BIRTHDAYS
1946     Jan Akkerman, guitarist, b: Holland. Member: Focus
1910     Mitchell Ayres, leader, b. Milwaukee, WI. USA. d. Sept. 5, 1969, Las Vegas, NV. USA.(struck by car).
1920     Dave Bartholomew singer-songwriter/bandleader/trumpeter/arranger/producer, b. Edgard, LA, USA.
1900     Roy E. Blackwood, Baritone vocals, b. Fentress, MI, USA, d. March 21, 1971. Member: 'The Blackwood Brothers', a "Gospel" vocal group formed in 1934, and comprised of:
Roy Blackwood (Baritone vocals, b. Dec. 24, 1900, Fentress, MI, USA, d. March 21, 1971),
Doyle Blackwood (Bass Vocals, b. August 22, 1911, Ackerman, MI, USA),
James Blackwood (Lead Vocal, b. August 4, 1919, Ackerman, MI, USA),
R.W. Blackwood, (Tenor Vocals, b. Oct. 23, 1921, Ackerman, MI, USA, d. June 24, 1954),
Cecil Blackwood, (Baritone Vocals, b. Oct. 28, 1934, Ackerman, MI, USA),
James Blackwood, Jr., (Baritone, Lead Vocals, b. July 31, 1943, San Diego, CA, USA).
Other Members:
Don Smith (Bass Vocals),
Bill Lyles (Bass Vocals),
Bill Shaw (Tenor Vocals),
J.D. Sumner (Bass Vocals), d. Nov. 16, 1998
Hylton Griswold (Piano),
Wally Varner (Piano),
Billy "Mr. Gospel Drums" Blackwood (Drums),
Peter Kaups (Piano),
Larry Davis (Bass Guitar)
1968     Doyle Bramhall Jr., guitar, b. TX, USA.
1931     Raphael "Ray" Bryant, Piano, b. Philadelphia, PA, USA, Ray is the younger brother of bassist Tommy Bryant (b. May 21, 1930, Philadelphia, PA, USA, member vocal group: 'The Ink Spots'). Ray is the uncle of guitarist Kevin, and his older brother, trombonist Robin Eubanks (Ray's sister, gospel pianist Vera Eubanks, is their mother). Robin has led his own quintet ('Mental Images'), and works has worked as a sideman with the 'Dave Holland Quintet', and the 'Elvin Jones Jazz Machine'. In addition, Robin holds down a teaching job at Ohio's Oberlin Conservatory. At one time, Kevin Eubank held down the post of musical director of NBC's 'Tonight Show Band' (Los Angeles, CA), and he also tours occasionally with his own group, which at one time featured Robin, drummer Marvin "Smitty" Smith, and bassist Charnett Moffett.
1957     Ian Burden, keyboardist, b. Sheffield, Yorkshire, England. Member group: 'The Human League'
1932     Harry Busby, trumpet, b. Toronto, ON, Canada, d. August 22, 2007, Shorncliffe, Canada (prostate cancer). His father was a tuba and bass player. At age 18, his father gave him a trumpet, and Harry was self taught for the first year or so, before having his first lesson at Phil Parker's Brass Studio. Subsequently relocating to London, England, he played with some Trad Jazz bands before forming his own 'Bayou Jazz Band'. From 1960-'63, he played with the Bill LeSage Workshop Orchestra, while also studying harmony and theory at the Battersea Polytechnic. In 1963, he returned to Toronto, where he studied with Don Johnson and Gordon Delamount. After the birth of his 2nd child, he found steady work in the musical instrument industry. In 2000, he retired and moved to the "Sunshine Coast" where he played with the Suncoast Concert Band, the Coast Symphony Orchestra and the Sunshine Coast Brass Quintet.
1928     James L. "Jimmy" Campbell, Drums, b. Wilkes Barre, PA, USA. d. 1998
1910     Henry Coker, Trombone, b. Dallas, TX, USA. d. 1979, USA. Studied piano and harp in Wiley College (Washington, TX)
1944     Mike Curb, C&W musician-producer, b: Savannah, GA, USA
1934     John Critchinson, piano, b. London, England, UK. While (still in his 'teens') working at a "day job" as an apprentice electrician, he spent his evenings (in the early 1950s) at a weekly Jazz club, 'The Icebox', in Chippenham, Wiltshire, where he often worked with such Jazzmen as Ronnie Scott, Tubby Hayes, Jimmy Deuchar, Major Holly and many others. As a semi-pro, he worked in and around Bath, including 2 years with the Bristol-based 'Avon Cities Jazz Band', then moved via Bridport (Dorset) to Torquay (Devon). He led his own Quartet at the Imperial Hotel for 18 months, and in 1978, helped by his friend and teacher, pianist Bill le Sage, moved to London and joined Ronnie Scott's Quartet. He remained as Scott's pianist until the club closed in 1995. During that time, John also worked 3 years with the 'Morrissey Mullen Band', and worked with many visiting American players including Chet Baker, Joe Henderson, George Coleman, James Moody, and Johnny Griffin. In 1995, John, Saxophonist Art Themen, Bassist Dave Green, and Drummer Dave Barry, formed a Quartet which appeared regularly at UK and European jazz festivals and venues. In 1996, after Ronnie Scott's demise, John, together with Sax/Flutist Pat Crumly, formed the 'Ronnie Scott Legacy' which during it's 3 years life, toured the UK and New Zealand. In 2002, John, vocalist Jacqui Hicks, Bassist Dave Green, and Drummer Tristan Mailliot formed a group that made 4 appearances at Ronnie Scott's Club. ("33 Records" recorded their CD 'With A Song In My Heart'.) His most recent venture is a Solo Piano CD- 'Where's the tune, Johnny?', a collection of 16 lesser known Standard songs, released on the TRiO Records label. Now in his 70s, he (thankfully) remains extremely active.
1944     Mike Curb, songwriter/label owner (Curb Records)/producer, b. Savannah, GA, USA. (Raised in Los Angeles, CA.) At just age 19, Curb began releasing the soundtrack albums that he had composed for motion pictures. While still a teenager, Curb formed his own musical group, the 'Mike Curb Congregation', which was signed to Word Records, MGM Records and Warner Bros. Records. In 1969, Curb merged his company with MGM Records, becoming president of the combined MGM Company. At just age 25, Curb was able to turn MGM's fortunes around when he produced such releases as the Osmonds playing "One Bad Apple", Lou Rawls with "Natural Man", Donny Osmond's "Puppy Love", along with Donny and Marie Osmond's "I'm Leaving It All Up to You", and the huge hit by Sammy Davis, Jr. "The Candy Man" And, all this was just the beginning of his career.
1917     Mary Jane DeZurick, vocals, b. Royalton, MN, USA. Member group: "DeZurik Sisters" (aka: the "Cackle Sisters") consisted of Carolyn DeZurick (Singer/Guitar, b. Dec. 24, 1919 Royalton, Minnesota), Mary Jane DeZurick (Singer, b. Feb. 1, 1917 Royalton, Minnesota), Eva DeZurick (Singer, b. Royalton, Minnesota) and Lorraine DeZurick (Singer, b. Royalton, Minnesota).
1898     Warren "Baby" Dodds, Drums, b. New Orleans, LA, USA. d. Feb. 14, 1959, early on -in New Orleans - played with Louis Armstrong, King Oliver and Papa Celestin
1924     Lee Dorsey, d. Dec. 1, 1986
1916     Albert "Al" Drootin, Clarinet, b. Boston, MA, USA. both his sons have bands today - Boston and Miami
1929     Stoney Edwards, C&W Singer/songwriter/Bass Guitar/Fiddle/Guitar/Piano/vocals, b. Seminole, OK, USA.
1916     Sid Feller, Leader/trumpet, b. New York, NY, USA, d. Feb.16, Beachwood, Ohio, USA.
1927     Jake Hess, (gospel) vocals, b. Limestone County, AL, USA. né: William Jesse Hess.
1943     Volker Kriegel, Guitar, b. Darmstadt, Germany, d. June 15, 2003
1945     "Lemmy" (né: Ian Fraser Kilmister), bassist/vocals, b. Burslem, England. (the son of a local vicar.) Member groups: 'Hawkwind', 'Motorhead'
1913     "Lulu Belle", C&W vocals/guitar, b. Boon, NC, USA. née: Myrtle Eleanor Cooper. Member group: "Lulu Belle and Scotty".("Scotty" Wiseman, banjo/vocals b. Nov. 8, 1909, Spruce Springs, NC, USA). For a generation from 1934, Lulu Belle and Scotty were America's leading Country husband-wife team. For 20 years, they starred on the 'National Barn Dance' show heard over Chicago's radio station WLS, and then spent a shorter period on the "Boone County Jamboree" show over WLW Cincinnati. They were also seen in several motion pictures. After retiring, Scotty earned a Master's degree at Northwestern University, then taught school, farmed, and served as a bank director. His wife Lulu Belle participated in community activities, and in the mid-1970's, served two terms in the North Carolina legislature representing Avery, Burke, and Mitchell counties (as a Democrat in a normally GOP district).
1914     Ralph Marterie, Leader/trumpet, b. Naples, Italy, d. 1978. Raised in Chicago, IL, USA, and a Pro by age 14.
1971     Ricky Martin, vocals, b. Hato Rey, Puerto Rico. né: Enrique Martin Morales. 'Member group: Menudo' (a boy band).
1912     Tony Martin, vocals/leader, b. Oakland CA, USA. (Still with us- 2004). né: Alvin Morris. Just about everybody knows Tony Martin. As a vocalist, his fame is worldwide. But... did you know that early in his career, he played saxophone and vocalized with the Ted Gerun and Tom Coakley bands. In 1934, he decided to lead his own band (the Alvin Morris Orchestra) and actually did play some dates in and around Chicago during the 1934 World's Fair. Meeting little success, he made three decisions; he disbanded, changed his name to Tony Martin, and headed for Hollywood to try his luck in Motion Pictures. The rest is history. Tony's life is chronicled in the 1976 book "The Two of Us". The "Two" refers to Tony and to his long time wife, and show business partner, dancer Cyd Charisse.
1936     Chris McGregor, Piano/Leader, b. Umtata, South Africa. d. May 26, 1990
1956     Ralph Moore, Tenor Sax, b. London, England
1910     Fumio Nanri, trumpet, b. Saga Prefecture, Japan, d. Aug. 4, 1975. Armstrong called him "The 'Satchmo' of Japan"
1974     Paul Nilssen-Love, drums
1932     Rune Ofwerman, piano, b. Stockholm, Sweden, Anders Ivar Rune Ofwerman
1962     Michael Ray, trumpet
1937     Bernt Rosengren, Tenor Sax, b. Stockholm, Sweden
1812     Henry Russell, composer, b. Sheerness, England, d. Dec. 8, 1900, London, England.
1919     Moe Schneider, Trombone, b. Bessie, OK, USA.
1944     Woody Shaw, Trumpet, b. Laurinburg, NC, USA. d. 1989
1908     "Jabbo" Smith, Trumpet/Vocal, b. Pembroke, GA, USA. d. Jan. 16, 1991. né: Cladys Smith. A much overlooked trumpet virtuoso, who by age 6 was sent into the Jenkins Orphanage in Charleston, South Carolina where he learned trumpet and trombone. By just age 10, he was touring with the Jenkins Orphanage Band. He left the Orphanage at age 16 to pursue a career in music. Circa 1925 through 1928, he made New York city his home, making his first recording there. In 1928, he was a member of James P. Johnson's Orchestra, relocating to Chicago, Illinois when Johnson disbanded. In 1929, he recorded for the Brunswick label. In the early 1930s, he made Milwaukee, Wisconsin his home base remaining there for many years, although he did intermittently return to New York city. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, Smith worked a regular "day job" at a Milwaukee automobile hire company, only occasionally playing music at some local venues. In the late 1960s, Jabbo Smith made a comeback and played (into the 1980s) with bands that toured to such cities as New York, and New Orleans, and overseas in London, England and France.
1931     Tatsuya Takahashi, Tenor Sax/Leader/arranger and conductor, b. Yamagata, Japan
1893     Harry Warren, Composer, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., d. Sept. 22, 1981, Los Angeles, CA, Nee Salvatore Guaragna. Some of his hit songs are: "Rose of the Rio Grande", "Nagasaki", "You're My Everything", "I Found a Million Dollar Baby in a Five-and-Ten Cent Store", "Shuffle Off to Buffalo", "Forty-second Street", "Lullaby of Broadway" (his first Academy Award), "She's a Latin From Manhattan", "Jeepers Creepers," "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby", "Chattanooga Choo Choo", "There Will Never Be Another You", "I've Got a Gal in Kalamazoo," "On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe", lyric Johnny Mercer, "Serenade in Blue", "I Had the Craziest Dream", "Highland Fling", lyric by Ira Gershwin. and "That's Amore" (a Dean Martin hit vocal).
1906 Franz Waxman, Composer, b. Koenigsbutte, Germany, d. Feb. 24, 1967, Los Angeles, CA. USA (Cancer). né: Franz Wachsmann. (Koenigsbutte is now Chorzow, Poland)
1904     Daniel K. Womack, guitar/piano/harmonica, b. Keeling, VA, USA. né: Obediah Donmell Jessie.
         Notable Events occuring this date include:
1906.    Reginald A. Fessenden, the Canadian-born radio inventor became the first person to broadcast a music program over radio. Originating from a transmitter in Brant Rock, Massachusetts, USA, the show had a female singer with Fessenden himself playing "O Holy Night" on the violin. Fessenden was the discoverer of the superheterodyne principle -- the basis for all modern radio receivers.
1961.    "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" (an adaption of a South African folk song) sung by 'The Tokens' reached #1 on the U-S charts In 1951, it had first reached the best-seller when sung by 'The Weavers' under the title "Wimoweh" (WIM'-OH-WAY).
1955.    'The Weavers' played New York's famed Carnegie Hall, thus ending a three year blacklisting due to Senator Joseph McCarthy's accusation of their supporting left-wing causes.
1958.    Bob Womack, drums, died in Indianapolis, IN, USA. Age: 68. Worked with both Tiny Bradshaw, and Lucky Millinder
1960.    John K. F. Edwards, Writer -JEMF/UCLA, died in Cremorne, Australia. Age: 28. "John Edwards Memorial Foundation" (JEMF) Quarterly at the University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA). The JEMF Quarterly brought to light the lives and careers of dozens of pioneer musicians, including Alfred G. Karnes, the Carter Family, Riley Puckett, and Buell Kazee, along with details of early commercial radio operations, the sources of many traditional songs, and the reproduction of historical documents. In addition, the early work of many contributors who later became known as major scholars in the field-Archie Green, Charles Wolfe, Norm Cohen, Simon J. Bonner, and Loyal Jones among others-appeared on the pages of the JEMF Quarterly during its 19 years in publication.
1972.    Eli Robinson, trombone, died in New York, NY, USA. Age: 64 Played with Buddy Tate band.
1979.    Ernie Washington, piano, died in Chula Vista, CA, USA. Age: 53
1979.    Charlie Moore, Bluegrass singer-songwriter died. Age: 44.
1982.    Earnest Johnson, bass, died in Chicago, IL, USA. Age: 52
1994.    Nathan Daniel, founder/maker of Danelectro/Silvertone, died in Honolulu, HI, USA. Age: 82 In 1947, he started the Danelectro company which, from 1934 to 1946, produced vacuum tube amplifiers for the Epiphone Corp. In 1947, he founded the Danelectro company and started making amplifiers for the 'Montgomery Ward' company. By 1948, Daniel had also becpme the exclusive guitar amplifier producer for 'Sears & Roebuck', as well as supplying other Chicago area jobbers such as 'Targ & Dinner'. It wasn't until the fall of 1954 that Daniel began producing solidbody guitars for Sears, under the 'Silvertone name'. The guitars were sold to other jobbers under the Danelectro name. In 1966, Daniel sold Danelectro to MCA, who began making hollowed body guitars in Japan, rather than in New Jersey, selling them to dealers (other than Sears) under the 'Coral' name. In 1969, MCA closed the Danelectro plant, and got out of the guitar business.
         Songs Recorded/Released this date include:
1955     Dungaree Doll, - Eddie Fisher vocal.
1955     Great Pretender, The, - The Platters
1955     Teenage Prayer, - Gale Storm
1966     Standing In The Shadows Of Love, - Four Tops
1966     Tell It To The Rain, - Four Seasons
1977     Stayin' Alive, - Bee Gees
1977     Sometimes When We Touch, - Dab Hill
1983     Think Of Laura, - Christopher Cross
1988     Straight Up, - Paula Abdul
1988     Lover In Me, The, - Sheena Easton
1988     Wild Thing, - Tone Loc