Norris Stevenson, American football player (Dallas Cowboys, Edmonton Eskimos, BC Lions), died from cancer. he was , 72 [51]

Norris R. Stevenson  was an American fullback in the Canadian Football League for the BC Lions  died from cancer. he was , 72[. He played college football at the University of Missouri. He was selected in eleventh round of the 1961 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys.

(October 27, 1939 – March 3, 2012)

Stevenson attended Vashon High School. He was the first African-American to receive a football scholarship at the University of Missouri.^[1] As a sophomore, he registered 307 rushing yards. The next year he had 267 rushing yards and one touchdown.

He became a starter as a senior, posting 610 rushing yards (second on the team) and 6 touchdowns, contributing to an undefeated team (11-0 after a later forfeit by the University of Kansas) that won the Big Eight Conference title and the 1961 Orange Bowl, 21-14 over the United States Naval Academy. He also helped defeat the University of Oklahoma 41-19, rushing for 169 yards with touchdowns of 77 and 60 yards, which moved the Tigers to the top of the national polls for the first time in school history.

He finished his college career with 1,184 rushing yards and 7 touchdowns. During his time the school had  Orange Bowl.

a 22-9-1 record, including two trips to the

In 2001, he was inducted into the University of Missouri Athletics Hall of Fame and the University dedicated in his honor the "Norris Stevenson Plaza of Champions", on the west side of Memorial Stadium.^[2]

 Norris was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the 11th round (142nd overall) of the 1961 NFL Draft and by the New York Titans in the 12th round of the 1961 AFL Draft. He was waived on September 5.^[3]

On February 6, 1962, he was signed by the BC Lions.^[4] During the season he played in 3 games, registering only 9 rushing yards.^[5]

 After his football career, he became a track and field coach at Forest Park Community College and Florissant Valley Community College for almost 30 years. In 1999, he was inducted into the Missouri Track and Field Association Hall of Fame.

He was also an ordained CME Minister. He died of colon cancer on March 3, 2012.^[6]

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Ronnie Montrose, American guitarist (Montrose), died when he committed suicide.he was , 64

Ronald Douglas Montrose^[1]  was an American rock guitarist, who led the bands Montrose (1973-77 & 1987) and Gamma (1979-83 & 2000) and also performed and did session work with a variety of musicians, including Van Morrison (1971–72), Herbie Hancock (1971), Beaver & Krause (1971), Boz Scaggs (1971), Edgar Winter (1972 & 1996), Gary Wright (1975), The Beau Brummels (1975), Dan Hartman (1976), Tony Williams(1978), The Neville Brothers (1987), Marc Bonilla (1991 & 1993), Sammy Hagar(1997), and Johnny Winterdied when he committed  suicide.he was , 64. The first Montrose album was often cited as "America's answer to Led Zeppelin"^[2] and Ronnie Montrose was often referred to as one of the most influential guitarists in American hard rock.^[3]

(November 29, 1947 – March 3, 2012)

Montrose was born in San Francisco, California.^[4] When he was a toddler, his parents moved back to his mother's home state of Colorado (his father was from Bertrand, Nebraska, and his mother was from Golden, Colorado). He spent most of his younger years in Denver, Colorado^[1] until he ran away at ^[5]

about 16 years old to pursue his musical career. He ultimately spent most of his life in the San Francisco Bay area.

In 1969, he started out in a band called 'Sawbuck' with Bill Church. Montrose had been in the process of recording what would have been his first album with Sawbuck when producer David Rubinson arranged an audition with Van Morrison. Montrose got the job and played on Morrison's 1971 album Tupelo Honey.^[6] He also played on the song "Listen to the Lion", which was recorded during the Tupelo Honey sessions but released on Morrison's next album Saint Dominic's Preview (1972).^[7]

Montrose played briefly with Boz Scaggs and then joined the Edgar Winter Group in 1972, recording electric guitar, acoustic 12 string, and mandolin on Winter's third album release, They Only Come Out at Night (1972), which included the hit singles "Frankenstein" and "Free Ride".^[8]

Montrose formed his own band, Montrose, in 1973, featuring Sammy Hagar on vocals. That incarnation of the band released two albums on Warner Bros. Records, Montrose (1973) and Paper Money (1974), before Hagar left to pursue a solo career. Although the liner notes for the CD edition of Paper Money said that Montrose was offered to play lead guitar for Mott the Hoople, when he left the Edgar Winter Group, Montrose says that it never happened and was just a rumor. He also added his guitar work to Gary Wright's song, "Power of Love" off the 1975 album, The Dream Weaver.

The guitarist released two more Montrose band albums in the rock/vocal format (Warner Bros. Presents Montrose! (1975) and Jump on It (1976), featuring vocalist Bob James replacing Sammy Hagar), then shifted direction and released his debut solo album, the all-instrumental Open Fire (1978) before returning to the rock-vocal format and forming Gamma in 1979, initially releasing three albums under that name with Davey Pattison singing.

In 1983 he played lead guitar on the song "(She Is a) Telepath" from Paul Kantner's album Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra although he wasn't a member of the original PERRO.

In 1985 he joined Seattle's Rail (winners of MTV's first Basement Tapes video competition) for several months. He was looking for a new band and one of Rail's guitarists, Rick Knotts, had recently left. Billed as 'Rail featuring Montrose' or 'Ronnie & Rail', they played a set of half Rail favorites and half Montrose songs ("Rock Candy", "Rock the Nation", "Matriarch" and Gamma's remake of Thunderclap Newman's "Something in the Air"). At the end of the tour, there was an amicable split.

He continued to record through the 1980s and 1990s, releasing solo albums including The Speed of Sound (1988), Music from Here (1994), and Bearings (2000), as well as another Montrose album titled Mean (1987) and a fourth Gamma album Gamma 4 (2000).

Montrose appeared on Sammy Hagar's solo album Marching to Mars (1997) along with original Montrose members bassist Bill Church and drummer Denny Carmassi on the song "Leaving the Warmth of the Womb". The original Montrose lineup also reformed to play as a special guest at several Sammy Hagar concerts in summer 2004 and 2005. Montrose also performed regularly from 2001 until 2011 with a Montrose lineup featuring Keith St. John on lead vocals and a rotating cast of veteran hard rock players on bass and drums. In 2011, Montrose formed the 'Ronnie Montrose Band' with Randy Scoles on vocals, Dan McNay on bass, and Steve Brown on drums, playing music from his entire career, including both Montrose and Gamma songs. This lineup was captured in his final released work, the concert DVD Ronnie Montrose: Live at the Uptown.^[9]

During his 2009 tour, Montrose revealed that he had fought prostate cancer for the previous two years but was healthy once again;^[10] he continued to tour until his death in 2012.

 Montrose had two children, Jesse and Kira, and five grandchildren. He was also survived by two brothers, Rick and Mike, and his wife, Leighsa.

 On March 3, 2012, Montrose died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His death was originally assumed to be the result of his prostate cancer.^[11] However, the San Mateo County Coroner's Office released a report that confirmed the guitarist had taken his own life.^[12]

The toxicology reported a blood alcohol content of 0.31 percent at the time of death. In early 2012, the deaths of his uncle and of Lola, his bulldog, worsened what Guitar Player magazine called a “clinical depression that plagued him since he was a toddler.”

 

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Frank Marocco, American accordionist, arranger and composer died he was , 81.[48]

Frank L. Marocco was an American piano-accordionist, arranger and composer. He was recognized as one of the most recorded accordionists in the world died he was , 81.^[1][2

 ^{(January 2, 1931 – March 3, 2012)}

^{Born in Joliet, Illinois Frank Marocco grew up in Waukegan, near Chicago. At the age of seven years, his parents enrolled him in a six-week beginner class for learning to play the accordion.[1]}

^{Marocco's first teacher was George Stefani, who supervised the young accordionist for nine years. Although they began studying classical music, Stefani soon encouraged young Frank to explore other musical genres. In addition to the accordion, Frank studied piano and clarinet, as well as music theory, harmony, and composition. Later on, he studied with Andy Rizzo, a well-known American concert accordionist and teacher.[1]}

At the age of 17, Frank Marocco won the first prize in the 1948 Chicago Musicland festival, and was rewarded with a guest performance with the Chicago Pops Orchestra playing Chopin's Fantasie Impromptu. His success encouraged him to embark on a professional music career. He established a trio, which toured in the Midwestern states. After he met his wife, Anne, in Indiana, the couple moved to Los Angeles, California,^[1] in the early 1950s.^[3]

In the Los Angeles vicinity, Marocco created a new band, which toured hotels and clubs in Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, and Palm Springs. Later on, he began working in Hollywood, where television studios and movie production companies provided him a successful career.^[1]

In the 1960s, Frank Marocco recorded a solo album released by Verve, a legendary jazz record label. In 1966, he worked together with Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys, and performed on the world-famous album Pet Sounds.^[3]

Marocco performed on a USO tour in Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, Guam, and other countries in the Pacific, appearing onstage with Bob Hope. He also played in the Les Brown big band, during six Love Boat cruises.^[1]Marocco performed in collaboration with hundreds of world-famous artists and conductors during his career, both on stage as well as in studio. As a musician, he contributed to hundreds of movie soundtracks, television shows and TV-series. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences nominated him as the most valuable player eight years in a row.^[2]

In addition to his career as a musician, Marocco wrote and arranged music for solo, duet, and orchestra in a wide variety of musical styles, including jazz, popular standards, international, Latin, religious, and classical.^[1] He was the musical director and conductor of an annual "music camp", the Frank Marocco Accordion Event, which is held in Mesa, Arizona in January. The event brings together over 50 accordionists from around the U.S. and Canada, who, after three full days of instruction, rehearsal, and recreational activities, present a full concert of accordion music.

Frank Marocco also played with some of the best Jazz Musicians in America and Europe; Ray Brown, Jeff Hamilton, Zoot Sims, Joe Pass, Joey Baron, Herb Ellis, Ray Pizzi, Ivor Malherbe, Carlo Atti, Sam Most, Gian-Carlo Bianchetti, Jacob Fisher, Pekka Sarmanto, Martin Classen, Andy Martin, Tuomo Dahlblom, Ric Todd, Harold Jones, Gerry Gibbs, Mikko Hassinen, Conti Candoli, Philippe Cornaz, John Patitucci, Mats Vinding, Mogens Baekgaard Andersen, Marcel Papaux, Aage Tanggaard, Ron Feuer, Richard Galliano, Peter Erskine, Klaus Paier, Renzo Ruggieri, Massimo Tagliata, Pete Christlieb, Larry Koonse, Simone Zanchini, Andy Simpkins, Bob Shepard, Frank Rosolino, Jim Hall, Abraham Laboriel, Grant Geissman, Luis Conte and Stix Hooper just to name a few.

Frank and Anne Marocco had three daughters, Cynthia, Lisa and Venetia. Cynthia pursued a music career. She studied the flute and at age 13, had the distinction of being the youngest player in the American Youth Symphony, a group of high school and college musicians directed by Mehli Mehta. Lisa, attracted to dance, became a professional pair skater and toured for several seasons with the Ice Capades. Venetia was a physical Therapy instructor and is now a school teacher. The three Marocco daughters are married. Frank and Anne had eight grandchildren in all.

Marocco died on March 3, 2012 at his home in California’s San Fernando Valley. He had been hospitalized earlier at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for complications following hip replacement surgery, his daughter Cynthia said.^[4] He was 81 years old.^[5]

   

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