Musical Calendar for July 1

   BIRTHDAYS
1935   Rashid Ali, drums, b: Philadelphia, PA, USA. né: Robert Patterson. Studied music at the Granoff School of Music, after which he worked locally in Philadelphia with various Jazz and R&B groups.In 1963, he relocated to New York City, and worked with such men as Bill Dixon, Paul Bley, Sun Ra and Albert Ayler. In the fall of 1965, started to work with John Coltrane; in January 1966 he replaced Elvin Jones, and then remained with Coltrane until his death in 1967. Subsequently he worked both with Alice Coltrane, and also as a leader when in 1973, he formed 'Survival Records' as a means of recording and releasing his own music. He also ran a Jazz "loft", Ali's Alley, through 1979.
1952   Dan Aykroyd, harmonica/vocals, b. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Member: 'Blues Bros' (as 'Elwood Blue')
1910   Edward Anderson, Trumpet, b. Jacksonville, FL, USA. During 1926, Anderson played in the Luckey Roberts band before coming north to New York City, where he worked with Luis Russell's band and also with drummer George Howe. During 1927-'28, he ocasionally recorded with Clarence Williams and also worked with the Bingie Madison, Benny Carter, Charley Johnson and Jelly Roll Morton bands. From 1930 to about 1934, he worked, and recorded, with the Mills Blue Rhythm Orchestra. In 1935, he was working with Charlie Turner's Arcadians when that group was nominally led by Fats Waller. During 1939, he often worked with New York vocalist Hazel Scott, and in 1941, played with both the Frankie Newton and Joe Sullivan combos, after which, he retired from playing actively.
1963   Roddy Bottum, keyboards, b. UK. Member group: 'Faith No More'
1939   Delaney Bramlett, guitar/vocals, b. Pontotoc City, MS, USA. Member: 'Delaney & Bonnie'
1961   Vito Bratta, (Rock & Roll) Guitar/vocals. Member: 'White Lion'
1964   Pol Burton, rock drums. Member group: 'Transvision Vamp'.
1920   Lad Busby, Trombone, Leader, b. England, UK. d. Aug. 27, 1985. Played in the bands of Ted Heath, Geraldo, Kenny Baker, Ken Johnson, and VIc Lewis. Later led his own orchestra.
1952   Leon "Ndugu" Chancler , Drums, b. Shreveport, LA, USA.
1916   "Big Sam" Clark, piano, b. Glover, MS, USA.
1863   Robert Allen Cole, songwriter, b. Athens, GA, USA.
1935   James Cotton, harmonica/blues vocalist
1942   Andre Crouch, gospel singer, b. Los Angeles, CA, USA
1942   Sandra Crouch, gospel singer, b. Los Angeles, CA, USA
1930   Bobby Day, Rock/Pop vocals, b. Fort Worth, TX, USA, d. July 15, 1990. né: Robert James Byrd Also a producer at Chess Records.
1915   Willie Dixon, vocals/bass/songwriter, b. Vicksburg, MS, USA. d. Jan. 29, 1992, Burbank, CA, USA. né: Willie James Dixon Member: "Big Three Trio".
1947   Rich Dodson, guitar, b. Calgary, Canada. member group: Stampeders
1899   Thomas Andrew Dorsey - aka: "Georgia Tom", Folk and Blues singer/guitarist, b. Villa Rica, GA, USA, d. Jan. 2, 1993. Played during the 1920s & '30s. Found religion and started working with the Pilgrim Baptist Church in Chicago, eventually developing Gospel (as opposed to "Spiritual") music. Among his young proteges was Mahalia Jackson.
1971   "Missy" Elliott, vocals. Her 1998 single with Melanie B, "I Want You Back", hit No. 1 on the UK charts.
1959   Edem Ephraim, vocals, d. Jan. 21, 1996, (car crash with fellow 'London Boys' partner Dennis Fuller. ) Member group: The London Boys.
1949   John Farnham, singer/songwriter. His 1987 single "You're The Voice" reached No.6 on the UK Charts.
1948   John Ford, Bass/Vocals. Member group: The Strawbs. Ford was originally a member of the underground group 'The Velvet Opera'.
1970   "Franny" Griffiths, Rocker, Member group: Space.
1945   Deborah Ann "Debbie" Harry, vocals, b. Miami, FL, USA. Many No. 1, 2, and 3 releases in the Pop Charts of both America and Great Britain.
1936   Syl Johnson, guitar/harmonica, b. Holly Springs, MS, USA.
1935   Louis Jones, vocals, b. New Orleans, LA, USA. Member group: The Zion Harmonizers.
1960   Ted Key, vocals/guitar. Member group: 'The Housemartins'. Their 986 single "Caravan Of Love" reached No. 1 on the UK charts.
1960   Evelyn 'Champagne' King, Bronx, NY, USA, 'Soul' singer.
1924   Everette Lilly, strings (Bluegrass) né: Charles Everette Lilly member: 'The Lilly Brothers'
1921   B. T. Lundy, tenor sax, b. McKenny, VA, USA.
1946   June Montiero, American vocalist, b. New York (Queens), NY, USA. Member: 'The Toys'
1935   Johnnie Morisette, vocalist, b. Montu Island, South Pacific Ocean. Recorded for SAR Records
1899   Cavan O'Connor,vocals, d. Jan. 11, 1997.
1927   Ruth Olay, vocals.
1939   Frank Parker, vocals, b. Darby, Pennsylvania, USA. After graduating with a Bachelor's of Arts Degree in Acting from Pittsburgh's Carnegie-Mellon University, he pursued a diverse career in both films and television. An accomplished singer, Frank is perhaps best recalled for being part of the famed, "Arthur Godfrey and His Friends" television show from 1950 to 1956. In 1957, Frank appeared as panelist on TV's "Masquerade Party". He subsequently guested on the 1960's TV comedy "Gomer Pyle". Throughout the 1970's, he appeared on many TV shows including 'S.W.A.T.', 'Baa Baa Black Sheep', 'Wonder Woman', 'Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries', 'Battlestar Gallactica' and 'CHiPS'. In addition, In 1977, Frank was featured in made for TV movie "Just a Little Inconvenience" and in 1981, "The Other Victim". By the 1980's Frank continued on TV appearing on both 'Buck Rogers: in The 25th Century', and 'The Fall Guy and Crazy Like a Fox'. His feature film credits include "Midway", and "The Concorde: Airport '79". Elvis fans may have recognized him in his work with the King of Rock & Roll: 'Elvis and His Girls' and 'Stay Away Joe'. In 1980, He began to appear in Daytime "soap opera" TV as Paddy Kelly on "General Hospital". In 1983, However, he joined the cast of perhaps the most famous of all "Soaps", "Days of our Lives". He also appeared regularly as the Brady Family Patriarch, Shawn Brady, Sr. His other daytime 'soap opera' credits include "All My Children", "Never Too Young", "One Life to Live" and "The Young & the Restless'.
1970   Mark Pirro, R&R guitar. Member group: 'Tripping Daisy'.
1944   Robert Pruter, author ('Chicago Soul'), b. Philadelphia, PA, USA
1933   Tot Randolph, alto sax, b. Memphis, TN, USA. Recorded for Sun Records
1908   Alvino Rey, Leader/guitar, b. , Oakland, CA, USA, d. Feb, 24, 2004, at a rehabilitation hospital in Draper, UT, USA. (pneumonia and congestive heart failure). He had been living in nearby Sandy, UT, since 1979. Age: 95. né: Alvin McBurney McBurney. An early developer, builder and player of the electric guitar. It started when Rey took the tonearm and needle cartridge from his mother's 'RCA Victrola' and added it to his banjo, thus making the first electric banjo. Alvino was also the father of the pedal steel guitar. A virtuoso on the Hawaiian steel instrument, Rey soon added tone-shifting pedals to the lap-played guitar, and forever changed the shape of 'Country' music. The pedal steel guitar was marketed by the Gibson Guitar Company and its plaintive tone quickly became synonymous with the sound of 'Country and Western' music. . Ironically, the “father of the pedal steel guitar ”, never played 'Country' music. Rey spent his entire career in Jazz bands and dance orchestras. (And, curiously, Rey's big band-era orchestra is perhaps still best known for its No. 1 hit "Deep in the Heart of Texas". 1942) At age 10 . Rey's family moved to Cleveland, OH. where he was given his first instrument, a banjo. By 1927 after attending Lakewood High School, where one of his contemporaries was another future bandleader, Sammy Kaye, Rey began playing the guitar professionally with Cleveland bandleader Ev Jones' group. . In 1928, he moved to New York City joining Phil Spitalny’s Orchestra. He also adopted the name Alvino Rey in recognition of the then current craze for Latin music. After Spitalny, Rey worked with the bandleaders Russ Morgan and Freddy Martin, and in 1934 moved back to the San Francisco Bay area and joined "Horace Heidt and his Musical Knights", where he also played an electric guitar, a rare innovation at the time. In 1937 he married one of the singers, Luise King, and, in 1939, when he formed the Alvino Rey Orchestra, the King Sisters quartet left Heidt to join him. His new band attracted such top jazz musicians as the saxophonists Zoot Sims, Al Cohn and Herbie Steward and scored hits with songs such as "Strip Polka" and "Nighty Night" (which became the Rey band themesong). In 1944, Rey joined the U. S. Navy, and the band folded. After his Service discharge, he formed a new orchestra without the King sisters but the big band era had passed and by the 1950s he was working only with small groups. In the late 1950s, Rey recorded albums for Warner Bros. under the pseudonym "Ira Ironstrings." In the early 1960s when he formed the Surfmen, and cashed in on the brief craze for surf guitar instrumentals. He also worked for a short while with the Mexican bandleader Esquivel! Then, during 1965 to 1970, he starred in his own ' King Family Show' television show, which featured his wife and her sisters. In the 1970s he opted for semi-retirement in Utah, and he made his last public appearance in Salt Lake City in 1994. He shared a rich personal and professional life with his late wife of 60 years, Luise King Rey of the King Sisters. (They were married May 21, 1937 in New York City. :Louise died Augist 4 at her home in Sandy, Utah.)
1921   Richard "Harmonica Slim" Riggins, harmonica, b. Tupelo, MS, USA.
1950   Tom Robinson, singer/songwriter, Member: Cafe Society
1954   Fred Schneider, Keyboards/Singer Member of pop-punk band 'The B-52s'
1913   Roberta Sherwood, vocalist.
1931   Chris Strachwitz, CEO (Arhoolie Records), b. Gross Reichenau,Germany
1914   Earle Ronald Warren, Alto Sax, b. Springfield, OH, USA. d. June 4, 1994, USA. Played with Count Basie Band.
1951   Leonard Williams, vocals, b. Smithdale, MS, USA. Member: 'The Williams Bros'
1955   Keith Whitley, C&W vocals/guitar, d. May 9, 1989. né Jesse Keith Whitley. Worked with The Clinch Mountain Boys; J. D. Crowe's The New South
1942   Dennis Whitted, drums b. Chicago, NY, USA. Member: 'Paul Butterfield Blues Band'
1961   Michelle Wright, (C&W) vocals
1926   David Wylie, guitar, b. Washington, GA, USA.

   Notable Events on this date include:
1965.   Claude Thornhill, Bandleader, died at the age of 55
1973.   Laurens Hammond, CEO Hammond Keyboards, died in Cornwall, CT, USA. Age: 78
1977.   "Baby Boy" Warren, guitar, died in Detroit, MI, USA. Age: 57
1979.   Lee Jackson, guitar, died in Chicago, IL, USA. Age: 57
1981.   John Morey, bass and guitar, died in Sun Valley, CA, USA. Age: 32
1983.   Sandy Mosse, tenor sax, died, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands (b. May 29, 1929 in Detroit, Michigan, USA). He had married a Dutch woman, and eventually retired to Holland.
1985.   Lonnie Hillyer, trumpet, died in New York (Manhattan), NY, USA. (Cancer) Age: 45. (b,. March 25, 1940, Monroe, GA, USA., but was taken by his family to Detroit when he was 3.)
1989.   Chauncey Haughton, clarinet, alto/tenor/baritone sax, piano, died (b. Feb. 26, 1909, Chestertown, MD, USA.. --his brothers John and Clifton played trombone and trumpet )
1995.   "Wolfman Jack", DJ, died in Belvedere, NC, USA. Age: 57
1995.   Frank Hicks, western swing guitarist, died in Fresno, CA, USA. Age: 73
2003.   Herbie Mann, flute, tenor sax, bass clarinet, died in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. (prostate cancer). (b. April 16, 1930 in Brooklyn, New York NY, USA.)

   Songs Recorded/Released this date include:
1912   "A Little Bit Of Everything Melody", - Vess Osman
1925   "I Miss My Swiss (My Swiss Miss Misses Me)", Ernie Jones & Billy Hare ("The Happiness Boys")
1926   "Barcelona", - Fred Rich Orch. (Also by two piano team: Rich and Moran)
1930   "Betty Co-Ed", - Bob Haring Orch.
1930   "When The Bloom Is On The Sage", - Bud Billings & Carson Robison (cowboy tune)
1931   "I'm All Dressed Up With A Broken Heart", - Ted Lewis Orch.
1935   "King Porter Stomp", - Benny Goodman Orch. (Fletcher Henderson's arrangement)
1935   "My Very Good Friend The Milkman", - Anson Weeks Orch.
1938   "On The Bumpy Road To Love", - Fats Waller and his Rhythm
1942   "There Are Such Things", - Tommy Dorsey Version.
1942   "There Are Such Things", - Artie Shaw Orch.
1943   "In The Blue Of The Evening", - Tommy Dorsey
1943   "You'll Never Know", - Dick Haymes
1943   "Johnny Zero", - The Song Spinners
1957   "Send For Me", - Nat King Cole
1967   "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", - The Buckinghams
1967   "White Rabbit", - The Jefferson Airplane
1967   "Whiter Shade Of Pale, A", - Procol Harum
1972   "Brandy (You're A Fine Girl)", - Looking Glass
1972   "Alone Again (Naturally)", - Gilbert O'Sullivan
1978   "Magnet & Steel", - Walter Egan
1978   "Love Will Find A Way", - Pablo Cruise
1989   "On Our Own", - Bobby Brown
1989   "Batdance", - Prince
1989   "Secret Rendezvous", - Karyn White

** Calendar editor: Mr. Ron Hearn Return To: