BIRTHDAYS
1944     Verden Allen, Keyboards, b. Hereford, Hereford & Worcester, England. with 'Mott The Hoople'
1915     Vernon C. Alley, Bass, b. Winnemucca, NV, USA, d. Oct 3, 2004, San Francisco, CA, USA.
1937     Neil Ardley, Composer, b. Carshalton, Surrey, England, d. Feb 23, 2004
1914     Harold "Shorty" Baker, Trumpet, b. St.Louis, MO, USA. d. Nov. 8, 1966, New York, NY, USA.
1928     Bess Bonnier, piano, b. Detroit, MI, USA. In the early 1950s. while still in High School, she first met Tommy Flanagan, and later two other Detroit piano giants: Barry Harris and Roland Hanna. In the mid-1950s, Bonnier formed her own trio which was recorded by Chicago's Argo label in 1958. During half of the 1960s, she worked with vibraphonist Jack Brokensha and his quartet at his club in Detroit's New Center area. Since the 1970s, Bonnier has been an active jazz educator working at Detroit's Cass Technical High School as an artist-in-residence. In 2003, Bess Bonnier was the recipient of the Southeastern Michigan Jazz Association Award for her contributions to the Detroit jazz community as a pianist and educator over the last half century.
1971     Kenneth Wayne Carlson Jr., singer/songwriter (Rock), b. Huntington, NY., USA, d. Aug. 9, 2002, USA. Founding member of Fishs Eddy, and a partner in 'Zoo Productions'.
1926     Russ Carlton, Sax/leader, b. Woonsocket, Rhode Island, USA. d. Dec. 21, 1975, Memphis, TN, USA.
1933     Jumpin' Wilie Cobbs, vocals, b. AR, USA
1926     Miles Davis, Trumpet/leader/composer, b. Alton, IL, USA. d. Sept. 28, 1991, Los Angeles, CA, USA. (pneumonia, causing respiratory failure, complicated by a massive stroke). né: Miles Dewey Davis III. Miles started using rock rhythms in the late 1960's on recordings like "Bitches Brew", and "In A Silent Way".
1928     Gene DiNovi, Piano, b. Brooklyn, NY, USA.
1914     Ziggy Elman, trumpet, b. Philadelphia, PA, USA. d. June 26, 1968, Van Nuys, CA, USA. né: Harry Finkelman.
1942     Ray Ennis, guitar/vocals, b. Liverpool, England, UK. Member group: 'The Swinging Blue Jeans'
1904     George Formby, Banjo/Comedy, b. Lancashire, UK., d. March 6, 1961, age 56. né: George Hoy Booth. One of Britain's most popular musical/comedians, he left a legacy of over 200 records and he appeared in 20 hit films. A son of an Edwardian Comedian, Formby started out as an apprentice Jockey, but entered the entertainment world upon the death of his father. He had happened upon a banjo, and became self taught on the instrument. Audiences immediately took to his idosyncratic, self-taught style of playing and the instrument was never far from his side. His 1932 recording of "Chinese Blues," (later renamed "Chinese Laundry Blues") was a huge hit and became his signature song. During World War II, Formby toured extensively, entertaining troops throughout Europe and the Middle East. He was among the first performers to appear in Normandy after the invasion, and was awarded the OBE in 1946 for his efforts. In 1951 Formby suffered a heart attack while starring 'Zip Goes a Million' (Palace Theater -London) and was forced to drop out of his role. He did return to the club circuit the next year but illness would plague him for the next decade. In Dec. 1960 his wife died and just two months later he announced his engagement to a schoolteacher who was 20 years his junior. However, the controversy ended when Formby died just 30 days later. on March 6, 1961 at the age of 56.
1971     Keith Gattis, C&W singer-songwriter, b. Austin, TX, USA.
1958     Marian Gold, vocals, b. Germany. né: Hartwig Schierbaum. Member group: 'Alphaville', a German synthpop music duo of Marian Gold and Bernhard Lloyd. In 1982, Frank Mertens joined the band. The group is perhaps best known for its two biggest hits, "Big in Japan" and "Forever Young", which, in the 1980s, was the theme for many high school proms.
1940/3     Levon Helm, vocals/drums, b. Marvell, Arkansas, USA. Member: 'The Band'
1959     Wayne Hussey, guitar, b. Leeds, England, UK. né: Jerry Wayne Hussey. Member groups: 'Dead or Alive', 'Sisters of Mercy', 'The Mission'
1919     Calvin Jackson, Piano, b. Philadelphia, PA, USA. 1985
1866     Al Jolson, vocalist/actor, b. (exact date unknown) Srednik, Lithuania, d. Oct. 23, 1950, San Francisco, CA, USA. (heart attack while playing cards). né: Asa Hesselson Yoelson. Billed as: "The World's Greatest Entertainer". His real Birthdate is unknown. "Jolie" picked this date because he wanted to be born in the Spring season. Emigrated to America against his father's (Moishe Yoelson) will, and was soon touring in Minstrel shows working in 'Black Face'. In 1927, Warner Brothers starred him in the first full-length "Talkie" film (The Jazz Singer), making Jolson the first performer to sing in a sound movie. The songs the Jolson sang in the film including "Toot Toot Tootsie (Goodbye)", "Blue Skies", "Waiting for the Robert E. Lee", and, "My Mammy", all have become part of American, and World, music culture. He did his signature song "Mammy" in blackface, as he had performed it a million times on stage. The film opened in New York City, and was an immediate success, ringing in the era of 'talking pictures'. Interestingly, none of the songs in the Jazz Singer were true 'Jazz", as we now define the term. By the end of the 1930s, 'Jolie's' film career was over, although he did try to stay active. During the 1940s, he toured overseas performing for American troops fighting WWII. The first three of his marriages (4) ended in divorce, the most famous of which was his marriage to actress Ruby Keeler. His last marriage lasted until his demise.
1971     Joey Kibble, Vocals, b. Buffalo, NY, USA. Member group: 'Take 6', an a cappella vocal group consisting of David Thomas (b. New York (Brooklyn), NY, USA), Alvin Chea (), Cedric Dent (b. Detroit, MI, USA), Mark Winston Kibble (b. April 7, 1964, New York (The Bronx), NY, USA), Claude V. McKnight III (b. Oct. 2, 1962, New York (Brooklyn), NY, USA), and Joey Kibble (who replaced Mervyn Warren). They are all 'Seventh Day Adventists', and they won Grammy Awards in 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1998, and 2003. They have collaborated with Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, and Queen Latifah.
1964     Lenny Kravitz, (rocker) guitar/vocals/composer, b. New York (Brooklyn), NY, USA.
1920     Peggy Lee, vocals/composer, b. Jamestown, North Dakota, USA, d. Jan. 21, 2002, Los Angeles (Bel Air), CA, USA. (heart attack). né: Norma Dolores Egstrom. Peggy was the product of a troubled, abusive childhood. Her mother died when she was just 4, (one of eight children) and her care was entrusted to her grandmother, who abused the young child. As a child, she turned to singing as an escape. She received encouragement and recognition for her singing both in school and church choirs. In 1938, after graduating from high school, she went to Hollywood, California, but later returned to Fargo, ND, and found work in the WDAY radio station. When Peggy moved to Minneapolis, MN, she met and began touring with the Will Osborne Band. She was working in a Nightclub when bandleader Benny Goodman discovered her. With Goodman, she went on to become worldwide Star. Some of hit recordings include her signature song, "Why Don't You Do Right", "Blues in the Night", and "The Way You Look Tonight". After striking out on her own (after two years with Goodman), she had still more hit records including "It's a Good Day" and "Manana" (which she wrote). Lee has starred in several films with Crosby and Danny Thomas. She also starred in the film 'Pete Kelly's Blues (1955)', playing a singer who battles Alcoholism. Her work earned her an Oscar-nomination. She also worked for the Disney organization. In 1955, her singing and speaking voices (and lyrics) were heard in Disney's film 'The Lady and the Tramp'. In 1958, she had a monster hit with the song "Fever". In 1969, her recording of "Is That All There Is?" won a 'Grammy' award. In 1983, Peggy made her Broadway debut (at age 62), in the autobiographical musical 'Peg'. She memorialized her abusive childhood with the Calypso number 'One Beating a Day', one of the 22 songs she co-wrote for the show. (The show was not a success.) In her declining years, Peggy was dogged by ill health and lawsuits . In 1991, she won a $2.3 million judgement against the Disney company to recoup royalites from videocassette sales of "Lady and the Tramp". From the 1980s on, she was semi-confined to a wheelchair due to circulation problems and accidental falls. Just a week before her death, she earned preliminary approval of $4.75 million in a class lawsuit. (A group of Decca recording artists, in which she was the lead plaintiff, had sued the Universal Music Group for royalites.) During her career, Peggy has published a book of verse entitled "Softly With Feeling", and Lee has also written music and lyrics, both for herself and the movie industry. She is well recalled today as one of the finest singers of the Big Band Era and beyond.
1908     Arie Maasland, composer/orchestra leader, b. Rotterdam, Holland, d. November 22, 1980, Bussum, Holland. Age: 72. Massland used the name of 'A. Malando' when he composed his beautiful Tango "Olé Guapa"
1909     Charlie McCoy, harmonica/drums/guitar/vocals, b. March 28, 1941, Oak Hill, West Virginia, USA. né: Charles Ray McCoy.
1916     "Moondog" (né: Louis Thomas Hardin), composer/percussion/vocal, b. Marysville, Kansas, USA, d. Sept. 8, 1999, Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. (Coronary Arrest) Age: 83. "Moondog" is often confused with another "naturalist", eden ahbez ("small e small a", b. April 15 1908), who composed Nat King Cole's hit "Nature Boy". However, "Moondog" went a step further than ahbez. He not only did his own composing, but also invented the instruments on which to play his songs. "Moondog" once told Jazz writer Leonard Feather "I was born 36 years ago in Marysville, Kan., raised mostly on ranches and trading posts in Wyoming. Drums were my prime concern ever since. I was about 5, when I came in contact with American Indians and sat in the lap of a tribal chief named Yellow-cap who let me play during one of their ceremonials. I lost my sight when I was 16, went to a school for the blind in Iowa, took up theory there, studied pipe organ, violin and viola." (Interview reported in 'Down Beat', July 1, 1953). In 1943, Moondog got to New York city where he first did a little work posing in art schools, and "began experimenting with this new concept of music which I call snaketime". (A dancer who had heard the music called it "snaky".) In 1948, scared by all the talk of an Atomic War, Moondog left New York, and traveled West. He told Feather that "In Salt Lake City, I got some leather skins from an artificial limb place, and built a set of square drums out of some piano boards. I did this in the men's room at the Salt Lake police station. In fact, one of the traffic cops helped me nail it together." In 1949, he returned to New York, and began to earn his living by playing on the streets. Moondog had told Feather that he wrote in twenty-seven different meters, ranging from 1/8 to 9/2. On any given day, one could find Moondog sitting near the corner of 43rd street and Sixth avenue (aka: "Avenue of the Americas"), his right hand working on a drum at 7/4 while his left was beating a 3/8 theme on the 'oo'. The "oo" was one of his inventions, - a harp-like affair with a triangular frame and sounding board, played with claves, using a teeter-totter-technique that gave a bounce; -mostly offbeat playing against drums onbeat. It was tuned any way Moondog wished but usually pentatonic, -"but I change it often". Among the first to notice his original ideas was 'The Spanish Music Center', who, in the winter of 1950, recorded him for its Coda label, also, DJ "Jazzbo" Collins gave Moondog recognition via radio station WNEW. Regarding his other instrument inventions (the 'oo', the 'uni' and the 'samisen'), Moondog told interviewer Feather that "The uni is based on the word unison. I use it as a pedal point or drone bass to music written in a 5/6 or 7-tone scale. You can strum the seven strings like a harp, hit them with a mallet, or you can get a weird sound and many harmonic by playing them with a double bass bow. the strings are made of piano wire." Moondog continued: "I cling to tonality, to the idea of simple chorus; melody is absolutely essential, and I'm strong on rhythm. Like the orientals, I feel that most occidental music is weird." Leonard Feather reported that: "The samisen, as far as I could gather, is a kind of 'portis on the franistan, which can be glavioleted with artificial snerbs'."
1956     Lee Musiker, piano/Musical Director/Arranger. Perhaps best known as singer Tony Bennett’s Music Director, but has worked with other vocalists.
1944     Gates Nichols, C&W (Steel) Guitar/Vocals, b. New York, NY, USA. Member group: "Confederate Railroad". Formed in the early 1980s, and comprised of Singer/guitarist Danny Shirley, lead guitarist Michael Lamb, steel guitarist Gates Nichols, keyboardist Chris McDaniel, bassist Wayne Secrest, and drummer Mark Dufresne. (Currently - 2006- Nichols plays bass or keyboard in the 'George Price Band'.)
1948     Stevie Nicks, Singer/songwriter, b. Phoenix, AZ, USA. Member groups 'Buckingham Nicks', 1974-75; 'Fleetwood Mac', 1975-'90.
1945     Gerry Paterson, rock guitar, b. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Member group: 'The Guess Who', a Canadian rock music band from Winnipeg, Manitoba that was active in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and originally consisted of Chad Allen, Randy Bachman, Jim Kale, Garry Peterson, Burton Cummings. They had some 'firsts' to their credit. They were the first Canadian rock group to have a No.1 hit on the American Music Charts, and one of the first Canadian rock bands to establish a major successful following in their own country as well as abroad. The group was still very active in 2004.
1968     Phillip Rhodes, drums/trombone, b. Tempe, AZ, USA. Member groups: 'The Pharoahs', 'Gin Blossoms', the 1990 'Blossoms' consisted of Bill Leen on bass (b. Tempe, AZ, USA), Doug Hopkins on guitar/principal songwriter/co-founder (b. April 11, 1961, d. Dec. 5, 1993, Suicide/alcoholism), Jesse Valenzuela on guitar/vocals, Robin Wilson on vocals, and Phillip Rhodes on drums.
CAUTION: Do not confuse with Phillip Rhodes, the American composer, born in western North Carolina.
1946     Mick Ronson, guitar, b. Hull, England. d. April 29, 1993. (liver cancer). Member groups: 'David Bowie', 'Mott The Hoople'
1910     Ady Rosner, Trumpet/Leader, b. May 26, 1910, Berlin, Germany, d. 1976
1941     Art Sharp, vocals, b. Surrey, England, UK. Member group: 'Nashville Teens', a rock group formed 1962 in Surrey, England, UK. In 1964, as part of the British "invasion" of the USA, their major hit, "Tobacco Road", reached #14 in the U.S. charts. At that time, the band consisted of Ray Phillips and Arthur Sharp on lead vocals (Phillips doubling on harmonica), John Hawken on keyboards, John Allen on guitar, Pete Shannon on bass and Barry Jenkins on drums.
1883     Mamie Smith, Vocals, b. Cincinnati, OH, USA. d. 1943 USA.
1940     Lew Tabackin., tenor sax/flute. b. Philadelphia, PA, USA.
1939     Oscar Toney Jr, vocals, b. Selma, AL, USA
1953     David Torn, Guitarist/ composer, b. Amityville, New York, USA. In the mid-1980's, Torn first rose to prominence as a member of Jan Garbarek's quartet. Sadly, in 1992, he was diagnosed with an acoustic neuroma, a life-threatening brain tumor. While the surgery left him deaf in the right ear, happily, it didn't rob him of the ability to play and compose music. His music has since been featured in some films, including 'Kalifornia' (1993), and 'Traffic' (2000). In 2003, Torn's score for the film 'The Order' was nominated for a Grammy Award.
1972     Alan White, drums, b. Manchester, England, UK. Member group: 'Oasis', formed 1993 in Manchester, England. CAUTON: There is another English drummer named Alan White, who was born June 14, 1949. And, still another Alan White who plays the organ.
1949     Hank Williams, Jr, vocals/guitar, b. Shreveport, LA, USA. né: Randall Hank Williams.
          Notable Events occuring this date include:
1933.    James Charles "Jimmie" Rodgers, died in a New York City Hotel room. Age: 35. Jimmie was called "The Singing Brakeman,"
1933.    Jimmie Rodgers, guitar/songwriter, died in New York, NY, USA. Age: 35
1949.    Euday Louis Bowman, (Ragtime) piano, died in New York, NY, USA. Age: 61
1958.    "Baby Face Leroy" (Foster) guitar/drums, died in Chicago, IL, USA. Age: 38. Worked with Muddy Waters
1968.    "Little" Willie John, vocals, died in Walla Walla, WA, USA. Age: 30
1973.    J. C. Higginbotham, trombone, died in New York, NY, USA. Age: 67
1974.    C&W Guitarist Hoke Rice, a member of "The Rice Brothers", died. Age: 75
1976.    "Guitar Shorty" (né: John Henry Fortescue), guitar, died in Rocky Mount, NC, USA. Age: 52
1977.    William Powell, vocals, died in Canton, OH, USA. Age: 35 (Member: 'The Jays')
1987.    Robert Wilkins, Blues guitar, (b. Jan. 16, 1896, Hernando, MS, USA) died in Memphis, TN, USA. Age: 91. (Some claim d. May 30)
1989.    Phineas jr. Newborn, piano, died in Memphis, TN, USA. Age: 57
1992.    George Morrow, bass, died in Orlando, FL, USA. Age: 66 Worked with Clifford Brown.
1994.    Sonny Sharrock, guitar, died in Ossining, NY, USA. Age: 53
2001.    C&W Songwriter Larry Lee Favorite died in Lebannon, TN, USA. Age: 62
          Songs Recorded/Released this date include:
      1925 "Collegiate", Ben Selvin Orch.
      1954 "Three Coins In The Fountain", - Frank Sinatra
      1956 "Walk Hand In Hand", - Tony Martin
      1958 "Do You Want To Dance", - Bobby Freeman
      1958 "Jennie Lee", - Jan & Arnie
      1958 "Endless Sleep", - Jody Reynolds
      1962 "Palisades Park", - Freddy Cannon
      1962 "Playboy", - The Marvelettes
      1973 "Long Train Runnin'", - Doobie Brothers
      1973 "Give Me Love, Give Me Peace On Earth", - George Harrison
      1979 "I Want You To Want Me", - Cheap Trick
      1979 "Boogie Wonderland", - Earth, Wind & Fire
      1979 "Ring My Bell", - Anita Ward
      1984 "Dancing In The Dark", - Bruce Springsteen
      1990 "Enjoy The Silence", - Depeche Mode
      1990 "Rub You The Right Way", - Johnny Gill
      1990 "She Ain't Worth It", - Glenn Medeiros
      1990 "Step By Step", - New Kids On The Block