BIRTHDAYS
1947     Rudy Andrews, vocals, b. Hollandale, MS, USA. né: Rudy Stackhouse
1975     Kelle Bryan, vocals. b. Lewisham, South London, England. Member group: 'Eternal', consisting of Kelle (the youngest member), Louise Nurding (b. Nov. 4, 1974, Lewisham, South London, England), Vernie Bennet (eldest member, b. May 17, 1971 -Easther' sister) and Easther Bennet b. Dec. 11, 1972).
1964    Russ Case, arranger/composer/trumpet/leader. b. Hamburg, Iowa, USA. d. Oct. 10, 1964 Miami, Florida, USA. Age: 52. From 1927 to 1945 (after completing his High School education), Russ worked as a freelance trumpeter. During the 1945 to 1965 period, he worked in the Radio and the Television studios, as player, arranger, compser and leader. He was Orchestra Director for the (1955) TV Series "Upbeat", and composed the theme (and song) for the 1950 TV series "Pulitzer Prize Playhouse". He also recorded as the leader/arranger of various studio orchestras. Among the stars with whom he worked are Perry Como and Jeanette MacDonald. Arranged for many bands, including the Jackie Gleason orchestra. Among his compositions are such tunes as "Gabriel's Heater", "Frantic Fiddles", "Sliphorn Sam", "La Valse", "Midnight Oil", "Gambler's Ballet", and "Little Genius Ballet".
1917     Leonard Chess, Chess Records label owner. b. Motol, Poland. d. Oct. 16, 1969, Chicago, IL, USA. Age: 52 (Coronary). The label was home to such stars as Bo Diddley, John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Reed, and "Chuck" Berry.
1924     "Stuff" Combe, drummer, b. Berne, Switzerland. né: Etienne Stephen Jean Gustave
1937     "Chicken George", DJ/guitar/drums, b. Memphis, TN, USA.
1969     Graham Coxon, guitar, b. (near) Hanover, Germany (Rinteln Military Hospital). Member Group: 'Blur'
1903     "Big John" Davis, vocals, b. St. Simons Island. GA, USA. Member: 'Sea Island Singers'
1944     Quinn Davis, Alto Sax/flute, b. Artesia, CA, USA.
1938     Jessy Dixon, (gospel) piano, b. San Antonio, TX, USA.
1958     Leon Lee Dorsey, bass, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
1896     Jesse "Lone Cat" Fuller, 12-string guitar/harmonica/kazoo/(high-hat) cymbal/fotdella (some instruments played simultaneously), b. Jonesboro, GA, USA, d. June 29, 1976, Oakland, California, USA. Jesse was an American "one-man-band" musician, -a unique artist who was able to maintain a sense of dignity and humor in his music while enduring a life of poverty and hardship. He is recalled as San Francisco's most famous 'One Man Band'. Interestingly, he didn't become a "working" musician until the early 1950s. Jesse never knew his father, and while still a very young child, his mother sent him to live with foster parents who greatly mistreated him. While growing up, he variously found work in a barrel factory, on a railroad and then with a streetcar company, grazing cows (ten cents per day), shoe shine boy, working in rock quarry, a broom factory, and even peddling hand-carved wooden snakes. In the 1920s, he relocated to Hollywood where he worked briefly as a movie extra in "The Thief of Bagdad" and "East of Suez". It not well recalled today, but Jesse Fuller was the lyricist, and singer, for the song "Let Me Hold You in My Arms" heard in the 1970 film "The Great White Hope" He also contributed the song "San Francisco Bay Blues" for the "Eric Clapton: Unplugged" 1992 TV show. He subsequently settled in Oakland, CA working for the Southern Pacific railroad. During World War II, he worked as a shipyard welder, which turned out to be the prelude to his music career. When WWII ended, and shipyard work became scarce, his thoughts turned to earning a living as a "working" musician. Up to this moment, he had never worked professionally as a musician. However, he had always carried his guitar with him, and often played blues, old work songs, hymns and spirituals for folks after which he would "pass the hat" around for tips. Now he began playing the San Francisco clubs and bars, across the bay in Oakland and Berkeley, and eventually in Los Angeles. His fame increased locally when he appeared on Television. 1958 saw his debut recording released. (Jesse Fuller: Jazz, Folk Songs, Spirituals & Blues, Good Time Jazz S10031). Besides his folksy music, he is also recalled as the inventor of the type of double bass instrument. Here's a photo (source unknown) of Jesse with his "fotdella". While lying in bed one night, he conjured up the design of a large upright box with a rounded top, vaguely resembling a short neck double bass. Six bass strings attached to the neck were stretched over the body in normal bass fashion. "Lone Cat" then dreamed up the design for a homemade set of foot pedals which, when depressed, would cause a padded hammer to strike a string These six bass notes permitted Fuller to accompany himself on the 12-string guitar in several keys. Today, no one knows the origin of the name "fotdella". We do know that Fuller's wife used to call it a "foot-diller" (as in the expression, "killer-diller", -meaning good). Somehow or other, it became just "fotdella".
INTERESTING SIDENOTE:
In the modern world of the Internet, the name, Jesse "Lone Cat" Fuller is often associated with the initials FOTDFO. Research has shown those initials to stand for "Federation of Tracking down Freaks Organization". Just what this has to do with Jesse remains a complete mystery to this writer. I suspect that "fotdfo" somehow got mixed up with "fotdella".
1949     Mike Gibbins, drums, b. Swansea, England. Member group: 'Badfinger' -heard on "Maybe Tomorrow", "No Matter What", "Day After Day", "Feel like Makin' Love"
1951     Jack Green, Bass/Guitar/Vocals, b. Glasgow, Scotland, UK. Member Group: 'The Pretty Things'
1956     Steve Harris, bass, b. Leytonstone, London, England Member group: 'Iron Maiden'.
1948     Les Holroyd, guitar/bass/keyboard/vocals, Member Group: "John Lees' Barclay James Harvest"
1957     Marlon Jackson, vocals, b. Gary, IN, USA. Member of group: 'The Jackson Five'. (Michael Jackson's brother)
1940     Al Jarreau, (jazz) singer-songwriter, b. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. né: Alwyn Lopez Jarreau. This six-time Grammy-nominated vocalist, is the only vocalist in history to win a Grammy Award in three separate categories: Jazz, Pop, and R&B.
1904     Freddie Johnson, Piano, b. New York, NY, USA. d. 1961.
1888     Hall Johnson, vocals, b. Athens, GA, USA. Member: 'Hall Johnson Choir'
1942     Larry Kaye, vocals, b. New York (Brooklyn), NY, USA. Member 'The Quotations'
1922     Jack Kerouac, Writer, b. Lowell, MA, USA. d. Oct. 21, 1969, St. Petersburg, FL, USA. né:Jean Louis de Kerouac. Jack, the son of a printer, was born a French-Canadian child, speaking a French patois before learning English. His first published story was based on "The Shadow", an American radio show popular during the late 1930s. He later attended Columbia University (New York City) and took Thomas Wolfe as his writing model. The Dharma Burns, a tale of Zen Buddhism and a group of writers was one of his better stories. On Aug. 22, 1944, he married his first wife, Edie Parker, and the marriage ended in an annulment. His second wife was Joan Haverty, they wed on Sept. 17, 1950, and were divorced in 1951. The marriage did produce one child. His third marriage, on Nov. 18, 1966, was to Stella Sampas, and they remained married till his demise in 1969. Stella was the sister of his close friend Sammy Sampas, who was killed during WWII during the Allied Forces attack on Anzio, Italy. Stella had waited for 20 years, in Lowell, Massachusetts (the Sampas hometown), for Jack to come back to her. It is said the during his career, Kerouac researched his family's geneology, and found a Crest and a Motto: "Love, Work, Suffer". Kerouac died in his home, - his health had been ruined by Alcohol.
1948     Ricky King, vocals, b. Germany. né:Hans Lingenfelder.
1928     Paul Kuhn, piano. b. Germany. Best recalled release: 'Es Gibt Kein Bier auf Hawaii'.
1935     Hugh Lawson, Piano, b. Detroit, MI, USA. d. 1997., USA
1900     Zora Layman, (C&W) violinist/vocalist, b. Hutchinson, KS, USA.
1921     Gordon MacRae, vocals. b. East Orange, NJ, USA. d. Jan. 24, 1986, Lincoln, NB, USA. (cancer of the mouth and jaw) Some of his hit songs include "I Still Get Jealous", "It's Magic", "Hair of Gold Eyes of Blue", "C'est Magnifique", "The Secret" (with Jo Stafford) As actor, he appeared in Oklahoma!,and Carousel
1928     Willie Maiden, Composer/arranger, baritone-Tenor Sax, b. Detroit, MI, USA. d. 1976, USA.
1894     Joseph Meyer, composer, b. Modesto, CA, USA. d. June 22, 1987, New York, NY, USA.
1946     Liza Minnelli, vocals/actress, b. Los Angeles, CA, USA. Judy Garland's daughter by director Vincent Minnelli.
1908     Flora Molton, (gospel) slide guitar, b. Louisa City, VA, USA.
1902     Romeo Nelson, piano, b. Springfield, TN, USA.
1965     Coleen Nolan, vocals. Member group: 'Nolan Sisters'. She is divorced from Shane Ritchie (b. March 11, 1964, Harlesden, North West London, England.)
1942     Brian O'Hara, guitar/vocals, b. Liverpool, England, d. June 27, 1999. (Found Hanged) Member group: 'The Fourmost'.
1949     Robert Overstreet, vocals, b. De Quincy, LA, USA.
1949     Bill Payne, keyboards, b. Waco, TX, USA. Member group: "Little Feat". Last Record Album, 'Time Loves a Hero' Composes songs with wife Fran Tate.
1905     Allan Roberts, Composer, b. Brooklyn, NY, USA. d. Jan 14, 1966, Hollywood, FL, USA. Among the films for which he wrote are: 1946 'Thrill of Brazil' with songs: "Rendezvous in Rio" and "Dancing Down To Rio"; 1947 film 'Cigarette Girl'; 1949 film 'Challenge of the Range', 1951 film 'Purple Heart Diary' (song "No Time For Tears")
1979     Pascal Schumacher, pecusssion/.vibes, b. Uebersyren, Luxemburg.. Originally studied (percussion) at the Conservatoire de Musique de la Ville de Luxembourg In 1996, he was accepted at the Conservatoire National de Région de Strasbourg (teacher: Emmanuel Séjourné) and, in 2000, received the diploma for “Specialising Keyboard”. In 2002, He was awarded a Master’s degree of musicology at the Université Marc Bloch de Strasbourg, France. Between 1995 and 2003 he worked many famous Jazz artists, and also led his own groups. His own quartet: "Pascal Schumacher Quartet" (Jef Neve on piano, Christophe Devisscher on bass and Teun Verbruggen on drums) recorded their “Debut Album” 'Change Of The Moon' for IGLOO Records in November 2003, released in March 2004. The band then toured in Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Holland, Germany, Portugal, Greece, Australia, South Africa… The second album 'Personal Legend' (Igloo Records) was recorded in August 2005 and released in November 2005. Pascal Schumacher is an appointed teacher at the Conservatoire de Luxembourg.
1940     Jack Scorsone, vocals, b. Buffalo, NY, USA. Member: 'The Graduates'
1927     Francis Wilford-Smith, vocals, b. Rugby, UK Member: 'Magpie Piano'
1948     James Taylor, singer-songwriter. In 1972, he married singer Carly Simon. In 1971, his single "You've Got A Friend" hit No. 1 in the USA, and No. 4 in the UK. He was also heard on "You've Got a Friend", "Handy Man", "Fire & Rain", and "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)", among others. He was formerly married to Carly Simon (they divorced in 1983 - two children, -Ben and Sally).
1964     Tony Terry, (Soul) vocals, b. Pinehurst, NC, USA.
1918     "Sir" Charles Thompson, Piano/Organ, b. Springfield, OH, USA. (Some sources claim b. March 21) né: Charles Phillip Thompson. "BeBop" pianist who played mainly with small groups. Perhaps best known for his composition "Robbin's Nest", which was composed as the theme for 'Disk Jockey' Fred Robbins' radio show 'Robbin's Nest'. In the late 1930s, he started working with Midwest territory bands. In 1940, briefly joined Lionel Hampton, then worked with small groups while contributing arrangements to 'Count' Basie, Lionel Hampton, Fletcher Henderson, Jimmy Dorsey and other bands.
1912     Paul Weston, leader/arranger, d. Sept. 20, 1996, USA. né: Paul Wetstein
1892     George White, producer, b. New York, NY, USA. d. Oct. 11, 1968, Hollywood, CA, USA. né:George Weitz. Some say he was born in Toronto, Canada, possible in 1890.
1952     Marshall Wilborn, bassist for the Johnson Mountain Boys, b. Austin, TX, USA.
1924     L. C. Williams, vocals, b. Millican, TX, USA.
Notable Events occuring this date include:
1923.    Dr. Lee DeForest demonstrated his method of placing sound on motion picture film.
1939.    Artie Shaw and his band recorded "Deep Purple" with Helen Forrest on vocal refrain. Recorded many times since, it has become one of the most popular "standards".
1955.    Charlie Parker, age 34, died in the New York city apartment of his long time friend, Baroness Nina de Koenigswater.
1974.    Herald Goodman, vocalist, died. (Member of "The Vagabonds", a vocal trio formed in 1927 with Herald, Curt Poulton and Dean Upson.)
1980.    Ralph Sloan, dancer and founder of the Grand Old Opry dance troupe, 'The Tennessee Travelers', died. Age: 55 (b. Wilson County, TN, USA, March 9, 1925.)
1993.    Alex Taylor, vocals, died in Sanford, FL, USA. Age: 46
Songs Recorded/Released this date include:
     1939 "Deep Purple", Artie Shaw Orch (Bluebird), but Larry Clinton's orch with Bea Wain vocal was bigest hit. Same year.
     1955 "Ballad Of Davy Crockett", Fess Parker
     1966 "Daydream", Lovin' Spoonful
     1966 "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry", B. J. Thomas
     1977 "Tryin' To Love Two", William Bell
     1977 "Hotel California", Eagles
     1988 "Prove Your Love", Taylor Dayne
     1988 "I Saw Him Standing There", Tiffany