BIRTHDAYS
1941     Joan Baez, folk singer, b. New York (Staten Island), NY, USA. Folk singer who combined political themes with an activism which attracted a large following of her generation during the 1960s.
1951     Tommy Bolin, guitar, b. Sioux City, IA, USA.
1905     Walter F. Bishop, Sr., piano, b. Kingston, Jamiaca, West Indies. d. Jan. 8, 1984
1939     Jimmy Boyd, C&W vocals/actor, b. McComb MS, USA. He was about age 12 when he recorded 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus'. As an actor, he is known primarily for juvenile parts.
1901     Ishman Bracey, guitar, b. Byram, MS, USA.
1921     Bernard Brightman, producer/label owner, d. Nov. 9, 2003
1941     Barbara Carr, vocals, b. St. Louis, MO, USA.
1937     Malcolm Cecil, Bass, cello, piano, synthesizer, b. London, England, UK
1914     Kenny Clarke, Drums, co-leader, b. Pittsburgh, PA, USA. d. Jan. 26, 1985, Montreuil-sous-Bois, France. né: Kenneth Spearman Clark, adopted the Moslem name Liaquat Ali Sallam. A leading exponent of the modern jazz movement in the 1940s. Member Modern Jazz Quartet.
1948     Bill Cowsill, vocals. Member: The Cowsills
1934     Jimmy Day, C&W steel guitarist, b. Tuscaloosa, AL, USA.
1922     Joseph P. "Joe" Delaney, Trumpet, b. Philadelphia, PA, USA, d. Aug. 7, 2002, Las Vegas, NV, USA, (Complications of Stroke.) He produced sessions for such stars as Ella Fitzgerald, Woody Herman, Lionel Hampton, Dinah Washington, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Al Hirt. He created the "X" label for RCA, the "Coral" label for Decca Records, and worked for other labels including Bethlehem, Audio Fidelity and The Elektra. He produced the first commercially available stereo album (released for The Dukes Of Dixieland whom he also managed). In addition to all this, he wrote entertainment columns The Las Vegas Sun for 35 years.
1943     Marcus Doubleday, trumpet, b. ?Chicago, IL, USA. Member groups: 'Electric Flag', 'Buddy Miles Express'.
1940     "Big Al" Downing, (Eclectic) Singer-Songwriter/piano (R&B, C&W, even Pop) , b: Lenapah, OK, USA (Al is the brother of Don Downing, singer-songwriter whose biggest may have been "Lonely Nights, Lonely Days".)
1913     "Dr. Hepcat" (né: Lavada Durst), piano, b. Austin, TX, USA.
1944     Scott (Noel) Engel, vocals. b. Great Britain. Member: 'The Walker Brothers'
1963     Eric Erlandson, guitar, b. Los Angeles, CA, USA. Member of Courtney Love's band, Member group: 'Hole'.
1947     Nick Evans, trombone, b. Newport, Gwent, Wales, UK.
1908     Gracie Fields, Vocalist/actress. b. Rochdale, Lancashire, England. d. Sept. 27, 1979, Capri, Italy (Pneumonia). née: Grace Stansfield. Later awarded title of Dame Gracie Fields. Highest paid British Actress in 1930s. Her first marriage to Archie Pitts (dates unknown) ended in divorce. Her second marriage (dates unknown) to Monty Bands ended when he died in 1950. In 1957, she married Boris Alperovici, but she died in 1979.
1900     Abby "Chinee" Foster, Drums/Vocals, b. New Orleans, LA, USA. d. 1962
1885     Ed Garland, Bass, b. New Orleans, LA, USA. d. Jan. 22, 1980, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Circa 1910, Garland was playing drums with Frankie Duson's Eagle Band, and later played with the Excelsior Brass Band and Manuel Perez's Imperial Orchestra. He subsequently played in the Joe "King" Oliver, Lawrence Duhé, and Freddie Keppard bands, - in Chicago, IL and California. By then, he had also begun playing the String bass, doubling on the Brass and String bass as occasionally called for. During the revival era, Garland was a member of Kid Ory's band, making many records and radio broadcasts.
1919     Tom Gary, harmonica, b. Memphis, TN, USA.
1929     Ed Gaston, bass
1951     Crystal Gayle, Vocals, b. Paintsville, KY, USA. née: Brenda Gail Webb. Loretta Lynn is her older sister. Though a 'Country and Western' singer, she has recorded some fine tunes associated with the Big Bands era. Owner of a truly lovely voice, Crystal's first big hit (a song written by her older sister, Loretta Lynn) was 1970s "I Cried (the Blue Right Out of My Eyes)". Interestingly, in 1977, Gayle had another "Optical" pop/country hit with "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue." At first, the two sisters toured the C&W circuit as a team, but later Crystal struck out on her own favoring "Pop" songs while Loretta stayed with the straight C&W styles.
1926     Roger Guerin, trumpet, b. Sarrebruck, France
1965     "Haddaway", vocals, b. Tobago, West Indies. né: Nestor Alexander Haddaway. Haddaway grew up in the Washington DC area, and later relocated to Cologne, Germany where his musical career began. In 1993, his release "What is love" hit #11 on the Top 40 charts.
1948     Tim Hart, vocals/dulcimer/guitar, b. St. Albans, England. Member: 'Steeleye Span', the most successful and enduring of British folk-rock bands, was originally formed early 1970s and comprised of Hart, Maddy Prior, who had been in a folk duo with guitarist Tim Hart, guitarist Terry Woods (from the traditional Irish folk group called Sweeney's Men -with Andy Irvine), and ex-'Fairport Convention' bassist Ashley Hutchings. Tim also plays 5 string banjo, fiddle, harmonium, psaltery, mandolin, spoons, tabor, and percussion.
1916     Charlie Harris, Bass, b. Alexandria, VA, USA. d. Sep 13, 2003
1964     Phil Hartnoll, piano/synthesizer, b. Sevenoaks, Kent, England. Member group: 'Orbital', comprised of the two brothers, Phil and Paul Hartnoll (b, May 19, 1968,Sevenoaks, Kent, England)
1960     Ram Herrera, vocals, b. San Antonio, TX, USA. In 1981, Ram became the lead singer for 'David Lee Y Los Musicales', and has ever since been a huge star in his own right. Another wonderful vocalist, Selena, often opened shows for him, and Ram Herrera was on the bill with Selena at the now famous concert at the Houston Rodeo as shown in the Selena movie. Now, three decades and 24 records later, Ram's new (2003) "Ingrata" CD has been nominated for a Latin Grammy Award. In addition to Gold Records, Vocalist, Entertainer, Song and Album of the Year Awards and a Grammy nomination, Ram has received the Humanitarian Award and Texas Governor Ann Richards' recognition for his work with 'Teach The Children'.
1943     Roy Head, C&W vocals. b. Three Rivers, TX, USA. Versatile song stylist, his mid-1960s. "Treat Her Right" (Back Beat label) reached number two on both the R&B and Pop charts.
1919     Franklin "Frank" Hovington, (Country blues) vocals/guitar/ukulele/banjo, b. Reading, PA, USA, d. June 21, 1982, Felton, DE, USA. As a child, learned to play ukulele and banjo. In the late 1930s and '40s, he was playing with Willliam Walker (b. 1896, d. March 4, 1933, Greenville, SC, USA) in Frederica, Pennsylvania. In the late 1940s, Hovington re-located to Washington, D.C., where he backed groups such as Ernest Ewin's Jubilee Four, Stewart Dixon's Golden Stars and also worked with Billy Stewart's band. In 1967, he again moved, this time to Delaware. In 1975. He was recorded by the 'Flyright' label.
1950     David Johansen b. New York (Staten Island), NY, USA. (Buster Poindexter) Member group: 'The New York Dolls'
1950     Jimmy Hinds, bass guitar/piano/drums/producer, b. St. Louis, MO, USA. Worked with Oliver Sain
1919     Frank Hovington, guitar, b. Reading, PA, USA.
1937     "Birmingham" Jones, guitar/harmonica/sax, b. Saginaw, MI, USA.
1910     Dick Jurgens, d. Oct. 5, 1995, né: Dick Henry Jurgens
1943     Kenneth Kelley, vocals, b. Jersey City, NJ, USA. Member group: 'The Manhattans'
1967     Dave Matthews, guitar/vocals, b. Johannesburg, South Africa Member group: 'Dave Matthews Band'
1978     A.J. McLean, vocals/actor, b. West Palm Beach, FL, USA. Member group: 'Backstreet Boys'. né; Alexander James McLean.
1959     Kenny McLean, keyboards, b. Scotland. Member group: 'Platinum Blonde', a Canadian rock group. The band folded in 1992
1917     Jimmy Maxwell, Trumpet/Bagpipes, b. Stockton, CA. USA, d. July 20, 2002, Great Neck, NY, U.S.A. Among the stars with whom he worked are Jimmy Dorsey, Quincy Jones, Count Basie, Peggy Lee, Benny Goodman, Perry Como, Woody Herman, Gil Evans, Lionel Hampton, Gerry Mulligan, Maxine Sullivan, The CBS Staff Orchestra, The Tonight Show Band, Oliver Nelson, and Skinny Ennis.
1914     Billy O'Connor, piano/leader, b: Kingston, Ontario, Canada. d. Nov. 18, 2001 Toronto, ON, Canada.
1928     Domenico Modugno, vocals, b. Italy.
1944     Jimmy Page, guitar, b. Heston, London, England. né: James Patrick Page, Member: 'Led Zeppelin' Band.
1926     "Bucky" Pizzarelli, Guitar, b. Paterson, NJ, USA.
1950     "Buster" Poindexter, vocals, b. New York (Staten Island)., NY, USA.
1920     Betty Roche, vocals, b. Wilmington, DE, USA, d. Feb. 16, 1999. Pleasantville, NJ, USA. née: Mary Elizabeth Roche (pronounced ro-SHAY). Raised Atlantic City, NJ. 1939 to New York City (where she won an Amateur Contest at Harlem's Apollo Theater. 1941-'42 with the Savoy Sultans. 1943 Replaced Ivie Anderson in Ellington band. Betty sang "Take the A Train" with Ellington's band in the 1943 film "Reveille With Beverly" but wasn't recorded singing Ellington's signature tune until nine years later, in a be-bop style, on the album "Ellington Uptown."
Betty played the part of the Little Salvation Army girl in the 1940 film "My Little Chicadee" starring W.C.Fields and Mae West
She became first singer to perform the Blues segment of the Duke's "Black, Brown and Beige" when, in 1944, when the Duke's band played in New York's Carnegie Hall. Many listeners in that audience thought she was the finest girl singer ever to appear with the Ellington band. However, Roche's rendition of the Blues segment of "Black, Brown and Beige" (in a concert recording), was not released until the 1970/s due to the fact that Ellington had already made a studio recording of the suite in 1944. At that time, Betty Roche already had been replaced by Joya Sherrill.
She was with Duke 1943-4 and again in '52-3. After a couple years in retirement, she recorded three times, under her own name, for the Bethlehem and Prestige labels between 1955-60. After that, she was in obscurity, living in San Diego, CA. Most musicologists feel that her blues and ballad work during her first stint with the Duke was far superior any of her pseudo-bop singing in later years. Roche also performed and recorded with such other well known musicians as trumpeter Clark Terry, pianist Earl Hines, and singer/pianist Charles Brown. She made three recordings under her name for the Bethlehem and Prestige labels in the late 1950s and early 60s. She was survived by three grandchildren.
1940     Billy Sanford, (C&W sessions) guitarist, b. Natchitoches, LA, USA. He was also staff guitarist on the 'Louisiana Hayride' show.
1935     Buddy Scott, guitar, b. Jackson, MS, USA.
1931     Carson Smith, Bass, b. San Francisco, CA, USA. d. Nov. 2, 1997, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1902     Mel Stitzel, piano, d. Dec. 31, 1952
1917     Benny Strickler, trumpeter, b. Fayetteville, AR, USA, d. 1946 Benny played trumpet with Joe Venuti's group, and much later was a part of the "Yerba Buena Jazz Band".
1943     Scott Walker, vocals, b. Hamilton, OH, USA. Member group: 'Walker Brothers'
1939     Katie Webster, piano/vocals, b. Houston, TX, USA. d. September 12, 1999, age 63. Best recalled for her piano-pounding on the southern Louisiana "Swamp blues" scene during the late 1950s and early '60s,
1918     Buddy Weed, Piano, b. Ossining, NY, USA. d. 1997

         Notable Events occuring this date include:
1957.   "Cripple" Clarence Lofton, piano, died in Chicago, IL, USA. Age: 69
1967.    Rob Swope, trombone, died
1982.    Louis "Barney" Hubert, sax, died in Dallas, TX, USA. Age: 54
1991.    Ralph H. Brown, bass, died in Philadelphia, PA, USA. Age: 55
1981.    Bill Hill, piano, died in Kauai, HI, USA. Age: 59. Member: 'The Ink Spots'
1987.    Marion Hutton, vocal, died
1994.    Silas Hogan, guitar, died in Scotlandville, LA, USA. Age: 82
1994.    Earlean Hooker, (gospel) vocals, died in Chicago, IL, USA. Age: 60
1994.    Guitarist Silas Hogan died in Scotlandville, LA, USA.
2004.    Lorene Allen, C&W songwriter, died. Age: 78

         Songs Recorded/Released this date include:
       1942   Tonight We Love,- Freddy Martin
       1942   I Said No,- Alvino Rey
       1948   Ballerina,- Bing Crosby
       1948   Beg Your Pardon,- Francis Craig
       1965   Name Game, The, - Shirley Ellis
       1971   Amos Moses,-Jerry Reed
       1982   Sweet Dreams,- Air Supply
       1993   Mr. Wendal,- Arrested Development
       1993   Ditty,- Paperboy