Category Archives: Today in Music History

December 4 ~ On This Day in Music

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Christmas Countdown

• 1660 ~ André Campra, French composer

• 1667 ~ Michel Pignolet De Monteclair, French composer

• 1861 ~ Lillian Russell (Helen Louise Leonard), Singer, actress, burlesque

• 1879 ~ Sir Herbert Hamilton Harty, Irish composer, conductor, pianist and organist

• 1915 ~ Eddie Heywood, Jr., Pianist, composer

• 1927 ~ Duke Ellington’s big band opened the famed Cotton Club in Harlem. It was the first appearance of the Duke’s new and larger group. He played the club until 1932.

For part 2:

• 1934 ~ Ethel Merman recorded I Get a Kick Out of You, from Cole Porter’s musical, Anything Goes. She was backed by the Johnny Green Orchestra. The tune was recorded for Brunswick Records.

• 1934 ~ Wink (Winston Conrad) Martindale, TV host, singer

• 1938 ~ Yvonne Minton, Australian mezzo-soprano

• 1940 ~ John Cale, Bass, keyboard, viola, singer with The Velvet Underground

• 1942 ~ Bob Mosley, Bass with Moby Grape

• 1942 ~ Chris Hillman, Guitar, bass, mandolin with The Byrds

• 1944 ~ Dennis Wilson, American rock-and-roll singer and drummer

• 1948 ~ Southside Johnny (Lyon), Singer with Southside Johnny and The Asbury Dukes

• 1953 ~ Leonard Bernstein conducted at Teatro alla Scalafor the first time, in a production of Cherubini’s “Medea.” Maria Callas(1923-1977) sang the title role. Bernstein was the first American to conduct at La Scala.

“Then came the famous meeting with Maria Callas [in 1953].

To my absolute amazement, she understood immediately the dramatic reasons for the transposition of scenes and numbers, and the cutting out of her aria in the second act. We got along famously – it was perfect. She understood everything I wanted, and I understood everything she wanted…Then I met the orchestra, [began 5 days of rehearsals]…and we opened.

I can tell you I was quaking as I entered that pit, because it was the first time I had ever entered a pit – and of all places, at La Scala!

The opera audience didn’t really know who I was. I felt like an interloper and a bit of a student. However, I pulled myself together and played the overture [of Medea], which is very long, and hoped for the best. It seemed as though we could never get the opera to begin. By the end of Medea, the place was out of its mind.”

Leonard Bernstein, Interview with John Gruen, 1972

• 1965 ~ Composer, lyricist, and singer, Jacques Brel made his American debut in concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Brel composed Jackie, You’re Not Alone, If You Go Away and more.

• 1972 ~ Billy Paul from Philadelphia received a gold record for his smash hit, Me and Mrs. Jones.

• 1976 ~ Baron (Edward) Benjamin Britten (of Aldeburgh) died in Aldeburgh. He was a British composer, conductor, and pianist.

• 2002 ~ Emmy-nominated pianist George Gaffney, who accompanied such musicians as Peggy Lee, Engelbert Humperdink and Sarah Vaughan, died. He was 62. Born in New York City, Gaffney began studying the piano at age 10 but switched to the trombone. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1958 to 1961, Gaffney returned to New York, where he played piano and began arranging and accompanying singers. Gaffney moved to the Chicago area in the mid-1960s and was musical director of the Playboy Club in Lake Geneva, Wis., where he first met Vaughan. Gaffney came to California in the early 1970s and found work as a studio musician and accompanist. He worked on a number of television programs, including the TV series “Moonlighting,” and was nominated for an Emmy. From 1980 to 1990, he was Vaughan’s accompanist and musical director. He moved to Las Vegas in 1994 and worked as Humperdink’s musical director. In recent years, he also orchestrated tunes for Rita Moreno.

• 2002 ~ Mary Hansen, guitarist and vocalist with the ’90s alternative band Stereolab died. She was 36. Hansen, from Maryborough in Queensland, Australia, died in a cycling accident in London, The Independent newspaper reported Friday. Details of the accident were not available. Band spokesman Mick Houghton was quoted by The Independent as saying a truck might have backed into her, “but I really don’t know much more than that.” Hansen joined the band in 1992, two years after it was formed by Tim Gane, formerly of the band McCarthy, and his girlfriend Laetitia Sadier. Among hundreds of messages posted on the band Web site, one from a fan who identified himself as Louis called Hansen “the soul” of the band. Hansen, who played several instruments, first appeared on 1992’s LoFi single and all subsequent releases, including 1994’s Mars Audiac Quintet and 1996’s Emperor Tomato Ketchup. Stereolab had been working on a new album, expected to be released next year.

• 2003 ~ Barry Morell, a tenor who played leading roles at the Metropolitan Opera and internationally for more than two decades, died of esophageal cancer. He was 75. Morell began his career as a baritone, until he sought the guidance of former Metropolitan Opera baritone Giuseppe Danise, who told him he should be a tenor. He was best known for performing the operas of Puccini. He made his debut as Pinkerton in “Madame Butterfly” in 1955 with the New York City Center Opera Company. In 1958, he made his Met debut in the same role. He appeared in Berlin, Barcelona, Vienna and other opera houses in Europe, South America and across the United States. Among his more than 20 roles during 257 performances at the Met were Rodolfo in “La Boheme,” Enzo in “La Gioconda” and the title roles of “Don Carlo”and “Faust”.

December 3 ~ On This Day in Music

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Christmas Countdown: Angels We Have Heard On High

• 1596 ~ Nicola Amati, Italian violin maker, teacher of Guarneri and Stradivari

• 1729 ~ Padre Antonio Francisco Javier Jose Soler, Spanish composer whose works span the late Baroque and early Classical music eras. He is best known for his keyboard sonatas, an important contribution to the harpsichord, fortepiano and organ repertoire.

• 1876 ~ Hermann Goetz died.  He was a German composer.

• 1883 ~ Anton Webern, Austrian composer and conductor
Read quotes by and about Webern
More information about Webern

• 1907 ~ Connie (Connee) Boswell, Singer Connie or Connee (a spelling she preferred later in life), who also played several musical instruments, arranged vocals for herself and her two sisters. Although she was stricken with polio and worked from her wheelchair, she never let this get in the way of being part of her jazz-singing trio. The Boswell Sisters’ talent was quickly recognized and by the time Connee was 24 years old, the sisters were doing vaudeville, radio, playing New York’s Paramount Theatre, recording with the Dorsey Brothers: You Oughta Be in Pictures; making films and appearing on the U.S.A.’s first public TV broadcast. One thing led to another and Connie went solo, entertaining World War II troops, making films, appearing on Broadway and recording with big names like Woody Herman’s; even a duet classic with Bing Crosby: Basin Street Blues. Her musical influence spanned many generations and music styles. If you’d have asked Ella Fitzgerald, she would have told you, “They just don’t make ’em like Connee Boswell anymore.”

• 1911 ~ Nino Rota, composer (Torquemada)

•  1923 ~ Maria Callas (Calogeropoulous), American soprano
More information about Callas
Read quotes by and about Callas

• 1925 ~ The first jazz concerto for piano and orchestra was presented at Carnegie Hall in NYC. Commissioned by Walter Damrosch, American composer George Gershwin presented Concerto In F, and was also the featured soloist playing a flugelhorn in a slow, bluesy style as one of his numbers.

• 1927 ~ Phyllis Curtin, Singer: soprano with the New York City Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Vienna Staatsoper, La Scala, Teatro Colon; coordinator of Voice Dept and Opera at Yale School of Music, Dean Emerita of Boston Univ School for the Arts

• 1927 ~ Ferlin Husky (aka: Simon Crum, Terry Preston), Singer

• 1930 ~ Andy (Howard Andrew) Williams, American Emmy Award-winning entertainer, singer

• 1931 ~ Jaye P. (Mary Margaret) Morgan, Singer, performer

• 1941 ~ Johann Christian Sinding, Norwegian composer

• 1944 ~ Frank Sinatra was in the Columbia Records studio recording Old Man River.

• 1948 ~ Ozzy (John) Osbourne, Songwriter, singer

• 1949 ~ Mickey Thomas, Singer with Jefferson Starship

• 1953 ~ Kismet opened on Broadway in New York. The show ran for 583 performances.

• 1955 ~ Elvis Presley’s first release on RCA Victor Records was announced. No, it wasn’t Hound Dog or Heartbreak Hotel. The first two sides were actually purchased from Sam Phillips of Sun Records: Mystery Train and I Forgot to Remember to Forget. Elvis was described by his new record company as “The most talked about personality in recorded music in the last 10 years.”

• 1960 ~ Camelot opened at the Majestic Theatre in New York City. Richard Burton and Julie Andrews played the leading roles in the musical written by Lerner and Loewe. Robert Goulet got rave reviews for his songs, If Ever I Would Leave You, Then You May Take Me to the Fair and How to Handle a Woman, among others. Camelot had a run of 873 performances. Broadway went Hollywood in the 1967 film version of Camelot. Its run was not quite as successful.

 

. 1965 ~ The Beatles sixth studio album Rubber Soul was released. Often referred to as a folk rock album, Rubber Soul incorporates a mix of pop, soul and folk musical styles. The title derives from the colloquialism “plastic soul”, which referred to soul played by English musicians.

• 1968 ~ The O’Kaysions received a gold record for Girl Watcher. The song had a promotional reprise in the 1990s as a theme for Merv Griffin’s Wheel of Fortune, with the revamped lyrics, I’m a Wheel Watcher…

. 1969 ~ The Rolling Stones recorded ‘Brown Sugar’ at Muscle Shoals studios. The single went on to be a UK and US Number 1.

.1972 ~ The Temptations earn their final #1 hit with “Papa Was A Rolling Stone”

• 1977 ~ After 29 weeks in the #1 position on the album charts (a record, literally…), Rumours, by Fleetwood Mac, was replaced at the top spot by the album Simple Dreams, sung by Linda Ronstadt.

• 1999 ~ Handel’s Messiah Gets Modern Makeover in Ireland

• 2000 ~ Kevin Mills, a member of the Christian rock groups Newsboys and White Heart, died after a motorcycle accident in Hollywood. He was 32. Mills, of Louisville, Ky., was a singer and bass player, his family said. He also was a member of the Screen Actors Guild and appeared on TV in “An Inconvenient Woman” in 1991. White Heart started in 1982. Newsboys, an Australian band now based near Nashville, was formed four years later. Newsboys have sold nearly 3 million records and earned three Grammy nominations on the religious rock circuit.

• 2000 ~ Washington Honored Eastwood, Baryshnikov, Others

• 2002 ~ Rich Dangel, credited with creating the opening guitar chords of garage band staple Louie Louie, died of an aneurysm at his home. He was 60. Dangel was a member of the seminal Northwest rock band the Wailers, who introduced the nation to the Northwest sound – raw, unpolished and catchy. He may be best known for coming up with the power chords that opened the Wailers’ 1961 regional hit, Louie, Louie, written by rhythm-and-blues singer Richard Berry and taken to the top of the national charts by another Northwest band, the Kingsmen from Portland, Ore. Dangel co-wrote his first chart hit, “Tall Cool One” with fellow Wailer John Greek when he was still in high school. The song resulted in the group’s first album, “The Fabulous Wailers,” a cross-country tour and a 1959 appearance on Dick Clark’s “American Bandstand.”

December 2 ~ On This Day in Music

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Christmas Countdown: Joy To The World

• 1774 ~ Johann Friedrich Agricola, German composer, organist, singer, pedagogue, and writer on music.

• 1856 ~ Robert Kajanus, Finnish conductor and composer

• 1899 ~ Sir John Barbirolli, British conductor and cellist

• 1914 ~ Eddie Sauter, Drummer, trumpeter, composer, orchestra leader of the Sauter- Finegan Orchestra, arranger for Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw

• 1916 ~ Charlie Ventura, Tenor sax, played with Gene Krupa, Stan Kenton, Charlie Parker, Count Basie, band leader

• 1917 ~ Sylvia Syms, Singer, ‘world’s greatest saloon singer’

• 1918 ~ Milton DeLugg, Bandleader on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson; Milton DeLugg and His Orchestra: Abe Burrows’ Almanac, The Chuck Barris Rah Rah Show, Dagmar’s Canteen, Doodles Weaver, The Gong Show, Judge for Yourself, Your Hit Parade; played accordion in The Milton DeLugg Quartet and songwriter

• 1928 ~ Jörg Demus, Austrian pianist

• 1934 ~ Billy Paul (Paul Williams), Singer

• 1941 ~ Tom McGuinness, Bass, guitar with Manfred Mann; McGuinness Flint; and Blues Band

• 1942 ~ Ted Bluechel, Jr., Singer, drummer with The Association

• 1944 ~ Eric Bloom, Singer, guitarist

• 1945 ~ John Densmore, Musician with The Doors

• 1950 ~ Dino Lipatti, classical pianist and composer whose career was cut short from causes related to Hodgkin’s disease, died at the age of 33

• 1952 ~ Michael McDonald, Singer, songwriter, keyboard with The Doobie Brothers

• 1960 ~ Rick Savage, Bass with Def Leppard

• 1972 ~ Motown’s Temptations reached the #1 spot on the top 40 charts with Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone. It was the fourth #1 hit for the Temptations, joining My Girl, I Can’t Get Next to You and Just My Imagination.

• 1981 Hershy Kay, composer, died at the age of 62. Union Jack is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and founding choreographer George Balanchine to traditional British tunes, hornpipe melodies and music-hall songs, ca. 1890–1914, adapted by Hershy Kay. The premiere took place on 13 May 1976, at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, to honor British heritage in the United States its bicentennial with costumes by Rouben Ter-Arutunian, original lighting by Ronald Bates and current lighting by Mark Stanley. At the finale, the ensemble spells out “God Save the Queen” in semaphore code and the Union Jack unfurls. Principal dancer Jock Soto included an excerpt from Union Jack in his farewell performance in June 2005.

December 1 ~ On This Day in Music

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Christmas Countdown: Sleigh Ride

• 1707 ~ Jeremiah Clarke, composer, died

• 1709 ~ Franz Xaver Richter, Austro-Moravian singer, violinist, composer, conductor and music theoretician

• 1879 ~ Gilbert and Sullivan’s operetta, H.M.S. Pinafore, opened. Arthur Sullivan conducted the orchestra while William Gilbert played the role of a sailor in the chorus and in the Queen’s Nay-vee.

• 1912 ~ Terence Beckles, pianist/teacher

• 1913 ~ Mary Martin, American singer and actress, primarily for the musical theater, Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress, mother of actor Larry Hagman

• 1924 ~ Lady Be Good opened in New York City. George Gershwin wrote the music while Fred and Adele Astaire were well-received by the show’s audience for their dancing talents.

• 1936 ~ Lou Rawls (Louis Allen), American Grammy Award-winning singer of popular music, TV regular on Dean Martin Presents

• 1938 ~ Sandy Nelson, Drummer

• 1939 ~ Diane Lennon, Singer with The Lennon Sisters on Lawrence Welk Show, Jimmy Durante Presents the Lennon Sisters

• 1940 ~ Glenn Miller got a call from ASCAP (American Society of Composers and Publishers). He was informed that he couldn’t use his Moonlight Serenade as his band’s theme song. He had to use Slumber Song instead because of an ASCAP ban.

• 1945 ~ Bette Midler, American Grammy Award-winning pop-rock singer and actress

• 1945 ~ Burl Ives made his concert debut. He appeared at New York’s Town Hall. We lovingly listen every year for the voice of this old-time radio personality as the narrator and banjo-pickin’ snowman in TV’s Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

• 1946 ~ Gilbert (Raymond) O’Sullivan, Singer

• 1950 ~ John Wesley Ryles, Singer

• 1950 ~ Ernest John Moeran passed away

• 1968 ~ Promises, Promises opened on Broadway. The play ran for 1,281 performances, earning $35,000 in profits each week of 1969. Dionne Warwick had a hit version of the title song.

• 1986 ~ Horace Heidt, orchestra leader (Swift Show Wagon), died at the age of 85

• 1989 ~ Alvin Ailey, US choreographer (Blues Suite, Revelations), died at the age of 58

• 1997 ~ Stéphane Grappelli, French jazz violinist who founded the Quintette du Hot Club de France, died at the age of 89

• 2012 ~ Galina Vishnevskaya, Russian soprano opera singer, died at the age of 85

November 30 ~ On This Day in Music

Posted by MaryO on

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.1634 ~ Andres de Sola, Organist and composer

. 1813 ~ Charles-Henri Valentin Alkan, Composer

. 1859 ~ Sergei Mikhailovich Liapunov, Composer and pianist

. 1915 ~ “Brownie” McGee, American jazz singer and guitarist

. 1931 ~ Thurman ‘Teddy’ Wilburn, Singer with Wilburn Brothers, Grand Ole Opry

. 1932 ~ Bob Moore, Instrumentalist with Moby Grape

. 1924 ~ Allan Sherman, American parody singer and songwriter (Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah)

. 1935 ~ Jack Reno, Country singer

. 1937 ~ (Noel) Paul Stookey, American folk singer, songwriter and guitarist, Peter, Paul and Mary

. 1939 ~ Harry James and his big band recorded Concerto for Trumpet on Columbia 78s.

. 1940 ~ Lucille Ball and Cuban musician Desi Arnaz were married. Lucy filed for divorce the day after their final TV show was filmed in 1960.

. 1943 ~ Nat ‘King’ Cole and his trio recorded Straighten Up and Fly Right on Capitol Records. It was the first recording for the King Cole trio.

. 1943 ~ Leo Lyons, Bass with the Jaybirds

. 1944 ~ Rob Grill, Singer with The Grass Roots

. 1944 ~ Luther Ingram, Singer

. 1945 ~ Radu Lupu, Rumanian pianist

. 1945 ~ Roger Glover, Bass with these groups: Episode Six, Rainbow, Deep Purple

. 1952 ~ Mandy Patinkin, American actor and singer

. 1953 ~ Shuggie (Johnny) Otis, Jr., Guitarist, bass, harmonica and keyboards

. 1954 ~ George McArdle, Bass guitarist with Little River Band

. 1954 ~ June Pointer, Singer with The Pointer Sisters

. 1955 ~ Billy Idol (Broad), Guitarist, singer, songwriter

. 1957 ~ John Aston, Guitarist with these groups: Photons, Psychedelic Furs

. 1957 ~ Richard Barbieri, Drummer with Japan, composer

. 1968 ~ Diana Ross and The Supremes hit the #1 spot on the music charts with Love Child. The somewhat controversial tune (for the times) stayed at the top for two weeks.

. 1971 ~ ABC-TV presented Brian’s Song as the ABC Movie of the Week. The touching story was about Chicago Bears running back Brian Piccolo and his friendship with Gayle Sayers, who watched Brian die a tragic death. The theme song, Brian’s Song, was performed by Michel Legrand.

. 1974 ~ The Eagles hit, Best of My Love, was released. It would take until March 1, 1975 for it to reach the #1 spot on the top 40 charts.

. 1970 ~ Des’ree, Singer

. 1996 ~ Tiny Tim died performing Tiptoe Through the Tulips to an audience at a benefit in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He cut the song short, commenting to his wife, Miss Sue, that he felt ill. As he was making his way with Sue to her table, amidst the applause of his loyal fans, he collapsed, was taken to a Minneapolis hospital and died without regaining consciousness.

. 2017 ~ Jim Nabors, American comedian, actor and singer (Gomer Pyle, Back Home Again in Indiana), died from health complications at the age of 87

. 2019 ~ Mariss Jansons, one of today’s most respected and in-demand conductors, died t the age of 76.

Jansons had been suffering from heart disease and had canceled several concert appearances this year as a result. In October 2019, after a six-month hiatus, he returned to the podium with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.

November 29 ~ On This Day in Music

Posted by MaryO on

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. 1643 ~ Claudio Monteverdi, Italian composer and pioneer in the development of opera, died at the age of 76

.1770 ~ Peter Hansel, composer

. 1797 ~ Gaetano Donizetti, Italian composer
More information about Donizetti

. 1825 ~ Rossini’s Barber of Seville was presented in New York City. It was the first Italian opera to be presented in the United States.

. 1877 ~ Thomas Alva Edison demonstrated a hand-cranked sound recording phonograph machine that was capable of recording human voice and other sounds.

. 1895 ~ Busby Berkeley (William Berkeley Enos), Director of Forty Second Street, Gold Diggers of 1935, Footlight Parade, Hollywood Hotel, Stage Struck, Gold Diggers in Paris, Babes in Arms, Strike Up the Band, Girl Crazy, Take Me Out to the Ball Game, Babes on Broadway, For Me and My Gal

More information and videos about Busby Berkeley

. 1904 ~ Piet Ketting, pianist/conductor/composer

. 1915 ~ Billy Strayhorn, American jazz composer, lyricist and pianist

. 1917 ~ Merle Travis, Songwriter, singer

. 1924 ~ Giacomo Puccini, Italian composer (Madama Butterfly), died in Brussels at the age of 65

. 1932 ~ John Gary (Strader), Singer, songwriter, diver, inventor. He holds two patents on underwater propulsion devices – diving buddy and aqua-peller

. 1932 ~ Ed Bickert, Jazz guitarist with Paul Desmond Quartet

. 1932 ~ The Gay Divorcee opened in New York City. The Cole Porter musical featured the classic, Night and Day.

. 1933 ~ John Mayall, Songwriter, bandleader

. 1938 ~ Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra recorded Hawaiian War Chant for Victor Records.

. 1939 ~ Meco (Monardo), Musician, music producer

. 1940 ~ Chuck Mangione, American jazz musician (flugelhorn) and Grammy Award-winning composer

. 1941 ~ Denny Doherty, Singer with Mamas and Papas, TV host

. 1944 ~ Felix Cavaliere, Singer with The (Young) Rascals

. 1947 ~ Louis Armstrong and his sextet lit up Carnegie Hall in New York City with a night of jazz and more.

. 1948 ~ The first opera to be televised was broadcast from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. Othello, by Verdi, was presented over WJZ-TV.

. 1950 ~ I Fly Anything, starring singer Dick Haymes in the role of cargo pilot Dockery Crane, premiered on ABC Radio. The show only lasted one season and Haymes went back to singing.

. 1951 ~ Barry Goudreau, Guitarist with Orion the Hunter; Boston

. 1957 ~ Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Austrian-American movie composer (Violanta; The Adventures of Robin Hood), died at the age of 60

. 1968 – Jonathan Rashleigh Knight, Singer, dancer with New Kids on the Block

. 1975 ~ Silver Convention had the #1 pop tune this day, called Fly, Robin, Fly.

. 1986 ~ The blockbuster five-record set, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Live/1975-85, debuted at #1 on the album charts this day. No five-record set had made the top 25 until then. No five-record set had ever gone platinum until then. The price tag? $25.

. 2001 ~ George Harrison, the “quiet Beatle” who added both rock ‘n’ roll flash and a touch of the mystic to the band’s timeless magic, died. He was 58. Harrison died at 1:30 p.m. at a friend’s Los Angeles home following a battle with cancer, longtime friend Gavin De Becker told The Associated Press late Thursday. Harrison’s wife, Olivia Harrison, and son, Dhani, 24, were with him. “He left this world as he lived in it, conscious of God, fearless of death, and at peace, surrounded by family and friends,” the Harrison family said in a statement. “He often said, ‘Everything else can wait but the search for God cannot wait, and love one another.”‘ With the death of Harrison, the band’s lead guitarist, there remain two surviving Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. John Lennon was shot to death by a deranged fan in 1980. “I am devastated and very, very sad,” McCartney told reporters outside his London home Friday. “He was a lovely guy and a very brave man and had a wonderful sense of humor. He is really just my baby brother.” In a statement, Starr said: “George was a best friend of mine. I loved him very much and I will miss him greatly. Both (wife) Barbara and I send our love and light to Olivia and Dhani. We will miss George for his sense of love, his sense of music and his sense of laughter.”

. 2015 ~ George Hadjinikos, Greek pianist and conductor, died at the age of 92

November 28 ~ On This Day in Music

Posted by MaryO on

. 1632 ~ Jean-Baptiste Lully, Italian-born French composer
More information about Lully

. 1829 ~ Anton Rubinstein, Russian composer and pianist.  He founded the Saint Petersburg Conservatory.
More information about Rubinstein

. 1895 ~ Joseé Iturbi, Musician, pianist, conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra

. 1915 ~ Dick Vance, Trumpeter

. 1929 ~ Berry Gordy, Jr., Founder of Motown Records

. 1934 ~ Ethel Ennis, Singer with Benny Goodman Orchestra

. 1939 ~ Gary Troxel, Singer with The Fleetwoods

. 1940 ~ Bruce Channel, Singer

. 1943 ~ Randy (Randall Stuart) Newman, American pop-rock songwriter, singer and pianist
More information about Newman
Grammy winner

. 1945 ~ R.B. Greaves, Singer

. 1948 ~ Beeb Birtles, Guitarist with The Little River Band

. 1949 ~ Alexander Godunov, Ballet dancer, actor

. 1949 ~ Paul Shaffer, Bandleader on Late Show with David Letterman, comedian

. 1956 ~ Holding the #1 spot on the music charts: Guy Mitchell singing Singing the Blues. The song remained at the top of the Hit Parade for 10 weeks. Here’s a bit of trivia: Ray Conniff whistled the intro to Singing the Blues.

. 1966 ~ The New Vaudeville Band received a gold record for Winchester Cathedral this day.

. 1974 ~ John Lennon appeared in concert for the last time, at NYC’s Madison Square Garden. Lennon joined Elton John to sing Whatever Gets You Through the Night as well as I Saw Her Standing There.

November 27 ~ On This Day in Music

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. 1471 ~ Guillaume Du Fay, French composer, died. Considered the leading composer of the early Renaissance.

. 1750 ~ Anton Thadaus Johann Nepomuk Stamitz, composer

. 1804 ~ Sir Julius Benedict, Musician, composer

. 1813 ~ Michele Puccini, Composer

. 1867 ~ Charles (Charles-Louis-Eugèn) Koechlin, French composer. He studied under Massenet and Fauré at the Paris Conservatoire. He excelled in colorful and inventive orchestration in his symphonies, symphonic poems, choral-orchestral works (including seven based on Kipling’s Jungle Book), film music, and works inspired by Hollywood, such as the Seven Stars Symphony. He also wrote prolifically for a wide range of vocal and chamber combinations. His writings included studies of recent French music and treatises on music theory.

. 1898 ~ Nelly Steuer-Wagenaar, Dutch pianist

. 1900 ~ Leon Barzin, Belgian conductor (NY City Ballet 1948-58)

. 1904 ~ Sir Julius Benedict, German-born English conductor and composer

. 1912 ~ David Merrick (Margulois), Broadway producer of Gypsy, Hello, Dolly!,Beckett, Oliver, Fanny, Stop the World: I Want to Get Off, 42nd Street

. 1926 ~ Louis ‘Satchmo’ Armstrong recorded You Made Me Love You on Okeh Records.

. 1935 ~ Al Jackson, Jr., Dummer with Booker T. and the M.G.’s; Roy Milton Band

. 1935 ~ Eeny Meeny Miney Mo was recorded by Ginger Rogers and Johnny Mercer. The tune was recorded at Decca Records in Los Angeles.

. 1942 ~ Jimi (James Marshall) Hendrix, American rock guitarist, singer and songwriter

. 1944 ~ Dozy (Trevor Davies), Bass with Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich

. 1944 ~ Eddie Rabbitt, Songwriter, Kentucky Rain for Elvis Presley; singer, his 17 albums garnered 26 #1 country hits and 8 pop hits

. 1953 ~ Boris Grebenshikov, Russian rock musician

. 1959 ~ Charlie Burchill, Guitarist with Simple Minds

. 1967 ~ The Association, a California group, earned a gold record for the hit Never My Love, on Warner Bros. Records. The group also earned worldwide fame for other hits including Windy, Cherish and Along Comes Mary.

. 1979 ~ Hilary Hahn, American violinist

. 1982 ~ The #1 song in the U.S. was former Commodore Lionel Richie’s Truly. The love song stayed at the top of the charts for two weeks. The song was his first solo hit and followed Endless Love, a duet with Diana Ross in 1981.

. 2000 ~ Walter Bailes, a member of the popular 1940s-era Grand Ole Opry duo The Bailes Brothers, died at the age of 80. Walter Bailes, a West Virginia native, and his brother Johnny were the classic Bailes Brothers duo. Brothers Kyle and Homer also performed with the group over the years in varying combinations. Walter wrote much of the group’s material, including popular songs like Dust on the Bible and I Want to be Loved. During their run on the Grand Ole Opry from 1944 to 46, they were among the show’s most popular acts. Kitty Wells, Flatt & Scruggs, and The Everly Brothers all recorded songs written by Walter Bailes. The Bailes Brothers left the Opry in 1946 and moved to Shreveport, La., where they helped launch the Louisiana Hayride radio show. They continued to occasionally perform throughout the 1950s.

November 23 ~ On This Day in Music

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. 1585 ~ Thomas Tallis, English composer, died at the age of 80

. 1666 ~ Giuseppe Guarneri, Italian violin maker

. 1876 ~ Manuel de Falla, Spanish composer and conductor
More information about de Falla

. 1889 ~ The first ‘Nickel-in-the-Slot’ (jukebox) was placed in service in the Palais Royal Saloon in San Francisco, California. Juke, at the time, was a slang word for a disorderly house, or house of ill repute. The unit, developed by Louis T. Glass, contained an Edison tinfoil phonograph with four listening tubes. There was a coin slot for each tube. 5 cents bought a few minutes of music. The contraption took in $1,000 in six months!

. 1903 ~ Enrico Caruso, famed Italian tenor, made his debut in the United States at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. He sang in the role of the Duke in Rigoletto.

. 1920 ~ Herman Nieland, Dutch organist/pianist/composer

. 1924 ~ Vincent Lopez and some 40 jazz musicians presented a concert of upbeat music at the Metropolitan Opera House in NYC.

. 1928 ~ Jerry Bock, American songwriter for the musical theater

. 1933 ~ Krzysztof Penderecki, Polish composer and conductor
More information about Penderecki

. 1935 ~ Ethel Leginska became the first woman to write an opera and conduct it. Her original work, titled Gale, opened at the Chicago City Opera Company.

. 1938 ~ Bob Hope and Shirley Ross recorded a song for the film, The Big Broadcast of 1938. Thanks for the Memory became Decca record number 2219. It also became Hope’s theme song.

. 1955 ~ Ludovico Einaudi, Italian composer and pianist

. 1974 ~ Billy Swan reached the #1 spot on the singles charts for the first and only time. I Can Help was the most popular song in the U.S. for two weeks.

November 22 ~ On This Day in Music

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. 1710 ~ Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, composer, son of J.S. Bach

. 1880 ~ Lillian Russell made her vaudeville debut, in New York City.

. 1899 ~ Hoagy (Hoagland Howard) Carmichael, American jazz pianist and songwriter, singer, bandleader, attorney

. 1909 ~ Helen Hayes appeared for the first time on the New York stage. She was a member of the cast of In Old Dutch, which opened at the Herald Square Theatre.

. 1913 ~ Lord Benjamin Britten, British composer
Read quotes by and about Britten
More information about Britten
 Grammy winner

. 1925 ~ Gunther Schuller, American composer, conductor, French-horn player and educator

. 1938 ~ Bunny Berigan and his orchestra recorded Jelly Roll Blues on Victor Records. The tune became a standard for the band.

. 1943 ~ Floyd Sneed, Drummer with Three Dog Night

. 1946 ~ Aston Barrett, Musician with ‘Family Man’, bass with Bob Marley & The Wailers

. 1949 ~ Steve ‘Miami’ Van Zandt, Singer, songwriter, guitar

. 1950 ~ Tina (Martina) Weymouth, Bass with Talking Heads

. 1953 ~ Craig Hundley, Pianist with the Craig Hundley Trio

. 1955 ~ RCA paid the unheard of sum of $25,000 to Sam Phillips of Memphis, TN for the rights to the music of a truck driver from Tupelo, Mississippi: Elvis Presley. Thanks to negotiations with Elvis’ manager, Colonel Tom Parker, RCA tossed in a $5,000 bonus as well, for a pink Cadillac for Elvis’ mother.

. 1957 ~ The Miles Davis Quintet debuted with a jazz concert at Carnegie Hall in New York.

. 1965 ~ The production of Man of LaMancha, including the classic The Impossible Dream, opened in New York City for the first of 2,328 performances.

 

. 1975 ~ Dr. Zhivago appeared on TV for the first time. The production, including Somewhere My Love, had earned $93 million from theater tickets over ten years. NBC paid $4 million for the broadcast rights.

. 1977 ~ Tony Orlando returned to the concert stage after a self-imposed, three-month retirement following the suicide death of his good friend, Freddie Prinze. Orlando appeared in concert in San Carlos, California.

. 2001 ~ Norman Granz, the impresario who helped make jazz more accessible to the public while making the music business fairer to black performers, died in Geneva, Switzerland, of complications from cancer. He was 83. Granz owned four labels – Clef, Norgran, Verve and Pablo – and at one time or another recorded most of the major names in jazz, including Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker and Oscar Peterson. Many historians credit him with bringing top jazz performers in integrated bands into venues across the country through a series called Jazz at the Philharmonic. Granz’s efforts also helped end a system in which white performers generally earned far more than blacks. He insisted on equality in pay, dining and accommodations for his musicians. In 1947, he told Down Beat magazine that he lost $100,000, then a sizable sum, by turning down bookings in segregated concert halls.