• 1874 ~ Reynaldo Hahn, Venezuelan-born French composer, conductor and music critic
• 1902 ~ Solomon Cutner, Classical pianist. A virtuoso performer, he played Tchaikovsky’s First Concerto at the age of 10. His career was stopped after a stroke in 1965.
• 1902 ~ Zino (Rene) Francescatti, French concert violinist; passed away in 1991
• 1910 ~ A.J. Fisher of Chicago, IL received a patent for an invention that moms, grandmas and single guys certainly came to appreciate: the electric washing machine. Previous to Mr. Fisher’s invention, washing machines were cranked by hand (not easily done) – or you used a washboard (also sometimes used as a musical instrument).
• 1919 ~ Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Italian composer and librettist, died. He is famous for the single opera “Pagliacci” but never repeated the success with his other works.
More information about Leoncavallo
• 1932 ~ Helen Morgan joined the Victor Young orchestra to record Bill, a popular tune from Broadway’s Showboat.
• 1934 ~ Merle Kilgore, Songwriter Hall of Famer
• 1939 ~ Billy Henderson, Singer with Spinners
• 1955 ~ Benjamin Orr (Orzechowski), Musician, bass guitar, singer with The Cars
• 1963 ~ The TV program Ready, Set, Go! premiered on the BBC in London, England. The show gave exposure to such music luminaries as Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones.
• 1964 ~ Joan Baez and Bob Dylan shared the stage for the first time when the singers performed in a concert in Forest Hills, NY.
• 1969 ~ Hot Fun in The Summertime, by Sly and the Family Stone, and Easy to Be Hard, from the Broadway production Hair, were released on this day. Hot Fun made it to number two on the music charts and Easy to Be Hard climbed to number four.
• 1975 ~ Dmitri Shostakovitch, Russian composer, died. He wrote 15 symphonies as well as operas, ballets and film and theater scores.
More information about Shostakovitch
• 1995 ~ Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead passed away
• 2003 ~ Chester Ludgin, a baritone in the New York City Opera for more than 30 years, died at the age of 78.
Ludgin sang a host of lead baritone parts, but was most recognizable in operas including “The Ballad of Baby Doe,” “The Devil and Daniel Webster” and “Susannah.” He debuted at the City Opera in 1957 in Johann Strauss II’s “Fledermaus.”
He also portrayed the part of Sam for Leonard Bernstein’s “A Quiet Place” at the Houston Grand Opera in 1983. He also sang for the San Francisco Opera and other North American companies.
His last appearance at City Opera was in 1991, but he remained on the stage, singing in musical comedies. His most recent lead was in “The Most Happy Fella.”
• 2003 ~ Gregory Hines, American actor and dancer, died of liver cancer at the age of 57
• 1668 ~ Van Marco Cesti’s opera “Il Pomo d’Oro,” premiered in Vienna
• 1813 ~ Johann Friedrich Peter, Composer, died at the age of 67
• 1844 ~ Johann Gansbacher, Composer, died at the age of 66
• 1866 ~ C.C. Birchard, Music Publisher
• 1877 ~ Karl Erb, German tenor
• 1884 ~ John Francis Larchet, Composer
• 1889 ~ Carli Zoeller, Composer, died at the age of 49
• 1891 ~ Franco Casavola, Composer
• 1894 ~ Juventino Rosas, Composer, died at the age of 26
• 1898 ~ Guglielmo Marconi patented the radio
• 1903 ~ August Reissmann, Composer, died at the age of 77
• 1906 ~ Harry Sosnik, American orchestra leader of the Jack Carter Show and Your Hit Parade
• 1909 ~ David Branson, Composer
• 1909 ~ Paul Constantinescu, Composer
• 1909 ~ Washington Castro, Composer
• 1913 ~ Ladislav Holoubek, Composer
• 1915 ~ Paul Williams, Jazz saxophonist and bandleader Williams played with Clarence Dorsey in 1946, and then made his recording debut with King Porter in 1947 for Paradise before forming his own band later that year.
• 1921 ~ Ernest Gold, Composer
• 1921 ~ Charles Scribner Jr, Music publisher
• 1923 ~ Asger Hamerik (Hammerich) German composer, died at the age of 80
• 1924 ~ Carlo Bergonzi, Italian tenor
• 1926 ~ Meyer Kupferman, American composer
• 1928 ~ Donal Michalsky, Composer
• 1932 ~ Per Nørgård, Danish composer
More information about Nørgård
• 1934 ~ Roger Reynolds, Composer
• 1936 ~ Izydor Lotto, Composer, died at the age of 91
• 1939 ~ Frank Sinatra made his recording debut with the Harry James band. Frankie sang Melancholy Mood and From the Bottom of My Heart.
• 1942 ~ Roger McGuinn, Musician, guitarist and vocalist with the Byrds (1965 US & UK No.1 single ‘Mr Tambourine Man’). He was the only member of The Byrds to play on the hit, the others being session players. He toured with Bob Dylan in 1975 and 1976 as part of Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue, and later worked with fellow ex-Byrds Gene Clark and Chris Hillman to form “McGuinn, Clark and Hillman”.
• 1951 ~ Arnold Schoenberg, Austrian-born composer, died in Los Angeles; he was best known for his 12-note serial method and his composition Verklaerte Nacht and his opera “Moses und Aaron.”
More information about Schoenberg
• 1942 ~ Stephen Jo Bladd, American drummer with the J Geils Band
• 1954 ~ Louise Mandrell, American country singer with the Mandrell Sisters
• 1958 ~ Karl Erb, German tenor, died on 81st birthday
• 1959 ~ Dedicated to the One I Love, by The Shirelles, was released. The tune went to number 83 on the Top 100 chart of “Billboard” magazine. The song was re-released in 1961 and made it to number three on the charts.
• 1961 ~ Lawrence Donegan, Musician, bass with Lloyd Cole & The Commotions
• 1965 ~ Neil Thrasher, Country Singer
• 1973 ~ Martian Negrea, Composer, died at the age of 80
• 1973 ~ The Everly Brothers called it quits during a concert at the John Wayne Theatre in Buena Park, CA. Phil Everly walked off the stage in the middle of the show and brother Don said, “The Everly Brothers died ten years ago.” The duo reunited a decade later for a short time.
• 1976 ~ Max Butting, Composer, died at the age of 87
• 1978 ~ Antonio Veretti, Composer, died at the age of 78
• 1985 ~ Duran Duran took A View to a Kill, from the James Bond movie of the same name, to the top of the record charts this day. The song stayed on top for two weeks. Live and Let Die by Wings and Nobody Does It Better by Carly Simon — both James Bond themes — got only as high as number two on the record charts.
• 1985 ~ Live Aid, a rock concert masterminded by Bob Geldof, took place in London, Sydney, Moscow and Philadelphia and raised over 60 million dollars for famine in Africa.
• 1992 ~ Carla van Neste, Belgian violinist, died at the age of 78
• 1994 ~ Eddie Boyd, Blues vocalist and pianist, died at the age of 79
• 2023 ~ André Watts, pianist and Jacobs School professor, died at the age of 77. Watts made his national concert debut when he was 16 years old with Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic. Shortly after, he was asked to substitute in place of Glenn Gould with the Philharmonic. That performance is credited with launching Watts’ career.
• 1679 ~ Pablo Bruna, Composer, died at the age of 68
• 1718 ~ Wenzel Raimund Pirck, Composer
• 1745 ~ Johann Nepomuk Went, Composer
• 1789 ~ Philipp Friedrich Silcher, Composer
• 1805 ~ Stephen Elvey, Composer
• 1812 ~ John Pike Hullah, Composer
• 1814 ~ Johann Friedrich Reichardt, Composer, died at the age of 61
• 1819 ~ Carl Albert Loeschhorn, Composer
• 1821 ~ August Conradi, Composer
• 1829 ~ Louis-Sebastien Lebrun, Composer, died at the age of 64
• 1832 ~ Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisla, Composer, died at the age of 72
• 1933 ~ Vladislav Ivanovich Zaremba, Composer
• 1850 ~ Jacob Adolf Hagg, Composer
• 1859 ~ Mildred Hill, American organist, pianist and teacher, composed Happy Birthday To You along with Patty Smith Hill, her younger sister, who wrote the lyrics. The first title was Good Morning to All.
• 1885 ~ Arthur Harmat, Composer
• 1885 ~ Chichester Bell and Charles S. Tainter applied for a patent for the gramophone. The patent was granted on May 4, 1886.
• 1889 ~ Carlotta Patti, Italian soprano, died
• 1889 ~ Whitney Eugene Thayer, Composer, died at the age of 50
• 1898 ~ Tibor Harsanyi, Composer
• 1908 ~ Hans de Jong, Musician and conductor
• 1909 ~ Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Composer
• 1910 ~ Karel Reiner, Czech composer and pianist
• 1911 ~ V K Narayana Menon, Composer
• 1915 ~ Hendrik W van Leeuwen, Musician
• 1916 ~ Hallvard Olav Johnsen, Composer
• 1917 ~ Ben Homer, Composer and songwriter
• 1922 ~ George Walker, American composer and pianist
• 1954 ~ Elmo Hope, Pianist, The Elmo Hope Trio
• 1924 ~ Rosalie Allen (Julie Bedra), Country singer and yodeler
• 1925 ~ (Jerome) ‘Doc’ Pomus, Songwriter, Atlantic Records co-owner, inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992
• 1931 ~ Alojz Srebotnjak, Composer
• 1931 ~ Ryszard Kwiatkowski, Composer
• 1932 ~ Hugh Wood, Composer
• 1934 ~ Anna Moffo, Opera Singer with the Metropolitan Opera from 1959 until 1969
• 1942 ~ John Howard McGuire, Composer
• 1942 ~ Frank Mills, Musician, piano, composer of Music Box Dancer
• 1954 ~ Bruce Johnston (1944) Grammy Award-winning songwriter in 1976, with The Beach Boys
• 1944 ~ Werner Wehrli, Composer, died at the age of 52
• 1946 ~ Daria Semegen, Composer
• 1946 ~ Janice Giteck, Composer
• 1954 ~ Francis L Casadesus, French violinist, composer and conductor, died at the age of 83
• 1955 ~ “Julius LaRosa Show,” debuted on CBS-TV
• 1959 ~ West Side Story, with music by Leonard Bernstein, closed after 734 performances on Broadway. The show remains one of the brightest highlights in Broadway history.
• 1962 ~ Two albums of melancholy music by Jackie Gleason received gold record honors. Music, Martinis and Memories and Music for Lovers Only got the gold. Both were issued by Capitol Records in Hollywood.
• 1963 ~ Brenda Lee inked a new recording contract with Decca Records. She was guaranteed one million dollars over the next 20 years.
• 1964 ~ Daniel Lazarus, Composer, died at the age of 65
• 1964 ~ Jan & Dean released Little Old Lady From Pasadena
• 1964 ~ Ernest Borgnine and Ethel Merman were married. It did not turn out to be one of Hollywood’s most enduring marriages. The couple broke up 38 days later.
• 1969 ~ Richard Vance Maxfield, Composer, died at the age of 42
• 1970 ~ Mariah Carey, Singer
• 1970 ~ The Jackson 5: Marlon, Tito, Jackie, Randy and Michael, jumped to number one on the music charts with The Love You Save. The song stayed at the top of the charts for two weeks. It was the third of four number one hits in a row for the group. The other three were I Want You Back, ABC and I’ll Be There. In 15 years (from 1969 to 1984), The Jackson 5/Jacksons had 23 hits, scored two platinum singles and one gold record.
• 1970, The newly formed Queen featuring Freddie Mercury (possibly still known as Freddie Bulsara) on vocals, guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and Mike Grose on bass played their first gig at Truro City Hall, Cornwall, England. They were billed as Smile, Brian and Roger’s previous band, for whom the booking had been made originally. Original material at this time included an early version of ‘Stone Cold Crazy’.
• 1971 ~ “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown” closed at Golden New York City after 31 performances
• 1971 ~ Promoter Bill Graham closed the Fillmore East in New York City. It was a spin-off of San Francisco’s legendary rock ’n’ roll palace, Fillmore West. The New York City landmark laid claim to having hosted every major rock group of the 1960s.
• 1975 ~ Robert Stolz, Austrian Composer, died at the age of 94
• 1976 ~ “Pacific Overtures” closed at Winter Garden New York City after 193 performances
• 1980 ~ Steve Peregrin Took, Percussionist, died at the age of 31
• 1981 ~ Bette Davis Eyes by Kim Carnes returned to #1 slot
• 1982 ~ “Dancin'” closed at Broadhurst Theater New York City after 1,774 performances
• 1982 ~ “Play Me a Country Song” opened & closed at Virginia Theater New York City
• 1992 ~ Allan Jones, Vocalist and actor in Show Boat, died of lung cancer at the age of 84
• 1992 ~ Stefanie Ann Sargent, Guitarist, died at the age of 24
• 1993 ~ “Falsettos” closed at John Golden Theater New York City after 487 performances
• 1995 ~ Lionel Edmund “Sonny” Taylor, musician, died at the age of 70
• 1995 ~ Prez “Kidd” Kenneth, blues singer/guitarist, died at the age of 61
• 2001 ~ Chico O’Farrill, the Afro-Cuban jazz pioneer who composed ballads and fiery, big band bebop for such greats as Benny Goodman, Stan Kenton and Dizzy Gillespie, died at the age of 79. Born Arturo O’Farrill in Havana, the trumpeter was most renowned as a composer and arranger of extended jazz pieces. He became one of the creators of Afro-Cuban jazz, dubbed Cubop, a melding of big-band Cuban music with elements of modern jazz. O’Farrill toiled largely in obscurity for more than 50 years. But like the musicians of Cuba’s Buena Vista Social Club, he had recently enjoyed a renaissance. His comeback began in 1995, with the release of his album “Pure Emotion,” a Grammy nominee for best Latin jazz performance. He released two other acclaimed albums, “Heart of a Legend” in 1999 and last year’s “Carambola.”
• 2002 ~ John Entwistle, the bass player for veteran British rock band The Who, died in Las Vegas at age 57, just one day before the group was set to begin a North American tour in the city, officials said.
More information about Entwistle
• 1651 ~ Marsilio Casentini, Composer, died at the age of 74
• 1637 ~ Giovanni Paulo Colonna, Composer
• 1752 ~ Meingosus Gaelle, Composer
• 1804 ~ Johann Adam Hiller, Composer, died at the age of 75
• 1808 ~ Georg Wenzel Ritter, Composer, died at the age of 60
• 1813 ~ Otto Jahn, German philologist and musicographer
• 1831 ~ Joseph Ignaz Schnabel, Composer, died at the age of 64
• 1837 ~ Valentino Fioravanti, Composer, died at the age of 72
• 1843 ~ David Popper, Composer
• 1843 ~ Jan Malat, Composer
• 1853 ~ Johan Gustaf Emil Sjogren, Composer
• 1858 ~ Eugene Ysaye, Composer
• 1863 ~ Paul Antonin Vidal, Composer
• 1879 ~ Gilbert and Sullivan’s “HMS Pinafore” debuted at Bowery Theater New York City
And from StarTrek: Picard and Worf sing HMS Pinafore in an effort to control a renegade Data.
• 1899 ~ Helen Traubel, Opera singer at the St. Louis Symphony and New York Metropolitan Opera (“The Met’s premier Wagnerian soprano.”)
• 1890 ~ A glittering program of music and ballet, featuring composer Edward Strause, opened the first Madison Square Garden in New York City.
• 1901 ~ Conrad Beck, Composer
• 1903 ~ Huldreich Georg Fruh, Composer
• 1909 ~ Willi Boskovsky, Austrian violinist and conductor
• 1910 ~ Wendelin Weissheimer, Composer, died at the age of 72
• 1916 ~ Francis Lopez, Composer
• 1928 ~ Sergiu Comissiona, Rumanian-born American conductor
• 1929 ~ James Kirtland Randall, Composer
• 1931 ~ Ivo Petric, Composer
• 1934 ~ Lucia Dlugoszewski, Composer
• 1938 ~ Mickie Finn, TV hostess and banjo player
• 1939 ~ Billy ‘Crash’ Craddock, Country singer
• 1940 ~ Vitezslava Kapralova, Composer, died at the age of 25
• 1941 ~ Lamont Dozier, Songwriter
• 1942 ~ Eddie Levert, Singer
• 1945 ~ Ian Matthews (McDonald), Musician, guitarist and singer with Fairport Convention
• 1946 ~ Miloje Milojevic, Composer, died at the age of 61
• 1946 ~ “Annie Get Your Gun” opened at Imperial Theater NYC for 1147 performances
• 1950 ~ James Smith, American singer with the Stylistics
• 1952 ~ Gino Vannelli, Singer, songwriter
• 1956 ~ Be-Bop-A-Lula, by Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps, was released on Capitol Records. Vincent was called Capitol’s answer to Elvis Presley. The tune became Vincent Eugene Craddock’s biggest hit of three (Lotta Lovin’, Dance to the Bop) to make the pop music charts. Vincent died in 1971.
• 1958 ~ Jose Pablo Moncayo Garcia, Composer, died at the age of 45
• 1962 ~ Paula Abdul, Singer
• 1967 ~ The Monterey Pop Festival got underway at the Monterey Fairgrounds in Northern California. Fifty thousand spectators migrated to the site that featured Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Mamas and the Papas and The Who.
• 1969 ~ Karl Hubert Rudolf Schiske, Composer, died at the age of 53
• 1970 ~ Heino Eller, Composer, died at the age of 83
• 1972 ~ The only museum devoted exclusively to jazz music opened. The New York Jazz Museum welcomed visitors for the first time.
• 1978 ~ The film adaptation of Grease, a success on the Broadway stage, premiered in New York City. John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. Several hit songs came out of the motion picture: Grease, by Frankie Valli, You’re the One That I Want and Summer Nights (both sung by Travolta and Newton-John). The first two songs were platinum 2,000,000+ sellers, while the third was a million-seller.
• 1979 ~ Ben Weber, American composer and winner of the Thorne Music Award in 1965, died at the age of 62
• 1980 ~ The movie The Blues Brothers opened in Chicago, IL. John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd, formerly of NBC’s Saturday Night Live, starred. The pair played Jake and Elwood Blues. James Brown, Ray Charles, and Aretha Franklin performed. Cab Calloway also appeared with a rendition of his classic Minnie the Moocher.
• 1990 ~ Eva Turner, British soprano, died
• 1991 ~ Vicky Brown, American singer (Power of Love), died
• 1991 ~ “Fiddler on the Roof” closed at Gershwin Theater NYC after 241 performances
• 1994 ~ Boris Alexandrov, Conductor of the Red Army Song/Dance Ensemble, died at the age of 88
• 1997 ~ Thirtyfirst Music City News Country Awards: Alan Jackson & LeAnn Rimes
• 2000 ~ Richard Dufallo, a conductor known for his energetic performances of contemporary music, died at age 67 of stomach cancer. Dufallo, who lived in Denton, conducted more than 80 major orchestras and festivals in the United States, Canada, and Europe, premiering numerous works by American and European composers, including Karlheinz Stockhausen, Jacob Druckman, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies and Krzystof Penderecki. He was a former assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic and worked closely with Leonard Bernstein from 1965 to 1975. He also served as associate conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic and as artistic director of contemporary music at the Aspen Festival in Colorado. He was married to pianist Pamela Mia Paul.
• 2001 ~ Joe Darion, the lyricist for “Man of La Mancha,” died at the age of 90. “Man of La Mancha” opened in New York in 1965 and ran for 2,328 performances. It won Darion and his composing partner Mitch Leigh a Tony Award for best score. Inspired by Cervantes’s “Don Quixote,” the musical went on to become the third-longest-running Broadway musical of the 1960s. Its music included the popular song The Impossible Dream. In the early 1950s, Darion had three top 10 hits: the Patti Page ballad “Changing Partners,” the Teresa Brewer novelty song Ricochet and Red Buttons’s comedy hit The Ho Ho Song. At the time of his death, Darion was working on a show titled “Oswego.”
• 2017 ~ Jacques Charpentier, French composer, died at the age of 83
• 2019 ~ Franco Zeffirelli, Italian film and opera director (Romeo & Juliet), died at the age of 96
• 1746 ~ Giovanni Antonio Pollarolo, Composer, died at the age of 69
• 1778 ~ Voltaire, (François-Marie Arouet), French writer of Candide, died at the age of 42. Candide was later set to music by Leonard Bernstein
• 1791 ~ Ildephons Haas, Composer, died at the age of 56
• 1797 ~ Johann Christian Lobe, Composer
• 1797 ~ Carl Ludwig Junker, Composer, died at the age of 48
• 1808 ~ Joaquim Casimiro Jr, Composer
• 1833 ~ Josef Slavik, Composer, died at the age of 27
• 1844 ~ Louis Varney, Composer
• 1853 ~ Karl Fritjof Valentin, Composer
• 1866 ~ Opera “Die Verkaufte Braut” premiered in Prague
• 1870 ~ Gustave Vogt, Composer, died at the age of 89
• 1883 ~ Riccardo Zandonai, Composer
• 1887 ~ Gino Tagliapietra, Composer
• 1906 ~ William Yeates Hurlstone, Composer, died at the age of 30
• 1909 ~ Benny Goodman, American jazz clarinetist, composer and bandleader. He became a leading player with his own bands during the 1930’s and also commissioned works from classical composers including Bartok and Copland.
More information on Goodman
• 1913 ~ Pee Wee (George) Erwin, Trumpet with Tommy Dorsey Band and Isham Jones Band
• 1913 ~ Cedric Thorpe Davie, Composer
• 1917 ~ The jazz standard “Dark Town Strutters Ball” by Original Dixieland Jass Band was first recorded
• 1920 ~ George London, Baritone singer with Bel canto Trio (with Frances Yeend and Mario Lanza); member: Vienna State Opera, Metropolitan Opera; Artistic Director of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; Director: National Opera Institute; head of the Washington Opera and established the George London Foundation for Singers in 1971.
• 1922 ~ ‘Smilin’ Ed McConnell debuted on radio, smiling and playing his banjo. McConnell quickly became a legend in the medium.
• 1962 ~ The King of Swing, Benny Goodman, turned 53 and led the first American jazz band to play in the Soviet Union. Goodman and his band played six concerts in the U.S.S.R.
• 1964 ~ The Beatles 1961 record of Cry for a Shadow was #1 in Australia
• 1917 ~ Norman Luboff, Choral leader, The Norman Luboff Choir
• 1925 ~ Patrice Munsel, Soprano, Metropolitan Opera diva at age 17; actress in The Great Waltz, Melba; radio performer: The Great Sopranos – Voices of Firestone Classic Performances; radio host: The Patrice Munsel Show
• 1936 ~ Bobby Darin (Cassotto), Grammy Award-winning singer, inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990
• 1937 ~ Duke Ellington and his band recorded the classic, Caravan, for Brunswick Records.
• 1943 ~ Jack Bruce, Musician: bass with the group Cream
• 1943 ~ Derek Leckenby, Guitarist with Herman’s Hermits
• 1944 ~ Troy Shondell, Singer
• 1945 ~ Gene Cornish, Guitarist with The Young Rascals
• 1952 ~ David Byrne, American rock composer, singer, American rock composer, performance artist and movie director
• 1957 ~ The musical, New Girl in Town, opened at the 46th Street Theatre in New York City. Thelma Ritter and Gwen Verdon starred in the Broadway adaptation of Eugene O’Neill’s Anna Christie. New Girl in Town had a run of 431 performances.
1959 ~ “President Dwight D. Eisenhower broke ground for Lincoln Center at the site of Avery Fisher Hall, then named Philharmonic Hall. Musicians representing the Lincoln Center constituents participated: Leonard Bernstein led the New York Philharmonic and the Juilliard Chorus (Frederick Prausnitz, director), and Leonard Warren and Risë Stevens (Juilliard Graduate School ’36, voice), both of The Metropolitan Opera, performed excerpts from I Pagliacci and Carmen.” ~Jeni Dahmus, archivist at The Juilliard School
• 1971 ~ The Honey Cone received a gold record for the single, Want Ads. The female soul trio was formed in Los Angeles in 1969 and scored two million-sellers, Want Ads and Stick Up. The trio had a total of four songs on the charts that were moderate hits. Only Want Ads, however, made it to the number one position.
• 1971 ~ Danny Wood, Singer with New Kids on the Block
• 1998 ~ Frank Sinatra, one of the world’s greatest popular singers, died.
• 2001 ~ Loften Mitchell, a Tony Award-nominated playwright and early leader of the black theater movement, died at the age of 82. Mitchell was nominated for a Tony Award in 1976 for his book for the musical “Bubbling Brown Sugar,” a performance of black music and dance. He also wrote “A Land Beyond the River,” “Star of the Morning,” and the books “Voices of the Black Theater” and “Black Drama.” For many years he taught at the State University of New York at Binghamton, and he was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.
• 2003 ~ Otto Edelmann, whose dark bass-baritone propelled him to some of the world’s most renowned opera stages over a career spanning more than four decades, died. He was 86. Edelmann was often associated with masterful performances as Ochs in “Der Rosenkavalier,” and Hans Sachs in “Die Meistersinger von Nuernberg.” With his powerful voice, Edelmann was a favorite choice for Wagnerian roles. Edelmann trained at the Vienna Music Academy, now the Vienna University for Music and Performing Arts, under coaches including Gunnar Graarud. After a 1937 debut as Figaro in Gera, Germany, he sang in Nuremberg until 1940, when he was drafted into Hitler’s army. Captured by the Soviets, he spent several years as a prisoner of war. Edelmann’s postwar debut at the Vienna State Opera, as the hermit in “Der Freischuetz” in 1947, was the first of a 36-year engagement in the Austrian capital that included 430 performances in 36 different roles. He also was a regular for decades at the Salzburg Festival and other annual music events across Europe. Edelmann later turned increasingly to teaching, and in 1982 was appointed singing professor at the Vienna Music Academy.
• 2015 ~ B.B. King, “the King of the Blues,” whose stinging guitar solos and husky, full-throated vocals made him an international music icon and the most commercially successful performer in blues history, died at the age of 89.
. 1674 ~ Pietro Antonio Locatelli died. He was an Italian Baroque composer and violinist.
. 1872 ~ Sergei Vasilenko, Russian composer
. 1900 ~ Ted (Edward) Heath, Musician, trombonist, bandleader: played big band concerts every Sunday at the Palladium in the 1940s and 1950s
. 1913 ~ Frankie Laine (Frank Paul LoVecchio), Singer
. 1923 ~ The Audubon Ballroom in New York City was the scene of the first dance marathon. Alma Cummings danced the foxtrot, one-step and waltz with half a dozen partners.
. 1932 ~ Leonard Bernstein participated in his first piano recital at New England Conservatory, performing Brahms’ Rhapsody in G Minor. He was 13.
. 1935 ~ Gordon Mumma, American composer of experimental music
. 1941 ~ Graeme Edge, Drummer with The Moody Blues
. 1942 ~ Bobby Wright, Country artist, actor, son of Johnny Wright of Johnnie and Jack country duo
. 1945 ~ Eric Clapton, British rock guitarist with the Yardbirds; songwriter, Grammy Award-winning singer: Bad Love in 1990
. 1959 ~ Sabine Meyer, German clarinetist
. 1963 ~ The Chiffons began a four-week stay at the top of the pop music charts as their hit single, He’s So Fine, became number one. The song stayed at the top of the top tune tabulation until Little Peggy March came along with I Will Follow Him on April 27th.
. 1964 ~ Tracy Chapman, Grammy Award-winning folk singer-songwriter
. 1964 ~ Willem Andriessen, Dutch composer and pianist (Beethoven), died at the age of 76
. 1968 ~ Celine Dion, Canadian and international superstar singer who has had a number of Number 1 singles in Canada, the Unites States and around the world including “The Power of Love” ( 1993 ), “Because You Loved Me” ( 1995 ). She got her big break following her win 1988 Eurovision Song Contest singing in French “Ne partez pas sans moi” for Switzerland. She is the best selling Canadian artist of all time selling 250 million albums, worldwide. She came from a poor area and poverty-stricken Charlemagne one of 14 children, but when asked has always said her childhood a good time in a happy household.
. 1970 ~ Lauren Bacall starred in Applause which opened on Broadway. The show became one of the hardest tickets to get on the Great White Way. Critics called Bacall “a sensation.” The play, at the Palace Theatre, was an adaptation of the film, All About Eve. It continued for 896 performances. A London version of the show, also starring Bacall, opened in 1972.
. 1971 ~ The Bee Gees received a gold record for the single, Lonely Days. When playing it, they heard the song at a faster speed and said, “Hey, this sounds like disco!” and the rest was Saturday Night Fever music history…
. 1974 ~ John Denver reached the top spot on the music charts with his hit, Sunshine on My Shoulders. It was the singer’s first number one song. Three other singles by Denver reached the top of the music world: Annie’s Song, ThankGod I’m a Country Boy and I’m Sorry. Take Me Home Country Roads made it to the number two position, while Rocky Mountain High just cracked the Top 10 at number 9. Denver wrote Leaving on a Jet Plane for Peter, Paul and Mary and won an Emmy for the TV special, An Evening With John Denver.
. 1835 ~ César Cui, Russian composer and music critic
More information about Cui
1841 ~ Alexis-Emmanuel Chabrier, French composer
More information about Chabrier
. 1913 ~ Danny Kaye (David Daniel Kaminski), Comedian, dancer, singer, actor, entertainer
. 1939 ~ Louis Armstrong and his orchestra recorded Jeepers Creepers on Decca Records. Satchmo lent his vocal talents to this classic jump tune.
. 1941 ~ Bobby Goldsboro, Singer
. 1941 ~ David Ruffin (Davis Eli Ruffin), Lead singer with The Temptations
. 1944 ~ ‘Legs’ Larry Smith, Drummer with The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and Bob Kerr’s Whoopee Band
. 1944 ~ The first jazz concert was held at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. The stars of the concert were Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Artie Shaw, Roy Eldridge and Jack Teagarden. What a ticket!
. 1948 ~ Ted Mack came to television as “The Original Amateur Hour” debuted on the DuMont network. The program continued on different networks for a 22-year run on the tube. Teresa Brewer and Pat Boone got their start on this program.
. 1953 ~ Brett Hudson, Singer, comedian with Hudson Brothers
. 1968 ~ Singer Eartha Kitt made headlines, as she got into a now-famous confrontation with Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson, wife of the President of the United States, at a White House luncheon to discuss urban crime. Ms. Kitt told Lady Bird (the First Lady) that American youth were rebelling against the war in Vietnam, linking the crime rate with the war escalation. She had a lot to say and it definitely was not “C’est Si Bon”.
. 1986 ~ Dionne Warwick’s single for AID’s research, That’s What Friends are For, became her second #1 song on the music charts. Although Dionne had many hits in the 1960s, singing Burt Bacharach tunes like I Say a Little Prayer and Do You Know the Way to San Jose.
. 2017 ~ Roberta Peters, American operatic soprano (NY Met), died at the age of 86
On January 18, 1958 Leonard Bernstein began presenting his television series What does music mean? The series ran for 53 programs. Some of the episodes can be found below:
Part 1 What is Classical Music?
Plot: Bernstein conducts Handel’s Water Music and cites it as an indisputable example of classical music. “Exact” is the word that best defines classical music, Bernstein says and he demonstrates with musical illustrations from Bach’s Fourth Brandenburg Concerto, Mozart’s Concerto No. 21 in C Major and The Marriage of Figaro, and Haydn’s Symphony No. 102.
The decline of classical music at the end of the eighteenth century is tied to Beethoven’s innovations and the Romantic movement, and Bernstein conducts Beethoven’s Egmont Overture.
Part 2 What is Melody?
Plot: Bernstein discusses the different forms melody can take, including tune, theme, motive, melodic line and musical phrase. He illustrates by conducting the orchestra in excerpts from Tchaikovsky, Wagner, Hindemith, and Brahms.
Part 3 What is a Mode?
Plot: Bernstein discusses scales, intervals, and tones, and analyzes several pieces, including Debussy’s Fêtes, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, and music from the Kinks and the Beatles, to illustrate different modes.
An excerpt from Bernstein’s ballet Fancy Free is also performed.
. 1712 ~ John Stanley, English composer and organist
. 1728 ~ Johann Gottfried Muthel, German composer and noted keyboard virtuoso
. 1734 ~ François-Joseph Gossec, Belgian composer
More information about Gossec
. 1750 ~ Tomaso Albinoni, Italian composer (Adagio in G Minor), died at the age of 78
. 1876 ~ The saxophone was played by Etta Morgan at New York City’s Olympic Theatre. The instrument was little known at the time in the United States.
. 1913 ~ Vido Musso, Reed instruments, played with Benny Goodman, bandleader: Stan Kenton was his pianist
. 1917 ~ Ulysses Simpson Kay, US composer, born in Tucson, Arizona (d. 1995)
. 1920 ~ George Handy (George Joseph Hendleman), Pianist, composer, arranger for the Boyd Raeburn band, Alvino Rey band, Paramount Studios
. 1922 ~ Betty White, Emmy Award-winning actress on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, singer
. 1926 ~ Moira Shearer, Ballerina
. 1927 ~ Eartha Kitt, Singer. Kitt’s birth certificate listing her actual birthdate as 1/17/27 was found in 1997. She has celebrated her birthday as Jan. 26 (1928) all of her life and says, “It’s been the 26th of January since the beginning of time and I’m not going to change it and confuse my fans.”
. 1938 ~The first jazz concert is performed at Carnegie Hall.Benny Goodman and his orchestra performed at this iconic New York City venue and the event included guests like Count Basie and other popular names of the day. It gave the genre credibility as a legitimate musical preference.
. 1941 ~ Gene Krupa and his band recorded the standard, Drum Boogie, on Okeh Records. The lady singing with the boys in the band during the song’s chorus was Irene Daye.
. 1944 ~ Chris Montez, Singer
. 1948 ~ Mick Taylor, Singer, rhythm guitar with The Rolling Stones
. 1955 ~ Steve Earle, Songwriter, singer, guitar
. 1956 ~ Paul Young, Singer
. 1959 ~ Susanna Hoffs, Singer, guitar with The Bangles
. 1960 ~ John Crawford, Singer, bass with Berlin
. 1969 ~ Lady Samantha, one of the very first recordings by Reginald Kenneth Dwight (aka Elton John), was released in England on Philips records. The song floundered, then bombed. The rock group, Three Dog Night, however, recorded it for an album.
. 2001 ~ Pianist and singer Emma Kelly, the “Lady of 6,000 Songs” made famous by the book “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” died from a liver ailment at the age of 82. Kelly’s nightclub act, in which she tapped her vast repertoire of American popular standards five nights a week until she became ill a month ago, was a must-see for Savannah tourists itching to meet a real-life character from author John Berendt’s Southern Gothic best seller. Though the book helped her book performances from New York to Switzerland, Kelly continued to crisscross south Georgia to play church socials and high school graduations, Kiwanis luncheons and wedding receptions. Berendt devoted an entire chapter to Kelly in the 1994 book, describing her as a teetotaling Baptist who would play smoky cocktail lounges Saturday nights and Sunday school classes the next morning. Kelly performed at her own nightclub, Emma’s, in Savannah, for five years in the late 1980s. She then bounced between lounges near the downtown riverfront. She also independently recorded three albums, the last of which were released posthumously, her son said.
. 2001 ~ Jazz musician, composer and conductor Norris Turney, who played alto sax and flute with the Duke Ellington Orchestra and led the Norris Turney Quartet, died of kidney failure at the age of 79. Turney recorded with a number of bands over the years, and toured with Billy Eckstine, Ray Charles and others. He was an original member of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra directed by Wynton Marsalis. Turney’s lone CD as a bandleader, “Big, Sweet ‘N Blue,” was warmly received by jazz critics.
. 2002 ~ Edouard Nies-Berger, the veteran organist and protege of Albert Schweitzer, died at the age of 98. Nies-Berger, who played with the New York Philharmonic, was a native of Strasbourg in Alsace. His father, a church organist, was an associate of Schweitzer. The doctor, philosopher and Nobel laureate was pastor of a nearby church where the teenage Nies-Berger played occasionally. Nies-Berger moved to New York in 1922 and for the next 15 years played the organ in houses of worship across the country. By the mid-’30s he settled in Los Angeles and performed in the soundtracks of several films, including “The Bride of Frankenstein” and “San Francisco.” He returned to Europe in 1937 to study conducting with Bruno Walter in Salzburg, Austria. After conducting for two years in Latvia and Belgium he returned to the United States. He was named organist of the New York Philharmonic, where he played under the direction of such conductors as Walter, George Szell and Leonard Bernstein. Nies-Berger was reunited with Schweitzer in 1949, when the humanitarian visited the United States. For six years they collaborated on the completion of Schweitzer’s edition of the organ music of Johann Sebastian Bach. After serving at St. Paul’s in Richmond, Nies-Berger returned to Europe for several years to perform as a recitalist and write several books, including a memoir of Schweitzer. In 1991 he was awarded the gold medal of the Art Institute of Alsace, and in 1993 was named a knight of the arts and letters by the French Ministry of Education and Culture.
. 2013 ~ Lizbeth Webb, English soprano, died at the age of 86
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