BIRTHDAYS
1908      Don Albert, Trumpet, b. New Orleans, LA, USA, d. 1980. Don was the nephew of Natty Donimique, and he was trained by Lorenzo Tio Jr. and Milford Piron. During the 1930s, Don led a San Antonio, Texas based Swing band. During the 1930s, Southland Records recorded him playing with Louis Cottrell Jr. and Paul Barbarin. In 1962, he recorded with the 'Alamo Jazz Band' in San Antonio, Texas.
1929      John Armatage, Drums, b. New Castle, England
1940      Bobby Braddock, C&W singer-songwriter, b. Lakeland, FL, USA.
1941      Lenny Breau, Guitar, b. Auburn, ME, USA, d. August 12, 1984, Los Angeles, CA, USA. (an apparent victum of foul play)
1959      Pete Burns, vocals, b. Port Sunlight, Merseyside, England. né:Pete Jozeppi. Member groups: 'Mystery Girls', and 'Dead Or Alive'. 1985 single "You Spin Me Round, Like A Record" charted UK No.1.
1968      Terri Clark, vocals, b. Montreal, Quebec, Canada. née: Terri Sauson.
1960      Stuart Croxford, guitar. Member group: Kajagoogoo. 1983 single "Too Shy" charted UK No.1.
1955      Norman Darwen, music critic ("Blues & Rhythm Magazine"), b. Preston, UK
1907      Ernestine "Tiny" Davis, trumpet/vocals, b. USA, d. Jan. 30, 1994
1947      Rick Derringer né: Zehringer, vocals. Member groups: 'Rock & Roll Hootchie Koo', also leader of 'The McCoys'. ("I am the Real American" -wrestler Hulk Hogan's theme song).
1934      Vern Gosdin, C&W singer/songwriter, b. Woodland, AL, USA. The songs composed by Gosdin have been recorded by Merle Haggard, George Jones, The Byrds, The Burrito Brothers and others. Other vocalists who have recorded with him reads like a list of country music 'Who's Who', and includes Emmylou Harris, Vince Gill, Ricky Skaggs, Tammy Wynette, Randy Travis, George Jones, Janie Fricke, The Jordanaires, Waylon Jennings and Ernest Tubb.
1887      Elmer Grosso leader/violin/trumpet, b. New York, NY, USA, d. Oct. 1970, Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA.
1960      Calvin Hayes, guitar. Member group: Johnny Hates Jazz, 1987 single "Shattered Dreams" charted UK No.5.
1942      Rick Huxley, bass guitar. b. Dartford, Kent, UK. Member group: 'Dave Clark Five'. 1964 single "Glad All Over" charted UK No.1, and 1965 single "Over And Over" charted US No.1.
1930      Damita Jo, vocals, b; Austin TX, USA. d. 1998 née: Damita Jo DuBlanc. In 1949, Black Disc Jockey (in Los Angeles) Joe Adams began to promote her career. She had been appearing at the Club Oasis, in L.A., for a couple of months when the independent label Discovery Records put Joe in charge of their fledgling R&B department. Joe immediately signed Damita. In the spring of 1950, she made her first recording, and in that summer she returned to the Club Oasis, where she appeared with Count Basie and his new sextet featuring Wardell Gray and Buddy DeFranco on saxes. From 1951 to 1953, Damita was the featured vocalist with 'Steve Gibson and the Red Caps', then appearing at the Riviera Club in New Jersey. From 1959 to 1960, she was again with the Red Caps (during which time she was also married to Gibson) then appearing at the Club Martinique, in Wildwood, New Jersey. When the group disbanded in the early sixties, Damita Jo's career continued, but now as a solo performer. Subsequently, she worked as a regular on the Redd Foxx TV series. She also found some success with two solid Pop releases in the early sixties. Her 1960 R&B single 'I'll Save The Last Dance For You' was conceived as an answer to 'Save the Last Dance for Me', -a huge hit for 'The Drifters'. Her 1961 single 'I'll Be There' made it to #12 on the pop charts. While none of her subsequent releases never got that high again, she did remain a popular performer.
1947      Gregory Leskiw, Member group: Guess Who. 1970 single "American Woman" charted US No.1 and UK No.19.
1903      Otto Lington, Violin, b. Copenhagen, Denmark, d. Dec. 15, 1992
1968      Raymond Mack, bass, b. Chicago, IL, USA.
1951      Jemeel Moondoc, alto, soprano and tenor sax, flute.
1941      Airto Moreira, Percussion, b. Itaiopolis, Brazil
1960      Stuart Neale, cello/piano/guitar, b. Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, England, UK. Member group: 'Kajagoogoo'
1963      Mike Nocito, guitar, b. Wiesbaden, Germany. Member group: Johnny Hates Jazz (several top 20 UK charts in 1987-'88.)
1961      Mark O'Connor, C&W fiddler, b. Seattle, WA, USA.
1954      Eddie 'Fingers' Ojeda, guitar, b. New York (The Bronx), NY, USA. Member group: 'Twisted Sister'. (Best recalled release: "We're Not Gonna Take It").
1941      Don Rich, C&W guitar, b. Olympia, WA, USA. Worked with Buck Owens.
1951      "Chuck" Riggs, drums.
1953      Samantha Sang, vocals. Member group: The Emotions. 1977 single "Best Of My Love" charted US No.1, and (with 'Earth Wind and Fire') 1979 single "Boogie Wonder Land" charted UK No.4.
1940      Sigi Schwab, Guitar, b. Ludwigshafen, Germany
1943      Sammi Smith, C&W vocals, b. Orange county, CA, USA. Best recalled release: "Help Me Make It Through The Night".
1926      Jeri Southern, vocalist, b. Royal, Nebraska, USA. d. Aug. 4th, 1991. née:Genevieve Hering.
2006      Rick van der Linden, keyboard/composer, b. ?Hoogeveen, The Netherlands, d. Jan. 22, 2006, Hoogeveen, The Netherlands
1944      Phil Wachsmann, Violin, b. Kampala, Uganda
1946      Jimmy Webb, singer/songwriter, Grammy Award songwriter who wrote the 1968 Richard Harris hit "MacArthur Park", plus "Galverston", and "Up Up and Away".
1966      Robert Wratten, guitar/vocals, b. Carshalton, Surrey., England, UK. Member group: 'Field Mice', -an 'indie-pop' group formed by Robert Wratten and Michael Hisock that broke up after several singles, EPs, and one album (1991's "For Keeps").
         Notable Events on this date include:
1945.     Nat Jaffe, piano, died in New York, NY, USA (Heart attack - due to high blood pressure)
1957.     ABC-TV began telecasting Dick Clark's American Bandstand on its afternoon schedule (thus catching the youngsters just home from school). The show would catapult Clark into national fame. Among the future stars that would appear on the program were Simon and Garfunkel, Bobby Rydell, Fabian, Chubby Checker, Frankie Avalon, and many more.
1955.     Carmen Miranda died in Beverly Hills, CA, USA. Age: 45.
1957.     Joe Hill Louis, guitar/harmonica/drums, died in Memphis, TN, USA. Age: 35 (Tetanus from cut on Thumb).
1962.     Marilyn Monroe, actress/singer, died in Los Angeles, CA, USA. Age: 39. Rarely credited as such, but Marilyn had a very lovely singing voice.
1968.     Luther Perkins, guitar, died in Nashville, TN, USA. Age: 40. Worked with: Johnny Cash
1970.     Otto "Toby" Hardwick, alto sax, died in Washington, DC, USA. Age: 66. Worked with: Duke Ellington
1972.     Mezz Mezzrow, clarinet, died in Paris, France, Age: 72
1983.     Judy Canova, C&W actress/singer died in Los Angeles, CA, USA. Age: 66.
1984.     "Tuts" Washington (aka: "Papa Yellow"), piano, died in New Orleans, LA, USA. Age: 77. (died while performing on stage at the 1984 New Orleans World's Fair. See our Jan. 24 calendar.) Interestingly, "Tuts" identified Joseph Louis "Red" Cayou (né: Caillou), an itinerant New Orleans pianist, as a prime influence on his early playing. "Tuts" was self taught, but at age 18, took formal lessons. When his teacher told him he already knew the basics, "Tuts", turned to "Red" Caillou, whose hands he described as "like lightning." He is frequently credited as a major influence on such New Orleans pianists as "Fats" Domino, "Professor Longhair", James Booker, "Dr. John", and Allen Toussaint.
1985.     Mona Richardson, vocals, died in Melbourne, Australia. Age: 38
1993.     "Duke" Burrell, piano, died in Los Angeles, CA, USA. Age: 73. Worked with: Johnny Otis, and with Louis Jordan
1993.     Bob Cooper, tenor sax, died in Hollywood, California, USA. (b. Dec. 6, 1925, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA)
1998.     Eldon Shamblin, Western Swing guitarist, died. Age: 82.
         Songs Recorded/Released this date include:
1905    "Wait Till The Sun Shines Nellie", - Harry Tally voc. release
1912    "That's How I Need You", - Henry Burr vocal release
1914    "First Brigade March", - Conway's Band. (USA enters WW1)
1923    "Little Pal of Long Ago", - Billy Jones and Ernie Hare voc. (The Happiness Boys)
1924    "Bagdad", - Ray Miller Orch.
1924    "Red Hot Mama", - Ray Miller Orch.
1925    "Funny", Jack Shilkret Orch.
1925    "American Army March", - (Giuseppi) Creatore's Band
1929    "Deep In The Arms Of Love", Roy Ingraham Orch.
1931    "Two Heads In The Moonlight (Are Better Than One)", Victor Young Orch.
1932    "I'll Never Be The Same", - Adelaide Hall vocal release
1932    "I Can't Believe It's True", - Roger Wolfe Kahn Orch.
1937    "Can I Forget You", - Jean Sablon vocal release
1937    "Mon Coeur Pouvait Te Dire", - Jean Sablon vocal release
1937    "Les Deux Caboulots", - Jean Sablon vocal release
1937    "Afraid To Dream", - Jean Sablon vocal release
1941    "Nickel Serenade", - Art Jarrett Orch.
1941    "Delilah", - Art Jarrett Orch.
1957    "Rainbow", - Russ Hamilton
1967    "Baby I Love You", - Aretha Franklin
1972    "Baby, Don't Get Hooked On Me", - Mac Davis
1972    "Rock & Roll Part 2", - Gary Glitter
1978    "Got To Get You Into My Life", - Earth, Wind & Fire
1978    "Kiss You All Over", - Exile
1978    "Hot Child In The City", - Nick Gilder
1978    "Love Is In The Air", - John Paul Young
1989    "If I Could Turn Back Time", - Cher
1989    "Heaven", - Warrant