• 1925 ~ Mike Douglas (Dowd), TV host of The Mike Douglas Show; singer, The Music Show, Kay Kyser’s Kollege of Musical Knowledge
• 1927 ~ Raymond Leppard, British conductor and harpsichordist
• 1941 ~ Glenn Miller and his Orchestra recorded Elmer’s Tune on Bluebird Records.
• 1942 ~ Mike Hugg, Musician, drums with Chapter Three, Manfred Mann
• 1943 ~ Jim Kale, Musician, bass with The Guess Who
• 1943 ~ Guy Vallari, Singer with Regents
• 1949 ~ Eric Carmen, Musician, bass, keyboards, songwriter, singer with The Raspberries
• 1950 ~ Erik Braunn, Musician, guitar, singer with Iron Butterfly
• 1954 ~ David Ian “Joe” Jackson, English singer, pianist, composer
• 1955 ~ Joe Jackson, Singer
• 1958 ~ Elvis Presley received a gold record for the hit, Hard Headed Woman. The song was featured in the movie King Creole.
• 1973 ~ Hip hop was born at a birthday party in the recreation room of an apartment building in the west Bronx, New York City.
• 1987 ~ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles was called “the best album made during the last 20 years” by the respected music publication, Rolling Stone magazine.
• 1996 ~ Rafael Kubelik, Czech conductor, died aged 82. He made his debut with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in 1934 and went into exile in 1948 and made an emotional return when he conducted the opening concert of the 1990 Prague Spring music festival.
• 2020 ~ Trini Lopez died at the age of 83, and suffered from complications of COVID-19.
• 1921 ~ Herb (Mitchell) Ellis, Guitarist, singer with Soft Winds
• 1927 ~ Radio station 2XAG, later named WGY, the General Electric station in Schenectady, NY, began experimental operations from a 100,000-watt transmitter. Later, the FCC regulated the power of AM radio stations to not exceed 50,000 watts on ‘clear channels’ (where few, if any, stations would cause interference with each other).
• 1927 ~ Singer Jimmie Rodgers recorded his first sides for Victor Records in Bristol, TN. He sang Sleep Baby Sleep and Soldier’s Sweetheart.
• 1929 ~ Gabriella Tucci, Italian soprano
• 1938 ~ Simon Preston, British organist
• 1939 ~ Frankie Ford (Guzzo), Singer
• 1940 ~ Timi (Rosemarie) Yuro, Singer
• 1943 ~ David Carr, Keyboards with The Fortunes
• 1978 ~ Frank Fontaine passed away. He was an American stage, radio, film and television comedian and singer.
• 2000 ~ Jerome Smith, founding guitarist of KC & The Sunshine Band, died after being crushed in a construction accident. He was 47. KC & The Sunshine Band reached the top of Billboard Magazine’s charts in 1975 with Get Down Tonight. Before Smith left the group, it had five No. 1 songs, including Boogie Shoes and That’s the Way (I Like It), and three Grammys.
• 1913 ~ Licia Albanese, Italian-born American soprano. She is best remembered for her roles at New York’s Metropolitan Opera and for her recording of La Boheme conducted by Arturo Toscanini.
• 1919 ~ De Falla and Massine’s “Three-cornered Hat”, premiered in London
• 1924 ~ Margaret Whiting, Pop Singer
• 1932 ~ Florenz Ziegfeld, U.S. theatrical producer and impresario, died. He was famed for his “Follies” spectacular revues which ran every year from 1907 to 1931.
• 1933 ~ Caterina Jarboro became the first black prima donna of an opera company. The singer performed Verdi’s “Aida” with the Chicago Opera Company at the Hippodrome in New York City.
• 1937 ~ Chuck Jackson, Singer
• 1937 ~ Hal Kemp and his orchestra recorded the now-standard tune, Got a Date with an Angel, for Victor Records in Hollywood, California. The distinctive vocal on the tune is provided by Skinnay Ennis.
• 1940 ~ George Clinton, Singer
• 1941 ~ Thomas Wayne (Perkins), Singer
• 1944 ~ Estelle Bennett, Singer with The Ronettes
• 1944 ~ Richard Davies, Keyboards, singer with Supertramp
• 1945 ~ Bobby Sherman, Singer, actor and founder of TAC-5, a paramedics group
• 1947 ~ Don Henley, Drummer, singer with Shiloh; The Eagles, songwriter
• 1963 ~ The Beatles released “Introducing the Beatles”
• 1967 ~ The Billboard singles chart showed that Windy, by The Association, was the most popular record in the U.S. for the fourth straight week. The Los Angeles~based sextet would make way for Jim Morrison and The Doors a week later when Light My Fire became the hottest record of the mid~summer.
• 1977 ~ Tony Orlando announced his retirement from show business. Orlando was performing in Cohasset, MA when he said that he had finally decided to call it quits. Orlando had two solo hits in 1961 (Halfway to Paradise and Bless You) and 14 hits with his backup singers, Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent, (known as Dawn) through the mid~1970s. He also hosted a weekly TV variety show with Dawn from 1974~1976.
• 1985 ~ Bruce Springsteen became the hottest ticket in the rock concert biz as 70,000 Cleveland fans lined up (in less than three hours) to grab tickets to see the ‘Boss’.
• 2001 ~ Bob Ferguson, who wrote the standard Wings of a Dove and produced records for Dolly Parton, Porter Wagoner and other country music stars, died at the age of 73. Ferguson, a native of Willow Springs, Mo., was hired in 1955 to produce films for the Tennessee Game & Fish Commission. He worked there until 1960, when he wrote and produced the No. 1 hit Wings of a Dove for Ferlin Husky. As a staff producer at RCA Records in the 1960s and early ’70s, Ferguson worked with artists like Parton, Connie Smith, Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass, Jim Ed Brown, George Hamilton IV and Archie Campbell. He wrote The Carroll County Accident, a No. 2 hit for Wagoner. It was named the best country song of 1969 by the Country Music Association.
• 2002 ~ Jazz singer Marion Montgomery, who frequently performed on British television and was known for her smooth, versatile voice, died. She was 67. Montgomery was born in Natchez, Miss., and lived in England for more than 30 years. She was well-known to television audiences as a resident singer on the British Broadcasting Corp. talk show “Parkinson” through the 1970s and was widely praised for her smooth voice and intimate, relaxed singing style. Montgomery worked as a cabaret singer in Las Vegas, New York and Los Angeles before moving to Britain. She starred in the West End production of “Anything Goes” in 1969 and recorded a one-woman show for the BBC in 1975. Her albums included “Swings for Winners and Losers” (1963), “Let There Be Marion Montgomery,” (1963) and “Sometimes in the Night” (1989).
• 1932 ~ Nam June Paik, Korean-born American avant-guard composer
• 1938 ~ Jo Ann Campbell, Singer
• 1940 ~ Billboard magazine published its first listing of best-selling singles. 10 tunes were listed.
• 1943 ~ John Lodge, Guitar with Justin Hayward, singer with the Moody Blues
• 1944 ~ T.G. Shepherd (William Bowder), Country Singer
• 1946 ~ Kim Carnes, Grammy Award-winning singer, co-wrote the score to Flashdance
• 1946 ~ John Almond, Reeds, keyboards, vibes with Johnny Almond and the Music Machine
• 1947 ~ Carlos Santana, Mexican-born American rock guitarist
• 1958 ~ Mick McNeil, Keyboards with Simple Minds
• 1961 ~ Stop the World, I Want to Get Off opened in London. The show went to Broadway in 1962.
• 1963 ~ Dino Esposito, Singer
• 1963 ~ Ray Conniff received two gold-record awards – for the albums, Concert in Rhythm and Memories are Made of This – on Columbia Records. Conniff recorded dozens of albums of easy listening music for the label. He had been a trombonist and arranger with Bunny Berigan, Bob Crosby, Harry James, Vaughn Monroe and Artie Shaw.
• 1964 ~ Chris Cornell, Grammy Award-winning musician: drums, singer, songwriter with Soundgarden
• 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
• 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 standard Gentle on My Mind and turned his back on Hollywood to return to bluegrass music, died Monday 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?”
1842 ~ Jules Emile Frédéric Massenet, French composer
More information about Massenet
• 1845 ~ Gabriel Fauré, French composer and organist
More information about Fauré
• 1871 ~ Daniel-Francois-Esprit Auber, French opera composer, died. He was best known for developing opera containing spoken as well as sung passages.
• 1884 ~ Czech composer Bedrich Smetana, composer of operas including “The Bartered Bride” and “The Brandenburgers in Bohemia”, died.
More information about Smetana
• 1909 ~ Margaret Harshaw, American opera singer and voice teacher
• 1921 ~ (Otis W.) Joe Maphis, Country singer with wife, Rose Lee
• 1928 ~ Burt Bacharach, American pianist and Oscar-winning composer. With Hal David, Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head, Tony award for score for Promises, Promises; What the World Needs Now, Walk on By, Close to You, I Say a LittlePrayer, Do You Know the Way to San Jose? Oscar-winning team with his wife, Carol Bayer Sager
• 1943 ~ David Walker, Keyboards with Gary Lewis & The Playboys
• 1946 ~ Ian McLagan, Keyboards
• 1955 ~ Gisele MacKenzie played a singer on the NBC-TV program, Justice. She introduced her soon-to-be hit song, Hard to Get. The song went to number four on the Billboard pop music chart by September.
• 1971 ~ The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger married Bianca Perez Morena de Macias.
• 1973 ~ Dueling Tubas by Martin Mull hit #92
• 1977 ~ The Eagles earned a gold record for the hit, Hotel California. The award was the second of three gold record singles for the group. The other million sellers were New Kid in Town and Heartache Tonight. Two number one songs by The Eagles — Best of My Love and One of These Nights — didn’t quite make the million-seller mark.
• 1985 ~ Lionel Richie received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Tuskegee Institute in Alabama (his alma mater). Richie had put 14 hits on the pop charts in the 1980s, including one platinum smash, Endless Love (with Diana Ross) and four gold records (Truly, All Night Long, Hello and Say You, Say Me). All but one song (Se La) of the 14 charted made it to the top ten.
• 1987 ~ Victor Feldman, British jazz pianist and drummer, died at the age of 53 of a heart attack
• 2001 ~ Perry Como, the crooning baritone barber famous for his relaxed vocals, cardigan sweaters and television Christmas specials, died after a lengthy illness. He was 87.
• 2016 ~ Julius La Rosa, American singer (fired by Arthur Godfrey on the air), died at the age of 86
. 1732 ~ Franz Joseph Haydn, Austrian composer
Listen to Haydn’s music
More information about Haydn
. 1872 ~ Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev. He was a Russian art critic, patron, ballet impresario and founder of the Ballets Russes.
. 1880 ~ Henryk Wieniawski, Polish violist/composer, died at the age of 44
. 1901 ~ John Stainer died. He was an English composer and organist whose music, though not generally much performed today, was very popular during his lifetime.
. 1922 ~ Richard Kiley, American actor and singer (Kismet, Man of La Mancha, Endless Love)
. 1928 ~ Lefty (William Orville) Frizzell, Country Music Hall of Famer
. 1934 ~ Shirley Jones, Singer, actress
. 1935 ~ Herb Alpert, American trumpeter, bandleader (Tijuana Brass), composer, record company executive: the “A” of A&M Records
. 1937 ~ Phil Harris recorded one of his best-known songs in Los Angeles, CA. That’s What I Like About the South was recorded on a 78 RPM disk. Harris would move to TV stardom and continue as a popular vocalist during the 1950s with such hit songs as The Thing.
. 1943 ~ The show, Away We Go, was renamed. The show opened at the St. James Theatre in New York City and, thanks to the talents of stars like Alfred Drake, Joan Roberts and Howard DeSilva, it became an instant hit. The show ran for 2,248 performances, until 1948. The musical, which has grossed millions of dollars on stage and as a blockbuster movie was initially produced for the sum of $75,000. It is still legendary among musical productions – especially after it was retitled Oklahoma!
. 1944 ~ Rod Allen (Rodney Bainbridge), Bass, singer with The Fortunes
. 1944 ~ Mick Ralphs, Guitarist
. 1945 ~ Al Nichol, Guitarist, keyboards with The Turtles
. 1953 ~ Sean Hopper, Keyboards with Clover and Huey Lewis and The News
. 1959 ~ Angus Young, Guitarist with AC/DC
. 1967 ~ Jimi Hendrix burned his guitar for the first time in a public performance at Finsbury Park in London.
. 1985 ~ Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, long a favorite of country music stars, closed its doors in Nashville, TN.
. 1771 ~ A review of a concert in Venice given today by 15 year old Mozart read: “He worked out (a fugue theme) for more than an hour with such science, dexterity, harmony and proper attention to rhythm that even the greatest connoisseurs were astounded.”
. 1851 ~ (Paul-Marie-Theodore) Vincent d’Indy, French composer and conductor
More information about d’Indy
. 1868 ~ Patty Smith Hill, songwriter, with Mildred Hill, composers of Happy Birthday To You. It’s first title was Good Morning to All
. 1892 ~ Ferde Grofe, Composer
More information about Grofe
. 1914 ~ Snooky Lanson (Roy Landman), Singer, vocalist on Your Hit Parade on radio and TV
. 1920 ~ Richard Hayman, Musician, house conductor for Mercury Records, harmonica player
. 1921 ~ Harold Nicholas, American dancer known as one of the world’s greatest dancers (Nicholas Brothers)
Children: don’t try this at home – never, ever dance on a piano!
. 1927 ~ Mstislav Rostropovich, Soviet cellist and conductor
More information about Rostropovich
. 1931 ~ Burt Collins, Jazz musician, trumpet, flugel horn, played with Jess Roden Band, Lalo Schifrin, T. Rex
. 1945 ~ Ella Fitzgerald and the Delta Rhythm Boys recorded the classic, It’s Only a Paper Moon for Decca Records.
. 1947 ~ Tom Sullivan, Singer, composer
. 1950 ~ Tony Banks, Keyboards with Genesis
. 1950 ~ Jazz pianist Erroll Garner became one of the first jazz instrumentalists to give a solo concert. He played the Music Hall in Cleveland, OH. In 1954, Garner would gain international applause for writing and recording a standard that has been presented many times since: Misty. Johnny Mathis and Sarah Vaughan are but two of many recording artists to offer vocal renditions of this renowned Garner composition. Play Misty for me.
. 1951 ~ Frank Sinatra recorded I’m a Fool to Want You for Columbia.
. 1952 ~ “Singin’ in the Rain”, a musical comedy directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, starring Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds, premiered at Radio City Music Hall in New York City
. 1958 ~ CBS Laboratories announced a new stereophonic record that was playable on ordinary LP phonographs, meaning, monaural. In stereo, on the proper equipment, a new rich and fuller sound was heard. It eventually became a standard for record and equipment buyers.
. 1959 ~ Andrew Farriss, Keyboards with INXS
. 1967 ~ Pop hit Happy Together by The Turtles became the No. 1 song in America.
. 1970 ~ Mariah Carey. Grammy Award-winning singer. She has sold more than 120 million albums and singles since her debut in 1990, only artist with a #1 single in every year of the 1990s. She has spent more weeks at #1 than any other artist
. 1971 ~ Janis Joplin started her second (and final) week at the top of the pop music charts with the hit, Me and Bobby McGee, written by Kris Kristofferson.
. 1975 ~ Sir Arthur Bliss, English composer and Master of the Queen’s Music, died. Master of the Queen’s Music (or Master of the King’s Music) is a post in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. The holder of the post originally served the monarch of England.
The post is roughly comparable to that of Poet Laureate. It is given to people eminent in the field of classical music; they have almost always been composers (George Frederick Anderson was one exception; he was a violinist who is not known to have ever composed any music). Duties are not clearly stated, though it is generally expected the holder of the post will write music to commemorate important royal events, such as coronations, birthdays, anniversaries, marriages and deaths, and to accompany other ceremonial occasions. The individual may also act as the Sovereign’s adviser in musical matters.
. 2015 ~ Tomas Tranströmer, winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize for Literature, died at the age of 83.
His poems, translated into 60 languages, have been set to music by some of Sweden’s foremost composers.
A passionate pianist, Tomas Tranströmer had to relearn how to play after a stroke in 1990 left him paralyzed down his right side. He said that playing the piano every day was the key to saving his life.
. 2017 ~ Arthur Blythe, American jazz saxophonist, died at the age of 76
National Mario Day is observed each year on March 10th and honors Mario from the popular Nintendo game.
It is celebrated on March 10th because of the way the date appears, when abbreviated (Mar.10), it looks just like the name Mario.
. 1832 ~ Muzio Clementi died. He was an Italian-born English composer, pianist, pedagogue, conductor, music publisher, editor, and piano manufacturer. He is also the subject of this month’s Piano Explorer, which is enjoyed by my students.
. 1844 ~ Pablo de Sarasate, Spanish violinist
. 1879 ~ Ignaz Moscheles died. He was a Bohemian composer and piano virtuoso
. 1892 ~ Arthur Honegger, French composer
Read quotes by and about Honegger
More information about Honegger
1903 ~ “Bix” Beiderbecke, American jazz cornetist
More information about Beiderbecke
. 1910 ~ Carl Heinrich Carsten Reinecke, composer, died at the age of 85
. 1935 ~ Nelson Eddy recorded Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life for Victor Records. The song came from the film, “Naughty Marietta”. Later, Eddy recorded the classic tune with Jeanette MacDonald.
. 1937 ~ An audience of 21,000 jitterbuggers jammed the Paramount Theatre in New York City to see a young clarinetist whom they would crown, ‘King of Swing’ on this night. The popular musician was Benny Goodman.
. 1940 ~ W2XBS-TV in New York City originated the first televised opera as members of the Metropolitan Opera Company presented scenes from “I Pagliacci”.
. 1956 ~ Julie Andrews was 23 years old this night when she made her TV debut. She appeared with Bing Crosby and Nancy Olson in the musical adaptation of Maxwell Anderson’s play, “High Tor”.
. 1977 ~ E Power Biggs, English organist/composer (CBS), died at the age of 70
. 2003 ~ Lionel Dakers, who directed the Royal School of Church Music for 16 years, died at age 79. Dakers was a stickler for high musical standards and opposed some of the modernizing trends in English church music. Dakers was organist at Ripon Cathedral from 1954 to 1957, then moved to Exeter Cathedral before his appointment as director of the Royal School of Church Music in 1972. In 1976, he was appointed a director of Hymns Ancient & Modern, publisher of some of the most widely used Anglican hymnals.
. 2016 ~ Keith Emerson died. He was an English keyboardist and composer with English rock musician Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
. 2017 ~(Joan) Joni Sledge, vocalist (Sister Sledge “We are Family”), died at the age of 60
. 1887 ~ Heitor Villa-Lobos, Brazilian composer and collector of Brazilian folk songs
More information about Villa-Lobos
. 1917 ~ The first jazz recording for Victor Records was released. The Original Dixieland ‘Jass’ Band performed on the tune The Dixie Jass Band One Step. The word ‘Jass’ was later changed to ‘Jazz‘.
. 1928 ~ Lou Levy, Pianist with Supersax; recorded with Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Nancy Wilson and Anita O’Day
. 1931 ~ Barry Tuckwell, Austrian French-horn player
. 1931 ~ Without a Song was recorded by Lawrence Tibbett for Victor Records. This wonderful melody came from the film, “The Southerner” and has been a hit for many, including Willie Nelson, Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett.
. 1947 ~ Eddie Hodges, Singer, actor
. 1948 ~ Eddy Grant, Singer, songwriter
. 1948 ~ Best known as an English singer and actress best known for her work in the theatre, her roles included Grizabella in Cats, as the Russian chess master Boris Spassky’s mistress in the original stage production of Chess, Eva Perón in the first production of Evita, Anna in the revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King and I . Elaine Paige Barbara Dickson released “I Know Him So Well” from the musical Chess, which remains the biggest-selling record by a female duo. What few know is her first stage appearance was as a Member of the Tribe in the musical “Hair” in 1968.
. 1950 ~ Eugene Fodor, Violinist, made solo debut at age 10 with the Denver Symphony, won first national competition at age 12, won first prize in International Paganini Competition, won highest prize in International Tchaikovsky Competition
More information about Fodor
. 1958 ~ Andy (Andrew Roy) Gibb, Singer with the Bee Gees, host of TV’s Solid Gold
. 1960 ~ Elvis Presley returned to civilian life after a two-year hitch in the U.S. Army. Not since General Douglas MacArthur returned from battle has a soldier received such publicity. Elvis said he probably would not be growing his famous and long sideburns back, though he did relent in later years.
. 1963 ~ Patsy Cline, Cowboy (Lloyd) Copas and Hankshaw Hawkins were killed in a plane crash at Camden, TN, near Nashville. The famous country music stars were returning from a benefit performance. Cline, the ‘Queen of Country Music’ was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1973. Jessica Lange played Patsy in the 1985 biographical film, Sweet Dreams, named after one of Cline’s hugely popular songs. Willie Nelson wrote her biggest hit, Crazy, which become a number one country hit and a top 10 pop song in November, 1961.
. 1966 ~ Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler hit #1 with “Ballad of the Green Berets”.
. 1969 ~ The rock magazine, Creem, was published for the first time this day.
. 1973 ~ Roberta Flack, riding at #1 on the pop music charts with, Killing Me Softly with His Song, could hardly wait to rip into the fancy frame containing her brand new gold record. She flew to the stereo machine and set the needle down on the shiny surface, only to hear Come Softly to Me. She was so impressed by this unexpected turn of the table that she wound up humming the old Fleetwoods song for three days.
. 2016 ~ Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Austrian conductor, particularly known for his historically informed performances of music from the Classical era and earlier, died at the age of 86
Be sure your student reads and listens to 
1842 ~ Jules Emile Frédéric Massenet, French composer
