How/Why Did Wes Die?

[Brad Craig]

I am a neophyte Wes Montgomery enthusiast and am curious why he died
so young.

Brad Craig
youn...@ix.netcom.com

[Tom Jaffe]

Wes died from a heart attack.

[Cindy Berg]

Brad Craig wrote:
>
> I am a neophyte Wes Montgomery enthusiast and am curious why he died
> so young.
>
> Brad Craig
> youn...@ix.netcom.com

Take a look at the cover of Day in the Life - says it all.

[CLAY MOORE]

Yep, Wes was a smoker and overweight. He also worked an extreme number
of hours before being discovered- a day job at a factory, a regular gig
and then and after hours gig. He slept on gig breaks and coffee breaks
at work. Also, despite being probably the most relaxed sounding guitar
player you'd want to name he suffered from hypertension. All of these
things can of course shorten you life and make you susceptible to heart
attacks.
--
Clay Moore

We are told that talent creates its own opportunities. Yet, it sometimes
seems that intense desire creates not only its own opportunities, but
its own talents as well. -Bruce Lee

[Dr. Willie Yee]

Cindy Berg wrote:
>
> Brad Craig wrote:
> >
> > I am a neophyte Wes Montgomery enthusiast and am curious why he died
> > so young.
> >
> > Brad Craig
> > youn...@ix.netcom.com
> Take a look at the cover of Day in the Life - says it all.

Wes had high blood pressure. He also worked incredible hours trying
to support a lot of kids. He said that he got headaches every time
he solo'd, which may have influenced his willingness to do all
the pop stuff he did in his later years.

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[BillWynne2]

In article <335B73...@eesjobs.com>, Tom Jaffe <tja...@eesjobs.com>
writes:

>> I am a neophyte Wes Montgomery enthusiast and am curious why he died
>> so young.

Did he die? In my house, he is very much alive and well.

It's hell to lose such artists. But they do leave their legacy. As long
as I have a bevy of Wes albums, he is alive in my heart and my head. I
can't play an octave passage without thinking of him...

Bill Wynne
Guitarist
Philadelphia

E ho'omau ana i na mele Hawai'i ma Philadelphia nei...

Bill Wynne Na Hanai Productions Philadelphia, PA
http://members.aol.com/nahanai/index.html

[Olidunskus]

he did not take drugs
he did not drink alcohol
but he was overweight, chain smoker and lived too fast, i mean he did more
in his 45 years
(yes, he was born in 1923, not in 1925) than others do in their lifetime.
just like mozart, who also died too young but left a huge legacy. some
people say he was also pushed by his record company to tour more and more
and work hard, but i think he would have died earlier even without being
successful. he died of a heart disease, and his wife serene found him in
front of the house, i read, but i also read that he died in her arms.
Oliver Dunskus, Steinkribbenstr. 7, D 40597 Duesseldorf, Germany
Author of "THE WES MONTGOMERY DISCOGRAPHY 1948 - 1968"
Write to me about Wes !

[Greg West]

He probably died of brain-strain from playing those freakin' octaves all
the time. That would take it's toll on anyone!

GW

[Tom Jaffe]

Sounds like you are suffering from the same ailment.

[Mike41077]

I think Wes died of a heart attack. He had been taking glycerine for
some kind of heart condition that he never wanted to talk to anyone about.
He had also endured incredible amounts of stress during his life. Imaging
spending 20 years trying to make it as a jazz guitarist, all the while
supporting a wife and kids. In addition, he never flew anywhere except
England in '65 for a BBC broadcast. During his tour with Lionel Hampton's
orchestra in '48, he had gigs on opposite coasts within days of each
other. He drove to every one of these gigs. Can you imagine? Wes was a
truly amazing guy as well as a first-rate musician.

-Mike

[JFR]

How about Grant Green? Any other info on this guy's life would be
useful as well.

Thanks.

[TPennin572]

Grant Green died of a heart attack in 1979 after spending most of his life
as Wes Montgomery's East-Coast counterpart.

[reality....@gmail.com]

Wes Montgomery was NOT overweight. I have tons of pictures of him and if you Google images of him you won't find one where he is significantly overweight. In fact, he always looked quite muscular, if anything.

A smoker, sure. But some people smoke for 60 years and don't die of a heart attack. Smoking is unhealthy, but rarely causes you to die of heart failure at the age of 45. Anyone who thinks that reads too many health clinic brochures.

This being said, it's a good bet his supposed 'overweight' physique and smoking had nothing to do with his heart attack. High blood pressure, hypertension and tons of stress are what did it.

[Mr. Maj6th]

On Thu, 18 Aug 2016 23:08:42 -0700 (PDT), reality....@gmail.com
wrote:

>Wes Montgomery was NOT overweight. I have tons of pictures of him and if you Google images of him you won't find one where he is significantly overweight. In fact, he always looked quite muscular, if anything.
>
>A smoker, sure. But some people smoke for 60 years and don't die of a heart attack. Smoking is unhealthy, but rarely causes you to die of heart failure at the age of 45. Anyone who thinks that reads too many health clinic brochures.
>
>This being said, it's a good bet his supposed 'overweight' physique and smoking had nothing to do with his heart attack. High blood pressure, hypertension and tons of stress are what did it.

I think his heart stopped!

Maj6th

[ott...@hotmail.com]

On Tuesday, 22 April 1997 03:00:00 UTC-4, Dr. Willie Yee wrote:
> Cindy Berg wrote:
> >
> > Brad Craig wrote:
> > >

> > > I am a neophyte Wes Montgomery enthusiast and am curious why he died
> > > so young.
> > >

> > > Brad Craig

> > > > > Take a look at the cover of Day in the Life - says it all.
>
> Wes had high blood pressure. He also worked incredible hours trying
> to support a lot of kids. He said that he got headaches every time
> he solo'd, which may have influenced his willingness to do all
> the pop stuff he did in his later years.
>
>

It was my understanding that he got those headaches when he was learning/practising his Octave stuff?
Bg

[Tim McNamara]

Wes was famously a teetotaler. In bars he drank orange juice. So
alcohol was not a contributor. I have never heard any stories about Wes
using other drugs.

He worked a day job as a machinist and at night as a musician, which
means he likely slept very little on a consistent basis. Chronic sleep
deprivation is a known risk factor for a number of diseases including
heart disease. He had a lot of kids and, as a jazz musician, probably
didn't make a shitload of money (especially the way record labels tended
to rip off artists in those days and probably still do). So he wold
have had economic stress. He also would have had stress associated wth
traveling and touring- eating restaurant food whcih tends to be high in
fat and sodium, irregular sleep hours and poor quality sleep when you
get it, and of course as a black man he was subjected to racism pretty
much wherever he went in America- which is another stressor. When he
died he had just returned from a tour- long hours traveling increases
the risk of forming blood clots in the legs, which can break loose and
travel to the heart or lungs. And he was a smoker.

So I think it's reasonable to suppose that Wes died from a number of
contributors culminating in a massive heart attack. Given that his
death occurred so quickly, probably an arrythmia since he had enough
time to say he didn't feel well immediately prior to dying.

http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/guide/sudden-cardiac-death

[Gerry]

On 2016-08-19 06:08:42 +0000, reality....@gmail.com said:

> Wes Montgomery was NOT overweight. I have tons of pictures of him and
> if you Google images of him you won't find one where he is
> significantly overweight. In fact, he always looked quite muscular, if
> anything.
>
> A smoker, sure. But some people smoke for 60 years and don't die of a
> heart attack. Smoking is unhealthy, but rarely causes you to die of
> heart failure at the age of 45. Anyone who thinks that reads too many
> health clinic brochures.

Smoking is a contributing factor to heart issues, just like avoiding
exercise, eating a high-colesterol diet and other such things. Blood
pressure is a significant component too, and there are many millions
with high blood pressure that go untreated. It was a significantly
higher percentage in the late 60's, and higher still among black folk.
Still is.

> This being said, it's a good bet his supposed 'overweight' physique and
> smoking had nothing to do with his heart attack. High blood pressure,
> hypertension and tons of stress are what did it.

Hypertenstion *is* high blood pressure.

"...*MAY* have been what did it." Nobody here knows or can tell from
this distance.

[jazzguy]

On Monday, April 21, 1997 at 12:00:00 AM UTC-7, Brad Craig wrote:
> I am a neophyte Wes Montgomery enthusiast and am curious why he died
> so young.
>
> Brad Craig

> youn...@ix.netcom.com

I recall reading that Wes took a lot of NoDoz and drank lots of coffee. Donno if that's true, but perhaps the added caffeine was a contributing force? I also read Wes was afraid of flying and would drive 2 days straight rather than take a 2 hr flight. All of the aforementioned comments about working day & night, plus his growing popularity in 1968 suggests it is logical that stress could also be a huge factor. It's been said if you survive your FIRST heart attack, most likely you'll survive the 2nd. Reason: ya know what how a heart attack feels. Many guys in the graveyard because they didn't think it was a heart attack.

[Tim]

I've had at least 5 heart attacks and didn't know it. I thought I had a pinched nerve in my neck right between the shoulder blades. I'd go sit down, twist around and something would pop, then thee pain was gone and I'd go push the lawnmower or weed eater again.

The day after thanksgiving last year it hit me and this timee it wouldn't let up. my wife said I was white as a ghost and took me to the ER.

To make the longer story short, for my 60th birthday, I have a stent in my LAD (widow maker) and that's it. No bypasses, no nothing. They can't because of too much dead tissue. I have two arteries 100% clogged and nothing to do for them. like chiseling thorough gristle.

All in all I hate eating artificially-flavored air, and sometimes I twist off and get a Burger King gut buster, but rarely. Anyhow, I feel great.

Oh, and beside the stent, for my 60th birthday present to me, and after 40 years, I quit smoking on the spot.

WMMV

[Gerry]

On 2016-08-20 02:27:51 +0000, Tim said:

> The day after thanksgiving last year it hit me and this timee it
> wouldn't let up. my wife said I was white as a ghost and took me to the
> ER.
> To make the longer story short, for my 60th birthday, I have a stent in
> my LAD (widow maker) and that's it. No bypasses, no nothing. They can't
> because of too much dead tissue. I have two arteries 100% clogged and
> nothing to do for them. like chiseling thorough gristle.
>
> All in all I hate eating artificially-flavored air, and sometimes I
> twist off and get a Burger King gut buster, but rarely. Anyhow, I feel
> great.
>
> Oh, and beside the stent, for my 60th birthday present to me, and after
> 40 years, I quit smoking on the spot.
> WMMV

Had you not done regular check-ups, like the periodic ekg and such?

[Tim]

Sure. and they're not trustworthy. at 58 My doc looked at all the results and said I had the heart of an 18 year old. go figure. LOL

[Gerry]

On 2016-08-20 11:40:56 +0000, Tim said:

>> Had you not done regular check-ups, like the periodic ekg and such?
>
> Sure. and they're not trustworthy.

"And such" is not trustworthy?

> at 58 My doc looked at all the results and said I had the heart of an
> 18 year old. go figure. LOL

Yikes. I would recommend you get another doctor.

[Tim]

After my physical, the Dr. said all was good, the EKG said all was good, the stress test said all as good, 6 mo later I'm getting a culvert crammed in an artery to keep me alive. Now , who was I not supposed to believe?

[Gerry]

I can't project what you should believe, or that you should get another
doctor either, by the way.

I don't know why you did the ekg and stress test. Perhaps you were
looking for the source of periodic palpations or frequent fainting--I
have no idea. I don't know how old you are now, so it's tough to know
how long ago "58" and the 18-year old's heart was.

Nevertheless, I don't think EKG's and stress tests (I assume it was one
of those things where they hook you up and then you get on a walking
machine) are *untrustworthy*, I just don't think they tell the entire
story.

[Tim]

OK, here we go. I thought it would be good to have a total physical. That's why the EKG. Actually I was 59,I mis-typed the '58"and the physical--blood work, chest x-ray, prostate, root reaming, EKG, the works... was done in February of last year. All is good to go. I was experiencing a "pinched nerve in my neck" syndrome in the summer of last year.

The day after thanksgiving of last year I developed a pain between my shoulder blades that wouldn't let up, so I went to the ER to find some relief, because my chiropractor was out of town. That's when the ER's ekg found the heart attack and blood test shows a way un-balance of enzymes.

So, November 29th of LAST YEAR (2015) happened to be my 60th birthday, and on THAT day they went through my right wrist over to my heart and implanted a stent in my LAD. And that's why I'm still alive.

It isn't that hard o figure out, man. I'm beyond fortunate. by all rights I should have died, but I didn't.

BTW, you just said,

> I can't project what you should believe, or that you should get another
> doctor either, by the way.

However in a previous comment you said

> >> Yikes. I would recommend you get another doctor.

Alrighty now...

[Gerry]

On 2016-08-21 03:39:34 +0000, Tim said:

> BTW, you just said,
>> I can't project what you should believe, or that you should get another
>> doctor either, by the way.
>
> However in a previous comment you said
>> Yikes. I would recommend you get another doctor.
>
> Alrighty now...

Right--that was me *taking back* what I said, since I don't have the
necessary skills to make health recommendations least of all to "a guy
on the internet" who has medical issues. I'm glad you noticed it.

Glad you're doing better!

[kyodoco...@gmail.com]

Thank you for your insight.

You're absolutely correct. He was not overweight. Yes, he was a "big" guy but he was taller and had a larger frame but Wes not heavy and I've seen thousands of photos and he was not overweight. The high blood pressure, hypertension, stress and contrary to what you say, the smoking, I believe, was a contributing factor.

I'm glad to see that someone pointed out this bit about his "weight issue". Raising a large family, crazy travel and the sort adds up to a LOT of stress.

[Gerry]

Thank you both for your medical evaluation of Wes Montgomery. In future
medical charts you might want to put an asterisk by at least one
element: Hypertension is another name for "high blood pressure": They
are the same thing.

I'm glad to hear that smoking will "rarely cause you to die of heart
failure at the age of 45." But opening it up to a broader range of age
(say from 10-90), "...smoking cigarettes also affects the heart and
blood vessels and remains one of the most *preventable* causes of heart
disease." You can google to find a few hundred pages corroborating that
information.

Those among us without a medical background only know that Wes
Montgomery died of a heart attack. We can't possibly divine that
family size or "crazy travel" had anything at all to do with it. There
are many who find neither of these stressful, but in fact relaxing. Wes
may well have had a predeliction for cholesterol and high blood
pressure; statistically, African-Americans do, even without smoking.
Both of these can lead to heard desease.

And now an analysis of what *really* killed Duke Ellington, Audie
Murphy and Ty Cobb...

[kyodoco...@gmail.com]

Yes. Thanks for the clarification as I have a relative with hypertension and know the difference. My mistake for being redundant in my statement as I was trying simply adding to a conversation. As for the smoking, I did not suggest that it wasn't a contributing factor, that would have been the other person who made that remark. I merely pointed out that he was not overweight.

You could have made your point without making pompous remarks such as "adding asterisks" and "those of us without a medical background". Your points might be salient but really lost with your delivery.

And nobody is "divining" when they talk how large his family was and the stresses associated with it. That is a fact, not a supposition or guess. Two of his brothers, Buddy and Monk, who had been interviewed about Wes having to shoulder a lot with these responsibilities as a husband and father. I guess they were also "divining".

But what would they know. They were only his brothers.

[James Seaberry]

Lets leave the snippiness to our governmental leaders please. There is too much good information here without it.

[Gerry]

Yes, I could have, but that wouldn't underscore the pomposity of your claims.

I don't like these bogus "facts", you don't like my punctuation. Fair trade.

> And nobody is "divining" when they talk how large his family was and
> the stresses associated with it. That is a fact, not a supposition or
> guess. Two of his brothers, Buddy and Monk, who had been interviewed
> about Wes having to shoulder a lot with these responsibilities as a
> husband and father. I guess they were also "divining".

Millions of people "shoulder responsibilities" without heart desease;
this is not a confirmation regarding the medical details of his
passing. Calling this "divining" as the "cause of death" is accurate.

Some people live a life of vastly greater stress and don't have heart
attacks. It could have been a contributing factor, or it could have
been irrelevant, just like his consumption of fried chicken, or
cigarettes. You haven't hardly walked back enough. Along with you two,
his brothers also aren't medical personnel.

> But what would they know. They were only his brothers.

I'm glad you've underscored that: A sibling relationship too confers no
medical expertise.

[kyodoco...@gmail.com]

Okay. You need to fulfill some void in your life with your insistence of persisting in the usage of $7.00 words and loquacious dialogue. If it makes you feel better, have the last word and you tell all your friends how clever you are. I promise, I won't respond.

[Gerry]

Thanks, I think it would indeed make me feel better to add this: I've
talked big about things I knew little about, or boasted at various
points in my life, and had people call my bluff. I felt foolish and
then I did what you can't: I said I was wrong, and when appropriate, I
apologized. It was so much easier than dragging out the pretense. Hell,
I've made friends through that kind of honesty.

What I didn't do was whine about the other guy's punctuation,
rhetorical style, and "$7 dollar words". While on that topic,
"loquacious dialogue", would imply that both us were verbose; I think
"monologue" or "soliloquy" was the word you might have been searching
for. And "insistence of persisting": Kind of repetitively repetitive,
no?

Ah, that void in my soul that can only be filled by speaking reasonably
to others has been filled!

[marty cox]