BIRTHDAYS
1943     Mick Abrahams, Guitar, b. Luton, Bedfordshire, England. founder of 'Jethro Tull', and a solo artist
1935     Bobby Bare, C&W vocals, b. Ironton, OH, USA. né: Robert Joseph Bare.
1975     Victoria Adams Beckham. vocals. Member group: 'Spice Girls'. (Vicky was "Posh Spice")
1947     Patricia Bennett, vocals, b. New York, NY, USA. Member group: 'The Chiffons'
1951     Bob Berg, Tenor-soprano Sax, b: New York, NY, USA, d: Dec. 5, 2002, East Hampton, NY, USA Just age 51, when he died in an Auto Accident (cement truck skidded across a snow-filled road and rammed his auto -an SUV). His wife, Arja, 52, who was also in the car, suffered facial lacerations and two broken arms. Berg, began his musical career in the l960s when he attended New York City's 'High School of Performing Arts' and then 'The Juilliard School'. Over a decade or so, he toured and regularly recorded with several bands, including Horace Silver and Cedar Walton among others. He developed a hard bop similar to John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins and Wayne Shorter. In 1984, made several World tours as a member of the Miles Davis orchestra. His solo albums include "In the Shadows", "Enter the Spirit", "Virtual Reality" and "Riddles".
1943     Alan Buck, drums, b. April 7, 1943, Brierfield, Lancashire, England, UK. Member group: 'The Four Pennies', comprised of Lionel Morton (vocals/rhythm guitar, b. August 14, 1942, Blackburn, Lancashire, England), Fritz Fryer (lead guitar, b. David Roderick Carnie Fryer, Dec. 6, 1944, Oldham, England), Mike Wilsh (bass, b. July 21, 1945, Stoke-on-Trent, England) and Alan Buck (drums, b. April 7, 1943, Brierfield, Lancashire, England). They scored a notable UK number 1 hit in 1964 with "Juliet" - a Morton-penned ballad
1893     Irene Castle, Dancer. Member: 'The Castles' - Vernon and Irene. (Did you know she was active in the Anti-Vivisection movement.)
1960     Simon Climie, Keyboards/Drum/Programming/Vocals (Background)/Synthesizer Bass/Producer.
1932     Louis "Mr. Bo" Collins, blues singer/guitar, b. Indianola, MS, USA.
1951     John Dittrich, C&W vocals, b. New York, NY, USA.
1948     Carol Douglas, vocals. b. USA. Member group: '- The Chantels'
1938     Spencer Dryden, drums, b. New York, NY, USA. d. Jan. 10, 2004, Penngrove, CA, USA (colon and stomach cancer). Member group: 'Jefferson Airplane', a group consisting of Marty Balin (vocals; b. Jan. 30, 1943), Jack Casady (bass; b. April 13, 1944), Spencer Dryden (drums; b. April 7, 1938), Paul Kantner (vocals, guitar; b. March 17,1941), Jorma Kaukonen (guitar, vocals; b. Dec. 23, 1940), and Grace Slick (vocals, keyboards, flute, recorder; b. Oct. 30, 1939). Spencer was born to Wheeler and Alice Dryden. Wheeler was a British stage actor then working on Broadway, and Alice Chapple was a prima ballerina the Radio City Music Hall Ballet Company. Spencer was also the nephew of famed actor Charlie Chaplin. At age 13 or 14, Spencer began to accompany his father to Jazz clubs. Early on, drummer Ray Bauduc became his mentor. Bauduc had played with Jimmy Dorsey and Bob Crosby, and was working with Jack Teagarden and playing Dixieland Jazz at the time. Spencer later told interviewers that ".....(Bauduc) took me under his arm. He was a real character - pencil-thin moustache, slicked back hair. He was a hipster." He grew up playing drums in various Los Angeles venues, and later was working as a drummer with 'The Ashes' at Hollywood strip club, the Pink Pussycat, when session drummer, Earl Palmer intruced him to 'Jefferson Airplane's' manager. During his stint with the Airplane Dryden had an affair in 1967 with their outrageous singer Grace Slick. In 1970 , Dryden left 'Jefferson Airplane' and joined 'The New Riders of the Purple Sage', remaining with that group until 1978. In recent years, Spencer had been plagued with bad luck. A hip replacement left him permanently disabled. In September 2003, a fire destroyed his home, together with all his possessions and memorabilia. Just three weeks after the fire, he suffered a heart attack and was told he needed cardiac surgery. All throughout 2004, his friends and family worked tirelessly (including hosting a benefit concert in Dryden's honor), to raise funds for the procedure. In May 2004, Dryden told a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle "....."I'm gone, I'm out of it. I've left the building.". And, just a few months later, he "left the building" permanently.
1950     Steve Ellis, drums, b. Edgware, London, England, UK. né: Stephen John Ellis. Member group: 'Love Affair'
1908     Percy Faith, leader/piano/arranger, b: Toronto, Canada, d. Feb. 9, 1976, Encino, CA, USA.
1934     Victor Stanley Feldman Piano/vibes/drums/percussion, b. London, England, d. May 12, 1987, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
1919     Ralph Flanagan, Leader, b. Loraine, OH, USA.
1921     Charles Fox, author/music critic, b. Weymouth, UK
1952     Bruce Gary, drums, b. Burbank, CA, USA. Member group: 'The Knack'
1916     Roy "Whitey" Grant, C&W Guitar/vocals, b. Shelby, NC, USA. Member: The Briarhoppers (aka WBT Briarhoppers), a Bluegrass group formed in 1935 and comprised of "Whitey" Grant, Arval Hogan (Mandolin, b. July 24, 1911, Robbinsville, North Carolina, USA), Shannon Grayson (Banjo/Mandolin, b. Sept. 30, 1916, Sunshine, North Carolina, USA), Garnet B. (Hank) Warren (Fiddle/Saw/Mandolin, b. April 1, 1909, Mount Airy, North Carolina, USA), Don White (Vocals, b. September 25, 1909, Wolfe Creek, West Virginia, USA) and Walden Whytsell (Bass/Steel Guitar). Over time, other members included: "Big Bill" Davis (dec’d), Homer Lee Drye (dec’d), Homer Christopher (dec’d), Sam Poplin, David Deese, Cecil Campbell (dec’d), Claude Casey, Fred Kirby and Arthur Smith
1921     Alvin Cooper "Al" Hayse, Trombone, b. Detroit, MI, USA. d. May. 1982
1915     Billie Holiday, vocals, b. Baltimore, MD, USA, d. July 17, 1959, New York, NY, USA. née: Eleanora Fagan Gough. Married name: Eleanor McKay. Her father, Clarence Holiday, played banjo/guitar in Fletcher Henderson band during 1930s. One of the definitive Jazz voices from the late 1930s through the 1940s, when she died of severe drug abuse. In 1929, Billie came to New York with her mother, and began singing in various Harlem clubs including Pod and Jerry's (Preston) Log Cabin; the Yeah Man, and others. Benny Goodman discovered her, and (in Nov. 1933) she made her recording debut with Goodman's orchestra, but her real fame came from recordings made in 1935-'39 with Teddy Wilson's orch., whom she had met when both were in the Goodman band. In 1937, she was singing with Count Basie band, and in 1938 with the Artie Shaw band. During the '40s and 50s, she was a solo attraction touring the USA and first toured Europe in 1954, and again in '58. This writer still recalls her soul-stirring rendition of "Strange Fruit", - a song that spoke of the Lynching of poor Blacks in the American south. (The bodies hanging from the tree limbs were indeed strange fruit.) Perhaps her best kn own recordings are "Billie's Blues" (1936) and "God Bless' the Child That's Got His Own" - (composed: Arthur Herzog, Jr., and Billie Holiday. Publ'd: Edward B. Marks Music Corporation, 1941) - a swing-spiritual based on the authentic proverb "God Blessed the Child That Got His Own." The tune continued the tradition of Bessie Smith's, (1929) "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out", which in turn built on Cecil Mack's "All In, Down and Out" (1906). Continuing generations of African American songwriters are thus joined in bringing the message that in difficult times, individuals must rely upon their own resources. Her last years were tragic, with endless battles with Narcotic addiction that took their toll on her voice - and body. In June 1959, she made her last appearance at New York's Phoenix Theater. Just a few days later she was taken to a hospital. Due to USA laws where Narcotic Addiction is a crime, she was arrested on her hospital bed.
1938     Freddie Hubbard, Trumpet/flugelhorn, b. Indianpolis, IN, USA. Also worked with Art Blakey.
1918     "Peanuts" Hucko, Clarinet/tenor sax, b. Syracuse, NY, USA. d. June 19, 2003, Fort Worth, TX, USA. né: Michael Andrew Hucko. His wife, famed vocalist Louise Tobin, was with him when he passed away at Harris Methodist Hospital, in Fort Worth, TX, where he died after a long battle with medical problems that included pneumonia, fluid and finally, heart failure. He once told interviewers that he came by his famous nickname at age 11, when his musical ability won him a spot as a saxophonist on the Blodgett Vocational High School marching band. His position was between two tall musicians, and they started calling him "Peanuts." He moved to New York City, after high school, where, for over 12 years, he worked as a saxophoist on national radio broadcasts and local commercials. In 1941, during WWII, he joined the U.S. Army, and also switched to the clarinet. (He later told interviewers that it handled easier while marching in the band.) Hucko soon joined Glenn Miller's star-packed Army Air Forces Orchestra, remaining with the band till the end of World War II. After his service discharge, Hucko later would play with bands led by Goodman, Ray McKinley, Louis Armstrong, Eddie Condon, Jack Teagarden, Al Hirt, and others. During the early 1970s, he was a featured player on "The Lawrence Welk Show" . During this same period, he led the Glenn Miller Orchestra, returning the band to its musical roots. Hucko and his famous singer wife, Louise Tobin, were married for 39 years. She was a Big Band singer who performed with Goodman, Harry James (her first husband), Louis Armstrong and others. All throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Hucko, accompanied by his wife, toured Japan, Europe and elsewhere as both a soloist and a member of several Jazz groups . He appeared regularly at the Newport Jazz Festival and other major Jazz events. But by 1998, he began to suffer health problems, although he did perform at the Syracuse Jazz Festival that year. However, within a year, after a suspected stroke and growing problems with pneumonia, he had to give up performing because fluid in his lungs made it impossible to blow into his clarinet, Over a 17-year-span, Jazz trumpeter Tommy Bridges often performed with Hucko. (Bridges was only age 16 when he first appeared with Hucko at the Dinkler, a local home of Jazz performers at that time. His wife Louise was still singing then.) In 1995, his hometown honored him by placing a bronze-and-granite star in the sidewalk outside the Landmark Theatre in downtown Syracuse, NY. Speaking to reporters after his death, Louise said that, in 1995, at the Walk of Stars ceremony he expressed awe that he was sharing an honor also received by so many other famous Syracuse natives, including the late Hollywood composer Jimmy Van Heusen. Louise recalled that Van Heusen also happened to be one of Hucko's biggest fans. She said "He used to come to a club where we played, and he'd just sit there and cry. He'd say, 'Peanuts, that's the most beautiful sound I ever heard.'". Hucko was one of the last of the surviving Jazz greats who helped to make the 'Big Bands', and their music into a mainstream phenomenon of the 1940s and 1950s. Upon learning of Hucko's demise, Frank Malfitano, founder and executive director of the Syracuse Jazz Fest, told a reporter "We lost another great. The Jazz world has lost a true originator. But he stayed around longer than most. Longevity isn't something you see a lot of in music, and Peanuts had a great run."
1951     Janis Ian, (Folk) vocals. b. New York, NY, USA.
1949     Willie James, guitar, b. West Point, GA, USA.
1964     Mark Kibble, vocals. Member group: 'Take 6'
1946     Bill Kreutzmann, drums, b. Palo Alto, CA, USA. Member group: 'The Grateful Dead'.
1944     Pat LaBarbara, Tenor-soprano Sax, b. Warsaw, NY, USA.
1938     Peter Sims "Pete" LaRoca, Drums, b. New York, NY, USA.
1912     Jack Lawrence, lyricist, b. New York (Brooklyn), NY, USA
1887     Isaiah Morgan, Cornet, b. Bertrandville, LA, USA. d. 1966, USA.
1928     Jimmy "T-99" Nelson, vocals, b. Philadelphia, PA, USA.
1909     Ernie Newton, (Country) bass,
1949     John Oates, vocals, b. New York, NY, USA. Member group: 'Hall and Oates'
1922     Mongo Santamaria, Conga drums/leader, b. Havana, Cuba, d: Feb. 1, 2003, Miami, FL, USA. (stroke). né: Ramon Santamaria. Perhaps his best known records were "Afro Blue" and a remake of "Watermelon Man". Worked with Tito Puente, Perez Prado, Ray Charles and Cal Tjader.
1938     Alex von Schlippenbach, Piano, b. Berlin, Germany
1947     Florian Schneider-Esleben, keyboardist b. Düsseldorf, Germany. aka: Florian Schneider. Member group: 'Kraftwerk'
1914     Leon "Pappy" Selph, (C&W) fiddler/bandleader, b. Houston, TX, USA.
1920     Ravi Shankar, Sitar, b. Varanasi, West Bengal, India. - happily alive and well in 1999. His daughter, Norah Jones, is also quite musically active.
1918     Johnny Simmen, Writer/music critic, b. Brugg, Switzerland
1932     Calvin Smith, guitar/vocals, b. Gans, OK, USA (raised San Francisco Bay area). né: Calvin Grant Shofner,
1937     Charlie Thomas, vocals, b. New York, NY, USA. Member group: 'The Drifters'
1907     Harry Volpe, guitar, b. Grotte, Sicily, d. Jan. 1995, Miami, FL, USA. By 1919, Volpe was living in In New York city, and playing the Banjo in a "Barber shop" trio. In 1921, he formed his first group : "The Aurora Troubadours", in which he played the guitar. 1922 found him working on the RKO Vaudeville Circuit Tour. During the years 1924-1932, he was a member of the Ted Navarre Band. He became friends with violinist Al Dufy, and during 1932-1935, after a NBC auditon, he became the lead guitar with New York's famed 'Radio City Music Hall Orchestra', with Erno Rapee and Charles Previn as musical directors. During this period, he recorded a duet with guitarist Karl Kress, toured with the Vincent Lopez Orchestra, and was also heard in some NBC and CBS's broadcasts. During the 1936-1941 years, he opened the "Volpe's Guitar Center", in New York city, which soon became a meeting point for such musicians as Tony Mottola, Sal Salvador, Al Caiola, and others. He also founded his own musical publishing house, Volpe Music Company. He made some Decca Recordings with guitarist Frank Victor, and with 'The Volpe Quartet'. The Gretcsh Corporation introduced their new 'Synchromatic 400 Harry Volpe Model' Jazz guitar. From 1941 to '45, he worked with Paramount and with RCA, as well as concertizing with his own group "Strings in Rhythm". He was also writing, and contributed articles to such music magazines as Metronome, Orchestra World, Fretted Harmony, and B.M.G. In 1946, he met, and had an all-nioht 'jam session' with legendary Gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt, who was then in New York on a Duke Ellington tour. The years 1948-1953 must have been rather difficult for Volpe. Among other things, he, and his quartet, performed in the Broadway play "The Time of the Cuckoo", starring actresses Shirley Booth and Geraldine Brooks. He gave a (NYC) Town Hall concert, and conducted the Pan-American Orchestra in SESAC-Columbia recordings. But, the most difficult part of this time was his separation from his wife. Because of legal questions, he lost his SESAC (USA performance licensing group) royalties, due to the fact that his "Volpe Music" had his wife listed as owner. Perhaps because of his own lawyer's legal strategy, he briefly went to jail, during which time, his friend, editor Charles Colin, helped him to re-acquire the books and all the press machines of 'The Volpe's Center'. He was quickly released, and once out from jail, he settled in Miami, Florida, where he continued his legal battles, as well as forming a trio for local performances. In 1954, he was teaching at the Frost Conservatory. Among his pupils (here and at New York) are Sal Salvador, Al Caiola, Tony Mottola, Joe Pass, John Colens, and Johnny Smith. The Epiphone Corporation produced a "Harry Volpe" model. Besides TV shows and jazz clubs concerts, he also appeared in a Fort Lauderdale concert with the Symphony Orchestra directed by Vasilios Priakos. He was also involved as a co-publisher with the Charles Hansen Co. During 1955-1960, he appeared at Miami Beach's Eden Rock Hotel, and played with such stars as Cab Calloway, Nat "King" Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Jimmie Durante, Count Basie, and Perry Como. His trio was also seen on Arthur Godfrey's TV show. During the 1960-1995 years, besides tea drumching at the Miami-Dade Junior College, he continued publishing with Charles Hansen. In January 1995, the world lost a fine gentleman, and wonderful guitarist.
1909     "Sonny Boy" Williamson, (blues) guitar/vocals, b. USA. d. May 25, 1965, USA.
         Notable Events occuring this date include:
1924.    Bessie Smith recorded "Bo Weavil Blues". (Robert Robbins played viola and Irving Johns on piano)
1963.    Marion Fox, vocals, died in San Antonio, TX, USA. Age:45
1976.    Jimmy Garrison, bass, died in New York, NY, USA. Age:42
1980.    Jack Brown, label owner (Fortune), died in Detroit, MI, USA.
1987.    Vocalist Maxine Sullivan ("Loch Lomond") died in New York (Bronx), NY, USA. She was 75.
1989.    Clyde Moody died in Nashville, TN, USA. Age: 73. This singer/songwriter/string player was one of Bill Monroe's original 'Blue Grass Boys'.
1991.    Henry Glover, trumpet/arranger/songwriter/producer, died in New York (St.Albans), NY, USA. Age:69
1994.    Ken Carson, vocalist with the Sons of the Pioneers, died in Delray Beach, FL, USA. Age: 79
1994.    Lee Brilleaux, harmonica/guitar, died in London, UK. Age: 41
          Songs Recorded/Released this date include:
     1954 "Little Things Mean A Lot", Kallen, Kitty
     1954 "Man Upstairs", Starr, Kay
     1956 "Ivory Tower", Carr, Cathy
     1956 "Long Tall Sally", Little Richard
     1958 "There's Only One Of You", Four Lads
     1958 "Twilight Time", Platters
     1958 "Return To Me", Martin, Dean
     1958 "Believe What You Say", Nelson, Ricky
     1958 "Book Of Love", Monotones
     1962 "Stranger On The Shore", Bilk, Acker Mr.
     1962 "Twist, Twist Senora", Bonds, Gary "U.S."
     1962 "She Cried", Jay & The Americans
     1979 "Love Is The Answer", England Dan and John Ford Coley
     1990 "Hold On", Wilson Phillips
     1990 "This Old Heart Of Mine", Stewart, Rod