Mike "Monk" Bruce
died 08/23/2005   Bentonville, AR   age 58

Mike "Monk" Bruce, one of Tulsa's best-known rock and blues-rock guitarists for more than a quarter century, died Tuesday, August 23, 2005.  He had been living with his wife, Cindy, in Bentonville, AR, where he was waiting for a liver transplant.

Bruce grew up playing music in Tulsa, graduating from Nathan Hale High School.  He was living and working in California with another famed Tulsa musician, drummer Jimmy Karstein, when a hometown friend, Ernie Fields Jr., called and asked if they'd be interested in a job with R & B great Bobby "Blue" Bland.

Bruce toured with Bland from 1969 until 1971, when he tired of the road and returned to Tulsa.  He hadn't been home long when his old friend David Teegarden, then based in Detroit, offered him a job with the duo

After leaving Teegarden & Van Winkle, Bruce returned to Tulsa, where he played in a dizzying number of bands, ranging from country (Big Frank) to jazz (the Jazz Babies), and taught guitar.  He also worked with drummer-vocalist Mike Dragoo and the late bassist Steve Munson in the well-remembered Soul Avengers, as well as booking gigs under his own name.  A disc of Soul Avengers music from a decade earlier was released in 2003.

By that time, Bruce was suffering from hepatitis, which he believed he had picked up during a Far East tour with Michael Jackson's sister Rebbie.  He continued to play guitar intermittently until his death.

Debbie Campbell-Floren
died 02/28/2004   Tulsa, OK   age 53

Singer and recording artist whose expressive, versatile voice and ebullient personality made her a Tulsa music-scene mainstay for more than two decades. She began touring nationally while still in her teens with an all-girl band, The Kandy Kanes, and then went on to national recording prominence in the 1970's as lead singer for the country-rock band, Buckwheat, on the London label. After leaving the West Coast and moving to Tulsa, Debbie soon became established as a shining light of the now-legendary Tulsa Sound.

"Rockin' John" Henry
died 08/10/2004   Tulsa, OK   age 60

Radio personality, musician and music enthusiast, "Rockin' John" as he was known on his radio shows, had an encyclopedic mind when it came to music.  He started collecting records from an early age, and had collected nearly 14,000 records of rock and roll, R&B, and rockabilly from the late 1940s to the early 1960s.

Known as "Tulsa's Oldest Teenager", he was a member of the rock 'n' roll revival group, The Bop Cats, and acted as front man as well as playing guitar.  John's work with that group brought him in contact with several of his rock 'n' roll era favorites, such as Del Shannon, Fabian, Ricky Nelson, Gary U.S. Bonds, among many others.  John was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame in 2001 for his efforts in promoting and presenting blues music on his radio show, The Smokehouse.

Verbie Gene "Flash" Terry
died 03/18/2004   Tulsa, OK   age 69

A noted Tulsa guitarist, vocalist, band leader and song-writer, Flash moved to Tulsa in the early 1950s, where he worked by day and played music by night.  Throughout the late '50s and early '60s, Flash toured with several greats, and after taking a seven year break off the touring circuit, Flash returned in 1972 to join Bobby "Blue" Bland's national tour.

Amidst all of his musical touring, recording, and nightclub activities, Flash Terry was known throughout Tulsa as the "Bus Driver Bluesman" - driving for the Metropolitan Tulsa Transit Authority for a total of 30 years.  Most recently, Flash was the leader of the band known as the Uptown Blues Band.  Flash was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame in 1994.

David "Hoppy" Hopkins
died 05/21/2003; Tulsa, OK; age 57

Guitarist with the Swamptones, also played with Larry Bell, Jim Downing and Bill Davis.

Richard Leo Feathers
died 06/24/2001  Mounds, OK  age 59

Born in Stillwell, Oklahoma, Feathers was the lead guitarist for many early Tulsa bands, including the Gene Crose Band and The Starlighters, a group that included a piano player named Russell Bridges, who went on to fame as rock legend Leon Russell.  He scored an early regional hit when The Starlighters released the single, "Hot Licks", a Feathers composition that featured his scorching lead guitar.

Ralph Blane
died 11/13/1995  Broken Arrow, OK  age 81

A talented musician and composer of many musical scores for stage and film, Blane was born on July 26, 1914 in Broken Arrow, although he grew up in Tulsa as Ralph Blane Hunsecker.  Blane graduated from Tulsa’s Central High School, then attended Northwestern University before studying music in New York City.  He changed his name when he found it fit better on Broadway marquees.  He is perhaps best known for composing the classic, "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" for the musical, Meet Me In St. Louis.  Mr. Blane composed over 300 songs and was nominated for a Tony, two Academy Awards, was a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Composers Hall of Fame and the National Academy of Popular Music.  His long-time writing partner was Hugh Martin whom he met on his first job on Broadway when both men were in the chorus.  He was preceded in death by his wife of 45 years, Emajo Stage.

Bob Wills
died 05/13/1975  Fort Worth, TX  age 70

Born James Robert Wills near Kosse, Texas on March 6, 1905. Known as “King of Western Swing”, a blend of big band, jazz and Texas cowboy music.  This combination allowed Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys to remain popular even after the big band era waned after World War II.  His influences included excellent family fiddle players and the African-Americans he heard while picking cotton alongside them in Texas fields as a child.  In 1934, Wills and his band moved to Tulsa to begin their live broadcasts on radio station KVOO-AM from the Cain’s Ballroom.  These were heard through the Midwest and were wildly popular, as were his records and compositions, including the well known “San Antonio Rose”.  In addition, he and his band appeared in thirteen films between 1935 and 1947.  Wills received so much fan mail while serving in the Army in World War II, he was discharged after only a year because of his disruptive fame.  His musical influence can still be heard today in the music of country artists such as Asleep At The Wheel, Merle Haggard, and George Strait, as well as in many other genres including rockabilly, jazz, and rock.  In his own words, “Rock and roll?  Why man, that’s the same kind of music we’ve been playing since 1928!”  He is buried in Memorial Park Cemetery in Tulsa.

J. B. Wilson
died 06/10/2004   Tulsa, OK   age 77

Owner of Wilson's Bar-B-Q, a popular barbecue restaurant in the Greenwood District of Tulsa.  Wilson, who moved to Tulsa from Clearview, Oklahoma in 1941, learned to cook from his father.  He became a professional cook at Bishops Restaurant in downtown Tulsa before opening his own restaurant, Luvenia's.  He eventually purchased a barbecue restaurant and café at Greenwood Avenue and Marshall Street. He later closed the café and concentrated on barbecue. In 1972, his business moved to 1522 E. Apache Street, where it resides today.  Wilson's has been a favorite of many of Tulsa's musicians over the years, including Leon Russell, who has it catered to his annual birthday bash.