November 15 ~ On This Day in Music

Posted by MaryO on November 15, 2023

• 1766 ~ Rodolphe Kreutzer, French violinist, teacher and composer. In 1810 a broken arm ended his virtuoso career. Beethoven dedicated sonata op 47 to him.

• 1905 ~ Mantovani, Orchestra leader, (1953 UK No.1 single ‘Moulin Rouge’, 1957 US No. 12 single ‘Around The World In Eighty Days’) was born. He died on 30th March 1980.

• 1914 ~ Jorge Bolet, Cuban-born American pianist was born

• 1926 ~ NBC broadcast its first music program. It featured the New York Symphony Orchestra and many distinguished soloists. 24 stations carried the first broadcast. The program was a gala 4½-hour broadcast from the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. Two remote pickups were also on the program. Opera star Mary Garden sang from Chicago and Will Rogers presented a humorous monologue from Independence, Kansas. Charles Lindbergh was among the luminaries who attended the broadcast.

• 1928 ~ C.W. McCall (William Fries), Singer, songwriter was born

• 1932 ~ Petula Clark, British pop singer (Downtown, My Love) was born

• 1933 ~ Clyde (Lensley) McPhatter, Singer with the Dominoes was born

• 1937 ~ Little Willie John (William Edward John), Singer, convicted of manslaughter

• 1942 ~ Daniel Barenboim, Argentine-born Israeli pianist and conductor of English Chamber Orchestra was born. “He’s not a pianist who conducts, or a conductor who plays the piano: he’s a total musician.” – Lang Lang

Read quotes by and about Barenboim
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• 1945 ~ Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Singer with Abba was born

• 1946 ~ Janet Lennon, Singer with The Lennon Sisters was born

• 1954 ~ Tony Thompson, Drummer with Chic; played with Led Zeppelin, Live Aid, drummer with Patti LaBelle was born

• 1954 ~ Studio One on CBS-TV featured Joan Weber singing Let Me Go, Lover. The song had enjoyed limited popularity before the TV show, but skyrocketed to fame immediately after.

• 1956 ~ Love Me Tender, the first Elvis Presley film, premiered.

.1963 ~ Fritz Reiner died at the age of 74. He was a prominent conductor of opera and symphonic music in the twentieth century. Hungarian born and trained, he emigrated to the United States in 1922, where he rose to prominence as a conductor with several orchestras. He reached the pinnacle of his career while music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in the 1950s and early 1960s.

• 1967 ~ Mari Fernandez, Singer with Sweet Sensation was born

• 1969 ~ The first album featuring Karen and Richard Carpenter was released by A&M Records. The offering would not be a big seller, but a single from the disc, a remake of The Beatles’ Ticket to Ride, would gain national attention. Their next album, however, would establish them as major international stars (Close to You).

• 1969 ~ Janis Joplin was arrested during a gig in Tampa, Florida, after badmouthing a policeman and using vulgar and indecent language. Joplin became upset after police moved into the hall forcing fans to move back to their seats. As the singer left the stage she confronted a detective calling him ‘a son of a bitch’ and told him she would kick his face in. She was released on $504 bail.

• 1974 ~ The most expensive 2-record album was released on Casablanca Records. It was a comedy disc titled, Here’s Johnny – Magic Moments from the Tonight Show.

• 1974 ~ The group, Faces, released their tune with the longest title. You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything (Even Take the Dog for a Walk, Mend a Fuse, Fold Away the Ironing Board, Or Any Other Domestic Shortcomings).

• 1980 ~ After years of success on the music charts with the New Christy Minstrels and the First Edition, Kenny Rogers got his first #1 song. Lady, written by Lionel Richie, stayed at the top for six weeks.

• 1986 ~ The first major operetta written by Gian Carlo Menotti in over 20 years was presented at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Starring tenor Placido Domingo, Goya was said by critics to be only “intermittently good.”

• 2003 ~ David Holt, a former child actor once touted by Paramount Pictures as its answer to Shirley Temple, has died. He was 76. Holt, who later became a successful jazz musician and songwriter, died of congestive heart failure. Although his career never rivaled Temple’s, Holt had his share of success as a child actor, playing Elizabeth Taylor’s older brother in “Courage of Lassie” in 1946 and appearing as bratty Sidney Sawyer in “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” in 1938. He also played the crippled boy for whom New York Yankee great Lou Gehrig hit a home run in “Pride of the Yankees” and appeared in “The Big Broadcast of 1936.” Paramount signed Holt to a long-term contract after his 1934 role as a boy whose mother dies in “You Belong To me.” Holt eventually segued into music. He co-wrote the song The Christmas Blues with Sammy Cahn and wrote the music for numerous jazz albums. He hosted the TV show “American Music Shop” in the 1990s.

• 2018 ~ Roy Clark, American singer and musician beloved by generations of fans for his work on the TV show Hee Haw died at the age of 85.

October 6 ~ On This Day in Music

Posted by MaryO on October 6, 2023

• 1820 ~ Jenny (Johanna) Lind, Swedish coloratura soprano, “The Swedish Nightengale”

• 1882 ~ Karol Szymanowski, Polish composer

• 1917 ~ A new word cropped up in the American lexicon: Jazz. The Literary Digest described jazz as music that caused people to, “shake, jump and writhe in ways to suggest a return to the medieval jumping mania.”

• 1927 ~ Paul Badura-Skoda, Austrian pianist and music editor

• 1927 ~ “Mammy, how I love you, how I love you, my dear old mammy!” It was Al Jolson in blackface, singing in the first full-length talking picture, The Jazz Singer, as it opened in New York City. In reality, The Jazz Singer was not a true talkie. There were only 291 spoken words in the landmark film; however, it was the first to integrate sound and this small amount of dialogue into a story through the Vitaphone disk process; and the first to entertain a large audience. The talking part was mostly singing, and it was Al Jolson who made the flick a success, proving to the critics that an all-talking film could work. (Because he didn’t think the pioneer of talkies would be all the rage, George Jessel actually turned down the starring role; as did Eddie Cantor.) A silent version of the film was released to movie theaters who had not yet popped for the $20,000 or so that it cost to rewire their venue. The audience was thrilled with Jolson’s sound performance as a cantor’s son, Jake Rabinowitz, rejecting the world he came from to become a singer of popular music, changing his name to Jack Robin in the process. Although not jazz as we know it, the songs Jolson sang became part of American music culture: Toot Toot Tootsie (Goodbye), Blue Skies, Waiting for the Robert E. Lee and, of course, My Mammy. For those truly with a need to know, Neil Diamond did not audition for Jolson’s part when finding out that Jessel had turned it down. Diamond performed in a remake of The Jazz Singer in 1980. As Jolson said, “Wait a minute, wait a minute, you ain’t heard nothin’ yet!” Maybe, through the wonders of modern technology, we could hear Jolson and Diamond together, in concert. That would be the Mammy of all jazz singin’.

• 1941 ~ Claude Thornhill and his orchestra recorded Autumn Serenade on Columbia Records.

• 1946 ~ Millie Small (Smith), Singer, known as ‘The Blue Beat Girl’ in her native Jamaica

• 1949 ~ Bobby Farrell, Singer

• 1950 ~ Thomas McClary, Guitarist with The Commodores

• 1951 ~ Kevin Cronin, Singer with REO Speedwagon

• 1960 ~ Steve Lawrence and partner, Eydie Gorme, starred at the new Lotus Club in Washington, DC.

• 1962 ~ Robert Goulet stepped out of the role of Sir Lancelot after singing/acting the part since 1960. The fabulously successful Broadway musical, Camelot, also starred Richard Burton as King Arthur and Julie Andrews as Queen Guenevere.

• 1964 ~ Matthew Sweet, Guitarist, singer, songwriter

• 1969 ~ George Harrison‘s song ‘Something’ was released as the “A” side of a Beatles’ 45, a first for Harrison. Along with Lennon and McCartney’s ‘Come Together’, the single went on reach No.1 on the US chart the following month. Both tracks were lifted from the Abbey Road album.

• 1973 ~ Gene Krupa (1909) passed away. He was an American jazz drummer, bandleader, actor, and composer known for his energetic style and showmanship. His drum solo on “Sing, Sing, Sing” (1937) elevated the role of the drummer as a frequently used solo voice in the band.

• 1974 ~ “Mack & Mabel” opened at Majestic Theater NYC for 66 performances

• 1985 ~ Nelson Riddle, Grammy Award-winning orchestra leader passed away

• 2001 ~ Blues singer Mamie “Galore” Davis died of a stroke. She was 61. Davis was born Sept. 24, 1940, in Erwin, where she started singing the blues. She graduated from O’Bannon High School and joined a local band. She performed with such musicians as Little Johnny Burton, Buddy Hicks, Little Milton and the Ike and Tina Turner Revue. Her first solo recording, Special Agent 34-24-38, was recorded on the St. Lawrence label in 1965. Under her first producer, Monk Higgins, she recorded two more singles for St. Lawrence, including her biggest hit, It Ain’t Necessary, in 1966.

• 2003 ~ Victor Buelow, who made it into the record books as the longest-serving community band director, died os an apparent heart attack. He was 94. Buelow directed the Jefferson American Legion Band for 72 years, from 1931 through the 2002 band season. Guinness World Records declared him the longest-serving director anywhere after he retired. Buelow stayed with the band even in retirement, playing the alto horn this summer

• 2007 ~ Queen’s groundbreaking promo for their 1975 hit Bohemian Rhapsody was named the UK’s best music video in a survey of music fans. Out of 1,051 adults polled by O2, 30% named the six-minute video, (which took only three hours to shoot and cost a mere £3,500 to make), their favorite.

• 2018 ~ Montserrat Caballé, Spanish soprano, died at the age of 85

• 2020 ~ Eddie Van Halen (Edward Lodewijk Van Halen) died at the age of 65. was a Dutch-American musician, songwriter, producer, and inventor.

• 2020 ~ John Lester Nash Jr. was an American singer-songwriter, best known in the United States for his 1972 hit “I Can See Clearly Now”. Primarily a reggae and pop singer, he was one of the first non-Jamaican artists to record reggae music in Kingston.

August 15: Today in Music History

Posted by MaryO on August 15, 2023

• 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 3: Today in Music History

Posted by MaryO on August 3, 2023

• 1778 ~ La Scala, one of the world’s great opera houses, opened on this day. They premiered William Tell by Gioachino Rossini

• 1823 ~ Francisco Asenjo Babieri, Spanish composer

• 1884 ~ Louis Gruenberg, Polish-born American composer

• 1902 ~ Ray Bloch, Conductor and orchestra leader

• 1917 ~ Charlie Shavers, Trumpeter with the John Kirby Sextet and composer of Undecided

• 1918 ~ Les Elgart, Lead trumpet, bandleader for Les and (brother) Larry Elgart

• 1921 ~ Richard Adler, Broadway Composer, lyricist

• 1926 ~ Tony Bennett (Benedetto), Grammy Award-winning American singer of popular music

• 1941 ~ Beverly Lee, Singer with The Shirelles

• 1949 ~ B.B. (Morris) Dickerson, Bass and singer with War

• 1951 ~ Johnny Graham, Guitarist with Earth, Wind and Fire

• 1963 ~ The Beatles made their final appearance at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, England. The group was about to leave its hometown behind for unprecedented worldwide fame and fortune.

• 1963 ~ The Beach Boys’ Surfer Girl, was released on Capitol Records. It became one of their biggest hits. Surfer Girl made it to number seven on the hit music charts on September 14, 1963

• 1963 ~ Comedian Allan Sherman’s summer camp parody, Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh! (A Letter from Camp) was released on Warner Brothers Records. The melody was based on the Dance of the Hours from Ponchielli’s opera La Giaconda. This dance was also performed in the original Disney movie Fantasia.

• 1971 ~ Paul McCartney formed a new band called Wings. Joining McCartney in the group were Denny Laine, formerly of The Moody Blues, Denny Seilwell and McCartney’s wife, Linda.

• 1998 ~ Alfred Schnittke, one of the most original and influential composers to emerge from the Soviet Union, died. He was 63.

• 2001 ~ Jeanne Loriod, the leading performer of an electronic instrument used in film scores and symphonic works to produce mysterious glassy tones, died in southern France. She was 73. Loriod, who played the ondes martenot – invented by the French musician Maurice Martenot – died of a stroke in Juan-les-Pins, Le Monde newspaper reported.

She was the younger sister of pianist Yvonne Loriod, who was married to composer Olivier Messiaen. The three musicians often collaborated.

The ondes martenot – which translates as “Martenot waves” – produces electronic waves from a system of transistors, a keyboard and a ribbon attached to a ring on the performer’s forefinger.

Loriod’s career took her all over the world. She performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic, among others.

Composers such as Tristan Murail, Jacques Charpentier and Michael Levinas wrote works for her, according to Le Monde. Loriod had also been planning to collaborate with the pop group Radiohead, the paper wrote.

• 2008 ~ Louis Teicher died at 83. He was half of the piano duo Ferrante & Teicher, which toured for four decades and released 150 albums, some as suitable for elevators as for concert halls.

• 2016 ~ Ricci Martin, an entertainer/musician son of Dean Martin, died at the age of 62.

July 21: On This Day in Music

Posted by MaryO on July 21, 2023

Be sure your student reads and listens to Today’s Daily Listening Assignment

• 1748 ~ Louis-Henry Paisible, Composer

• 1779 ~ Gottlob Wiedebein, Composer

• 1782 ~ Placidus Cajetan von Camerloher, Composer, died at the age of 63

• 1797 ~ Franz Schoberlechner, Composer

• 1865 ~ Robert Kahn, Composer

• 1870 ~ Josef Strauss, Austrian composer, died at the age of 42

• 1896 ~ Jean Rivier-Villemomble France, Composer

• 1898 ~ Ernest Willem Mulder, Composer

• 1898 ~ Sara Carter, Vocalist/guitarist with the Carter Family

• 1903 ~ Theodore Karyotakis, Composer

• 1906 ~ Daniel Ayala Perez, Composer

• 1915 ~ Floyd McDaniel ~ blues singer/guitarist

• 1920 ~ Isaac Stern, American concert violinist
Read quotes by and about Stern
More information about Stern

• 1920 ~ Manuel Valls Gorina, Composer

• 1921 ~ Billy Taylor, Orchestra leader on the David Frost Show

• 1922 ~ Kay Starr (Katherine Starks), Pop Singer

• 1925 ~ Lovro Zupanovic, Composer

• 1926 ~ Albert Fuller, American harpsichordist

• 1926 ~ Norman Jewison, Director of Jesus Christ, Superstar, Fiddler on the Roof

• 1927 ~ Stefan Niculescu, Composer

• 1931 ~ Leon Schidlowsky, Composer

• 1931 ~ Ted Husing was master of ceremonies for the very first CBS-TV program. The gala show featured singer Kate Smith, composer George Gershwin and New York City Mayor Jimmy Walker.

• 1935 ~ Kaye Stevens, Singer and comedienne on the Jerry Lewis Show

• 1938 ~ Anton Emil Kuerti, Composer

• 1938 ~ Paul Hindemith and Leonide Massines ballet premiered in London

• 1947 ~ Cat Stevens (Steven Demitri Georgiou) (Muslim name: Yusuf Islam), British folk-rock singer and songwriter

• 1948 ~ Donald Nichols Tweedy, Composer, died at the age of 58

• 1950 ~ Albert Riemenschneider, Composer, died at the age of 71

• 1958 ~ The last of Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts programs aired on CBS-TV. Many artists got their start on Talent Scouts, including Tony Bennett, Pat Boone, The McGuire Sisters and a singer named Connie Francis, who not only sang but played the accordion, as well.

• 1962 ~ Dmitri Shostakovitch completed his 13th Symphony

• !963 ~ Jan and Dean’s “Surf City” hit #1

• 1964 ~ Dmitri Shostakovitch completed his 10th String quartet

• 1969 ~ Just one day after Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, Duke Ellington and a portion of his band performed a 10-minute composition on ABC-TV titled Moon Maiden. The work featured piano, drums, bass and vocals.

• 1973 ~ Bad, Bad Leroy Brown reached the top spot on the Billboard pop singles chart, becoming Jim Croce’s first big hit. Croce died in a plane crash two months later (September 20, 1973).

• 1976 ~ “Guys & Dolls” opened at Broadway Theater New York City for 239 performances

• 1994 ~ Dorothy Collins, Singer on Your Hit Parade, died at the age of 67

• 1995 ~ Edwin “Russell” House, Saxophonist, died at the age of 65

• 2000 ~ Iain Hamilton, the Scottish composer who turned Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina” into an opera at the age of 78. Hamilton wrote four symphonies and dozens of orchestral and chamber works but is known best for his vocal music, which includes a cantata based on the poems of Robert Burns. “Anna Karenina” premiered at the English National Opera in 1981 to critical acclaim. His other operas include “Agamemnon”, “The Catiline Conspiracy”, based on a Ben Jonson play, and an adaptation of Peter Shaffer’s play “The Royal Hunt of the Sun”. From 1961 to 1978 he was a professor of music at Duke University in North Carolina.

• 2000 ~ Barbra Streisand announced final concerts

• 2001 ~ Norman Hall Wright, the last surviving writer who worked on the Disney film Fantasia 2000, died at the age of 91. Wright studied at the University of Southern California before being hired by Walt Disney Productions. He started as an animator but later became a writer, producer and director. Wright developed the story of The Nutcracker Suite sequence for Fantasia 2000. He also was responsible for a sequence in Bambi. He wrote several cartoon shorts for Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy and also produced several Wonderful World of Disney television programs.

• 2002 ~ Gus Dudgeon, a respected music producer who worked on many of Elton John’s hit recordings, died in a car crash in western England. He was 59. Dudgeon produced Rocket Man, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Your Song, Daniel and Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me. Dudgeon also produced David Bowie’s Space Oddity and worked with other stars, including Chris Rea and Joan Armatrading. But it was his partnership with Sir Elton in the 1970s for which he will be best remembered. Dudgeon began his career in the early 1960s as a tea boy, running errands at Olympic Studios in London before joining Decca Records. He engineered the Zombies’ classic She’s Not There and the groundbreaking Blues Breakers album by John Mayall with Eric Clapton, before moving into producing.

• 2015 ~ Theodore Meir Bikel, Austrian-American actor, folk singer, musician, composer, and activist, died at the age of 91.

• 2023 ~ Tony Bennett died at the age of 96. In 1962, Bennett recorded his signature song, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”.

July 13: Today’s Music History

Posted by MaryO on July 13, 2023

Be sure your student reads and listens to Today’s Daily Listening Assignment

• 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

• 1979 ~ George Harrison released Faster

• 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.

June 12: Today’s Music History

Posted by MaryO on June 12, 2023

Be sure your student reads and listens to Today’s Daily Listening Assignment

• 1468 ~ Juan del Encina, Composer

• 1526 ~ Marc-Antoine de Muret, Composer

• 1616 ~ Cornelis F Schuyt, Dutch organist/composer, died

• 1761 ~ Meinrad Spiess, Composer, died at the age of 77

• 1858 ~ William Horsley, Composer, died at the age of 83

• 1876 ~ Narciso Garay, Composer

• 1881 ~ Juan de Hernandez, Composer

• 1887 ~ Gustav Weber, Composer, died at the age of 41

• 1892 ~ John Donald Robb, Composer

• 1900 ~ Amadeo Roldan, Composer

• 1904 ~ Eino Roiha, Composer

• 1907 ~ Giorgio Nataletti, Composer

• 1909 ~ Mansel Treharne Thomas, Composer

• 1909 ~ Archie Bleyer, Orchestra leader for Arthur Godfrey

• 1909 ~ Shine On, Harvest Moon by Ada Jones & Billy Murray hit #1

• 1912 ~ Eddie Williams, Blues/jazz bassist

• 1917 ~ Maria Teresa Carreno, Composer, died at the age of 63

• 1922 ~ Leif Thybo, Composer

• 1927 ~ Al Fairweather, Jazz musician

• 1928 ~ Richard Sherman, Composer/lyricist

• 1928 ~ Vic Damone (Vito Farinola), American singer of popular music

• 1930 ~ Jim Nabors, Singer

• 1935 ~ Ella Fitzgerald recorded her first sides for Brunswick Records. The tunes were Love and Kisses and I’ll Chase the Blues Away. She was featured with Chick Webb and his band. Ella was 17 at the time and conducted the Webb band for three years following his death in 1939.

• 1938 ~ Ian Partridge, British tenor

• 1941 ~ “Chick” Corea, American Grammy Award-winning (4) Jazz musician and composer

• 1942 ~ Walter Leigh, Composer, died at the age of 36

• 1942 ~ Paul Whiteman and his orchestra recorded Travelin’ Light on Capitol Records of Hollywood, California. On the track with Whiteman’s orchestra was the vocal talent of ‘Lady Day’, Billie Holiday.

• 1944 ~ Reg Presley, Singer with Troggs

• 1947 ~ Jazeps Medins, Composer, died at the age of 70

• 1948 ~ William Tell Overture by Spike Jones (originally an opera by Rossini) peaked at #6. See the Daily Listening Assignment for more videos.

Original:

• 1951 ~ Bun Carlos (Brad Carlson), Musician, drummer with Cheap Trick

• 1951 ~ Brad Delp, Musician, guitarist, singer with Boston

• 1954 ~ Bill Haley’s Rock Around the Clock, was originally released

• 1957 ~ James F “Jimmy” Dorsey, American orchestra leader, died at the age of 53

• 1962 ~ John N Ireland, English Composer/pianist, died at the age of 82

• 1965 ~ The Queen of England announced that The Beatles would receive the coveted MBE Award. The Order of the British Empire recognition had previously been bestowed only upon British military heroes, many of whom were so infuriated by the news, they returned their medals to the Queen. In fact, John Lennon wasn’t terribly impressed with receiving the honor. He returned it (for other reasons) four years later.

• 1965 ~ Rolling Stones released Satisfaction

• 1965 ~ Sonny and Cher made their first TV appearance, “American Bandstand”

• 1966 ~ Hermann Scherchen, German conductor and music publisher, died at the age of 74

• 1966 ~ The Dave Clark Five set record as they appear for twelfth time on Ed Sullivan

• 1968 ~ Fidelio Friedrich Finke, Composer, died at the age of 76

• 1968 ~ “What Makes Sammy Run?” closed at 84th St Theater NYC after 540 performances

• 1977 ~ “Pippin” closes at Imperial Theater NYC after 1944 performances

• 1982 ~ Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel performed in Rotterdam

• 1989 ~ Peter Conrad Baden, Composer, died at the age of 80

• 1992 ~ “Batman Returns”, music by Danny Elfman, was released in America

• 1993 ~ Three Little Pigs by Green Jelly hit #17

• 1994 ~ Cab Calloway suffered a massive stroke at his home White Plaines NY

• 1995 ~ Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Italian Pianist, died at the age of 75. He was hailed as one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.

• 1996 ~ MacKenzie John, Pipe major, died at the age of 83

• 2000 ~ Robert J. Lurtsema, a classical music show host with a sonorous voice and unique delivery who became a fixture of the Boston radio scene over nearly three decades, died of lung disease. He was 68. Lurtsema, who worked at WGBH-FM for more than 28 years, is well-known to classical music buffs as the host of “Morning pro musica”, which could be heard throughout the Northeast.

• 2006 ~ György Ligeti, Hungarian classical composer (Le Grand Macabre), died at the age of 83

June 1: Today’s Music History

Posted by MaryO on June 1, 2023

Be sure your student reads and listens to Today’s Daily Listening Assignment

• 1893 ~ Allesandre Spontone, Composer

• 1653 ~ Georg Muffat, Composer

• 1755 ~ Frederico Fiorillo, Italian Violist and composer

• 1757 ~ Ignaz Playel, Austrian Composer and piano builder

• 1763 ~ Johann Caspar Vogler, Composer, died at the age of 67

• 1765 ~ Friedrich Ludwig Seidel, Composer

• 1769 ~ Joseph Antoni Frantiszek Elsner, Composer

• 1771 ~ Ferdinando Paer, Composer

• 1776 ~ John George Schetky, Composer

• 1804 ~ Mikhail Glinka, Russian composer; “The Father of Russian Music”
More information about Glinka

• 1810 ~ Johann Paul Wessely, Composer, died at the age of 47

• 1826 ~ Carl Bechstein, German piano inventor

• 1826 ~ Hermann Zopff, Composer

• 1848 ~ Otto Valdemar Malling, Composer

• 1886 ~ Ernst Kurth, Austrian/Swiss musicologist

• 1892 ~ Samuel L M Barlow, Composer

• 1893 ~ Opera “Falstaff” was produced in Berlin

• 1898 ~ Edgar “Cookie” Fairchild, Bandleader for the Jerry Colonna Show

• 1898 ~ Lieb Glantz, Composer

• 1903 ~ Percy William Whitlock, Composer

• 1905 ~ Dinora de Carvalho, Composer

• 1909 ~ Szymon Goldberg, Polish/American violinist and conductor

• 1909 ~ Giuseppe Martucci, Composer, died at the age of 53

• 1918 ~ Friedrich Richard Faltin, Composer, died at the age of 83

• 1918 ~ Jaroslav Novotny, Composer, died at the age of 32

• 1919 ~ Boris Lazarevich Klyuzner, Composer

• 1921 ~ Nelson Riddle, Grammy Award-winning orchestra leader and arranger of popular music for Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole

• 1926 ~ Vasily Mikhaylovich Metallov, Composer, died at the age of 64

• 1929 ~ Yehudi Wyner, Composer

• 1934 ~ Pat (Charles Eugene) Boone, Singer, married to Red Foley’s daughter, Shirley

• 1935 ~ Alberto Cametti, Composer, died at the age of 64

• 1941 ~ Edo de Waart, Dutch conductor

• 1942 ~ Ernest Pingoud, Composer, died at the age of 53

• 1943 ~ Ely van Tongeren, Dutch guitarist and singer

• 1943 ~ Richard Goode, concert pianist. In 1980 he won the Avery Fisher Award

• 1945 ~ Frederica Von Stade, American mezzo-soprano

• 1945 ~ Linda Scott, Singer

• 1946 ~ Carol Neblett, American soprano with the NYC Opera

• 1947 ~ Ron Wood, Guitar with Rolling Stones after 1975

• 1949 ~ Mike Levine, Rock keyboardist/bassist

• 1950 ~ Graham Russell, Singer with Air Supply

• 1955 ~ F Melius Christiansen, Composer, died at the age of 84

• 1959 ~ Celebrating a solid year at the top of the album charts was “Johnny’s Greatest Hits” on Columbia Records. The LP stayed for several more years at or near the top of the album charts. It became the all-time album leader at 490 weeks.

• 1960 ~ “Finian’s Rainbow” closed at 46th St Theater NYC after 12 performances

• 1961 ~ There was a new sound in the air this day. FM multiplex stereo broadcasting was enjoyed for the first time by listeners to FM radio in Schenectady, NY, Los Angeles and Chicago. The FCC adopted the standard a year later.

• 1964 ~ Rutkowski Bronislaw, Composer, died at the age of 66

• 1966 ~ George Harrison was impressed by Ravi Shankar’s concert in London

• 1967 ~ The Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” was released. One of the first critically-acclaimed rock albums, “Sgt. Pepper’s” became the number one album in the world and was at the top of the U.S. album list for 15 weeks.

• 1968 ~ Simon and Garfunkel’s Mrs Robinson hit #1

• 1970 ~ Everything was Beautiful by Ray Stevens hit #1

• 1971 ~ “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown” opened at Golden NYC for 31 performances

• 1972 ~ Dmitri Shostakovitch’s 15th Symphony premiered in West Berlin

• 1973 ~ George Harrison’s Living in the Material World went gold

• 1973 ~ Paul McCartney and Wings released Live and Let Die

• 1974 ~ Alanis Nadine Morisette, Singer

• 1974 ~ “My Girl Bill” by Jim Stafford hit #12

• 1975 ~ “Chicago” opened at 46th St Theater NYC for 947 performances

• 1980 ~ Barbra Streisand appeared at an ACLU Benefit in California

• 1988 ~ “Les Miserables” opened at Shubert Theatre, LA

• 1996 ~ Don Grolnick, Jazz musician, died at the age of 48

August 15: On This Day in Music

Posted by MaryO on August 15, 2020

• 1890 ~Jacques Ibert, French composer and educator

• 1909 ~ Hugo Winterhalter, Orchestra leader

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

• 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.

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

• 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 3: On This Day in Music

Posted by MaryO on August 3, 2020

Monday Music Quiz