BIRTHDAYS
1922     Homer Bailes, C&W vocals/guitar, b, Kanawha County, WV, USA. Member: 'Bailes Brothers'
1951     Philip Bailey, singer/conga drums, b. Denver, CO, USA. Member group: 'Earth Wind and Fire'
1942     Jack Blanchard, singer-songwriter/saxophonist/keyboardist, b. Buffalo, NY, USA. Member: "Jack Blanchard & Misty Morgan" Jack Blanchard & Misty Morgan (keyboardist) are writers/musicians/singers/producers with hit releases on the Epic, Columbia, Mercury, UA, and RCA labels, and others. Their main genre is Country and Western with crossovers to 'Pop', and even Jazz, but they are so different that it is very difficult to attach any label to them. Interestingly, the two were born in the same hospital in Buffalo, NY - three years apart. During childhood, both moved to Ohio. Still, they never met until they both found work in the Florida club circuit.
1899     Jack Bland, Guitar, banjo, b. Sedalia, MO, USA, d. Oct. 1968.
1960     Eric Brittingham, Bass/Vocals, Member: 'Cinderella'
1953     Billy Burnette, C&W guitar. b. Memphis, TN, USA. Member group: 'Fleetwood Mac'. He is the son of rockabilly Johnny Burnette singer/guitarist. He was out of Country music for several years when Fleetwood Mac hired him to replace Lindsay Buckingham.
1929     Arnold S. Caplin, label owner (Biograph), b. New York, NY
1908     Moe Cohen, Sax, b. Brooklyn, NY, USA, d. June 1996, Brooklyn, NY, USA. Active ca. 1925 to 1938. Moe picked up the saxaphone at age 16 years, learned to play it in approximately 6 weeks and started looking for work. He played clarinet, on one occasion, for the RCA Symphony Orchestra under Toscanini, who he described as absolute genius. Once brought his mouthpiece to the Cotton Club in Harlem and sat in with Duke Ellington. Often compard notes with Bud Freeman (but felt Bud Freeman was in a class beyond him). Was first sax in Gene Kardos' band, Played with the Jean Goldkette Orch. Toured to Machado's palace in Cuba when he played with Enrique Madriguera. He loved music and appreciated progressive jazz to the day he died. He once rejected a Guy Lombardo offer, because he didn't want to "waste his talent". Moe quit the music business in 1937 or 1938, when he married and got into the commercial laundry/uniform rental service, because of a lifestyle he felt he had to leave behind (constant touring). In personal correspondence, Moe's son has said his father, ".....under the right conditions, would never have left the business."
1917     John "Papa" Creach, violinist, b. Beaver Falls, PA, USA. d. Feb. 22, 1994. Perhaps the best known of the violinist of the 'Rock' era is "Papa" John Creach. In 1970, "Papa" was already in his '50s when he first came to the attention of Rock fans becoming a member of the group 'Jefferson Airplane' and the spin-off group 'Hot Tuna', whose members were still in their '20s. "Papa" had already been well known in the Jazz/Blues genre. When the 'Airplane' crashed in 1972, Papa had already started to release some solo albums (on the Grunt Label), and continued to record solo into 1992 ("Papa Blues"), -even though he had again joined the group in 1975 when they reorganized as the 'Jefferson Starship'. He was 76 years of age when Cardiac Arrest caused his demise.
1947     Rick Derringer, singer/songwriter/producer/guitar. Member group: 'The McCoys'
1960     Brad Detrick, trumpet, flugelhorn, piccolo trumpet,
1951     Chris Frantz, rock drummer, b. Fort Campbell, KY, USA. Member group: 'Talking Heads'
1941     John Fred, vocals. Member group: 'John Fred and his Playboy Band'
1944     Gary Glitter, vocals, b. Banbury, Oxfordshire, England, UK. né: Paul Gadd
1968     Del Anthony Gray, C&W guitar/vocals, b. Hamilton, OH, USA
1976     "H", vocals, Member group: 'Steps', a group formed on May 7, 1996, consisting of Claire Richards, Faye Tozer, Ian Watkins (known as H), Lee Latchford Evans and Lisa Scott-Lee.
1963     Keith Harling, C&W vocals/guitar, b. Greenwood, SC, USA.
1972     Darren Hayes, pop/rock singer-songwriter, b. San Francisco, CA, USA. né: Darren Stanley Hayes. Member group: 'Savage Garden'
1975     Enrique Iglesias, vocals, b. Madrid, Spain. The son of multimillion-selling singer Julio Iglesias.
1945     Keith Jarrett, Piano/Organ and soprano sax, b. Allentown, PA, USA. These days, his trio (with Jack DeJohnette and Gary Peacock), and Classical music have become his great passions. His technical skills were acquired at Philadelphia's famed Curtis Institute. In 1966 and '67 he toured Europe with Charles Lloyd. During 1970 - '71, Keith was with Miles Davis. After leaving Miles, he formed his own trio with Paul Motian, drums, and Charlie Haden on bass. Over the years, Jarrett has spent much of his time playing in Europe where he has a large following. One critic has observed that "While rooted in American Jazz and lore, Jarrett seems to find greater inspiration when playing in Germany, and Scandinavia".
1985     Matt Jay, Member group: Busted
1930     Arne "Papa Bue" Jensen, Trombone, leader, b. Copenhagen, Denmark
1911     Robert Johnson, singer/songwriter/guitar, b. Hazlehurst, MS, USA, d. Aug. 16, 1938, Greenwood, MS, USA. Best recalled for his songs, "Me and the Devil Blues", "Sweet Home Chicago", and "Cross Road Blues".
1964     Jon-Erik Kellso, Trumpet/cornet, b. Dearborn, Michigan, USA
1944     Bill Legend, Member group: T Rex, They had over 20 Top 40 hits on the UK charts.
1935     Peter Littman, drums
1978     Ana Maria Lombo, Member group: Eden's Crush
1928     Benny Martin, (Bluegrass) fiddler, b. Sparta, TN, USA.
1946     Randy Meisner, vocals/Bass. His signature song "Take It To The Limits"
1925     Luke "Long Gone" Miles, guitar, b. Lachute, LA
1940     Ricky Nelson, Vocals, b. Teaneck, NJ, USA. né: Eric Hilliard Nelson. Son of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson. Among Ricky's hit releases were "Hello Mary Lou", "It's Late", and "Garden Party". Ricky, his fiancee and five members of his Stone Canyon band died on December 31, 1985 when their private plane crashed in northeastern Texas. They were on their way to perform at a New Year's Eve concert in Dallas.
1905     Red Nichols, Cornet, b. Ogden, UT, d. June 28, 1965, Las Vegas, NV
1964     Dave Rowntree, vocals/guitar. b. Colchester, England, UK. Member group: 'Blur'
1943     Jerry Rusch, trumpet
1943     Paul Samwell-Smith, bass, b. Twickenham, Surrey, England, UK. Member: 'The Yardbirds'
1947     Phil Sawyer, bass/guitar, b. Birmingham, England, UK. Member: 'Spencer Davis Group' originally formed in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s as 'The Rhythm and Blues Quartet', with Spencer Davis on guitar and vocals, Steve Winwood on guitar, organ and vocals, his older brother Muff Winwood on bass and Pete York on drums. In 1967, Steve Winwood left to form 'Traffic' then Muff Winwood left to join Island Records as head of A & R. The band continued with Phil Sawyer who himself was replaced by Ray Fenwick on guitar and Eddie Hardin on keyboards.
1892     Jimmie Tarlton, C&W vocals/guitar, b. Cheraw, SC, USA. Member: 'Darby & Tarlton',
1943     Toni Tennille, vocals, b. Montgomery AL, USA. Member duo: 'The Captain and Tennile'. Both the 'Captain', aka Daryl Dragon, and Toni are keyboard players who became famous when they emerged in the early 1970s with both singing on their mega hit, "Love Will Keep Us Together". Other hits would follow including "Muskrat Love" and their final hit in 1980, "Do that to Me One More Time". Unlike some other showbusiness folks, Toni and The Captain are still married some thirty years odd years later.
1953     Bonnie Tyler, vocals, b. Swansea, Wales, UK. née: Gaynor Hopkins
1953     Alex Van Halen, rock drums, b. Amsterdam, Netherlands. Member: 'Van Halen'
1954     Phil Wiggins, harmonica, b. Washington, DC, USA. Member: 'Cephas & Wiggins'
1910     Mary Lou Williams, Piano/arranger/composer, b. Atlanta, GA, USA, d. May 28, 1981, Durham, NC, USA (bladder cancer). né: Mary Elfrieda Scrugg. An excellent pianist - from 1929-42 she played piano with 'Andy Kirk and His 12 Clouds of Joy' band. She also arranged for Benny Goodman, led numerous combos of her own, and, in the very late '40s, she adapted easily to the then new bop idiom. During 1953-'54, Mary Lou worked in England and France. In the early '60s' Mary Lou, a deeply religious woman, was responsible for launching a foundation dedicated to helping musicians with personal problems. However, she did finally return to actively playing, and by the 1960s, her playing had attained a level of complexity that rivaled the most avant-garde Jazz pianism. Billy Taylor speaking of Mary Lou, in an interview with that wonderful Jazz pianist Marion McPartland, said "She has the most consistant way of swinging; even with a rhythm section that isn't quite hanging together, she can make it swing!"
         Notable Events occuring this date include:
1941.    Gene Krupa Orch., with vocalist Anita O'Day and trumpeter Roy Eldridge recorded "Let Me Off Uptown".
1952.    Leon Huff, C&W singer/yodeler and member of the "Light Crust Doughboys" died. Age: 39
1962.    Gene Dennis, harmonica, died in Chicago, IL, USA. Age: 42
1968.    George D. Hay C&W radio DJ/writer (b. Nov. 9, 1895, Attica, Indiana, USA), died in Virginia Beach, VA, USA. Age: 72. Known as "The Solemn Old Judge" His "Barn Dance" show on Nashville's radio station WLS was extremely popular.
1974.    Graham Bond, piano/organ/alto sax, died in London, UK, Age: 37
1982.    Vangelis' single "Chariots Of Fire" hit No. 1 on US charts (his only No. 1), and managed to get up to No. 12 on the UK charts.
1988.    Nappy Lamare, guitar/banjo, died in Newhall, CA, USA. Age: 81
1989.    Joseph Boatner, vocals, died in Laconia, NH, USA. Age: 70
1994.    Geraldine Barnes, (gospel) vocals
         Songs Recorded/Released this date include:
      1935 "Sweet and Slow", - Fats Waller and his Rhythm (Dubin and Warren tune)
      1935 "You've Been Taking Lessons In Love", - Fats Waller and his Rhythm (Winston Tharp and Grady Watts tune)
      1941 "Let Me Off Uptown", Gene Krupa Orch., Anita O'Day/Roy Eldridge vocal.
      1941 "Chattanooga Choo Choo", Glenn Miller and his Orchestra
      1944 "Long Ago and Far Away", - Helen Forrest and Dick Haymes vocals.
      1944 "I'll Get By", - Harry James Orchestra with vocal: Dick Haymes
      1952 "Blue Tango", - Leroy Anderson Orchestra
      1952 "Blacksmith Blues", - Ella Mae Morse
      1952 "Anytime", - Eddie Fisher voc. release
      1960 "Sixteen Reasons", - Connie Stevens voc.
      1961 "Tragedy", - Fleetwoods
      1961 "Hello Mary Lou", - Ricky Nelson
      1965 "Just A Little", - Beau Brummels
      1965 "Crying In The Chapel", - Elvis Presley
      1965 "Back In My Arms Again", - The Supremes
      1971 "It Don't Come Easy", - Ringo Starr
      1976 "Shop Around", - Captain & Tennille
      1976 "Fool To Cry", - The Rolling Stones
      1982 "Rosanna", - Toto