• 1771 ~ Jean-Claude Trial, Composer, died at the age of 38
• 1801 ~ Bendix Friedrich Zinck, Composer, died at the age of 58
• 1817 ~ Otto Carl Erdmann Kospoth, Composer, died at the age of 63
• 1824 ~ Carl Heinrich Carsten Reinecke, German pianist, composer and conductor
• 1833 ~ Nikolaus Paul Zmeskall, Composer, died at the age of 73
• 1837 ~ Ernest Guiraud, Composer
• 1852 ~ Stephane Raoul Pugno, Composer
• 1855 ~ Maude Valerie White, Composer
• 1877 ~ Blair Fairchild, Composer
• 1877 ~ Hermann Stephani, Composer
• 1888 ~ Emil Naumann, Composer, died at the age of 60
• 1891 ~ Francis Henry Brown, Composer, died at the age of 73
• 1892 ~ Mieczyslaw Horszowski, Polish pianist
• 1895 ~ Joseph Paul Skelly, Composer, died at the age of 44
• 1899 ~ Alexander Moiseyevich Veprik, Composer
• 1901 ~ Charles Kensington Salaman, Composer, died at the age of 87
• 1904 ~ Willie Mae “Mother” Smith, Gospel singer/evangelist folk artist
• 1920 ~ Paul Des Marais, Composer
• 1922 ~ Francis Thorne, American composer
• 1924 ~ Cecil (James) Sharp, English folk musician, died at the age of 64
• 1925 ~ Amada Galvez Santos Ocampo, Composer
• 1927 ~ Bob (Robert Louis) Fosse, Oscar Award-winning director and Tony Award-winning choreographer
• 1928 ~ Thomas H Rollinson, Composer, died at the age of 84
• 1929 ~ June Carter Cash, Grammy Award-winning country singer with husband, Johnny Cash, and songwriter
• 1940 ~ Adam Faith (Terence Nelhams), Singer
• 1941 ~ Lena Horne recorded St. Louis Blues for Victor Records and launched an illustrious singing career in the process. She was 23 years old at the time. Horne continued performing well into her 60s.
• 1943 ~ James Levine, American conductor and pianist
• 1944 ~ Rosetta Hightower, Singer with The Orlons
• 1948 ~ Nigel Osborne, Composer
• 1951 ~ Armin Knab, German Composer (Wunderhorn), died at the age of 70
• 1955 ~ Harry Belafonte became a popular TV star following the program debut of Three for Tonight, on CBS. Belafonte had been touring with the show before bringing it to the tube.
• 1735 ~ Pirro Conte d’ Albergati Capacelli, Composer, died at the age of 71
• 1741 ~ Joseph-Hector Fiocco, Composer, died at the age of 38
• 1741 ~ Alois Luigi Tomasini, Composer
• 1742 ~ Heinrich Gottfried Reichard, Composer
• 1745 ~ Hubert Renotte, Composer, died at the age of 41
• 1754 ~ Nicholas Siret, Composer, died at the age of 91
• 1824 ~ Frederic Louis Ritter, Composer
• 1830 ~ Theodor Leschetizky, Polish pianist and one of the greatest piano teachers of his time.
• 1843 ~ Gabriele Prota, Composer, died at the age of 88
• 1859 ~ Frank Heino Damrosch, Musician, teacher and author, founder of the Institute of Music
• 1883 ~ Jose Rolon, Composer
• 1900 ~ Jennie Tourel, Russian-born American mezzo-soprano
• 1905 ~ Walter Leigh, Composer
• 1910 ~ Sir Peter Pears, British tenor
More information about Pears
• 1921 ~ Gower Champion, Tony Award-winning choreographer: 42nd Street, 1981; The Happy Time, 1968; Hello Dolly! in 1964; Bye-Bye Birdie, 1961; Lend an Ear, 1949
• 1926 ~ Ruth Zechlin, Composer
• 1926 ~ Hermann Suter, Composer, died at the age of 56
• 1930 ~ Roy Drusky, DJ, songwriter
• 1932 ~ Michael Horvit, Composer
• 1936 ~ Kris Kristofferson, American country-rock singer, songwriter and actor
• 1939 ~ Bing Crosby and Connee Boswell joined in song to perform An Apple for the Teacher, on Decca Records.
• 1944 ~ Peter Asher, British singer with Peter and Gordon
• 1947 ~ Don Henley, Drummer and singer with the Eagles
• 1947 ~ Howard Kaylan (Kaplan), Singer with The Turtles
• 1948 ~ Todd Rundgren, Singer
• 1949 ~ Alan Osmond, Singer with The Osmonds and The Osmond Brothers
• 1950 ~ Julio Fonseca, Composer, died at the age of 65
• 1959 ~ Along Came Jones by the Coasters peaked at #9
• 1959 ~ Class by Chubby Checker peaked at #38
• 1959 ~ The Battle of New Orleans, by Johnny Horton, started week number four. The song was number one for a total of six weeks. It was Horton’s only number one record and million-seller. He had big hits, however, with movie music: Sink theBismarck and North to Alaska (from the film by the same title, starring John Wayne) — both in 1960. Horton, from Tyler, TX, married Billie Jean Jones, Hank Williams’ widow. Tragically, Johnny Horton was killed in a car crash on November 5, 1960.
• 1963 ~ “Little” Stevie Wonder, 13 years old, released Fingertips. It became Wonder’s first number one single on August 10th. Wonder had 46 hits on the pop and R&B music charts between 1963 and 1987. Eight of those hits made it to number one.
• 1964 ~ Barbra Joan Streisand signed a 10-year contract with CBS-TV worth about $200,000 a year. Both CBS and NBC had been bidding for Streisand’s talents.
• 1968 ~ Herb Alpert used his voice and his trumpet to run to the top of the pop music charts. This Guy’s in Love with You became the most popular song in the nation this day. It would rule the top of the pop music world for four weeks. It was the only vocal by Alpert to make the charts, though his solo instrumentals with The Tijuana Brass scored lots of hits. Alpert performed on 19 charted hits through 1987.
• 1968 ~ Here Come Da Judge by The Buena Vistas peaked at #88
• 1969 ~ Judy Garland passed away
• 1972 ~ “Man of La Mancha” opened at Beaumont Theater New York City for 140 performances
• 1973 ~ Jacques Leon Wolfe, Composer, died at the age of 77
• 1973 ~ George Harrison released Living in the Material World
• 1974 ~ Darius Milhaud, French Composer, died at the age of 81 He was best known for the wide variety of styles in which he composed. His ballet La Creation du Monde” uses jazz themes.
More information about Milhaud
• 1976 ~ “Godspell” opened at Broadhurst Theater New York City for 527 performances
• 1979 ~ Little Richard quit rock & roll for religious pursuit
• 1987 ~ Fred Astaire died at the age of 88. He starred in a large number of stage musicals and films, 10 with dancing partner Ginger Rogers.
• 1988 ~ Dennis Day (Eugene Denis McNulty) passed away
• 1989 ~ Bengt Viktor Johansson, Composer, died at the age of 74
• 1990 ~ Billy Joel, American pianist, singer-songwriter, and composer, performed a concert at Yankee Stadium
• 2015 ~ Albert Evans, retired principal dancer with New York City Ballet, died at 46.
• 1732 ~ Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, composer and 5th son of Johann Sebastian Bach
• 1790 ~ Wilhelm Speyer, Composer
• 1805 ~ Karl Friedrich Curschmann, Composer
• 1846 ~ Adolphe Sax patented the saxophone he invented in 1840
• 1862 ~ Henry Holden Huss, Composer
• 1865 ~ Albert Herbert Brewer, Composer
• 1868 ~ Wagner’s opera “Die Meistersinger von Nuernberg” premiered in Munich
• 1887 ~ Adolf Schimon, Composer, died at the age of 67
• 1892 ~ Hilding Rosenberg, Swedish composer
• 1893 ~ Alois Hába, Czech opera composer and writer
• 1900 ~ Gunnar Ek, Composer (he died on 81st birthday)
• 1900 ~ Polibo Fumagalli, Composer, died at the age of 69
• 1903 ~ Louis Krasner, violinist
• 1906 ~ Luis Maria Millet, Composer
• 1908 ~ Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian Composer, died at the age of 64. He was best known for his orchestral piece “Sheherezade” and the opera “The Golden Cockerel” as well as his re-orchestration of Moussorgsky’s opera “Boris Godunov.”
More information about Rimsky-Korsakov
• 1941 ~ Wayne King and his orchestra recorded Time Was, with Buddy Clark providing the vocal accompaniment, for Victor Records.
• 1944 ~ Ray Davies, Musician, guitar, singer, songwriter with The Kinks
• 1945 ~ Chris Britton, Guitarist with The Troggs
• 1946 ~ Brenda Holloway, American singer and songwriter
• 1946 ~ Heinrich Kaminski, Composer, died at the age of 59
• 1948 ~ Columbia Records announced that it was offering a new Vinylite long-playing record that could hold 23 minutes of music on each side. One of the first LPs produced was of the original cast of the Broadway show, South Pacific. Critics quickly scoffed at the notion of LPs, since those heavy, breakable, 78 RPM, 10- inch disks with one song on each side, were selling at an all-time high. It didn’t take very long though, for the 33-1/3 RPM album — and its 7-inch, 45 RPM cousin to revolutionize the music industry and the record buying habits of millions.
• 1951 ~ Nils Lofgren, Musician, guitar, keyboards, singer, songwriter
• 1958 ~ Splish Splash was recorded by Bobby Darin. It was his first hit and it took Darin only ten minutes to write the song.
• 1972 ~ Billy Preston received a gold record for the instrumental hit, Outa-Space. Preston, who played for gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, back in 1956, was also in the film St. Louis Blues as a piano player. He was a regular on the Shindig TV show in the 1960s; and recorded with The Beatles on the hits Get Back and Let It Be. Preston also performed at The Concert for Bangladesh in 1969. Many well-known artists have utilized his keyboard talents, including Sly & The Family Stone and the Rolling Stones.
• 1972 ~ Seth Bingham, Composer, died at the age of 90
• 1975 ~ Heinz Lau, Composer, died at the age of 49
• 1985 ~ Ron Howard directed his first music video. The TV star of The Andy Griffith Show and Happy Days also directed the film Cocoon, which included Gravity, the song used in the video. Michael Sembello, a guitarist who played on StevieWonder’s hits between 1974 and 1979 was responsible for Gravity.
• 1990 ~ June Christy passed away
• 1990 ~ Little Richard received a star on Hollywood’s walk of fame
• 1992 ~ Thomas Whitfield, Gospel vocalist, died of heart attack at 38
• 1993 ~ “Camelot” opened at the Gershwin Theater New York City for 56 performances
• 1997 ~ Art Prysock, Jazz musician, died at the age of 68
• 2000 ~ Alan Hovhaness, a prolific composer who melded Western and Asian musical styles, died at the age of 89.
More information about Hovhaness
• 2001 ~ Bluesman John Lee Hooker, whose foot stompin’ and gravelly voice on songs like Boom Boom and Boogie Chillen electrified audiences and inspired generations of musicians, died of natural causes at the age of 83. He recorded more than 100 albums over nearly seven decades. He won a Grammy Award for a version of In The Mood, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 and received a Lifetime Achievement Award at last year’s Grammys. His distinctive sound influenced rhythm and blues musicians, as well as rock ‘n’ rollers including Van Morrison, the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt and ZZ Top. Hooker’s 1990 album “The Healer“, featured duets with Carlos Santana, Raitt and Robert Cray. It sold 1.5 million copies and won him his first Grammy Award, for a duet with Raitt on I’m in the Mood. Born in Clarksdale, Miss., August 22, 1917, Hooker was one of 11 children born to a Baptist minister and sharecropper who discouraged his son’s musical bent. In Detroit, he was discovered and recorded his first hit, Boogie Chillen, in 1948.
• 2003 ~ William Leslie died at the age of 78. He was a jazz saxophonist who toured the world with the Louis Jordan Band in the 1950s in Sellersville, Pa. He played with the Jordan Band in New York, Chicago, Las Vegas and Europe and on the television show “Your Hit Parade.” Mr. Leslie had played the saxophone since he was 12. After serving in World War II, he attended the Landis School of Music in West Philadelphia, Pa., on the GI Bill.
• 2015 ~ Gunther Schuller, American hornist and jazz composer (1994 Pulitzer Prize), died at the age of 89
• 1819 ~ Jacques Offenbach, German-born French conductor, cellist and composer of operettas
Read quotes by and about Offenbach
More information about Offenbach
• 1833 ~ Philip Knapton, Composer, died at the age of 44
• 1837 ~ Giovanni Furno, Composer, died at the age of 89
• 1842 ~ Michael Umlauf, Composer, died at the age of 60
• 1861 ~ Arthur Battelle Whiting, Composer
• 1883 ~ Giannotto Bastianelli, Composer
• 1888 ~ Cesare Dominiceti, Composer, died at the age of 66
• 1899 ~ Anthon van der Horst, Dutch organist and composer
• 1922 ~ Vittorio Monti, Composer, died at the age of 54
• 1923 ~ Joseph Leopold Rockel, Composer, died at the age of 85
• 1924 ~ Chet Atkins (Chester Burton), Grammy Award-winning guitarist, made over 100 albums and elected to Country Music Hall of Fame in 1973.
• 1925 ~ Wilhelm Posse, Composer, died at the age of 72
• 1927 ~ John M Dengler, Jazz bass sax, trumpet, trombone
• 1928 ~ Robert Satanowski, Composer
• 1929 ~ Ingrid Haebler, Austrian pianist
• 1931 ~ Arne Nordheim, Norwegian conductor and composer
• 1934 ~ Cornel Taranu, Composer
• 1938 ~ Nikolay Avksentevich Martinov, Composer
• 1939 ~ first TV broadcast of an operetta, “The Pirates of Penzance” by Gilbert and Sullivan W2XBS (later WCBS-TV) in New York City televised Pirates of Penzance. It was presented to a very small viewing audience since television was a new, experimental medium at the time.
• 1936 ~ Billy Guy, Singer with The Coasters
• 1937 ~ Jerry Keller, Singer
• 1940 ~ Jehan Alain, French organist and composer, died in battle at 29
• 1942 ~ Brian Wilson, Bass player, singer with The Beach Boys, inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988
• 1946 ~ André Watts, American pianist, Chicago Symphony Orchestra
• 1948 ~ George Frederick Boyle, Composer, died at the age of 61
• 1949 ~ Lionel Richie, Tenor sax, songwriter, singer with the Commodores
• 1951 ~ Peter Gordon, Composer
• 1953 ~ Cyndi Lauper, Singer
• 1953 ~ Alan Longmuir, Musician, bass with Bay City Rollers
• 1955 ~ Michael Anthony, Musician, bass with Van Halen
• 1955 ~ “Almost Crazy” opened at Longacre Theater New York City for 16 performances
• 1960 ~ John Taylor, Musician: guitar, bass with Duran Duran
• 1963 ~ The Beatles formed “Beatles Ltd” to handle their income
• 1969 ~ Guitarist Jimi Hendrix earned the biggest paycheck ever paid (to that time) for a single concert appearance. Hendrix was paid $125,000 to appear for a single set at the Newport Jazz Festival.
• 1970 ~ The Long and Winding Road, by The Beatles, started a second week in the number one spot on the pop music charts. The tune was the last one to be released by The Beatles.
• 1975 ~ Daniel Ayala Perez, Composer, died at the age of 68
• 1980 ~ Gustaf Allan Pettersson, Composer, died at the age of 68
• 1987 ~ Whitney Houston’s album, Whitney, debuted on Billboard magazine’s album chart at number one. Houston became the first female to have an LP debut at the top. The singer, daughter of Cissy Houston and cousin of Dionne Warwick, began her singing career at age 11 with the New Hope Baptist Junior Choir in New Jersey. Houston first worked as a backup vocalist for Chaka Khan and Lou Rawls; entered modeling in 1981, appearing in Glamour magazine and on the cover of Seventeen. Whitney married soul singer, Bobby Brown, in the late 1980s.
• 1997 ~ Lawrence Payton, singer with the Four Tops, died at the age of 59
• 1686 ~ Johann Quirsfeld, Composer, died at the age of 43
• 1726 ~ Giuseppe Scarlotti (1723) Composer
• 1726 ~ Michel-Richard Delalande, Composer, died at the age of 68
• 1726 ~ August Holler (1744) Composer
• 1726 ~ Ignaz Joseph Pleyel (1757) Composer
• 1780 ~ Michael Henkel, Composer
• 1799 ~ Johann André, Composer, died at the age of 58
• 1821 ~ Charles Hague, Composer, died at the age of 52
• 1821 ~ Opera “Der Freischütz” by Carl Maria von Weber was produced in Berlin
• 1822 ~ Henry David Leslie, Composer
• 1850 ~ Richard Heuberger, Composer
• 1850 ~ Antoni Weinert, Composer, died at the age of 99
• 1859 ~ Joseph Hartmann Stuntz, Composer, died at the age of 65
• 1876 ~ August Rockel, Composer, died at the age of 61
• 1892 ~ Edward Steuermann, Composer
• 1901 ~ Jeanette MacDonald, Singer with Nelson Eddy
• 1902 ~ Louis Alter, Composer
• 1904 ~ Manuel Rosenthal, French composer
• 1905 ~ Eduard Tubin, Composer
• 1906 ~ Kaye Kyser, Bandleader Kay Kyser and His Kollege of Musical Knowledge
More information about Kyser
• 1907 ~ Benny Payne, American pianist for the Billy Daniels Show
• 1909 ~ Learmont Drysdale, Composer, died at the age of 42
• 1934 ~ Ray McKinley (1910) Musician, drummer, led Glenn Miller Band for the estate from 1956 until 1966.
• 1911 ~ Franjo Zaver Kuhac, Composer, died at the age of 76
• 1913 ~ Sammy Cahn, Composer and lyricist
More information about Cahn
• 1915 ~ Victor Legley, Composer
• 1917 ~ Akhmet Jevdet Ismail Hajiyev, Composer
• 1918 ~ Bob Carroll, Singer and actor
• 1923 ~ Herman Krebbers, Dutch violist and concertmaster
• 1925 ~ Herman “Ace” Wallace, Blues guitarist and singer
• 1927 ~ Simeon Pironkov, Composer
• 1933 ~ Tommy Hunt, American singer
• 1934 ~ Francisco Lacerda, Composer, died at the age of 65
• 1935 ~ August Reusner, Composer, died at the age of 64
• 1941 ~ Lamont Dozier, Composer
• 1942 ~ Hans Vonk, Dutch conductor
• 1942 ~ Arthur Willard Pryor, Composer, died at the age of 71
• 1942 ~ Paul McCartney, British rock singer, songwriter and guitarist
More information about McCartney
• 1944 ~ Paul Lansky, Composer
• 1944 ~ Douglas Young, Composer
• 1948 ~ Eva Marton, Hungarian soprano
• 1949 ~ “Along Fifth Avenue” closed at Broadhurst Theater NYC after 180 performances
• 1953 ~ Jerome Smith, Musician, guitarist with KC & The Sunshine Band
• 1955 ~ Walter Rein, Composer, died at the age of 61
• 1955 ~ Willy Burkhard, Composer, died at the age of 55
• 1962 ~ Volkmar Andreae, Swiss conductor and Composer, died at the age of 82
• 1964 ~ Alexander Shamil’yevich Melik-Pashayev, Composer, died at the age of 58
• 1965 ~ George Melachrino, Composer, died at the age of 56
• 1973 ~ Fritz Mahler, Composer, died at the age of 71
• 1977 ~ Fleetwood Mac worked Dreams to the number one spot on the pop music charts this day. It would be the group’s only single to reach number one. Fleetwood Mac placed 18 hits on the charts in the 1970s and 1980s. Nine were top-ten tunes.
• 1920 ~ Michel-Gaston Carraud, Composer, died at the age of 55
• 1936 ~ Erroll Garner (1921) ASCAP Award-winning American jazz pianist
and composer
• 1922 ~ John Veale, Composer
• 1926 ~ Jan Carlstedt, Composer
• 1929 ~ Geoffrey Penwill Parsons, Piano accompaniest
• 1929 ~ Nigel Pickering, Guitarist
• 1934 ~ Alfred Bruneau, Composer, died at the age of 77
• 1936 ~ Al Jolson and Ruby Keeler starred in Burlesque on the Lux Radio Theatre.
• 1937 ~ Rolf Riehm, Composer
• 1937 ~ Waylon Jennings, American country music singer, songwriter and guitarist, won the Country Music Association Award in 1974
• 1938 ~ Jean-Claude Eloy, French Composer
• 1940 ~ Willem Frederik Bon, Dutch Composer
• 1941 ~ Harry (Edward) Nilsson III, Singer
• 1944 ~ Terri Gibbs, Singer
• 1945 ~ Rod Argent, English keyboardist for the Zombies
• 1946 ~ Janet Lennon, Singer with the Lennon Sisters
. 1946 ~ Artemios “Demis” Ventouris Roussos (June 15 1946-January 25, 2015) was a Greek singer and performer who had international hit records as a solo performer in the 1970s after having been a member of Aphrodite’s Child, a progressive rock group that also included Vangelis. He has sold over 60 million albums worldwide.
• 1956 ~ Sixteen-year-old John Lennon of the music group, The Quarrymen, met 14-year-old Paul McCartney and invited him to join the group. In a few years, the group became The Beatles.
• 1957 ~ “Ziegfeld Follies of 1957″ closed at Winter Garden NYC after 123 performances
• 1962 ~ Alfred Cortot, French pianist, died at the age of 84
• 1963 ~ Kyu Sakamoto from Kawasaki, Japan, reached the number one spot on the pop music charts with Sukiyaki. The popular song captivated American music buyers and was at the top of the Billboard pop chart for three weeks. In Japan, where Sakamoto was enormously popular, Sukiyaki was known as Ue O Muite Aruko (I Look Up When I Walk). The entertainer met an untimely fate in 1985. Kyu (cue) Sakamoto was one of 520 people who perished in the crash of a Japan Air Lines flight near Tokyo. He was 43 years old.
• 1963 ~ “Sound of Music” closed at Lunt Fontanne Theater NYC after 1443 performances
• 1965 ~ Bob Dylan recorded Like a Rolling Stone
• 1968 ~ Wes Montgomery, Jazz guitarist, died of a heart attack at 48
• 1982 ~ Art (Arthur E) Pepper, American alto saxophonist, died at the age of 56
Today’s assignment is Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-sharp minor. It is the second in a set of 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies by composer Franz Liszt, and is by far the most famous of the set.
In both the original piano solo form and in the orchestrated version this composition has enjoyed widespread use in animated cartoons. Its themes have also served as the basis of several popular songs.
Above, Danish comedian and pianist Victor Borge gives every impression of having been asked to play a duet with someone whom he not only doesn’t know but doesn’t particularly like. Forced to come up with a mutually agreeable way of sharing the musical workload, he settles on the most difficult route possible.
It’s not clear why two pianists were needed for this performance of Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No.2, S.244/2. I think that they did it just for the fun of it. The result is hilarious.
They’re not the only ones to tackle Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 as a piano duo.
We also have these guys:
The “history” of this piece in several cartoons:
This is very interesting:
As he often did, Horowitz arranged it more for his liking:
• 1594 ~ Orlandus Lassus, Composer (Prophet sybillarum), died at about 61
• 1671 ~ Thomoso Albinoni, Italian composer and violinist
More information about Albinoni
• 1691 ~ Jan Francisci, Composer
• 1709 ~ Gottfried Wegner, Composer, died at the age of 65
• 1744 ~ André Campra, Composer, died at the age of 83
• 1750 ~ Franz Anton Maichelbeck, Composer, died at the age of 47
• 1760 ~ Candido Jose Ruano, Composer
• 1763 ~ Johannes Simon Mayr, Composer
• 1769 ~ Dominique Della-Maria, Composer
• 1789 ~ Johann Wilhelm Hertel, Composer, died at the age of 61
• 1835 ~ Nikolay Rubinstein, Composer
• 1854 ~ Frederik Rung, Composer
• 1891 ~ Auguste Jean Maria Charles Serieyx (1865) Composer
• 1881 ~ The player piano was patented by John McTammany, Jr. of Cambridge, MA.
• 1882 ~ Michael Zadora, Composer
• 1884 ~ John McCormack, Irish/American singer of Irish folksongs
• 1891 ~ Nicolo Gabrielli, Composer, died at the age of 77
• 1895 ~ Cliff Edwards “Ukulele Ike”, Singer of When You Wish Upon a Star
• 1904 ~ Benno Ammann, Composer
• 1909 ~ Burl Ives, American folk singer, banjo player, guitarist and Oscar-winning actor. His gentle voice helped popularise American folk music. He played powerful dramatic roles in movies including “The Big Country,” for which he won an Acadamy Award for best-supporting actor, and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”
• 1910 ~ Nappy (Hilton Napoleon) Lamare, Musician with Bob Cats
• 1911 ~ Johan Severin Svendsen, Composer, died at the age of 70
• 1916 ~ Karl-Rudi Griesbach, Composer
• 1916 ~ MIT and the American Telephone and Telegraph Company attempted the largest transcontinental telephone circuit of the time at Symphony Hall!
• 1918 ~ Carter Harman, Composer
• 1920 ~ Helmer-Rayner Sinisalo, Composer
• 1923 ~ Theodore Bloomfield, Composer
• 1923 ~ It was the beginning of the country music recording industry. Ralph Peer of Okeh Records recorded Fiddlin’ John Carson doing The Little Old Log Cabin in theLane— and the first country music recording was in the can.
• 1929 ~ Cy Coleman (Seymour Kaufman), American composer of popular music and pianist
More information about Cy Coleman
• 1932 ~ Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Composer
• 1933 ~ Albert Ross Parsons, Composer, died at the age of 85
• 1940 ~ John Mizelle, Composer
• 1943 ~ Muff (Mervyn) Winwood, Singer, songwriter, bass with The Spencer Davis Group
• 1945 ~ Rod Argent, Keyboard
• 1948 ~ Ernst Henrik Ellberg, Composer, died at the age of 79
• 1948 ~ John Blackwood McEwen, Composer, died at the age of 80
• 1953 ~ Elvis Presley graduated from L.C. Humes High School in Memphis, TN. Within three years, the truck driver-turned-singer had his first number-one record with Heartbreak Hotel.
• 1960 ~ Vladimir Nikolayevich Kryukov, Composer, died at the age of 57
• 1962 ~ Boy George, Singer
• 1965 ~ Guido Guerrini, Composer, died at the age of 74
• 1965 ~ John Lennon’s second book “A Spaniard in the Works” was published
• 1968 ~ Karl-Birger Blomdahl, Swedish opera composer, died at the age of 51
• 1969 ~ John & Yoko appeared on David Frost’s British TV Show
• 1974 ~ Knud Christian Jeppesen, Composer, died at the age of 81
• 1975 ~ America reached the top spot on the Billboard pop music chart with SisterGolden Hair. The group had previously (March, 1972) taken A Horse With No Name to the number one spot. The trio of Dan Peek, Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell had received the Best New Artist Grammy in 1972. America recorded a dozen hits that made it to the popular music charts in the 1970s and 1980s. Though number one, Sister Golden Hair did not qualify for gold record (million-seller) status.
• 1975 ~ Janis Ian released At 17
• 1976 ~ The Beatles were awarded a gold record for the compilation album of past hits titled, Rock ’n’ Roll Music.
• 1978 ~ Theodore Karyotakis, Composer, died at the age of 74
• 1980 ~ Theme From New York, New York by Frank Sinatra hit #32
• 1986 ~ Alan Jay Lerner, Broadway librettist, died in NY at 67
More information about Lerner
• 1989 ~ Carole King got a star in Hollywood’s walk of fame
• 1994 ~ Henry Mancini passed away at the age of 70
More information about Mancini
• 1994 ~ Lionel Grigson, Professor of jazz, died at the age of 52
• 1994 ~ Harry “Little” Caesar, blues singer/actor (City Heat), died at the age of 66
• 1996 ~ Thomas Edward Montgomery, drummer, died at the age of 73
• 2002 ~ Marvin Paymer, Pianist, composer, musicologist and author, died of cancer. He was 81. His son, actor David Paymer, told the Los Angeles Times that Paymer died in San Diego. In 1977, he co-founded and, until his retirement in 1993, served as associate director of the Pergolesi Research Center at City University of New York Graduate Center. Pergolesi was 18th century Italian composer Giovanni Battista Pergolesi. Paymer authenticated 13 Pergolesi compositions among hundreds of fakes attributed to the posthumously famous composer, who died at 26.
• 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
Original:
• 1951 ~ Bun Carlos (Brad Carlson), Musician, drummer with Cheap Trick
• 1951 ~ Brad Delp, Musician, guitarist, singer with Boston
• 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 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.
• 1864 ~ Richard Strauss, German composer and conductor. Strauss wrote in nearly every genre but is best known for his tone poems and operas.
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• 1874 ~ Richard Stohr, Composer
• 1896 ~ Friedrich Gottlieb Schwencke, Composer, died at the age of 72
• 1899 ~ George Frederick McKay, Composer
• 1900 ~ Charles Swinnerton Heap, Composer, died at the age of 53
• 1904 ~ Emil Frantisek Burian, Composer
• 1904 ~ Clarence “Pinetop” Smith, Jazz pianist and singer of Boogie Woogie Piano
• 1910 ~ Carmine Coppola, Composer and conductor
• 1912 ~ Mukhtar Ashrafi, Composer
• 1913 ~ Risë Stevens (Steenberg), American mezzo-soprano at the New York Metropolitan Opera
• 1924 ~ Théodore Dubois, French organist and composer, died at the age of 86
• 1926 ~ Carlisle Floyd, American opera composer
• 1927 ~ Josef Anton Reidl, Composer
• 1928 ~ King Oliver and his band recorded Tin Roof Blues for Vocalion Records.
• 1939 ~ Wilma Burgess, Country singer
• 1940 ~ Joey Dee (Joseph DiNicola), Singer with Joey Dee and The Starliters
• 1940 ~ The Ink Spots recorded Maybe on Decca Records. By September, 1940, the song had climbed to the number two position on the nation’s pop music charts.
• 1946 ~ John Lawton, Singer
• 1949 ~ Hank Williams sang a show-stopper on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. He sang the classic Lovesick Blues, one of his most beloved songs.
• 1951 ~ Bonnie Pointer, Grammy Award-winning singer (with sister Anita) in the Pointer Sisters
• 1955 ~ Marcel Louis Auguste Samuel-Rousseau, Composer, died at the age of 72
• 1961 ~ Roy Orbison was wrapping up a week at number one on the Billboard record chart with Running Scared, his first number one hit. Orbison recorded 23 hits for the pop charts, but only one other song made it to number one: Oh Pretty Woman in 1964. He came close with a number two effort, Crying, number four with Dream Baby and number five with Mean Woman Blues. Orbison was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, but suffered a fatal heart attack just one year later.
• 1964 ~ The group, Manfred Mann, recorded Do Wah Diddy Diddy
• 1966 ~ Janis Joplin made her first onstage appearance — at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco. She began her professional career at the age of 23 with Big Brother and The Holding Company. The group was a sensation at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. Piece of My Heart was the only hit to chart for the group in 1968. Big Brother and The Holding Company disbanded in 1972, though Joplin continued in a solo career with hits such as Down on Me and Me and Bobby McGee. Janis ‘Pearl’ Joplin died of a heroin overdose in Hollywood in October, 1970. The movie The Rose, starring Bette Midler, was inspired by the life of the rock star.
• 1966 ~ (I’m A) Road Runner by Jr Walker & The All-Stars peaked at #20
• 1966 ~ I Am A Rock by Simon and Garfunkel peaked at #3
• 1966 ~ “On A Clear Day You…” closed at Mark Hellinger NYC after 280 performances
• 1966 ~ Paint It, Black by The Rolling Stones peaked at #1
• 1966 ~ “Skyscraper” closed at Lunt Fontanne Theater NYC after 248 performances
• 1966 ~ Sloop John B by The Beach Boys hit #1 in the United Kingdom
• 1969 ~ “The Ballad Of John & Yoko” by The Beatles hit #1 in the United Kingdom
• 1969 ~ David Bowie released Space Oddity
• 1975 ~ Floro Manuel Ugarte, Composer, died at the age of 90
• 1976 ~ Australian band AC/DC began their first headline tour of Britain
• 1976 ~ The Beatles “Rock & Roll Music” LP was released in America
• 1977 ~ Dance & Shake Your Tambourine by Universal Robot Band peaked at #93
• 1977 ~ I Need A Man by Grace Jones peaked at #83
• 1977 ~ I’m Your Boogie Man by KC & Sunshine Band peaked at #1
• 1977 ~ Lonely Boy by Andrew Gold peaked at #7
• 1977 ~ The Pretender by Jackson Browne peaked at #58
• 1990 ~ Clyde McCoy, Jazz trumpeter, died at the age of 86
• 1995 ~ Lovelace Watkins, Singer, died at the age of 58
• 2001 ~ Amalia Mendoza, one of Mexico’s most famous singers of mariachi and ranchera music, died at the age of 78. She was famous for songs such as Echame a mi la Culpa (Put the Blame on Me) and Amarga Navidad (Bitter Christmas). Born in the Michoacan town of San Juan Huetamo in 1923, she was part of a family of noted musicians. Ranchera music is a kind of Mexican country music that overlaps with Mariachi music.
• 2001 ~ Ponn Yinn, a flutist of traditional Cambodian music and dance who survived the Khmer Rouge purge and helped preserve his country’s culture, died of a stroke at the age of 82. Yinn was working under Prince Norodom Sihanouk, then Gen. Lon Nol, for the Classical Symphony of the Army for the Royal Ballet, when the Khmer Rouge overthrew Cambodia’s government in 1975. Khmer Rouge forces found Yinn during their campaign to uncover and eliminate Cambodia’s intellectuals and artists. He begged for his life and claimed to be a steel worker who enjoyed playing the flute. He was allowed to live, but was forced to play a makeshift flute nightly into loudspeakers to drown out the screams of people being slaughtered in fields nearby. In 1979, Yinn crossed through minefields and escaped to Thailand. In a border refugee camp, Yinn headed the Khmer Classical Dance Troupe. At a time when Cambodian culture was believed to have been almost eradicated – a result of the Khmer Rouge’s genocide of 1 million to 2 million people, the troupe was discovered by Western visitors. Yinn settled in Long Beach in 1984, where he taught music for more than 20 years and continued to perform.
• 2015 ~ Ornette Coleman died at the age of 85. He was an American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s.
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