July 3: On This Day in Music

today

 

Be sure your student reads and listens to Today’s Daily Listening Assignment

 

• 1801 ~ Johann Nepomuk Went, Composer, died at the age of 56

• 1892 ~ Joseph Labitzky, Composer

• 1809 ~ Joseph Quesne, Composer, died at the age of 62

• 1814 ~ Janis Cimze, Composer

• 1819 ~ Louis Theodore Gouvy, Composer

• 1846 ~ Achilles Alferaki, Composer

• 1850 ~ Alfredo Kiel, Composer

• 1854 ~ Leos Janácek, Czech composer, conductor and collector of Moravian folk songs. He is best known for his operas including “Jenufa” and “The Cunning Little Vixen” as well as for his orchestral piece “Taras Bulba.”
More information about Janácek

• 1855 ~ Piotr Maszynski, Composer

• 1860 ~ William Wallace, Composer

• 1862 ~ Friedrich Ernst Koch, Composer

• 1871 ~ Vicente Arregui Garay, Composer

• 1873 ~ Josef Michal Ksawery Jan Poniatowski, Composer, died at the age of 57

• 1878 ~ George M. Cohan, American songwriter, vaudeville performer, playwright and producer
Listen to Cohan’s music
More information about Cohan

• 1879 ~ Philippe Gaubert, Composer

• 1880 ~ Carl Schuricht, Composer

• 1891 ~ Stefano Golinelli, Composer, died at the age of 72

• 1930 ~ Carlos Kleiber, German conductor

• 1930 ~ Pete Fountain, Jazz clarinetist

• 1940 ~ Fontella Bass, Singer

• 1941 ~ Cab Calloway and his orchestra recorded the standard, St. James Infirmary, for Okeh Records.

• 1945 ~ Johnny Lee, Country singer

• 1945 ~ Victor Borge was first heard on NBC radio. The network gave the comedian/pianist the summer replacement slot for Fibber McGee and Molly.
More information about Borge

• 1948 ~ Paul Barrere, Musician, guitarist with Little Feat

• 1952 ~ Daniel Zamudio, Composer, died at the age of 64

• 1952 ~ Laura Branigan, Singer

• 1953 ~ Harry Belafonte was shown with actress Janet Leigh and film star Tony Curtis on the cover of Ebony magazine. It was the first time a black person and two Caucasians were seen together on a U.S. magazine cover.

• 1954 ~ “Wonderful Town” closed at Winter Garden Theater New York City after 559 performances

• 1955 ~ Neil Clark, Musician, guitarist with Lloyd Cole & The Commotions

• 1957 ~ Richard Mohaupt, German Composer (Bucolica), died at the age of 52

• 1958 ~ “Andy Williams Show” premiered on ABC (later on CBS & NBC)

• 1960 ~ Alfred Henry Ackley, Composer, died at the age of 73

• 1961 ~ Vince Clarke, Songwriter, keyboards

• 1965 ~ Clarence Loomis, Composer, died at the age of 75

• 1966 ~ Andre Gailhard, Composer, died at the age of 81

• 1966 ~ Joseph Deems Taylor, Composer, died at the age of 80

• 1969 ~ Brian Jones, guitarist (Rolling Stones), drowns to death at 25

• 1969 ~ Hermann Grabner, Composer, died at the age of 83

• 1971 ~ Jim Morrison, rock singer (Doors), died of heart failure at 27.  He co-wrote some of the group’s biggest hits, including ‘Light My Fire’, ‘Love Me Two Times’, and ‘Love Her Madly.’ On the 25th anniversary of his death, an estimated 15,000 fans gathered at Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, France to pay their respects.

• 1971 ~ The Newport Jazz Festival’s reputation was tarnished as gate crashers stormed the stage. The unruly mob forced the show to leave Newport, Rhode Island and move to New York City. Oh, and the artist the crowd got unruly over? Not Bob Dylan, not Miles Davis, but Dionne Warwick’s! She was singing What the World Needs Now is Love at the time of the incident.

• 1972 ~ Mississippi Fred McDowell, jazz artist, died at the age of 68

• 1973 ~ Charles Ancerl, Czech conductor (Prague/Toronto), died at the age of 63

• 1973 ~ Clint Holmes received a gold record for his hit single, Playground in My Mind.

• 1976 ~ Brian Wilson rejoined The Beach Boys, who were appearing at Angels Stadium in Anaheim, CA (before 74,000 fans). Wilson had been out of the group’s road tour schedule for 12 years.

• 1977 ~ Hugh Le Caine, Composer, died at the age of 63

• 1986 ~ Rudy Vallee, singer (Vagabond Dreams), died at the age of 84

• 1986 ~ Mikhail Baryshnikov, considered by many to be the world’s greatest ballet dancer, became a U.S. citizen in ceremonies at Ellis Island, New York Harbor.

• 1991 ~ Irina Nijinska, Russian/US dancer, died at the age of 77

• 1995 ~ Brad Lee Sexton, bass guitarist, died at the age of 47

• 2000 ~ Harold Nicholas, American dancer known as one of the world’s greatest dancers (Nicholas Brothers), died of heart failure at the age of 79.  Children: don’t try this at home – never, ever dance on a piano!

• 2001 ~ Country guitar player Roy Nichols, who played in Merle Haggard’s band for 22 years and helped create the Bakersfield Sound, died after being hospitalized with kidney inflammation and a bacterial infection. He was 68. Nichols began recording with Haggard’s band The Strangers in 1963 and played with some of country music’s biggest names from the time he was 16 years old. “A lot of people may or may not know that he played for Johnny Cash on Tennessee Flat Top Box, the original version, and also on The Ballad of Ira Hayes,” Haggard told the Associated Press in a telephone interview. Haggard credits Nichols with jump-starting his own career and playing a key role in developing The Stranger’s distinctive sound.

• 2001 ~ Grand Ole Opry star Johnny Russell, whose song Act Naturally was recorded by Buck Owens and The Beatles, died of leukemia, diabetes and other ailments at the age of 61. Russell once said that it took him two years to get someone to record Act Naturally, co-written with Voni Morrison. When Owens recorded a version in 1963, it went to No. 1 on the country charts. Two years later, it was recorded by the Beatles, with Ringo Starr singing the vocal. In 1989, Starr and Owens recorded a duet of the song that was nominated for Grammy and Country Music Association awards. Russell’s own recording career took off in the 1970s. His biggest hit was the working class anthem Rednecks, White Socks and Blue Ribbon Beer, which went to No. 4 in 1973 and was nominated for a Grammy. Russell joined the cast of the Grand Ole Opry in 1985, and over the years became its regular closing act. A jolly, 275-pound man, he would joke to audiences in his opening line: “Can everybody see me all right?” Russell also wrote the No. 1 hit Let’s Fall to Pieces Together, recorded in 1984 by George Strait, and Making Plans, which was recorded by Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt on their Trio album in 1987.

• 2012 ~ Andy Griffith, American actor, comedian, television producer, Southern gospel singer, and writer (Andy Griffith Show, Matlock), died from a heart attack at the age of 86

• 2018 ~ William “Bill” Watrous, American jazz trombonist, died at the age of 79

• 2018 ~ Richard Swift, American singer and songwriter (The Black Keys), died at the age of 41

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