BIRTHDAYS
1947     Ahmed Abdullah, trumpet/composer/arranger/bandleader/flugelhorn/conga/vocal/piano, b. New York (Harlem), NY, USA.
1940     Arthur Alexander, singer-songwriter, b. Florence, AL, USA.
1899     Fred Astaire, Dancer/Actor/Vocal, b. Omaha, NE, USA. d. June 22, 1987, Los Angeles, CA, USA. né: Frederick Austerlitz
1951     Ron Banks, R&B vocals. Member group: 'Dramatics'.
1910     Ted Bogan, guitar, b. Spartanburg, SC, USA. Member: 'Martin, Bogan & Armstrong'
1928     Sherman Booker, piano, b. Phoenix, AZ, USA.
1952     Lee Brilleaux, vocals/harmonica, b. Durban, South Africa. Member: Dr 'Feelgood'. Lee was born of English parents doing contract work in South Africa, after which the family returned to England 1955, and lee was raised in Ealing, West London.
1960     "Bono", vocals, b. Dublin, Ireland. né: Paul Hewson. Member: 'U2'.
1909     Maybelle Carter, C&W guitar/vocals. b. Nickelsville, VA, USA, d. Oct. 23, 1978. Nashville, TN, USA. n&eacuete;e: Maybelle Addington. (She is a C&W legend.)
1921     Cleveland Chenier, washboard, b. Opelousas, LA, USA.
1942     Bill Coday, vocals, b. Coldwater, MS, USA.
1903     "Bad" Ann Cook, vocals, (Secular) Blues singer, b. St. Francisville, LA, USA. Worked with 'Dumaine's Jazzola Eight' and others.
1962     Gary Daley, vocalist/keyboard, b. Kirkby, Merseyside, England, UK. Member group: 'China Crisis', a Duo of Daley and guitarist Eddie Lundon was formed in 1979 near Liverpool. In 1982, realizing they needed a proper band, Daly and Lundon recruited bassist Gazza Johnson and drummer Kevin Wilkinson, and recorded their debut album "Difficult Shapes & Passive Rhythms".
1980     Jason Dalyrimple, R&B vocals. Member group: 'Soul For Real' an R&B quartet formed in 1992 and comprised of the four Dalyrimple brothers -- Brian, Chris, Dre, and Jason
1958     Claude Deppa, Trumpet, Flugelhorn, vocal, timpani, bass drum, percussion, b. Capetown, South Africa. (Some sources claim b. May 9)
1952     "Sly" Dunbar, Reggae drums, b. Jamaica. né: Lowell Fillmore Dunbar. His 1987 single "Boops Here To Go" made it up to No.12 on UK charts.
1946     "Donovan", Scotish Folk singer/composer, b. (Maryhill) Glasgow, Scotland (raised near London, England). né: Donovan Phillip Leitch. (Best release: "Mellow Yellow")
1947     Vic Elmes, guitar. Member group: 'Christie'
1935     Henry Fambrough, vocals, b. Detroit, MI, USA. Member group: 'The Detroit Spinners', 1980 UK No.1 and US No.2 single "Working My Way Back To You". The "Detroit Spinners" were formed in 1955 at Ferndale High School, near Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A., and originally known as 'The Domingos', 'The Detroit Spinners' were originally comprised of: Henry Fambrough (b. 10th May 1935, Detroit, MI, USA.), Robert 'Bobbie' Smith (b. April 10, 1937, Detroit, MI, USA.), Billy Henderson (b. Sept 8, 1939 (some claim b. Sept. 8), Detroit, MI, USA. d. Feb. 2, 2007, Daytona Beach, FL, USA. -Some sources claim b. Aug. 9, 1939, Detroit, MI, USA), Pervis Jackson, (b. May 17, 1938) and George Dixon. Later, Philippé Soul Wynn (a.k.a. Phillip Walker. b. April 3, 1941, Detroit, MI, USA. d. July 14, 1984, Oakland, California, USA.), and G.C. Cameron (b. Jackson, Mississippi, USA.) joined. Although not a member, producer and songwriter Harvey Fuqua b. July 27, 1929, Louisville, Kentucky, USA. sang lead on the group's single, 'That's What Girls Are Made For', which reached number 5 in the USA R&B charts and reached the Pop Top 30. Edgar 'Chico' Edwards then replaced Dixon in 1963, and in 1970. G.C. Cameron replaced Chico Edwards,
1947     Jay Ferguson, (Folk) vocals, b. San Fernando Valley, CA, USA. né: John Ferguson. Member group: 'Spirit', and with Jo Jo Gunne.
1953     Alex Foster, Reeds, b. Oakland, CA. USA. In 1973. He was a founding member of Jack DeJohnette's group 'Directions', following which he worked with McCoy Tyner, Nat Adderley and Freddie Hubbard. In the mid-'70s, besides working in the studios, he also played in the pit band for the Broadway show "Ain't Misbehavin'". Starting in 1982, he joined Jaco Pastorius, making three world tours, and recording two LP Albums. In the mid-1980s, he played in the 'house band' for U.S. television's 'Saturday Night Live' show. In the early 1990s, he toured with the Mingus Dynasty, Gil Evans Orchestra, 'Steps Ahead' with Mike Mainieri, recorded an album under his own name, and in mid-decade was again a member of TV's 'Saturday Night Live' band.
1935     George Golla, Guitar, b. Chorzow, Poland
1946     Graham Gouldman, guitar/vocals/songwriter. b.Manchester, England. Member group: '10cc'. Among the acts who recorded his material are Herman's Hermits, The Hollies, Cher, The Shadows, The Shindigs, Jeff Beck, Wayne Fontana, The Yardbirds, and PJ Proby. Without a doubt, he is one of the most successful Pop songwriters Britain ever produced.
1965     Phil Harper, Trumpet, b. Baltimore, MD. USA
1968     Duke Heitger, trumpet, b. Toledo, OH, USA. aka: 'Duke Heitger & His Swing Band'
1920     Al Hendrickson, guitar, b. Eastland, TX, USA. d July 19, 2007, North Bend, TX, USA. .(Cancer). In 1941, he joined the U.S. Coast Guard, where he played in a Service band led by Rudy Vallee. After World War II ended, he was the guitarist with the Artie Shaw band and and with Artie's Gramercy Five quintet. He later played with the Benny Goodman band and sextet. During his career, Hendrickson worked with such Jazz stars as Woody Herman, Dizzy Gillespie, Andre Previn, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Billie Holiday, Rosemary Clooney, Tony Bennett, Nat Cole, Ray Charles and Louis Armstrong. For more than 4 decades, he was a 'first-call' guitarist in Hollywood. He played on more than 15,000 record dates and more then 5,000 film scores including: "The Wild Bunch", "Cleopatra," "The Music Man", "High Plains Drifter", "The Turning Point", "Some Like It Hot", "Blazing Saddles" and "West Side Story." He worked on hundreds of television show soundtracks, which made him one of the most often-heard musicians in history. He played the guitar licks on "Bonanza", "MASH", "Mission Impossible" and several others.
1925     Joe (Befumo) Holiday, tenor sax, b. Sicily.
1907     "Pee Wee" Hunt, Trombone, b. Mount Healthy, OH, USA, d. June 22, 1979. né: Walter Hunt.
1929     Mel Lewis, Drums, leader, b. Buffalo, NY, USA, d. Feb. 2, 1990. né: Melvin Sokoloff. Best recalled for Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orch. Mel was born into a musical family, his father was a long time prominent drummer in the Buffalo NY area. In 1948, Mel played in the Boyd Raeburn orchestra, from 1948 until 1949, was a member of Alvino Rey's band, and subsequently worked in the big bands of Ray Anthony and Tex Beneke. In 1954, Mel began working with Stan Kenton, and apart from brief periods during which he worked with Frank Rosolino's quintet and Hampton Hawes's trio, the association lasted until 1975 when he settled in Los Angeles. In LA, he and Bill Holman co-led a quintet, and Mel was also active working in the Hollywood movie studios. Ca. 1960, he was in New York city working with 'The Gerry Mulligan Concert Band'. In 1961 Lewis toured Europe with Dizzy Gillespie, and then toured the USSR with Benny Goodman. Following this, Lewis then settled in New York city where he and Thad Jones formed their now-famous big band. The band performed every Monday night at the Village Vanguard club, while recording extensively. In 1979, when Jones's departed, Mel became the sole leader until Bob Brookmeyer joined and assumed the roles of composer, arranger, and music director that Jones previously had filled.
1928     Dave Lindup, tenor sax, piano, composer, b, Worthing, Sussex, England, UK.
1954     Lorne Lofsky, guitar, b. Toronto, ON, Canada. In l981,a critics poll in Downbeat, rated Lofsky among the top ten jazz musicians in the world, and deserving of wider recognition. Currently (2005) Lofsky instructs in the Music Department at York University (his alma mater).
1944     Jackie Lomax, guitar/bass/vocals, b. Liverpool, England, UK.
1946     Dave Mason, singer-songwriter/guitar, b. Worchester, England.
1937     Mike Melvoin, Piano/Organ, b. Oskosh, WI. USA
1938     Jimmy Moschella, vocals, b. New York (Staten Island), NY, USA. Member: 'The Elegants'
1934     Joe Nay, drums, percussion, d. December, 21 1991 in Munich, Germany. (car crash).
1951     Greg Piccolo, Tenor sax/vocals, b. Westerly, RI, USA.
1946     Jimmy Ponder, Electric Guitar, b. Pittsburgh, PA. USA While still in jr. high school, this self taught musician began playing guitar and singing but began to seriously study after after hearing Wes Montgomery. His first professional job was with Sam Pearson, in Pittsburg, which lasted for two years. From 1966 into the late 1970s, Jimmy worked with Charles Eaeland. From 1969 until 1972, he worked in a group led by Joe Thomas. Ca. 1975, Jimmy and drummer Grassella Oliphant co-led a band called 'Final Edition'. Subsequently, he played and recorded with various musicians, but most notably, Stanley Turrentine. Other musicians with whom Ponder played with over the years were some of the most prominent people in Jazz, including Lou Donaldson, Donald Byrd, Lonnie Smith, and Jack McDuff.
1929     Bob Prince, vibraphone/arranger
1941     Danny Rapp, vocals, b. Philadelphia, PAA, USA, d. April 5, 1983, Arizona, USA (suicide). Member group: 'Danny & The Juniors'. Their tune "At the Hop" became a huge hit after it was heard on Dick Clark's "Bandstand" program. . The Juniors had two more hits "Rock 'n' Roll Is Here To Stay" and "Twistin' USA". In the 1960s, The Juniors released several more records none of which became hits. In the 1970s they toured the 'oldies circuit', re-releasing "At the Hop" in 1976.
1949     Hans Reichel, Guitar, b. Hagen, Germany
1957     John Ritchie (aka: Sid Vicious), vocals/guitar. Member group: 'Sex Pistols'
1928     Karl Sanner, drums
1895     Carl T. Sprague, known as "The Original Singing Cowboy", b. (near) Houston, TX, USA.
1888     Max Steiner, composer, b. Vienna, Austria, d. Dec. 28, 1971, Hollywood, CA. né: Maximillian Raoul Steiner. Max Steiner, along with Alfred Newman , and Eric Korngold, contributed to the pioneering of original music in film scoring. Previously, Hollywood studios felt that the music had to be 'tied' to some facet of the picture, - either an orchestra playing, or people dancing to a tune, and such. In his autobiography (unfinished), Max Steiner explained:
       ".... but because they (RKO) had decided you could not have background music
      unless you showed the source. In other words, you had to have an orchestra on view,
      or a phonograph or performers, so that people would not wonder where the music was
      coming from. The first breakthrough came with the film Cimarron. This 'western'
       (starred Richard Dix and Irene Dunn) was the first sound film to have music that
      was not visually motivated.
Steiner's first real fame came with his first complete score for the film Symphony of Six Million, produced in 1932 by David O. Selznick. This was the very first film to really use music under the dialogue.
1899    Dmitri Tiomkin, Composer/arranger, b. St. Petersburg, Russia, d. Nov. 11. 1979, London, UK
1949     Maurice John Vaughn, guitar, b. Chicago, IL, USA.
1977     Jesse Vest, bassist, b. Louisville, KY, USA. Member group: 'Tantric'
1957     Sid Vicious. bass guitarist, b. London, England. d. Feb. 2, 1979 (heroin overdose). né: John Simon Ritchie. Member Group: 'Sex Pistols'
1922     Nancy Walker, vocals
1935     Julius Wechter, vibraphone/marimba, b. Chicago, IL, USA. d. 1999
1935     Larry Williams, Rock/R&B piano/vocals, b. New Orleans, LA, USA, d. January 7, 1980, Los Angeles, CA, USA (found dead at home).
1967     "Young MC", rapper, b. London, England, UK. (but raised in New York (Queens), NY, USA. He is best remembered for his 1989 hit "Bust a Move", which won a Grammy for best Rap Record. His first album "Stone Cold Rhymin'" was a hit, and later re-issued by Rhino Records. After he left Delicious Vinyl Records, his career went straight downhill, and he never recovered.
         Notable Events occuring this date include:
1954.    Carroll Gibbons, leader, piano died in London, England, UK.
1963.    Irving Aaronson, piano, leader, died in Hollywood, California, USA.
1967.    George Jenkins, drums, died in San Francisco, CA, USA. Age: 49
1970.    Frankie Lee Sims, guitar, died in Dallas, TX, USA. Age: 64
1974.    Bernard Gabler, shopkeeper/label co-owner (Commodore), died in New York, NY, USA. Age: 56
1976.    Kenneth Walker, vocals, died in Sydney, Australia, Age: 25
1979.    Carl Martin, vocals, died in Pontiac, MI, USA. Age: 73. Member: 'Martin, Bogan & Armstrong
1984.    Jean-Louis Viale, drummer, died in France (b. Jan. 21, 1933 in Neuilly-Sur-Seine, France )
1986.    Charles "Hungry" Williams, drums, died in New York, NY, USA. Age: 31
1987.    Laverne "Melody Sugar" King, vocals, died in Philadelphia, PA, USA. Age: 62
1989.    Jazz trumpeter Woody Shaw, one of the top trumpeters of the 1970s-'80s, died of pneumonia in a New York hospital, age: 44.
1992.    Sylvia Syms vocalist died in New York City, Age: 79. (b. Dec. 2, 1917, New York (Brooklyn), NY, USA. Frank Sinatra called her "the "world's greatest saloon singer" ) Do not confuse with the British film and television actress, Sylvia Syms ( b. Jan. 6, 1934), who also died in 1992, age 58
1994.    Barbra Streisand started her first tour in 28 years (from New York).
1995.    Jimmy Raney, guitar, died in Louisville, KY, USA. Age: 67
1999.    Shelby "Shel" Silverstein, songwriter/children's books author, died in Key West, FL, USA. Age: 68
2006.    John Hicks, piano died in New York City. Age: 64. (b, Dec. 21, 1941, Atlanta, GA,, USA)
         Songs Recorded/Released this date include:
      1929 "Here Comes The Showboat", - Harry Reser's Syncopators (J. Kern tune from 'Showboat')
      1934 "Little Man You've Had A Busy Day", - Isham Jones Orch.
      1934 "With My Eye's Wide Open I'm Dreaming", - Isham Jones Orch.
      1945 "Bell Bottom Trousers", - Tony Pastor
      1946 "Shoo Fly Pie", - Stan Kenton Orchestra with June Christy vocal
      1946 "Oh, What It Seemed to Be", - Frankie Carle Orchestra with Marjorie Hughes on vocal.
      1951 "Mister And Mississippi", - Patti Page
      1954 "Wanted", - Perry Como vocal
      1954 "Young at Heart", - Frank Sinatra vocal
      1954 "Little Things Mean a Lot", - Kitty Kallen vocal
      1962 "Stranger on the Shore", - Acker Bilk Orch.
      1969 "Get Back", - Beatles
      1969 "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby", - Marvin Gaye
      1975 "Old Days", - Chicago
      1975 "Magic", - Pilot
      1975 "Get Down, Get Down (Get On The Floor)", - Joe Simon
      1980 "She's Out Of My Life", - Michael Jackson
      1980 "Little Jeannie", - Elton John
      1980 "Coming Up (Live At Glasgow)", - Paul McCartney
      1980 "Against The Wind", - Bob Seger
      1986 "Different Corner, A", - George Michael
      1986 "Holding Back The Years", - Simply Red