BIRTHDAYS
1897     Edward Clifton "Ed" Allen, Trumpet, b. Nashville, TN, USA, d. Jan. 28, 1974, USA. (Raised in St. Louis, MO). Playing in St. Louis Roadhouses at age 16. Playing on the Strekfus Lines Riverboats (Mississippi River) for 2 years with the Charlie Creath band. Formed his own band with sidemen "Pops" Foster; Gene Sedric; Johnny St. Cyr; Walter Thomas. In 1924, he was with playing in clubs with Earl Hines. Then to New York with Joe Jordan in Ed Daly's Black and White Show. Often recorded with Clarence Williams band in the mid-1920s. In 1927-'29 with Leroy Tibbs at Connies Inn (Harlem, NYC). Freelanced NYC '30s. Early '40s had quartet at Tony Pastors Club. Thereafter, working as sideman in various 'Taxi' dancehalls on New York's 14th Street area.
1946     Carmine Appice, drums/sisnger/songwriter, b. New York (Staten Island), NY, USA. Member group: 'Vanilla Fudge' / 'Beck, Bogart & Appice'
1928     Ernest Ashworth, (C&W) singer/songwriter, b. Huntsville, AL, USA. Member: Grand Ole Opry.
1961     Nick Beggs, bass/Chapman Stick, b. Winslow, Buckinghamshire UK. Member group: Kajagoogoo / Howard Jones Band
DEFINTION: The "Chapman Stick", devised by Emmett Chapman in the late 1960s, superficially resembles a wide version of an electric guitar fretboard, with from 8 to 12 strings. The usual method of playing is by tapping, or fretting, rather than plucking, the strings. Unlike a guitar, where one hand frets and the other hand plucks, both hands sound notes by pressing the strings to the frets. Thus, the "stick" can sound many more notes at once than most other stringed instruments. For this reason, it is somewhat more comparable with keyboard instruments.
1933     Jesse Belvin, vocals, b: USA, d: Feb. 6, 1960
1939     Cindy Birdsong, vocals, b: USA. member: 'The Supremes', and 'Patti LaBelle & the Blue Belles'
1925     Billy Butler, Guitar, b. Philadelphia, PA, USA. d. March 20, 1991 (some sources claim b. 1924)
1920     Howard Cable, composer/music director/conductor, b. Toronto, Ont, Canada.
1891     A. P. Carter, C&W vocals/guitar, d. Nov. 7, 1960, Maces Springs, VA, USA. né: Alvin Pleasant Delaney Carter. 'The Carter Family' Country and Western vocal group.
1942     Dave Clark, drums/singer,, b. London, England. Member group: 'The Dave Clark Five'
1916     Buddy Cole, Piano/Organ/Leader, b. Irving, IL, USA. d. Nov. 5, 1964, Los Angeles (Hollywood), California, USA
1914     Lynn Davis, (C&W) vocals/guitar, b. Johnson County, KY, USA.
1934     Curtis Fuller, Trombone, b. Detroit, MI, USA.
1922     Alan Freed, U.S. Disk Jockey/Promoter. d. Jan. 20, 1965. Promoter of many R&B acts.
1962     Tim Gaines, (rock) vocals/Bassist. Member group: 'Stryper'
1952     Bruce Gertz, bass, b. Providence, RI, USA
1892     David W. Guion, Composer, b. Ballinger, TX, USA. né: David Wendell De Fentresse Guion
1910     John Henry Hammond, Sr., Pre-eminent Writer/historian/promoter of Jazz, d. July 10, 1987. Among his many accomplishments, he helped greatly to foster better 'race' relations.
1929     Barry Harris, Piano, b. Detroit, MI, USA.
1955     Mark Hummel, harmonca, b. New Haven, CT, USA. Recorded for the Flying Fish label
1949     Don Johnson, Actor/Pop vocals, b. Flatt Creek, MO, USA.
1911     Stan Kenton, Leader/piano, b. Wichita, KS, USA. d. August 25, 1979, Los Angeles, CA. USA (Stroke). né: Stanley Newcomb Kenton. NOTE: Some sources claim Kenton was born on Feb. 19, but, according to Noel Wedder (Kenton's long time publicist): -" Stan was born a little early in an age when people were overly fond of subtraction. His mother listed his birthdate as February 19, 1912, and Stan deferred to her. " However, we now know that his real date of birth was Dec. 15, 1911.
1948     Toshinori Kondo, trumpet, b. Imabari City (on island of Shikoku), Japan.
1921     B. Lilly, C&W Guitar/Vocals, b. Clear Creek (Raleigh County), WV, USA. né: Michell Burt Lilly. Member: The Lilly Brothers Country/Western vocal group.
1919     Curtis Sylvester Lowe Sr., Reeds, b. Chicago, IL, USA. Cousin of Sam Lowe (trumpet)
1979     Edele Lynch & Keavy Lynch, vocals, b. Dublin, Ireland. Member group: 'B*Witched', Ireland's teen quartet was the youngest girl group ever to notch a number one single on the UK pop charts. The girls got their inspiration from the success of their brother Shane -- a member of "Boyzone". The group consisted of vocalist Edele Lynch, guitarist Keavy Lynch (Edele's twin), keyboardist Sinead O'Carroll, and guitarist Lindsay Armaou. Keavy is the twin sister of Edele Lynch (lead singer - B*Witched), younger sister of Shane Lynch ('Boyzone') & older sister of Naomi Lynch ('Buffalo G'). (Other information: Edele: née: Edele Claire Christina Edwina Lynch, - Keavy: née: Keavy-Jane Elisabeth Annie Lynch, twins b. Dublin, Ireland), Lindsay Armaou, b. Dec. 18, 1980, Greece, and Sinead O'Carroll, b. May 14, 1978 in Dublin, Ireland.)
1914     David McEnery - "Red River Dave", singer/songwriter, b: Dec. 15, 1914, San Antonio, TX, USA, ; married; d: Jan. 15 2002, San Antonio, TX, USA. One of country music's great eccentrics, McEnery is best known for a seemingly inexhaustible string of "event" songs written in response to the headlines of the day. He found inspiration in stories as diverse and unlikely as the murder of Sharon Tate ("The California Hippy Murders"), the kidnapping of Patty Hearst ("The Ballad of Patty Hearst"), and America's most notorious nuclear accident ("The Ballad of Three-Mile Island"). He was a masterful self-publicist. As a child, he loved the tales of the "Old West" and was drawn to the traditional cowboy ballads of the era. One of these, "Red River Valley", became his favorite and led to his sobriquet. In addition to singing, he was a yodeller and rope trick performer. He worked on various radio stations along the US-Mexico border before, in 1938, heading for New York. In 1939, during a pioneering commercial television broadcast from the New York World's Fair, he composed and sang "Amelia Earhart's Last Flight", as a tribute to the lost aviatrix. For the remainder of his life, he billed himself as "The World's First Television Star". In the following decades he starred on local television, sold real estate and worked as a preacher. He became the first, and perhaps only person, ever to deliver a sermon entirely in Citizen's Band Radio jargon. He formed his own record label, and released many of his own "Event" songs, among which were tunes on the Bay of Pigs debacle, Watergate, James Dean, the mass suicide of the followers of the Reverend Jim Jones and Don Larsen's perfect game in baseball's 1956 World Series. In time, he became a true cult figure in his home town of San Antonio.
1925     Jimmy Nottingham, Trumpet, b. New York, NY, USA. d. Nov. 16, 1978
1902     'Nudie the Tailor', clothier, b. Kiev, Ukraine. Tailor to virtually all the Nashville (and Las Vegas too) music stars. He specialized in designing "flashy" stage outfits.
1936     Andrew "B.B."/"Voice" Odom, vocals, b. Denham Springs, LA, USA
1936     Eddie Palmieri, Piano/Arranger/leader/composer, b. New York, NY, USA.
1955     Randy Parton, (C&W) vocals/guitar, b. Sevierville, TN, USA.
1960     Doug Phelps, (C&W) vocals, b. Edmonton, KY, USA. Member group: 'Kentucky Headhunters'
1913     Kenneth Pitts, (C&W) fiddler, b. Arizona, USA. Played with 'The Light Crust Doughboys'.
1927     Gene Quill, Alto Sax, b. Atlantic City, NJ, USA. d. Jan. 1989
1946     Harry Ray, vocals, b: Long Branch, NJ, USA. d: Oct. 1, 1992 (Stroke). né: Harry Milton Ray. Member of 'The Moments', later recorded as 'Ray, Goodman, &amap; Brown' ("Special Lady" and "My Prayer"). Also producer for 'Sounds Of Rock'
1914     "Red River Dave", (C&W) singer-songwriter, b. San Antonio, TX, USA. né: Dave McEnery
1935     Dannie Richmond, Drums, b. New York, NY, USA. d. March 15, 1988, New York, NY, USA (some claim d. March 16). Although he is mostly recalled as a drummer working with Charlie Mingus during 1955-1978, Dannie originally played R&B tenor saxophone while touring with the Paul Williams band. In 1955, he began playing the drums, and soon was working with Charles Mingus. When he wasn't working with Mingus, Richmond often freelanced with Chet Baker, the Mark-Almond group, Joe Cocker, and Elton John. When Charlie Mingus died, Richmond continued to play with the Mingus Dynasty, and subsequently joined the George Adams-Don Pullen Quartet (1980-1985). He also occasionally led his own groups.
1936     Krzysztof Sadowski, Piano/Organ, b. Warsaw, Poland
1955     Paul Simenon, (rock) bass/singer/songwriter, b. London, England. né: Paul Gustave Simonon. Member group: 'Clash'
1894     Ernest Stevens, piano/arranger/leader, d. April 6, 1981 in Montclair, New Jersey, USA. Best recalled for his recordings with the Thomas A. Edison recording companies.
1928     Jerry Wallace,(C&W) vocals, b: Guilford, MO, USA.
1929     Golden "Big" Wheeler. harmonica, b. Beaconton, Georgia, USA, d. July 20, 1998. In 1941, he relocated to Chicago, where he met "Little Walter", who became one of his friends and mentor. In 1956, Wheeler began to occasionally front his own combos, while working at his "day job" as a mechanic to pay the bills. Then, in 1993, after over 4 decades of playing around the Chicago area, the Delmark label released the harpist's debut disc, 'Big Wheeler's Bone Orchard', with a local group, 'The Ice Cream Men' backing him. In 1997, "Jump In" followed . Wheeler's brother, guitarist James Wheeler, also a longtime Chicago resident, has played with Otis Rush and in the group 'Mississippi Heat'.
          Notable Events occuring this date include:
1877.    Thomas Edison patents his 'phonograph'.
1943.    "Fats" Waller, piano/songwriter, died in Kansas City MO, USA. (aboard train heading to New York city) Age: 39
1944.    Glenn Miller died at age 40. (missing on flight over the English Channel during WWII.)
1954.    Oscar "Papa" Celestin died in New Orleans, LA, USA. at age 69.
1959.    Jack Robbins, publisher (Robbins Music), died in New York, NY, USA. Age: 65
1963.    Bill Grauer, label co-founder (Riverside Records), died in New York, NY, USA. Age: 41
1978.    Joey Castle (aka: Cliff Rivers), Rockabilly vocals, died of cancer.
1979.    Jackie Brenston, sax, died in Memphis, TN, USA. Age: 49. Worked with Ike Turner and Rocket 88
1981.    Sam Jones, bass, died in New York, NY, USA. Age: 58
1983.    Russell "Big Chief" Moore, trombone, died in Nyack, N, USA. Age: Y71
1984.    Eddie Beal, piano, died in Los Angeles, CA, USA. Age: 74
1985.    Nat Turner, vocals, died in Little Rock, AR, USA. Age: 46
1987.    "Tiny" Moore, (Western Swing) Fiddle/Electric Mandolin/Guitar. While playing at Cactus Pete's in Jackpot, Nevada, with the Cadillac Band, Tiny Moore suffered a heart attack and died. Age: 67. (b. Energy (Hamilton County), Texas, USA)
1989.    Johnny Board, tenor sax, died in Oak Park, IL, USA. Age: 70
1991.    Wayne Anton Brathwaite, bass/songwriter/producer, died in New York, NY, USA. Age: 32
1992.    Bruce Kaplan, label founder (Flying Fish), died in Chicago, IL, USA. Age: 47
1993.    Barney Perkins, rec eng/producer, died in Los Angeles, CA, USA. Age: 48
1993.    Al Rose, author/New Orleans historian, died in New Orleans, LA, USA. Age: 77. (Caution: Do not confuse with Al Rose, singer-songwriter/guitarist.)
1995.    Johnny Lytle, vibes, died in Springfield, OH, USA.
1997.    Homer Watson, vocal, leader, died in Toronto, ON, Canada
2004.    Don Joham drums, died
          Songs Recorded/Released this date include:
1944     Everytime We Say Goodbye", Stan Kenton Orch. (on Capitol)
1941     Stormy Weather, - Lena Horne vocal. rec'd this day. (Victor Label)
1956     I Dreamed, - Betty Johnson
1958     My Happiness, - Connie Francis
1958     Donna, - Ritchie Valens
1962     Tell Him, - Exciters
1962     Pepino The Italian Mouse, - Lou Monte
1962     My Dad, - Paul Petersen
1962     Two Lovers, - Mary Wells
1973     Until You Come Back To Me, - Aretha Franklin
1973     Let Me Be There, - Olivia Newton-John
1984     I Want To Know What Love Is, - Foreigner
1990     Gonna Make You Sweat, - CandC Music Factory
1990     Play That Funky Music, - Vanilla Ice