigators say “Gentleman Jim” — as he was known by many fans — was likely relying on sight rather than the aircraft’s instruments. It’s believed the Beechcraft plane suddenly dropped in altitude while attempting to follow the path of the rural road.

The FAA’s report goes on to say Reeves flew straight into the storm. Investigators said he most likely became disoriented while focusing on establishing his ground references, and let his air speed go too low which probably caused the plane’s engine to stall.

The official investigation also found the aircraft ran into heavy rain at approx. 5:00 p.m. on that Friday evening and crashed about one minute later. The wreckage was not found until Sunday afternoon, as Reeves’ plane was hidden by a heavily-wooded area and buried in deep mud because of its violent impact to the ground. The report goes on to say the light Beechcraft crashed in a wooded area about 100 feet behind a house just off U.S. Highway 31 in Davidson county.

More than 700 police, Civil Defense workers, and volunteers searched a 20-square-mile area of the crash site for almost two days. Many of the searchers were Reeves’ friends and fellow artists in the country music industry including Grand Ole Opry stars Chet Atkins, Eddy Arnold, Stonewall Jackson and Ernest Tubb.

Singer Marty Robbins, a close friend of Jim’s, actually lived just a short distance from where the aircraft had crashed, so he immediately joined in the search operation. He also told authorities he thought he had heard the roar of an aircraft engine during the thunderstorm on Friday afternoon, which was soon followed by a loud “thud” noise.

After the media announced the plane’s wreckage was found, thousands of fans traveled to Nashville to pay their last respects at a public memorial for the singer who had helped start country music’s “Nashville Sound.” Reeves was laid to rest in a private cemetery in the Texas “Red Hills” of Panola County where the singer had grown up.

The burial place of Jim Reeves is located on the south side of State Highway 79 near Liberty Chapel Baptist Church about four miles east of Carthage, Texas. The well-maintained roadside memorial displays a statue of the country legend, whose 1960 crossover hit song “He’ll Have To Go” had the distinction of reaching No. 1 on both the country and pop charts. - Chuck Halley, Classic Music / TV / Film Blogger

Pictured: Jim Reeves holding his famous Gibson SJ-200 guitar ca. 1960 (credit: RCA Victor Records); (inset) Reeves publicity photo ca. 1963 (credit: Alamy) (Graphic creator: glory2glory graphiX)

07/26/2025

Grammy-winning jazz fusion trumpeter CHUCK MANGIONE has díed. He was 84-years-old. Mangione earned a top five chart hit in 1978 with the pop jazz instrumental "Feels So Good." A statement from his family reported the Rochester, New York, native passed away in his sleep at his home. A message on Mangione’s official website simply read: “We are very sorry. Chuck Mangione has passed.”

The musician and composer’s Rochester Music Hall of Fame biography describes how his father introduced him and his brother, pianist Gap Mangione, to jazz early in life.

“Growing up in a home steeped in jazz, Chuck and his brother Gap would listen to their father’s jazz albums while other kids their age were listening to Elvis or Jerry Lee Lewis,” the bio says. “Their father encouraged the boys’ appreciation for jazz and would take them to Sunday afternoon matinees at jazz clubs around the city,” the biography states.

According to the award-winning flugelhorn player’s website, Chuck Mangione got his start while still in high school when he was the trumpet player in a jazz band, along with his brother, that they named The Jazz Brothers.

Chuck went on to study at the Eastman School of Music, and earned a bachelor’s degree in music in the early 1960s. According to his bio, Mangione later was hired at the school to direct their jazz ensemble and to help expand Eastman’s jazz program.

Mangione left to start a successful solo career, and released over 30 albums that sold millions of copies during his long career. He received 14 Grammy nominations, winning two of the awards for “Bellavia” in 1977 and 1979’s “The Children of Sanchez.”

Mangione’s 1977 double-Platinum project “Feels So Good” made him a superstar, and became one of the most successful jazz records ever recorded, according to the Rochester Music Hall of Fame (he was inducted into the hall in 2012.) Chuck performed at the international broadcast of the closing ceremonies of the 1980 Winter Olympics held in Lake Placid, New York (the performance won him an Emmy Award and became his second top 40 hit.)

Chuck Mangione was also a voice actor with a recurring role in the animated Fox television sitcom "King of the Hill," where he became a cartoon character of himself fashioned from the cover of his "Feels So Good" album. - Chuck Halley, Classic Music/TV/Film Blogger

Pictured: Chuck Mangione in 1970
(credit: Columbia Records); (inset) Mangione in 2009 (credit: Elise Amendola / Associated Press) (Graphics creator: glory2glory graphiX)

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