BIRTHDAYS
1919     George Avakian, Producer, b. Armavir, Russia
1940     Al Bell, vocals, b. Little Rock, AR, USA
1921     Vinnie Burke, Bass, b. Newark, NJ, USA
1922     Eddie Calvert, trumpet, b. Preston, Lancashire, England. d. 1978, South Africa. Member; 'Eddie Calvert & His Orchestra'. As a child, he was already playing the trumpet and other brass instruments. As a young man, he was playing professionally in various groups including Geraldo's orchestra. He found national fame while appearing on TV with Stanley Black's orchestra, and became known as the 'Man With The Golden Trumpet. He formed his own band and signed with the Columbia label. Two hit releases followed, 1953's 'Oh Mein Papa', and 1953's 'Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White'. 'Oh Mein Papa' topped the UK charts for nine successive weeks, and he received a 'gold disc' award, the first ever for an instrumental. He had a hits in 1955 with 'Stranger In Paradise', in 1956 with 'The Man With The Golden Arm' and in 1960 with 'Jealousy'. In the 1960s, musical tastes had changed, and Eddie emigrated to South Africe. where he died at age 56.
1908     Spencer W. Clark, Bass Sax/drums, b. Baltimore, MD, USA. d. May 27,1998. Worked with: Both Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey (separately); Abe Lincoln; Joe LaFaro; Cliff Leeman; Adrian Rollini; Joe Venuti; Max Kaminsky; Fred Waring; Elmer Drown; Chelsea Quealey; Herb Weil; Carl Loeffler; Jack Russin;' and Bobby Davis.
1947     Ry (Ryland) Cooder, (R&B/Folk) guitar/singer-songwriter/producer. b. Los Angeles, CA, USA. Hit Records: "Sister Morphine", "Ditty Wah Ditty (w/Earl Hines); and the 'White' Spiritual "Lonesome Valley". Composed: "Mama Don't Treat Your Daughter Mean", "UFO Has Landed in the Ghetto", "I'm Drinking Again", "Hard Workin' Man" Also played with groups: 'Capt. Beefhearts Magic Band', and the 'Rising Sons'.
1931     Les Cooper, piano, b. Norfolk, VA, USA
1944     David Costello, vocals. Member: 'Gary Lewis & the Playboys'
1962     Terence Trent D'Arby, vocals/songwriter, b. New York, NY, USA. Hit song: "Wishing Well", Has an LP: 'Introducing the Hard Line'
1883     Ford T. Dabney, (ragtime) piano, b. Washington, DC, USA
1955     Bunny Debarge, vocals, b. Grand Rapids, MI, USA. Member Group: 'Debarge', She was the lone sister in this brother/sister R&B/pop group.
1958     Al Douglas, guitar, b. Paris, France. Member: 'Garry & Moodswingers'
1942     Hughie Flint, drums. Member Groups: 'Blues Band', and 'McGuinness Flint'
1931     D. J. Fontana, drums, b. Shreveport, LA, USA. Recalled for his working with Elvis Presley.
1929     Candy Green, piano, b. Galveston IS., TX, USA
1929     Clarence Green, guitar, b. Galveston, TX, USA
1950     Joe Harrington, vocals, b. Marianna, FL, USA
1910     Bobby Henderson, Jazz piano/vocals/trumpet, b. New York, NY, USA, d. Dec. 9, 1969. né: Robert Bolden Henderson, aka: Jody Henderson, and Jody Bolden. This 'stride pianist' who early in his career played in Harlem, and New York's 52nd Street clubs, later lived in comparative obscurity in upstate New York for years until re-discovered by John Hammond (who recorded him.) Bobby, who's boyhood friend and idol was Fats Waller, began his career in the late 1920s, playing in such Harlem clubs as 'Pod's and Jerry's', 'Yeah Man', and 'The Stable'. (In 1933, Bobby was Billie Holiday's accompanist at 'Pod's and Jerry's' club.) In the later 1930s, he moved "downtown" and was often heard playing on New York's famed 52nd street at such Jazz clubs as the 'Onyx Club' and 'The Famous Door'. Curiously, despite a prodigious technique (he could easily play open twelfths with both hands), he shied away from playing with bands, and worked mainly as an intermission pianist and entertainer. In the 1950s, Henderson was playing in upstate New York cities, most notably in Albany, New York, and using the names of Jody Bolden, and sometimes as Jody Henderson. Bobby Henderson was not very well recorded, but in 1969, John Hammond and Sherman Fairchild induced him to come to New York City where he recorded an album later named "A Home In The Clouds". It was his last recording session. Very ill when he took the bus from Albany, Bobby died a short time later.
CAUTION: There are a number of Henderson's active in music, and sometimes the situation can be quite confusing. For one example, THIS pianist Bobby Henderson also became a trumpeter during the second World War, - and has often been confused with the Australian-born trumpeter also named Bobby Henderson.
Do not confuse with some other Hendersons, such as:
Bobby Henderson Australian Jazz trumpeter
Bobby Henderson a rocker from Louisiana
Bobby Henderson (Bluegrass) baritone vocalist
Bobby Henderson, Bassist, active since the late 1990s with guitarist and bandleader Willie Willis.
Robert Henderson (Jazz) Arranger
Robert H. Henderson (Jazz) Bandleader/Drums
Robert Hendersen, (note the "e") who is a classical vocalist, and there are still other Bobby Hendersons.
1905     Bertha "Chippie" Hill, singer, b. Charleston, SC, USA. d. May 7, 1950, New York, NY, USA
1912     Lightnin' (Sam) Hopkins, blues vocalist, b. Centerville, Texas. Best known record: "Ball of Twine"
1972     Mark Hoppus, bass/vocals. Member Group: 'Blink 182'
1953     Preston Hubbard, vocals, b. Providence, RI, USA. Member Group: 'The Fabulous Thunderbirds'
1946     Gunilla Hutton, dancer/actress, b. Goteborg, Västra Götalands län, Sweden. née: Gunilla Freeman. This dancer/actress is perhaps best remembered as a member of the "Hee Haw" cast., however, she was also the long-time mistress of singer Nat 'King' Cole (according to his daughter Natalie Cole in her autobiography). In 1964, two events befell the 44 year old Nat Cole; he discovered he was dying of cancer, and he fell recklessly in love with a young dancer, Gunilla Hutton, then touring with his stage show. After he was hospitalized, a rather byzantine melodrama unfolded. Cole had always been a 'womanizer', and relations with his legal wife, Maria, were somewhat strained. Maria visited him as he lay dying in the hospital, and sat by his bed while the situation went from lethal words to lethal silences. Almost to the end, Cole's mistress, Gunilla Hutton, fought with his wife, Maria, over who was closest to the dying man's heart. At one point, Gunilla called Maria at home and asked her to give Nat the divorce he wanted. Maria went back to the hospital, dialed Gunilla's number for Nat (he was too weak to hold the phone), then listened as Nat told Gunilla that he was dying and must remain with his family. Nat (King) Cole died a month later.
1958     Laird Jackson, Vocals, b. Cleveland, Ohio, USA (raised in Detroit, MI) né: Elizabeth Laird Jackson
1916     Harry James, Trumpet/Leader, b. Albany, GA, USA, d. July 5, 1983, né: Harry Haag James.
1951     Mike Kindred, (Texas Blues) pianist/keyboard/songwriter, b. ?Austin, TX, USA
1944     Joachim Kuhn, Piano, keyboards, b. Leipzig, Germany
1935     Zarah Leander, vocals, b. Karlstad, Sweden, d. June 23, 1981, Stockholm, Sweden. née: Zarah Stina Hedberg. As a small child, Zarah Leander studied piano and violin, and at just age 6, sang on stage for the first time. As a teenager she lived two years in Riga, Latvia (1922-1924), where she learned to speak German. In Riga, she worked as a secretary, married Nils Leander (1926), and had two children (Boel (girl) 1927 & Göran (boy) 1929). Then, in 1929, Ernst Rolf, an entertainer and producer, engaged her for his touring cabaret show. Now, for the first time, Zarah sang "Vill ni se en stjärna," ('Do you want to see a star?'), which soon became her "signature" tune. 1930 found her back in the capital, Stockholm, where she participated in four cabarets, and made her first recordings (including a cover of Marlene Dietrich's "Falling in Love Again"). She also had a small part in a film. 1931 saw her definitive break-through when she played the role of Hanna Glavari in Franz Lehár's operetta 'The Merry Widow'. In 1929, she divorced Nils Leander. (Her 2nd husband was the journalist Vidar Forsell (after they married he became her manager). They were married 1932-1943. No children. Her 3rd husband was pianist Arne Hülphers, with whom she worked with for 25 years. They were married 1949-1978, -his death) In the following years, her career flourished as a popular Scandinavian stage and film artist. Though she had proposals from Hollywood, where a number of Swedish actors and directors were working, and despite the political situation, Zarah opted for a career on the European continent. Austria and Nazi Germany were much closer, and she was already well-versed in German. Then in 1936, she achieved International fame when she starred in the play 'Axel an der Himmelstür' at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, directed by Max Hansen. The play was a parody of Hollywoood and Marlene Dietrich - the wonderful German actress who had fled a Europe dominated by Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin. She landed a contract with UFA in Berlin, which stipulated that half of her high salary would be paid in Swedish currency to a bank in Stockholm, Sweden. Before and during World War 2, Zarah was very popular in Germany, where she soon became known as "the Nazi Garbo". In 1935, she received a Mercedes-Benz 500K from 'Adolf Hitler', and was even filmed in that car by Victor Tourjansky. In 1937, she was on the cover of 80 German magazines. She soon became UFA's leading film star, participating in 10 films, that greatly aided the Third Reich's propaganda effort. Because of this, the Swedish and International Press exhibited some criticism of her work. It is interesting to note that Zarah Leander continued to produce movies in Nazi Germany even after two of her grandparents (Jews) died in the concentration camps. Her usual role in these films was that of a femme fatale, independently minded, beautiful, passionate and self-confident. Her last film in Nazi Germany premiered on March 3, 1943. Many of the songs that she sang in these films had a somewhat frivolous nature. During one of the Allied air raids on Germany, her villa in the fashionable Berlin suburb of Grünewald was destroyed. In addition, when the increasingly desperate Nazis began to pressure her to apply for German citizenship, she decided to break her contract with UFA, leave Germany, and return to Sweden, where she had purchased a mansion at Lönö, outside Norrköping, Sweden. In Sweden, Zarah found herself greatly shunned because of her extensive association with Nazi propaganda. She did manage to land a few engagements on the Swedish stage, and after the war ended, she eventually returned to tour Germany and Austria, giving concerts and acting in musicals. However, she never regained the popularity she had enjoyed before and during the first years of World War II. There is an interesting afternote on her career. According to a 2004 book by Anthony Beevor, ("The Mystery of Olga Chekhova"), she worked for Soviet intelligence during World War II, passing information about Nazi Germany to a Soviet contact during her visits home to Sweden. Perhaps, her best recalled release is: "Der Wind Hat Mir ein Lied Erzählt", ("The wind told me a song") (622 kb) Here's a Postcard of Zarah and the lyric.
1931     Ted LeGarde, (C&W) Singer-Songwriter/Guitar/Harmonica/Yodeler/Rodeo Rider, b. MacKay, Queensland, Australia. Tom LeGarde's twin brother.
1931     Tom LeGarde, (C&W) Singer-Songwriter/Guitar/Yodeler/Rodeo Rider, b. MacKay, Queensland, Australia.
1940     Phil Lesh, violin/trumpet, b. Berkeley, CA, USA. Member Group: 'The Grateful Dead'. Phil first studied the violin and trumpet. Then attended Mills College, where, under the tutelage of Luciano Berio, he studied avant-garde composition and electronic music.
1938     Charles Lloyd, Tenor/Alto Sax and flute, b. Memphis, TN, USA.
1941     Mike Love, vocals. b. Los Angeles, CA, USA. Member group: 'The Beach Boys'.
1944     Ralph MacDonald, Steel Drums/songwriter/producer/publisher, b. New York, NY, USA
1932     Arif Mardin, arranger/producer (Atlantic), b. Istanbul, Turkey, d. June 25, 2006, New York, NY, USA (pancreatic cancer). Arif Mardin graduated from Istanbul University and studied at the London School of Economics, and never intended to pursue a career in music. Mardin has told interviewers that: "Dizzy (Gillespie) came through Turkey in 1956, and it was the biggest event of my life. I had the chance to meet him, and he wound up playing one of my pieces and giving me some pointers." Two years later in 1958, Arif became the first recipient of the Quincy Jones Scholarship at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. After graduation, he taught at Berklee for one year, eventually becoming a trustee of the school and was awarded an honorary doctorate. In 1963, Mardin joined Atlantic Records as an assistant to Nesuhi Ertegun, and subsequently became a producer, arranger and orchestrator, and ultimately a senior vice president. He left in 2001, and later that year worked at the revived Manhattan Records label. He retired in 2004. Mardin worked with an extensive list of artists, including a #1 single by the Average White Band ("Pick Up The Pieces"). His collaborations with the Bee Gees led to their smash hit "Jive Talkin'". Among his other Chart toppers were the Grammy winning "Wind Beneath My Wings" by Bette Midler, and Chaka Khan's "I Feel For You". "Separate Lives" ( a duet with Marilyn Martin) by Phil Collins, and "Against All Odds". Still other artists with whom he worked include Roberta Flack, Aretha Franklin, The Young Rascals, Dusty Springfield, Hall and Oates, Norah Jones, and Jewel. In his thirty-six year career, Arif collected over forty gold and platinum albums, over 15 Grammy nominations and six Grammy awards. In Turkey, upon Mardin's demise, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer called Mardin one of the most important music producers of the 20th century and said he had made his native country proud.
1901     Theo Uden Masman, Piano, b. Cirebon, Indonesia, d. 1965.
1968     Mark McGrath, vocals, b. Hartford, CT, USA (raised in Newport Beach, CA). né: Mark Sayers McGrath. - 'Sugar Ray', a group formed 1992in Orange County, CA, with Mark, Rodney Sheppard (guitar), Murphy Karges (bass), Stan Frazier (drums), Craig "DJ Homicide" Bullock
1907    Jimmy McPartland, Cornet, b. Chicago, IL, USA. d. March 13, 1991. né: James Dougald McPartland Wife is pianist Marian McPartland. Jimmy and his brother Dick were original members of the now legendary "Austin High School Gang".
1963     Bret Michaels, vocals, b. Pittsburgh, PA, USA. Member Group: 'Poison'
1948     Stephen Nisbett, drums. Member Group: 'Steel Pulse'
1962     Ugonna Okegwo, (Jazz) acoustic Bass, b. London, England (Born to a German mother and Nigerian father, Okegwo was raised in Germany).
1959     Matt Richards, guitarist
1964     "Rockwell", Vocals, b. Detroit, MI, USA. né: Kennedy William Gordy (son of Motown founder, Berry Gordy). Hit songs "Somebody's Watching Me"
1946     Howard Scott, guitar/vocals, b. San Pedro, CA, USA. Member group: 'War'. His LPs include: "All Day Music", "The World is a Ghetto", "Why Can't We be Friends?"
1927     Carl Smith, (C&W) vocals, b. Maynardsville, TN, USA. Tag: " Mr. Country". Hit songs: "Let's Live a Little", "Loose Talk", "Trademark", "Satisfaction Guaranteed" Member: Grand Ole Opry. Has also worked as an actor.
1955     Dee Snider, composer/Vocals, b. Massapequa (LI), NY, USA. Member group: 'Twisted Sister'. Hit song: "We're Not Gonna Take It"
1944     Sly Stone, Vocals, b. San Francisco, CA, USA. né: Sylvester Stewart. ; Originally a San Francisco, CA, 'Disk Jockey'. Member: Sly & The Family Stone: Hit Songs" "Dance to the Music", "Everyday People", "Hot Fun in the Summertime", "Thank You", "Family Affair"
1929     Cecil Taylor, Piano/leader, b. New York, NY, USA. né: Cecil Percival Taylor
1928     Bob Wilbur, Clarinet/alto-soprano sax, b. New York, NY. Studyied clarinet as a child, and was leading his own band while still a teenager. He studied the soprano sax as a student of Sidney Bechet, and even recorded with Bechet. This certainly gave him a solid background in traditional Jazz, still, an avid desire to expand his abilities led him to further studies with Lennie Tristano. In the mid-1950s, he led a band blending traditional with modern Jazz concepts. From the late 1950s - '60s, Wilber played and recorded with such great Jazzmen as Bobby Hackett, Benny Goodman, Bechet, Jack Teagarden and Eddie Condon. From the early 1970s to 1979, he and Kenny Davern had the group Soprano Summit, a band that attracted a world-wide audience. Afterwards he formed the Bechet Legacy Band, a band that recorded extensively, often on his own record label, 'Bodeswell'. Throughout the 1980s, he continued leading his Bechet Legacy band, recording, and accompanying his wife, singer Joanne 'Pug' Horton. The early 1990s found Wilber reunited with Davern for concert appearances. In December 2000, Wilber performed with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. Active in Jazz education, Wilber has also been musical director of the Smithsonian Jazz Repertory Ensemble, the house band for some of the 'Duke' Ellington conventions. In addition to writing for films, (notably recreating Ellington's music for the 1984 film The Cotton Club, he also recreated a Benny Goodman band for anniversary performances of the 1938 Carnegie Hall concert. In collaboration with Derek Webster, he has published his autobiography, Music Was Not Enough.
1923     Frank Wilson, vocals, b. Lufkin, TX, USA, d. Oct. 4, 1991. Member: 'The Cavaliers', a rock and roll instrumental group originally formed in 1955 in San Angelo, TX, then moved to Memphis in the early '60s, and returned to San Angelo in 1962. The band was led by guitarist Sid Holmes and featuring bassist Lewis Elliott, saxophonist Rob Zeller, and drummer Ray Smith. Encouraged to add a singer, they auditioned and added Wilson whom they had heard about through the local grapevine. In the fall of 1964, J. Frank Wilson had his one (and only) hit, - Wayne Cochran's teen-death melodrama "Last Kiss", the tragic tale of a girl who was killed on her first date with her sweetheart. All during the early '60s, such teen tragedies were popular in the U.S., and "Last Kiss" was one of the last to make it to the Top 10 charts, - no small feat since the 1964 charts were dominated by the British Invasion, particularly the Beatles. According to author Wayne Janick's interview with Sid Holmes in The Billboard Book of One Hit Wonders, Wilson couldn't come to grips with his status as a one-hit wonder. He ran through eight marriages as he sank into alcoholism. Eventually, all of his fast living caught up with him -- he died just a few months shy of his 50th birthday.
1947     Stomu Yamashita, keyboards/percussion
         Notable Events occuring this date include:
1929.    In Chicago, boogie-woogie pioneer Clarence 'Pinetop' Smith (June 11, 1904 - March 15, 1929) "Pinetop" was killed this date when he was accidentally shot in a Chicago dancehall while trying to break up a fight He was 24 years old. Not that it matters but, the gunman was aiming at someone else.
1941.    "Cowboy" Loye, "Loye Donald Pack," died. (né: Loye Donald Pack. b. June 3, 1900, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.)
1945.    "Billboard" magazine debuted a new feature, - their chart of top selling record albums.
1959.    Lester "Pres" Young, tenor sax, died in New York, NY, USA. Age: 49
1989.    Al Bennett, label owner (HI Records), died in Sherman Oaks, CA, USA. Age: 62
1991.    Tenor Saxophonist Bud Freeman, one of the top tenors of the '30s, died in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was 84.
1991.    B. T. Lundy, tenor sax, died in Montreal, PQ, Canada. Age: 69
1991.    Ace Pancoast, arranger, died in Philadelphia, PA, USA. Age: 85 (for 'American Bandstand')
1998.    Jackie Lee Cochran, Rockabilly singer, died in his sleep in Burbank, CA, USA. Age: 56
         Songs Recorded/Released this date include:
     1912 "Snap Your Fingers" , Al Jolson
     1912 "Brass Band Ephraham Jones", Al Jolson.
     1945 "My Dreams Are Getting Better All The Time", Les Brown Orch.
     1945 "My Dreams Are Getting Better All The Time", Phil Moore
     1969 "You've Made Me So Very Happy", Blood, Sweat & Tears
     1969 "Galveston", Glen Campbell
     1969 "Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In", Fifth Dimension
     1969 "Rock Me", Steppenwolf
     1975 "Walking In Rhythm", Blackbyrds
     1975 "Philadelphia Freedom", Elton John
     1980 "Sexy Eyes", Dr. Hook
     1986 "West End Girls", Pet Shop Boys