Tag Archives: educator

February 26: On This Day in Music

Posted by MaryO on

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. 1770 ~ Anton Reicha, Czech-born, later naturalized French composer of music very much in the German style

. 1802 ~ Victor Hugo, author of Les Miserables and many other works

. 1879 ~ Frank Bridge, English composer, violist and conductor

. 1922 ~ Dancing to jazz music and tango bands was criticized in Paris. It seems that dancing was detracting the French from their postwar reconstruction, according to “La Revue Mondiale”.

. 1928 ~ “Fats” (Antoine) Domino, American rock-and-roll pianist and singer. His works include: Ain’t That a Shame, Goin’ Home, I’m in Love Again, Blue Monday, I’m Walkin’ and Blueberry Hill

. 1930 ~ Lazar Berman, Soviet pianist

. 1932 ~ Johnny Cash was an American country music, singer-songwriter. Although he is known as a country singer his music spanned other styles including rockabilly, rock and roll, blues, folk, and gospel. He had a distinct style both in music and life and partly due to his always wearing dark clothes, but also because of melancholy music was known as “The Man in Black”, his signature line on opening a concert consisted of “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash”. He was known as a heavy drinker and addicted to amphetamines and barbiturates but in 1968 he quit and soon after married his long time sweetheart June Carter who had always refused to marry him till he was clean. His hits during his career included “Folsom Prison Blues”, “I Walk the Line”, “A Boy Named Sue”, “Man in Black”, “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town”, “Ring of Fire” and “Jackson” ( with June Carter ) which won a Grammy Award in 1968. Although he never did Prison time he felt great compassion for prisoners and made two of his most popular albums in front of Prison audiences, Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison (1968) and Johnny Cash at San Quentin (1969).

. 1945 ~ Mitch Ryder (William Levise), Singer with Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels

. 1947 ~ Sandie Shaw (Goodrich), Singer

. 1950 ~ Jonathan Cain, Keyboard with Babys

. 1954 ~ Michael Bolton, Grammy Award-winning singer. Some of his songs are: When a Man Loves a Woman and How Am I Supposed to Live Without You

. 1961 ~ John-Jon (John Andrew Foster), Musician with Bronski Beat

. 1965 ~ Juan Trigos, Mexican composer and conductor

. 1972 ~ Harry Nilsson started his second week at number one with that toe-tapping ditty, Without You. The whiny love song stayed at the top for a total of four weeks.

. 1977 ~ The Eagles’ New Kid in Town landed in the top spot on the pop music charts for one week beginning this day.

. 1981 ~ Howard Hanson died.  He was an American composer, conductor, educator, music theorist, and champion of American classical music.

. 1983 ~ Charley Pride’s Why Baby Why topped the country charts. The song was written by George Jones (who found national fame with his own version in 1955) and Darrell Edwards. Legend has it that inspiration for the song came when Edwards overheard a couple squabbling in their car in Orange, TX.

. 2003 ~ Otha Turner, 94, who created his own niche in blues music with an ethereal mix of early American colonial drums and West African flute, died in Como, Miss. His recording Everybody Hollerin’ Goat was rated among the Top 10 blues releases in 1997 by Rolling Stone magazine. Members of a Senegalese drum troupe performed with Mr. Turner on the album. Mr. Turner was presented with a National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Award, the Smithsonian Lifetime Achievement Award and the Charlie Patton Lifetime Achievement Award from the Mississippi Delta Blues and Heritage Festival.

. 2011 ~ Eugene Fodor, American classical violinist (1974 Tchaikovsky Award), died at the age of 60

January 27: On This Day in Music

Posted by MaryO on

. 1629 ~ Hieronymus Praetorius, composer, died at the age of 68

. 1731 ~ Bartolomeo Cristofori, Italian instrument maker considered the inventor of the piano, died at the age of 75

. 1756 ~ Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian composer, pianist

Happy Birthday, Mozart!

 

. 1823 ~ Edouard Lalo, French composer

. 1885 ~ Jerome Kern, American songwriter and composer of musical comedies He was known as the father of the American musical, composing Show Boat, Ol’ Man River, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, Lovely to Look At, The Way You Look Tonight and The Last Time I Saw Paris

. 1895 ~ Harry Ruby (Rubinstein), Musician and composer

. 1901 ~ Giuseppe Verdi, Italian composer, died at the age of 77. He was an Italian operatic composer, the leading figure of Italian music in the nineteenth century and made important contributions to the development of opera.

. 1905 ~ John Schaum, Pianist, composer and music educator. Schaum began his career as a piano teacher in the late 1920s. In 1933 he founded the Schaum Piano School in Milwaukee. About the same time he began to compose piano music for teaching purposes. He also founded the first company to produce award stickers specifically for music students. Always on the lookout for better materials for his students, Schaum eventually decided to create his own books, beginning in 1941 with Piano Fun for Boys and Girls, which he later revised as the first in a series of nine piano method books that became the Schaum Piano Course, completed in 1945. These books are still widely used today.

. 1916 ~ Milt (Milton W.) Raskin, Pianist, composer and arranger

. 1918 ~ Skitch Henderson, Conductor of the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, bandleader, musical director of NBC-TV’s The Tonight Show with Steve Allen and Johnny Carson

. 1948 ~ Mikhail Baryshnikov, Bolshoi ballet dancer, defected to the U.S.

 

. 1961 ~ Leontyne Price made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. She sang in the role of Leonora in “Il Trovatore”. Price was only the seventh black singer to make a debut at the Met. Marian Anderson was the first (1955).

. 1968 ~ The Bee Gees played their first American concert, as a group. They earned $50,000 to entertain at the Anaheim Convention Center in California. This is identical to what The Beatles were paid to perform at the Hollywood Bowl a few years earlier.

. 1968 ~ Otis Redding’s (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay was released on this day, seven weeks after the singer’s death. It became #1 on March 16, 1968 and remained at the top spot for a month. Redding began his recording career in 1960 with Johnny Jenkins and The Pinetoppers (on Confederate Records). He sang a duet with Carla Thomas and had 11 chart hits. Redding of Dawson, GA was killed in a plane crash at Lake Monona near Madison, WI.  Four members of the Bar-Kays were also killed in the crash. The Dock of the Bay, his only number one song, was recorded just three days before his death.

 

. 1973 ~ John Lennon wrote and recorded “Instant Karma” in a single day

. 1973 ~ Mr and Mrs O got married 🙂
Read more here.

. 1982 ~ “Joseph & the Amazing Dreamcoat” opened at the Royale NYC for 747 performances

. 1984 ~ Michael Jackson’s hair caught on fire during the filming of a Pepsi commercial in Los Angeles. Pyrotechnics did not operate on cue, injuring the singer. Jackson was hospitalized for a few days and fans from around the world sent messages of concern.

. 2000 ~ Friedrich Gulda, Austrian pianist died at the age of 69.

. 2014 ~ Pete Seeger, American folk singer and activist, helped create the modern American folk music movement, died at 94

October 28 ~ On This Day in Music

Posted by MaryO on

today

 

• 1813 ~ Franz Schubert, age 12, finished his first symphony, The Symphony in D Major
More information about Schubert

• 1896 ~ Howard Hanson, American composer, educator and conductor
More information about Hanson

• 1909 ~ Josef Gingold, Russian-born American violinist

• 1936 ~ Charlie Daniels, American CMA Award-winning musician (1979), guitar, fiddle, singer with Charlie Daniels Band

• 1941 ~ Curtis Lee, Singer

• 1941 ~ Hank Marvin (Brian Rankin), Guitarist with The Shadows

• 1945 ~ Wayne Fontana (Glyn Ellis), Singer with The Mindbenders

• 1948 ~ Telma Hopkins, Singer with Dawn

• 1955 ~ A local kid from Lubbock, TX opened a concert for Marty Robbins and Elvis Presley. In the audience was a youngster by the name of Scott Davis. He would later become a superstar. We know him as Mac Davis. The kid who opened the concert was Buddy Holly.

• 1957 ~ After a show at the Pan Pacific Auditorium in Los Angeles, local police told Elvis Presley that he was not allowed to wiggle his hips onstage, the local press also ran headlines saying Elvis would have to clean up his act. The next night, the Los Angeles Vice Squad filmed his entire concert, to study his performance.

• 1961 ~ Brian Epstein, a record store owner in London, was asked by a customer for a copy of the record, My Bonnie, by a group known as The Silver Beatles. He didn’t have it in stock so he went to the Cavern Club to check out the group. He signed to manage them in a matter of days and renamed them The Beatles.

• 1965 ~ Earl Bostic, American jazz alto saxophonist and a pioneer of the post-war American rhythm and blues style, passed away

• 1980 ~ Annette Funicello, Cubby O’Brien, Tommy Cole, Sherry Alberoni and Dickie Dodd joined other Mouseketeers wearing black ears and white shirts on a sound stage in Burbank, CA. They were celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Mickey Mouse Club. The five special events each week were:

  • Fun with Music Day on Monday
  • Guest Star Day on Tuesday
  • Anything Can Happen Day on Wednesday
  • Circus Day on Thursday
  • Talent Roundup Day on Friday

• 2003 ~ Oliver Sain, a saxophonist whose work was later recorded by artists from Loretta Lynn to Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, died of bone cancer. He was 71. Sain was a musician, songwriter and producer, known for his performances on songs like Bus Stop and Feel Like Dancing in the 1970s. He performed as recently as the previous night, his wife said. Sain’s work was sampled by Combs on his “No Way Out” CD and recorded by artists including the Allman Brothers Band, Chaka Khan and Ry Cooder. Sain grew up in Dundee, Miss., where he became known for his saxophone playing. He moved to St. Louis in 1959 and opened a recording studio in the city in the next decade.

• 2008 ~ A statue honoring AC/DC’s Bon Scott was unveiled at the Fremantle Fishing Boat Harbour in Western Australia. Although born in Scotland, Scott grew up in Fremantle after his family emigrated to Australia in 1952. Bon started out his newfound Australian life in Melbourne, his family lived in the suburb of Sunshine for 4 years before moving to Fremantle. Scott was born in 1946 died on 20th February 1980. He is buried in Fremantle Cemetery.

• 2018 ~ Richard GIll died at the age of 76. He was an Australian conductor of choral, orchestral and operatic works, who has been involved in music training and education.

August 17: Today in Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

1686 ~ Nicola Porpora, Italian composer

• 1838 ~ A total of 138 singing teachers traveled to Boston, MA to attend the first music convention.

• 1903 ~ Abram Chasins, American pianist, composer, writer and educator

• 1909 ~ Larry Clinton, Bandleader, composer

• 1920 ~ Georgia Gibbs (Fredda Lipson or Gibson), ‘Her Nibs’, Singer

• 1932 ~ Duke Pearson, Composer, bandleader, pianist

• 1947 ~ Gary Talley, Guitarist with Big Star as well as The Box Tops

• 1948 ~ John Cheek, American bass-baritone

• 1953 ~ Kevin Rowland, Guitarist, singer with Dexy’s Midnight Runners

• 1954 ~ The Newport Jazz Festival opened at the Newport Casino in Rhode Island. It featured jazz legends Dizzy Gillespie, Gerry Mulligan and Ella Fitzgerald.

• 1955 ~ Kevin Moulding, Songwriter, singer, bass with XTC

• 1958 ~ Belinda Carlisle, Guitarist, singer with The Go-Go’s

• 1965 ~ Steve Gorman, Drummer with The Black Crowes

• 1970 ~ Donnie Wahlberg, Singer with New Kids on the Block and brother of Marky Mark

• 1983 ~ Ira Gershwin, U.S. lyricist and elder brother of George, died in Beverly Hills at the age of 86.

• 1984 ~ On this, the first night of his Breaking Hearts Tour, Elton John announced that he was retiring from touring.

• 1990 ~ Pearl Mae Bailey passed away. She had entertained two generations with her stage and record performances.

August 15: Today in Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

• 1890 ~Jacques Ibert, French composer and educator

• 1909 ~ Hugo Winterhalter, Orchestra leader

• 1922 ~ Lukas Foss, German-born American pianist, conductor and composer

• 1925 ~ Oscar Peterson, Canadian Jazz pianist, jazz trios, solos, played with all jazz greats, composer.  He achieved international fame with the touring “Jazz at the Philharmonic”.  His biography is Oscar Peterson: The Will to Swing

• 1925 ~ Bill Pinkney, Musician, bass with The Drifters

• 1933 ~ Bobby Helms, Singer

• 1941 ~ Don Rich, Country musician, songwriter, one of Buck Owens’ Buckaroos

• 1941 ~ Au Revoir, Pleasant Dreams was recorded by Ben Bernie and his orchestra.

• 1942 ~ Peter York, Musician, drums with Spencer Davis Group

• 1946 ~ Jimmy Webb, Grammy Award-winning songwriter

• 1961 ~ Matt Johnson, Musician, guitar, singer

• 1965 ~ 55,600 people attended a Beatles concert at Shea Stadium, New York, creating world attendance and revenue records for a pop concert.

• 1969 ~ The first day of the most famous musical event of 1969, Woodstock. It was originally called The Woodstock Music and Arts Fair and it began in Bethel, New York.

• 1969 ~ Three Dog Night (Danny Hutton, Cory Wells and Chuck Negron) were awarded a gold record for the album, Three Dog Night. Where’d the name of the group come from? In Australia, the aborigine tribes of several regions slept outside all year. As the temperatures got colder, the tribesmen would sleep with a dog to keep warm. In colder weather, they would huddle with two dogs. It must have been an extremely cold night when the group was formed!

• 1980 ~ I, Me, Mine, an autobiography by former Beatle George Harrison, went on sale.

• 1981 ~ Lionel Richie and Diana Ross hit number one on the pop music charts with their beautiful duet, Endless Love. It was a huge success for the two singers. Endless Love was number one for 9 weeks.

• 1989 ~ Many groups who had been to Woodstock had a twentieth-anniversary celebration.

• 2015 ~ Licia Albanese, Italian-born American operatic soprano, died at the age of 105

August 10: Today in Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

• 1865 ~ Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov, Russian symphonic composer, conductor and educator. He wrote eight completed symphonies and two piano concertos. One of his last works (1934) was a concerto for saxophone.

• 1893 ~ Douglas Stuart Moore, American composer and educator

• 1895 ~ The first Promenade concert under conductor Henry Wood took place at Queen’s Hall in London. He remained in sole charge of the “Proms”, the annual British classical music festival, until 1940.

• 1928 ~ Jimmy Dean (Seth Ward), Grammy Award-winning singer, TV host of The Jimmy Dean Show, sausage mogul

• 1928 ~ Eddie Fisher, Singer, TV host of Coke Time with Eddie Fisher, father of Carrie Fisher and Tricia Leigh Fisher

• 1940 ~ Bobby Hatfield, Singer with The Righteous Brothers

• 1943 ~ Veronica ‘Ronnie’ Spector (Bennett), Singer with The Ronettes

• 1947 ~ Ian Anderson, Musician: flute, singer with Jethro Tull

• 1954 ~ Eliot Fisk, American guitarist

• 1954 ~ Elvis Presley made one of his first professional appearances, at Overton Park, in his hometown of Memphis, TN. He used the occasion to debut his new record, That’s All Right (Mama), and was a big crowd pleaser.

• 1961 ~ Jon Farriss, Musician, drums, singer with INXS

• 1967 ~ Lorraine Pearson, Singer with Five Star

• 1968 ~ Michael Bivins, Singer with New Edition, Bell Biv DeVoe

• 1985 ~ Madonna’s album Like a Virgin became the first solo album by a female artist to be certified for sales of five million copies.

• 1987 ~ A Chorus Line celebrated its 5,000th performance. It was estimated that 25 million theatregoers had seen the musical since it opened in 1975. An estimated 16.7 million people had seen the show on Broadway, with another 8.3 million taking in the touring production. A Chorus Line became the longest-running show on The Great White Way on September 29, 1983 and ended its Broadway run in 1990.

• 2003 ~ Gregory Hines, Tony Award winner tap-dancing actor who started on Broadway and in movies including “White Nights” and “Running Scared,” died at the age of 57. The dancer, among the best in his generation, won a 1993 Tony for the musical  “Jelly’s Last Jam.”

Hines became internationally known as part of a jazz tap due with his brother, Maurice, and the two danced together in the musical revue “Eubie!” in 1978. The brothers later performed together in Broadway’s “Sophisticated Ladies” and on film in 1984’s “The Cotton Club.”

In “The Cotton Club,” Hines also had a lead acting role, which led to more work in film. He starred with Mikhail Baryshnikov in 1985’s “White Nights” and with Billy Crystal in 1986’s “Running Scared,” and he appeared with Whitney Houston and Angela Bassett in 1995’s “Waiting to Exhale,” among other movies.

On television, he had his own sitcom in 1997 called “The Gregory Hines Show,” as well as a recurring role on “Will and Grace.” March 2003, he appeared in the spring television series “Lost at Home.”

• 2013 ~ Eydie Gorme, American singer, died at the age of 84

August 17: On This Day in Music

Posted by MaryO on

today

1686 ~ Nicola Porpora, Italian composer

• 1838 ~ A total of 138 singing teachers traveled to Boston, MA to attend the first music convention.

• 1903 ~ Abram Chasins, American pianist, composer, writer and educator

• 1909 ~ Larry Clinton, Bandleader, composer

• 1920 ~ Georgia Gibbs (Fredda Lipson or Gibson), ‘Her Nibs’, Singer

• 1932 ~ Duke Pearson, Composer, bandleader, pianist

• 1947 ~ Gary Talley, Guitarist with Big Star as well as The Box Tops

• 1948 ~ John Cheek, American bass-baritone

• 1953 ~ Kevin Rowland, Guitarist, singer with Dexy’s Midnight Runners

• 1954 ~ The Newport Jazz Festival opened at the Newport Casino in Rhode Island. It featured jazz legends Dizzy Gillespie, Gerry Mulligan and Ella Fitzgerald.

• 1955 ~ Kevin Moulding, Songwriter, singer, bass with XTC

• 1958 ~ Belinda Carlisle, Guitarist, singer with The Go-Go’s

• 1965 ~ Steve Gorman, Drummer with The Black Crowes

• 1970 ~ Donnie Wahlberg, Singer with New Kids on the Block and brother of Marky Mark

• 1983 ~ Ira Gershwin, U.S. lyricist and elder brother of George, died in Beverly Hills at the age of 86.

• 1984 ~ On this, the first night of his Breaking Hearts Tour, Elton John announced that he was retiring from touring.

• 1990 ~ Pearl Mae Bailey passed away. She had entertained two generations with her stage and record performances.

August 15: On This Day in Music

Posted by MaryO on

today

• 1890 ~Jacques Ibert, French composer and educator

• 1909 ~ Hugo Winterhalter, Orchestra leader

• 1922 ~ Lukas Foss, German-born American pianist, conductor and composer

• 1925 ~ Oscar Peterson, Canadian Jazz pianist, jazz trios, solos, played with all jazz greats, composer.  He achieved international fame with the touring “Jazz at the Philharmonic”.  His biography is Oscar Peterson: The Will to Swing

• 1925 ~ Bill Pinkney, Musician, bass with The Drifters

• 1933 ~ Bobby Helms, Singer

• 1941 ~ Don Rich, Country musician, songwriter, one of Buck Owens’ Buckaroos

• 1941 ~ Au Revoir, Pleasant Dreams was recorded by Ben Bernie and his orchestra.

• 1942 ~ Peter York, Musician, drums with Spencer Davis Group

• 1946 ~ Jimmy Webb, Grammy Award-winning songwriter

• 1961 ~ Matt Johnson, Musician, guitar, singer

• 1965 ~ 55,600 people attended a Beatles concert at Shea Stadium, New York, creating world attendance and revenue records for a pop concert.

• 1969 ~ The first day of the most famous musical event of 1969, Woodstock. It was originally called The Woodstock Music and Arts Fair and it began in Bethel, New York.

• 1969 ~ Three Dog Night (Danny Hutton, Cory Wells and Chuck Negron) were awarded a gold record for the album, Three Dog Night. Where’d the name of the group come from? In Australia, the aborigine tribes of several regions slept outside all year. As the temperatures got colder, the tribesmen would sleep with a dog to keep warm. In colder weather, they would huddle with two dogs. It must have been an extremely cold night when the group was formed!

• 1980 ~ I, Me, Mine, an autobiography by former Beatle George Harrison, went on sale.

• 1981 ~ Lionel Richie and Diana Ross hit number one on the pop music charts with their beautiful duet, Endless Love. It was a huge success for the two singers. Endless Love was number one for 9 weeks.

• 1989 ~ Many groups who had been to Woodstock had a twentieth-anniversary celebration.

• 2015 ~ Licia Albanese, Italian-born American operatic soprano, died at the age of 105

August 10: On This Day in Music

Posted by MaryO on

today

• 1865 ~ Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov, Russian symphonic composer, conductor and educator. He wrote eight completed symphonies and two piano concertos. One of his last works (1934) was a concerto for saxophone.

• 1893 ~ Douglas Stuart Moore, American composer and educator

• 1895 ~ The first Promenade concert under conductor Henry Wood took place at Queen’s Hall in London. He remained in sole charge of the “Proms”, the annual British classical music festival, until 1940.

• 1928 ~ Jimmy Dean (Seth Ward), Grammy Award-winning singer, TV host of The Jimmy Dean Show, sausage mogul

• 1928 ~ Eddie Fisher, Singer, TV host of Coke Time with Eddie Fisher, father of Carrie Fisher and Tricia Leigh Fisher

• 1940 ~ Bobby Hatfield, Singer with The Righteous Brothers

• 1943 ~ Veronica ‘Ronnie’ Spector (Bennett), Singer with The Ronettes

• 1947 ~ Ian Anderson, Musician: flute, singer with Jethro Tull

• 1954 ~ Eliot Fisk, American guitarist

• 1954 ~ Elvis Presley made one of his first professional appearances, at Overton Park, in his hometown of Memphis, TN. He used the occasion to debut his new record, That’s All Right (Mama), and was a big crowd pleaser.

• 1961 ~ Jon Farriss, Musician, drums, singer with INXS

• 1967 ~ Lorraine Pearson, Singer with Five Star

• 1968 ~ Michael Bivins, Singer with New Edition, Bell Biv DeVoe

• 1985 ~ Madonna’s album Like a Virgin became the first solo album by a female artist to be certified for sales of five million copies.

• 1987 ~ A Chorus Line celebrated its 5,000th performance. It was estimated that 25 million theatregoers had seen the musical since it opened in 1975. An estimated 16.7 million people had seen the show on Broadway, with another 8.3 million taking in the touring production. A Chorus Line became the longest-running show on The Great White Way on September 29, 1983 and ended its Broadway run in 1990.

• 2003 ~ Gregory Hines, Tony Award winner tap-dancing actor who started on Broadway and in movies including “White Nights” and “Running Scared,” died at the age of 57. The dancer, among the best in his generation, won a 1993 Tony for the musical  “Jelly’s Last Jam.”

Hines became internationally known as part of a jazz tap due with his brother, Maurice, and the two danced together in the musical revue “Eubie!” in 1978. The brothers later performed together in Broadway’s “Sophisticated Ladies” and on film in 1984’s “The Cotton Club.”

In “The Cotton Club,” Hines also had a lead acting role, which led to more work in film. He starred with Mikhail Baryshnikov in 1985’s “White Nights” and with Billy Crystal in 1986’s “Running Scared,” and he appeared with Whitney Houston and Angela Bassett in 1995’s “Waiting to Exhale,” among other movies.

On television, he had his own sitcom in 1997 called “The Gregory Hines Show,” as well as a recurring role on “Will and Grace.” March 2003, he appeared in the spring television series “Lost at Home.”

• 2013 ~ Eydie Gorme, American singer, died at the age of 84

February 26: On This Day in Music

Posted by MaryO on

today

. 1770 ~ Anton Reicha, Czech-born, later naturalized French composer of music very much in the German style

. 1802 ~ Victor Hugo, author of Les Miserables and many other works

. 1879 ~ Frank Bridge, English composer, violist and conductor

. 1922 ~ Dancing to jazz music and tango bands was criticized in Paris. It seems that dancing was detracting the French from their postwar reconstruction, according to “La Revue Mondiale”.

. 1928 ~ “Fats” (Antoine) Domino, American rock-and-roll pianist and singer. His works include: Ain’t That a Shame, Goin’ Home, I’m in Love Again, Blue Monday, I’m Walkin’ and Blueberry Hill

. 1930 ~ Lazar Berman, Soviet pianist

. 1945 ~ Mitch Ryder (William Levise), Singer with Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels

. 1947 ~ Sandie Shaw (Goodrich), Singer

. 1950 ~ Jonathan Cain, Keyboard with Babys

. 1954 ~ Michael Bolton, Grammy Award-winning singer. Some of his songs are: When a Man Loves a Woman and How Am I Supposed to Live Without You

. 1961 ~ John-Jon (John Andrew Foster), Musician with Bronski Beat

. 1965 ~ Juan Trigos, Mexican composer and conductor

. 1972 ~ Harry Nilsson started his second week at number one with that toe-tapping ditty, Without You. The whiny love song stayed at the top for a total of four weeks.

. 1977 ~ The Eagles’ New Kid in Town landed in the top spot on the pop music charts for one week beginning this day.

. 1981 ~ Howard Hanson died.  He was an American composer, conductor, educator, music theorist, and champion of American classical music.

. 1983 ~ Charley Pride’s Why Baby Why topped the country charts. The song was written by George Jones (who found national fame with his own version in 1955) and Darrell Edwards. Legend has it that inspiration for the song came when Edwards overheard a couple squabbling in their car in Orange, TX.

. 2003 ~ Otha Turner, 94, who created his own niche in blues music with an ethereal mix of early American colonial drums and West African flute, died in Como, Miss. His recording Everybody Hollerin’ Goat was rated among the Top 10 blues releases in 1997 by Rolling Stone magazine. Members of a Senegalese drum troupe performed with Mr. Turner on the album. Mr. Turner was presented with a National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Award, the Smithsonian Lifetime Achievement Award and the Charlie Patton Lifetime Achievement Award from the Mississippi Delta Blues and Heritage Festival.

. 2011 ~ Eugene Fodor, American classical violinist (1974 Tchaikovsky Award), died at the age of 60