June 10 in Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

• 1781 ~ Giovanni Battista Polledro, Composer

• 1790 ~ Louis Joseph Daussoigne-Mehul, Composer

• 1800 ~ Johann Abraham Peter Schulz, German Composer, died at the age of 53

• 1818 ~ Pesaro opera theater opened with Rossini’s “La gaza ladra”

• 1831 ~ W A Remy, Composer

• 1843 ~ Heinrich von Herzogenberg, Composer

• 1865 ~ Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” first performance Münich, Germany

• 1883 ~ Carl Gradener, Composer, died at the age of 71

• 1890 ~ Powell Weaver, Composer

• 1891 ~ Al Dubin, Swiss songwriter of Tiptoe Through the Tulips

• 1893 ~ Elek Erkel, Composer, died at the age of 49

• 1894 ~ Pavel Borkovec, Czech Composer

• 1899 ~ Ernest Chausson, French Composer, died at the age of 44
More information about Chausson

• 1902 ~ Gaston Brenta, Composer

• 1904 ~ Frederick Loewe, Austrian-born American composer for the musical theater
More information about Loewe

• 1906 ~ Janos Viski, Composer

• 1910 ~ Robert Still, Composer

• 1910 ~ Howlin’ Wolf (Chester Arthur Burnett), Harmonica, blues musician, rhythm guitar, singer

• 1911 ~ Ralph Kirkpatrick, Harpsichordist, famed for playing the works of Domenico Scarlatti

• 1913 ~ John Edmunds, Composer

• 1918 ~ Arrigio Enrico Boito, Composer, died at the age of 76

• 1922 ~ Judy Garland (Frances Ethel Gumm), American actress and singer of popular music

• 1925 ~ Nat Hentoff, Journalist and music critic

• 1926 ~ Bruno Bartoletti, Italian conductor

• 1929 ~ Vasile Herman, Composer

• 1934 ~ Nicolas Roussakis, Composer

• 1934 ~ Frederick Delius, English Composer, died at the age of 72
More information about Delius

• 1940 ~ John William Stevens, Jazz drummer

• 1941 ~ Shirley Owens Alston, Singer with The Shirelles

• 1946 ~ Matthew Fisher, English keyboardist with Procol Harum

• 1954 ~ Will Rossiter, Composer, died at the age of 87

• 1964 ~ Louis Gruenberg, Composer, died at the age of 79

• 1964 ~ Rolling Stones recorded their 12×5 album at Chess Studios Chicago

• 1966 ~ The Beatles Paperback Writer was released in England

• 1966 ~ The Beatles recorded Rain, first to use reverse tapes

• 1966 ~ Janis Joplin’s first live concert in the Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco

• 1966 ~ The Mamas and The Papas won a gold record for Monday, Monday

• 1968 ~ Yury Sergeyevich Milyutin, Composer, died at the age of 65

• 1972 ~ Elvis Presley recorded a live album at NY’s Madison Square Garden

• 1972 ~ The Rolling Stones double album Exile On Main Street went to No.1 on the UK chart, the band’s seventh UK No.1 album. In 2010, the re-released album entered the UK chart at No.1, almost 38 years to the week after it first occupied that position. The Rolling Stones are the first act to ever have a studio album return to No.1 after it was first released.

• 1972 ~ Sammy Davis, Jr. earned his place at the top of the popular music charts for the first time, after years in the entertainment business. His number one song, The Candy Man, stayed at the top for three consecutive weeks. The Candy Man was truly a song of fate for Sammy. He openly did not want to record the song, but did so as a favor to MGM Records head Mike Curb, since it was to be used in the film, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Davis said he would give the tune one take, “and that’s it!” Sure enough, in that one-time recording, Sammy nailed it. The Candy Man stayed on the pop charts for 16 weeks. The best the legendary performer had done before was 12 weeks for Love Me or Leave Me in 1955 and 11 weeks for I’ve Gotta Be Me (from Golden Rainbow) in 1969. After TheCandy Man became a hit, Davis included it in his stage shows and concerts — and collected huge royalties from it.

• 1976 ~ Paul McCartney and Wings set a record for an indoor concert crowd as 67,100 fans gathered in Seattle, WA to hear the former Beatle and his new group.

• 1982 ~ Addie “Micki” Harris, American singer with the Shirelles, died at the age of 42

• 1985 ~ Nineteenth Music City News Country Awards: Statler Brothers, BarbaraMandrell

• 1990 ~ “Meet Me St Louis” closed at Gershwin Theater NYC after 253 performances

• 1992 ~ Hachidal Nakamura, Composer, died at the age of 61 of heart failure

• 1996 ~ Thirtyth Music City News Country Awards: Alan Jackson

• 2001 ~ Pianist Yaltah Menuhin, last of three famous siblings whose musical talents brought them fame at an early age, died at the age of 79. Yaltah, the youngest, and her sister Hepzibah, also a pianist, did not achieve the international renown of their brother, the violinist Yehudi Menuhin. But they often appeared with him in concerts around the world, including the Bath Festival in Britain, where Yehudi was artistic director in the 1960s. Yaltah Menuhin was born in San Francisco, to Russian-Jewish parents. Like her siblings, she began studying music as a child, and moved about the world performing. Her brother was astonishing audiences with his virtuosity by the age of 7. Yaltah Menuhin and her husband, pianist Joel Ryce, often performed together as a duo in the United States, and she also performed with violist Michael Mann.

• 2001 ~ Harold S. Grossbardt, a founder of Colony Records, the famed record collector’s store in Manhattan, died at the age of 85. Grossbardt founded the store in 1948 with his partner, Sidney Turk, and the shop quickly became popular with music lovers. Hundreds of musicians, including Frank Sinatra, John Lennon and Michael Jackson, shopped at the store. Grossbardt worked at Colony Records until his retirement in 1988.

• 2004 ~ US singer, songwriter Ray Charles died aged 73. Glaucoma rendered Charles blind at the age of six. He scored the 1962 UK & US No.1 single ‘I Can’t Stop Loving You’ plus over 30 other US Top 40 singles and the 2005 US No.1 album ‘Genius Loves Company.’ Charles who was married twice and fathered twelve children by nine different women appeared in the 1980 hit movie, The Blues Brothers was also the winner of 17 Grammy Awards.

June 9 in Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

• 1361 ~ Philippe de Vitry, French Composer and poet, died at the age of at 69

• 1656 ~ Thomas Tomkins, Composer, died

• 1717 ~ Louis Le Quointe, Composer, died at the age of 64

• 1810 ~ (Carl) Otto (Ehrenfried) Nicolai, Composer
More information about Nicolai

• 1828 ~ Carlo Marsili, Composer

• 1829 ~ Gaetano Braga, Composer

• 1832 ~ Manuel Garcia, Composer, died at the age of 57

• 1849 ~ Joseph Vezina, Composer

• 1849 ~ The term recital used for the first time to describe a solo performance by an instrumental player. The first recitalist was Franz Liszt

• 1865 ~ Carl Nielsen, Danish composer and conductor
More information about Nielsen

• 1865 ~ Alberic Magnard, Composer

• 1870 ~ Erik Drake, Composer, died at the age of 82

• 1879 ~ Oscar Back, Austrian-Dutch viola player

• 1886 ~ Kusaku Yamada, Composer

• 1888 ~ Hugo Kauder, Composer

• 1890 ~ The opera “Robin Hood” premiered in Chicago

• 1891 ~ Cole Porter, American composer and and lyricist for the musical theater. His many famous musicals include “Anything Goes”, “Kiss Me Kate” and “Can Can”.
More information about Porter

• 1892 ~ Friedrich Wilhelm Langhans, Composer, died at the age of 59

• 1900 ~ Fred Waring, Musician, conductor and inventor of the Waring Blender

• 1904 ~ The London Symphony Orchestra presented its inaugural concert.

• 1905 ~ Walter Kraft, Composer

• 1912 ~ Edgar Evans, Tenor

• 1914 ~ Hermann Haller, Composer

• 1915 ~ Les Paul, Guitarist and inventor of the Les Paul guitar

• 1924 ~ Jelly-Roll Blues was recorded by blues great, Jelly Roll Morton

• 1927 ~ Franco Donatoni, Composer

• 1931 ~ Henrique Oswald, Composer, died at the age of 79

• 1932 ~ Natalia Janotha, Composer, died at the age of 76

• 1904 ~ Pal Karolyi, Composer

• 1934 ~ Jackie Wilson, Singer

• 1934 ~ Wild Jimmy Spruill, blues guitarist

• 1938 ~ Charles Wuorinen, American composer, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1980

• 1957 ~ Robert Oboussier, Composer, died at the age of 56

• 1958 ~ Purple People Eater by Sheb Wooley hit #1

• 1962 ~ Tony Bennett debuted in concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City

• 1963 ~ Barbra Streisand appeared on “Ed Sullivan Show”

• 1967 ~ Stefan Boleslaw Poradowski, Composer, died at the age of 64

• 1970 ~ Bob Dylan given honorary Doctorate of Music at Princeton University

• 1971 ~ Paul McCartney’s album “Ram” went gold

• 1972 ~ Bruce Springsteen signed a record deal with Columbia

• 1975 ~ David Frederick Barlow, Composer, died at the age of 48

• 1975 ~ Tony Orlando and Dawn received gold record for He Don’t Love You

• 1980 ~ Fourteenth Music City News Country Awards, Statler Brothers & Loretta Lynn

• 1984 ~ Cyndi Lauper’s first #1 Time After Times

• 1986 ~ Twentieth Music City News Country Awards, Statler Brothers & Loretta Lynn

• 1990 ~ Michael Jackson was hospitalized with inflamed rib cartilage

• 1991 ~ Claudio Arrau, Chilian/American pianist and composer, died at the age of 88

• 1991 ~ Bruce Springsteen wed his backup singer Patty Scialfa

• 1991 ~ Max van Praag, Dutch singer, died at the age of 77

• 1992 ~ Clarence Miller, Blues/jazz vocalist, died at the age of 69 of a heart attack

• 1993 ~ Arthur Alexander, Singer/songwriter, died at the age of 53

• 1995 ~ Frank Chacksfield, Conductor/arranger, died at the age of 81

• 2000 ~ Jazz bassist Burgher “Buddy” Jones, who played in big bands behind Peggy Lee and Frank Sinatra and toured with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, died at the age of 76. A native of Hope, Ark., Jones was a childhood friend of the late Virginia Kelley, mother of President Clinton. At 17, Jones went to the University of Kansas City, where he met and befriended saxophonist Charlie Parker. Jones later introduced Parker to his wife, Chan. Jones played in the Elliot Lawrence band, when its arrangers included Al Cohn, Tiny Kahn and Johnny Mandel. As a staff musician for CBS in New York in the 1950s and 1960s, Jones played for the Jack Sterling radio show and in bands behind Lee and Sinatra. In 1996, Jones was inducted into the Arkansas Jazz Hall of Fame.

Practice Just 20 Minutes A Day

Posted by MaryO on

Here are 8 bits of wisdom from Play It Again that remind us that it is possible to make time for what matters most in the face of life’s demands and stresses.

Own Your Stress

Rusbridger is completely clear-eyed about just how stressful his job is, and by confronting — rather than denying — the reality of his stress, he’s able to seek out ways to reduce it. Being editor of the Guardian is “one of those jobs which expands infinitely to fill the time and then spill beyond it,” he writes. “An editor, particularly within a modern global media company, is never truly off duty.”

A typical day in the life of a newspaper editor, he writes, means “a hum of low-level stress much of the time, with periodic eruptions of great tension.”

Find Your Metaphor

When Rusbridger felt frustration and self-doubt — which was nearly all the time — he found it helpful to think of people who took on great challenges in different fields. This helped put his own project in perspective, and also let him feel solidarity with others who had taken on great challenges. He compares learning Chopin to climbing the Matterhorn, the forbidding mountain in the Alps.

He writes: “Jerry R. Hobbs, an American computational linguistics expert and amateur climber, described the mountain as ‘just about the hardest climb and ordinary person can do’, which, apropos the G minor Ballade, sounds familiar.”

You’re Not Alone

Rusbridger supplements his piano practice with lots of reading. One book in particular, Arnold Bennett’s 1910 How to Live on 24 Hours a Day, reminds him that the sense of having not enough time to do all we want to do is universal, and not exactly new.

As Bennett writes: “We never shall have any more time. We have, and we have always had, all the time there is.”

There’s Power In A Morning Routine

Rusbridger learns quickly that his daily 20 minutes have to happen in the morning, before the unpredictable demands of work kick in. Here is how he describes his routine:

“I get up half an hour earlier. I fit in ten minutes of yoga listening to the Todayprogramme – not exactly meditative. Then breakfast and the papers with more Today programme all at the same time. Then I slip upstairs to the sitting room to play before driving into work.”

Pursuing Your Passion Is An Investment

Even though his morning piano practice is a solitary activity, he undertakes it knowing that it will have social benefits. After all, when he was a child, his mother told him that playing the piano would help him make friends. She’s right, and he finds her message echoed in the pages of Charles Cooke’s book Playing the Piano for Pleasure: “The better you play, the more your circle of friends will expand. You can count on this as confidently as you can count on the sun rising. Music is a powerful magnet which never fails to attract new, congenial, long-term friends.”

Mortality Is A Good Motivator

When Rusbridger’s former girlfriend gets in touch to tell him that her breast cancer has returned, he finds himself reflecting on mortality, and thinking of other friends more or less his age who are undergoing treatment for various serious diseases. Each brush with illness or mortality strengthens his determination to lean the Ballade. “In terms of getting on with life’s ambitions,” he writes, “I’m hit by more than a tinge of carpe diem.”

“Amateur” Is Not An Insult

Rusbridger has no illusions or intentions about becoming a professional pianist. He’s a dedicated amateur from the start, and his conversations and meetings with other music lovers — both professional and amateur — is a reminder that “amateur” isn’t a value judgment (i.e. worse than a professional), but a worthy end in itself. In fact, it’s probably a good deal more enjoyable and less stressful than being a pro.

In conversation with Rusbridger, the New York Times music critic Michael Kimmelman talks about the perks of being an amateur. “You have another life, it’s a full and interesting life, but you decide to add this life as well because music gives you something that you can’t get from this other life. It isn’t about having a career and making a living from it, it’s about something that only music-making will give you.”


It’s Never Too Late

As he improves and comes closer to learning the entire Ballade, no one is as surprised as Rusbridger himself. “It’s a funny thing to discover about yourself in your mid-50s — that you spent the previous forty years not doing something on the assumption that you couldn’t do it, when all along you could.”

He is astonished to learn, after memorizing complex passages of the Ballade, just how powerful his own memory is. “Back in the summer of 2010 I had no idea of just how capable a 56-year-old brain was of learning new tricks,” he writes. “So it’s heartening to know that, quite well into middle age, the brain is plastic enough to blast open hitherto unused neural pathways and adapt to new and complicated tasks. So, no, it’s not too late.”

From http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/14/how-alan-rusbridger-edito_n_4080735.html

A Different Piano Design

Posted by MaryO on

Renowned pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim has unveiled a new type of piano, which he says is a “sound alternative” to the standard concert grand piano that has not undergone much change over a century.

Barenboim, 72, launched the instrument at the Royal Festival Hall here on Tuesday, in advance of his Schubert recital series.

Declaring the new piano a “sound alternative”, Barenboim said: “I’ve fallen in love with it and I want to spend as much time with it as possible.”

The exterior of the new piano looks much the same as any other modern concert grand piano, but inside, there are some dramatic differences, The Guardian reported.

Designed by the Belgian instrument-maker Chris Maene, the Barenboim has straight parallel strings instead of the diagonal-crossed ones of a contemporary piano. The wooden soundboard veins go in different directions. The bridges, ribs and bracings are specially designed and the hammers and strings have been repositioned.

Barenboim, currently heading Berlin’s flagship opera house, the State Opera, said he intended to perform the entire series on the new piano.

Modern pianos have become highly standardised, with few changes to their fundamental design over the past 100 years.

They are largely cross-strung, with the bass strings crossing over the middle and treble strings in an “X” pattern, allowing the sound to be concentrated on the centre of the soundboard.

He developed his idea with Belgian instrument maker Chris Maene, with support from Steinway & Sons.

via A different music from this piano.

As well as the straight strings, the Barenboim-Maene piano features a double bridge and horizontal soundboard veins.

According to a press release, the piano “combines the touch, stability, and power of a modern piano with the transparent sound quality and distinguishable colour registers of more historic instruments”.

Pianist Gwendolyn Mok, who plays an 1875 straight-strung Erard piano, has said that such instruments possess superior clarity.

“If you look inside your own piano, you will notice that the strings are all crossing each other,” she told the San Francisco Examiner in 2013.

“With the straight strung piano you get distinct registral differences – almost like listening to a choir where you have the bass, tenor, alto, and soprano voices.

“It is very clear and there is no blending or homogenizing of the sound. It therefore gives you huge opportunities in experimenting with colour.”

Via http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-32885683

June 8 in Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

• 1612 ~ Hans Leo Hassler, Composer, died at the age of 49

• 1722 ~ Jakob Friedrich Kleinknecht, Composer

• 1740 ~ Gabriele Mario Piozzi, Composer

• 1742 ~ Omobono Stradivari, Italian viol maker, son of Antonio, died at the age of 62

• 1753 ~ Nicolas-Marie Dalayrac, Composer

• 1783 ~ Joseph Lincke, Composer

• 1796 ~ Felice de Giardini, Composer, died at the age of 80

• 1805 ~ Luigi Ricci, Composer

• 1810 ~ Robert Schumann, German composer best known for his song cycles and piano music.
Read quotes by and about Schumann
More information about Schumann

• 1812 ~ Spyridon Xyndas, Composer

• 1814 ~ Friedrich Heinrich Himmel, Composer, died at the age of 48

• 1834 ~ George Garrett, Composer

• 1837 ~ Jan Kleczynski, Composer

• 1856 ~ Natalia Janotha, Composer

• 1858 ~ Antonio Nicolau, Spanish Composer and conductor

• 1876 ~ George Sand (Armandine-Aurore-Lucile Dupin), French author and romantic companion of the composer of Chopin, died at the age of 71

• 1881 ~ Prospero Bisquertt, Composer

• 1884 ~ Henry Clay Work, Composer, died at the age of 51

• 1888 ~ Poul Julius Ouscher Schierbeck, Composer

• 1906 ~ Christian Frederik Emil Horneman, Composer, died at the age of 65

• 1908 ~ Johan Lindegren, Composer, died at the age of 66

• 1913 ~ Janos Jagamas, Composer

• 1919 ~ Jacob Fabricius, Composer, died at the age of 78

• 1923 ~ Karel Goeyvaerts, Flemish Composer of Summer Games

• 1926 ~ Anatol Vieru, Composer

• 1927 ~ Paul Whiteman and his orchestra recorded When Day is Done on Victor Records.

• 1928 ~ Jiri Dvoracek, Composer

• 1930 ~ Yannis Ioannidis, Composer

• 1932 ~ Hans Gunter Helms, Composer

• 1936 ~ James Darren (Ercolani), Singer

• 1940 ~ Frederick Shepherd Converse, American Composer, died at the age of 69

• 1940 ~ Sherman Garnes, Rock vocalist with Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers

• 1940 ~ Nancy Sinatra, Singer

• 1942 ~ Chuck Negron, Singer with Three Dog Night

• 1942 ~ Bing Crosby recorded Silent Night

• 1944 ~ “Boz” (William) Scaggs, American rhythm-and-blues singer and songwriter

• 1946 ~ “Lute Song” closed at Plymouth Theater NYC after 142 performances

• 1947 ~ Mick Box, Musician, guitar, songwriter with Uriah Heep

• 1947 ~ Joan La Barbara, Composer

• 1948 ~ Franz Carl Bornschein, Composer, died at the age of 69

• 1949 ~ Emanuel Ax, Polish-born American pianist. He won the Artur Rubinstein Competition in 1974

• 1950 ~ Alex Van Halen, Drummer with Van Halen, brother of Eddie and Michael

• 1963 ~ Kino Haitsma, pianist/arranger

• 1967 ~ Elliot Griffis, Composer, died at the age of 74

• 1968 ~ Gary Puckett & Union Gap released Lady Will Power

• 1968 ~ Rolling Stones released Jumpin’ Jack Flash

• 1969 ~ Brian Jones left The Rolling Stones

• 1969 ~ Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor replaced Brian Jones

• 1972 ~ Jimmy Rushing, American blues singer, died at the age of 68

• 1973 ~ Eino Mauno Aleksanteri Linnala, Composer, died at the age of 76

• 1979 ~ Louis Salvador Palange, Composer, died at the age of 61

• 1981 ~ Fifteenth Music City News Country Awards went to the Mandrell Sisters

• 1984 ~ Gordon Jacob, Composer, died at the age of 88

• 1990 ~ The post office issued another in its series of Stamps for the Performing Arts, this one honoring Cole Porter

• 1992 ~ Twentysixth Music City News Country Awards went to Alan Jackson and Garth Brooks

• 1995 ~ Sheikh Iman, singer, died at the age of 76

• 1995 ~ “Buttons on Broadway” opened at Ambassador Theater NYC for 40 performances

Rachmaninoff Piano Music

Posted by MaryO on

Pianist/composer Sergei Rachmaninov was possessed of both unusually large hands and a staggering lack of empathy when it came to writing piano music for other people.  Hyung-ki Joo is by no means the first pianist to have been confounded by the mammoth chords of his Prelude in C sharp minor (Op.3, No.2).

He probably is the first to have come up with this particular solution helped by his partner in crime, violinist Alek­sey Igudes­man.

 

 

June 7 in Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

• 1571 ~ Pier Francesco Corteccia, Composer, died at the age of 68

• 1730 ~ Georg von Pasterwiz, Composer

• 1736 ~ Karl Frieberth, Composer

• 1778 ~ Johann Georg Zechner, Composer, died at the age of 62

• 1784 ~ Jean-Baptiste Canavas, Composer, died at the age of 71

• 1789 ~ Vaclav Jan Kopriva, Composer, died at the age of 81

• 1863 ~ Franz Xavier Gruber, Composer, died at the age of 75

• 1833 ~ Alexander Ritter, Composer

• 1846 ~ Wladyslaw Gorski, Composer

• 1865 ~ Guido Gasperini, Composer

• 1867 ~ Luigi Maurizio Tedeschi, Composer

• 1873 ~ Landon Ronald, Composer

• 1874 ~ Theodor Streicher, Composer

• 1885 ~ Percy Brier, Composer

• 1891 ~ Athos Palma, Composer

• 1893 ~ Johann Schrammel, Composer, died at the age of 43

• 1897 ~ George Szell, Hungarian-born American conductor

• 1909 ~ Actress Mary Pickford made her motion picture debut in “The Violin Maker of Cremona”.

• 1911 ~ Franz Reizenstein, Composer

• 1911 ~ Silas Roy Crain, Singer/arranger/songwriter

• 1915 ~ Benjamin Lambord, Composer, died at the age of 35

• 1917 ~ Dean Martin (Dino Crocetti), Singer

• 1922 ~ Hubert Du Plessis, Composer

• 1926 ~ Dick Williams, Choral director of the Andy Williams Show

• 1926 ~ Henry Charles Tonking, Composer, died at the age of 63

• 1928 ~ Charles Strouse, American of popular music

• 1931 ~ Henry Weinberg, Composer

• 1932 ~ Emil Pauer, Composer, died at the age of 76

• 1934 ~ Phillip Entremont, Pianist

• 1934 ~ Samuel Lipman, Music critic

• 1934 ~ Wynn Stewart, Singer

• 1939 ~ Larry Clinton and his orchestra recorded In a Persian Market (by Ketelbey) on Victor Records.

• 1940 ~ Tom Jones, Grammy Award-winning singer

• 1941 ~ Jaime Laredo, Bolivian-born American violinist Clarence White (1944) Guitarist with the Byrds

• 1945 ~ Ruben Marcos Campos, Composer, died at the age of 69

• 1945 ~ The opera “Peter Grimes” by Benjamin Britten, premiered in London, at Sadler’s Wells Theater.

• 1948 ~ Georges Adolphe Hue, Composer, died at the age of 90

• 1949 ~ Due to an impending lawsuit that stemmed from Milton Berle’s TV show, comedienne Cathy Mastice held the first musical press conference. She sang her way into announcing the court action. Due to the publicity she received, Ms. Mastice became an overnight success.

• 1953 ~ Kukla, Fran (Allison) and Ollie, along with the Boston Pops Orchestra under the direction of Arthur Fiedler, were featured on the first network telecast in ‘compatible color’. The program was broadcast from Boston, MA.

• 1958 ~ Prince (Prince Rogers Nelson), Singer

• 1963 ~ First Rolling Stones TV appearance (Thank Your Lucky Stars)

• 1965 ~ Pierre Cardevielle, French Composer/conductor, died at the age of 59

• 1969 ~ “Johnny Cash Show,” debuted on ABC~TV

• 1969 ~ Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash combined on a Grand Ole Opry TV special

• 1969 ~ Tommy James & Shondells released Crystal Blue Persuasion

• 1970 ~ The Who’s rock opera “Tommy” was performed at NY’s Lincoln Center

• 1972 ~ “Grease” opened at Broadhurst Theater NYC for 3,388 performances

• 1974 ~ The Entertainer by Scott Joplin, used in the motion picture The Sting, earned a gold record for pianist and conductor, Marvin Hamlisch.

• 1975 ~ Thank God I’m a Country Boy, by John Denver hits #1

• 1976 ~ Bobby Hackett, Jazz cornetist/orchchestra leader, died at the age of 61

• 1982 ~ Sixteenth Music City News Country Awards: Barbara Mandrell

• 1983 ~ Daniele Amfiteatrov, Composer, died at the age of 81

• 1990 ~ Michael Jackson hospitalized for chest pains

• 1991 ~ Singer Jimmy Osmond wed Michelle Larson

• 1993 ~ Prince celebrated his birthday by changing his name to a symbol and calling himself The Artist Previously Known as Prince. He went back to “Prince” in 2000

June 6 in Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

• 1661 ~ Giacomo Antonio Perti, Composer

• 1676 ~ Georg Reidel, Composer

• 1722 ~ Adrien Trudo Sale, Composer

• 1735 ~ Anton Schweitzer, Composer

• 1735 ~ Georg Osterreich, Composer, died at the age of 71

• 1747 ~ Jean Barriere, Composer, died

• 1785 ~ Johann Michael Demmler, Composer, died at the age of 36

• 1807 ~ Adrien François Servais, Composer

• 1735 ~ Francesco Antonio Norberto Pinto (1815) Composer

• 1819 ~ William Howard Glover, Composer

• 1840 ~ John Stainer, Organ composer

• 1852 ~ Tommaso Marchesi, Composer, died at the age of 79

• 1861 ~ Giuseppe Concone, Italian singing teacher, died at the age of 59

• 1869 ~ Siegfried Wagner, German opera composer/conductor

• 1878 ~ Gottfried Herrmann, Composer, died at the age of 70

• 1881 ~ Henry Vieuxtemps, Belgian Composer, died at the age of 61

• 1883 ~ Ciprian Porumbescu, Composer, died at the age of 29

• 1885 ~ The opera “Lakme” was produced in Paris

• 1891 ~ Istvan Kardos, Composer

• 1893 ~ Ludovic Feldman, Composer

• 1894 ~ Sabin V Dragoi, Composer

• 1891 ~ Ted Lewis (Theodore Leopold Friedman), Clarinettist, singer, bandleader with Ted Lewis & His Band.

• 1902 ~ Avraham Daus, Composer

• 1902 ~ James Melvin Lunceford, American jazz dance-band leader
More information about Lunceford

• 1903 ~ Aram Khachaturian, Armenian composer
More information about Khachaturian

• 1905 ~ John Gart, Russian orchestra leader of the Paul Winchell Show

• 1910 ~ Toshitsugu Ogiwara, Composer

• 1915 ~ Vincent Persichetti, American composer

• 1917 ~ Iacob Moresianu, Composer, died at the age of 59

• 1922 ~ Ian Hamilton, Composer

• 1922 ~ Lillian Russell, Entertainer, died at the age of 60

• 1924 ~ Serge Nigg, Composer

• 1926 ~ Klaus Tennstedt, German conductor

• 1926 ~ Henry Tate, Composer, died at the age of 52

• 1928 ~ Heinrich Gottlieb Noren, Composer, died at the age of 67

• 1929 ~ Boguslaw Schaffer, Composer

• 1931 ~ There Ought To Be A Moonlight Saving Time by Guy Lombardo hit #1

• 1934 ~ Philippe Entremont, French pianist/conductor, Vienna Chamber Orchestra

• 1935 ~ Misja Mengelberg, Dutch jazz pianist/composer

• 1935 ~ Jacques Urlus, tenor (Opera of Leipzig, Song of the Earth), died at the age of 68

• 1936 ~ Levi Stubbs (Stubbles), Lead singer with The Four Tops

• 1939 ~ Gary “US” Bonds (Anderson), Singer/songwriter

• 1939 ~ Louis Andriessen, Dutch Composer

• 1940 ~ Phillip Rhodes, Composer

• 1943 ~ Joe Stampley, Country singer

• 1944 ~ Peter Albin, Bass, guitar & vocals with Big Brother and The Holding Company

• 1944 ~ Monty Alexander, Jazz musician, piano

• 1955 ~ Bill Haley and Comets, Rock Around the Clock hit #1

• 1958 ~ Lily Theresa Strickland, Composer, died at the age of 71

• 1962 ~ The Beatles met their producer George Martin for first time. After listening to a playback of the audition tapes, Martin said, “They’re pretty awful.” He changed his mind after meeting the group, however.

• 1964 ~ The Beatles arrived in Netherlands

• 1966 ~ Claudette Orbison, wife of singer Roy, died in a motorcyle crash

• 1971 ~ Arnold Elston, Composer, died at the age of 63

• 1971 ~ John Lennon and Yoko Ono unannounced appearance at Fillmore East in NYC

• 1971 ~ For the last time, we saw Polish dancing bears, a little mouse named Topo Gigio, remembered The Beatles, The Dave Clark Five, the comedy of Jackie Mason, John Byner, Rich Little, Richard Pryor and so many more, as The Ed Sullivan Show left CBS-TV. Gladys Knight and The Pips and singer Jerry Vale appeared on the final show. The Ed Sullivan Show had been a showcase for more than 20 years for artists who ranged from Ethel Merman to Ella Fitzgerald, from Steve (Lawrence) andEydie (Gorme) to The Beatles. The Ed Sullivan Show was the longest running variety show on TV ~ a “rillly big sheeeew.”

• 1991 ~ Stan Getz, Jazz saxophonist (Girl from Impanima), died at the age of 64

• 1994 ~ Willie Humphrey, Jazz clarinetist, died at the age of 93

• 1995 ~ Imam Elissa, Singer, died at the age of 76

June 5 in Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

• 1665 ~ Nicolas Bernier, Composer

• 1686 ~ Cristoph Raupach, Composer

• 1722 ~ Johann Kuhnau, Composer, died at the age of 62

• 1759 ~ Theodor Zwetler, Composer

• 1785 ~ Gottfried August Homilius, Composer, died at the age of 71

• 1798 ~ Alexey Fyodorovich L’vov, Composer

• 1813 ~ Prosper Philippe Catherine Sainton, Composer

• 1816 ~ Giovanni Paisiello, Italian Composer (Serva Padrona), died at the age of 76

• 1826 ~ Carl Maria von Weber, German Composer (Oberon), died at the age of 39
Read more about von Weber

• 1826 ~ Ivar Christian Hallstrom, Composer

• 1852 ~ Tomasz Napoleon Nidecki, Composer, died at the age of 45

• 1861 ~ Tomas Genoves y Lapetra, Composer, died at the age of 55

• 1863 ~ Arthur Somervell, Composer

• 1868 ~ Anselm Huttenbrenner, Composer, died at the age of 73

• 1879 ~ Adolf Wiklund, Composer

• 1895 ~ August Baeyens, Flemish Composer of Coriolanus

• 1885 ~ Julius Benedict, Composer (Protoghesi), died at the age of 80

• 1894 ~ Immanuel Faisst, Composer, died at the age of 70

• 1908 ~ Luca Fumagalli, Composer, died at the age of 71

• 1909 ~ Alfred Uhl, Composer

• 1913 ~ Friedrich Wildgans, Composer

• 1922 ~ Specs (Gordon) Powell, Musician: drummer: CBS staff musician

• 1923 ~ Daniel Pinkham, American composer

• 1925 ~ Bill Hayes, Singer, entertainer

• 1927 ~ Paul Lacombe, Composer, died at the age of 89

• 1932 ~ Pete Jolly (Cragioli), Pianist

• 1937 ~ Stanley Lunetta, Composer

• 1941 ~ Martha Argerich, Brazilian pianist

• 1941 ~ Floyd Butler, Singer with Fifth Dimension and Friends of Distinction

• 1941 ~ Roy Eldridge was featured on trumpet and vocal as drummer Gene Krupaand his band recorded After You’ve Gone for Okeh Records.

• 1942 ~ Sammy Kaye and his orchestra recorded the classic I Left My Heart at the Stage Door Canteen for Victor Records.

• 1942 ~ Charles Dodge, Composer

• 1943 ~ Bill Hopkins, Composer

• 1944 ~ Riccardo Zandonai, Composer, died at the age of 61

• 1945 ~ Don Reid, Singer, Grammy Award-winning group: The Statler Brothers and CMA Vocal Group of the Year from 1972 to 1980

• 1946 ~ Fred Stone, Singer with Sly and the Family Stone

• 1947 ~ Laurie Anderson, American composer and performance artist

• 1956 ~ Kenny G (Gorelick), Saxophonist

• 1956 ~ Elvis Presley made his second appearance on Milton Berle’s Texaco Star Theatre. Presley sang Heartbreak Hotel, his number one hit. The TV critics were not kind to Elvis’ appearance on the show. They panned him, saying his performance looked “like the mating dance of an aborigine.”

• 1959 ~ Bob Zimmerman graduated from high school in Hibbing, MN. Zimmerman was known as a greaser to classmates in the remote rural community, because of his long sideburns and leather jacket. Soon, Zimmerman would be performing at coffee houses at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, and later, in Greenwich Village in New York City. He would also change his name to Bob Dylan (after poet Dylan Thomas, so the story goes).

• 1964 ~ David Jones and The King Bees had their first record, Liza Jane, released by Vocalion Records of Great Britain. Less than a decade later, we came to know Jones better as David Bowie.

• 1965 ~ “Wooly Bully” by Sam the Sham and Pharaohs hit #2

• 1971 ~ Marky Mark (Mark Wahlberg), Guitarist, singer with Marky Mark and The Funky Bunch

• 1972 ~ Maureen McGovern quit her job as a full-time secretary for a new career as a full-time singer. Maureen was part of a trio before recording as a solo artist in July, 1973. Her first song, The Morning After, from the movie, The Poseidon Adventure, was a million-seller. She also sang the theme, Different Worlds, from ABC-TV’s Angie, and Can You Read My Mind from the movie, Superman. Ms. McGovern starred in Pirates of Penzance for 14 months on Broadway.

• 1993 ~ Conway Twitty, Country star (Linda on My Mind), died at the age of 59 during surgery

• 1994 ~ Ish Kabbible (Merwyn A Bogue), Cornetist with Kay Kyser, died at the age of 86

• 1999 ~ Mel Torme passed away

June 4 in Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

• 1585 ~ Marc-Antoine de Muret, Composer, died at the age of 58

• 1770 ~ James Hewitt, Composer

• 1846 ~ Josef Sittard, Music writer

• 1872 ~ Stanislaw Moniuszko, Composer, died at the age of 53

• 1585 ~ Erno Rapee (1891) Hungarian conductor

• 1899 ~ Leo Spies, Composer

• 1905 ~ Carl Albert Loeschhorn, Composer, pianist and Royal Professor died at the age of 85

• 1907 ~ Marjan Kozina, Composer

• 1907 ~ Agathe Grondahl, Composer, died at the age of 59

• 1909 ~ Paul Nordoff, American composer of the Frog Prince

• 1913 ~ Bruno Bettinelli, Composer

• 1915 ~ William Charles Denis Browne, Composer, died at the age of t 26

• 1919 ~ Robert Merrill (Moishe Miller), Metropolitan Opera singing star, baritone

• 1922 ~ Irwin Bazelon, American composer

• 1916 ~ Mildred J Hill, Composer/musician (Happy Birthday To You), died at the age of 56

• 1927 ~ Gerry Mulligan, American jazz baritone saxophonist and arranger

• 1930 ~ Morgana King, Jazz singer

• 1930 ~ Pentti Raitio, Composer

• 1931 ~ Cesar Bolanos, Composer

• 1934 ~ The Dorsey Brothers, Tommy and Jimmy, recorded Annie’s Aunt Fanny on the Brunswick label. The track featured trombonist Glenn Miller, who also vocalized on the tune.

• 1937 ~ Freddie Fender, Guitarist

• 1940 ~ Dorothy Rudd Moore, Composer

• 1942 ~ Glenn Wallichs did what was called ‘promotion’ for Capitol Records in Hollywood. He came up with the idea that he could send copies of Capitol’s new records to influential radio announcers all around the U.S. and, maybe, add to the chances that stations would play the records. The practice would soon become common among most record labels.

• 1944 ~ Roger Ball, Musician, saxophonist and keyboards with Average White Band

• 1945 ~ Anthony Braxton, Jazz musician Read more about Braxton

• 1945 ~ Michelle Phillips (Holly Michelle Gilliam), Singer with The Mamas and the Papas

• 1945 ~ Gordon Waller, Singer with Peter and Gordon

• 1951 ~ Conductor Serge Koussevitsky died. Born in Russia, he conducted the State Symphony Orchestra in Petrograd before moving to the U.S. to conduct the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Read more about Serge Koussevitsky

• 1956 ~ Max Kowalski, Composer, died at the age of 73

• 1961 ~ “Wildcat” closed at Alvin Theater NYC after 172 performances

• 1963 ~ First transmission of Pop Go The Beatles on BBC radio

• 1964 ~ The Beatles “World Tour” begins in Copenhagen Denmark

• 1972 ~ Godfried Devreese, Composer, died at the age of 79

• 1978 ~ 32nd Tony Awards: Da and Ain’t Misbehavin’ won

• 1988 ~ “Cabaret” closes at Imperial Theater NYC after 262 performances

• 1988 ~ 42nd Tony Awards: M Butterfly and Phantom of the Opera won

• 1989 ~ Vaclav Kaslik, Czech opera Composer/conductor, died at the age of 71

• 1994 ~ Derek Lek Leckenby, rock guitarist (Herman’s Hermits), died at the age of 48

• 1994 ~ Earle Warren, Alto sax player, died at the age of 79

• 1995 ~ 49th Tony Awards: Love! Valour! Compassion! and Sunset Boulevard won

• 1997 ~ Ronnie Lane, bassist (Faces), died at the age of 50 of multiple sclerosis

• 2001 ~ John Hartford, a versatile and wry performer who wrote the standardGentle on My Mind and turned his back on Hollywood to return to bluegrass music, died Monday at at the age of 63. He was a singer-songwriter, comedian, tap-clog dancer, television performer and riverboat enthusiast. Gentle on My Mind has been broadcast on radio or television more than 6 million times, according to Broadcast Music Incorporated, which collects song royalties. It has been recorded more than 300 times, most prominently by Glen Campbell in 1967. Hartford’s career rambled from Hollywood to Nashville, with stops writing and performing on network television, thousands of shows at bluegrass clubs and festivals, and stints as a licensed steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River. At the height of his fame in the early 1970s, Hartford reconsidered his decision to take an offer to star in a detective series on CBS. Instead, he returned to Nashville and resumed his career as an innovative, relatively low-profile bluegrass singer-songwriter. “I knew that if I did it, I would never live it down,” Hartford said of the television series in a 2000 interview. “Because then when I went back to music, people would start saying, `Oh, he didn’t make it in acting so he’s gone country.”‘ Born in New York City and raised in St. Louis, Hartford was enthralled as a youngster by riverboats and bluegrass music, in particular that of Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs. He moved to Nashville in 1965, and his first album “John Hartford Looks at Life” was released the following year. Hartford’s version of Gentle on My Mind from second album “Earthwords & Music” was a minor hit in 1967. The song is about a hobo whose mind is eased by the thought of a former lover. Hartford moved to California in 1968, landing a job writing and performing on “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.” His went on to the cast of “The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour.” Returning to Nashville in 1971, Hartford released the landmark acoustic album “Aereo-Plain” and continued to record until his death. He was one of the performers on the hit soundtrack to the film “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”