Music History

American singer and actress Helen Morgan, best known for her portrayal of Julie La Verne in the musical “Show Boat,” was born on August 2, 1900, in Danville, Illinois.

Louis Armstrong, jazz trumpeter, singer, and bandleader, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Composer and lyricist Ned Washington was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He wrote lyrics for the songs “Wild Is The Wind” and “Theme From The Unforgiven”.

Ray Bloch, arranger and orchestra conductor best known in part for his work on The Ed Sullivan Show, was born in Alsace-Lorraine.

Pianist Vladmir Horowitz was born in Berdychiv, Russia.

Austrian musicologist Leopold Nowak was born.

American jazz pianist, composer, organist and bandleader William James “Count” Basie was born in Red Bank, New Jersey. He became famous as the founder and leader of the Count Basie Orchestra.

American swing and jazz musician Ernie Fields was born in Nacogdoches, Texas. He grew up in Oklahoma and became known as the bandleader of the Royal Entertainers of Tulsa.

American Delta blues singer, songwriter and guitarist Arthur „Big Boy“ Crudup was born in Forest, Mississippi. He became known for songs including „That's All Right (Mama)“ and „My Baby Left Me“; „That's All Right (Mama)“ was later made famous by Elvis Presley.

Composer Paul Creston was born.

Greta Kraus, who later became a prominent Canadian harpsichordist, was born in Vienna.

Folk music documentarian Roger Tory Peterson was born.

Gospel baritone singer Tarzan Cooper was born.

Johnny Green, a four-time Academy Award-winning composer, arranger and conductor, was born in New York City. He is best known for his 1930 composition “Body and Soul.”

Composer and arranger Hugo Winterhalter was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

American trumpeter, bandleader and arranger Larry Clinton was born in Brooklyn, New York.

American jazz saxophonist Lester Young was born.

Scottish playwright, screenwriter, and director Roger MacDougall was born on August 2, 1910, in Glasgow.

American jazz drummer and bandleader Jonathan David Samuel Jones, known as “Papa” Jo Jones, was born in Chicago. From 1934 to 1948, he was a member of Count Basie's orchestra.

Vaughn Monroe, big-band leader, singer, trumpeter, and baritone, was born in Akron, Ohio. His signature song was “Racing With the Moon.”

Singer, dancer and actor Gene Kelly was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

American avant-garde composer, music theorist and philosopher John Cage was born in Los Angeles. He became famous for his experimental composition “4'33” from 1952, in which the musicians do not play their instruments and the surrounding sounds become part of the work.

Harry Mills of The Mills Brothers was born. The group made more than 2,000 recordings and sold over 50 million copies. In 1943, they reached No. 1 on the Billboard chart with “Paper Doll.”

Bandleader of the dixieland and swing group Bob-Cats and singer Bob Crosby was born in Spokane, Washington. He was one of seven siblings; one of them was another famous artist, Bing Crosby. He founded the Bob-Cats and was Bing Crosby's younger brother.

Jazz composer and pianist Graeme Bell was born in Richmond, Victoria, Australia.

Singer, songwriter and pianist Ivory Joe Hunter was born in Kirbyville, Texas. He became known for R&B hits such as “I Lost My Mind,” “I Need You So” and “Since I Met You Baby”; some of his songs were later recorded by Elvis Presley.

American baritone singer Al Hibbler, who sang with Duke Ellington's orchestra and later had success as a solo artist, was born.

R&B singer and rock and roll pioneer Wynonie Harris was born in Omaha, Nebraska. In 1945 he scored his first No. 1 R&B hit with „Who Threw The Whiskey In The Well“.

American blues singer, pianist and songwriter John Len Chatman, known as Memphis Slim, was born in Memphis, Tennessee.

American singer and actress Martha Raye was born.

Canadian bassist Denis Harbour was born in Oka, Quebec.

Jazz trumpeter and bandleader Les Elgart was born in New Haven, Connecticut.

American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist John Lee Hooker was born in Coahoma County, Mississippi. He later became known for the songs “I'm in the Mood” and “Dimples” and a series of successful albums, including “The Healer” (1989), “Mr. Lucky” (1991), “Chill Out” (1995) and “Don't Look Back” (1997). He died on June 21, 2001, at the age of 83.

Country and Western swing musician Tex Williams, born Sollie Paul Williams, was born in Ramsey, Illinois. He became particularly famous for the song “Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)”, which reached number one on the chart.

Composer Laurindo Almeida was born.

Country music promoter Bob Neal was born. He represented Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Sonny James and Tom T. Hall, among others, and became Elvis Presley's second manager in 1955.

Influential jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. He composed numerous jazz standards, including “Round Midnight,” “Ruby, My Dear,” “Well, You Needn't” and “Blue Monk.”

Composer, conductor and pianist Leonard Bernstein was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He became known for his Broadway work, particularly the musical “West Side Story”, and at the age of 25 conducted the New York Philharmonic. During his career he received numerous major awards.

Folk and studio musician Alan Jardine was born.

American radio broadcaster and occasional recording artist Paul Harvey was born.

George Shearing was born in the Battersea district of London. He later became a British jazz pianist and composer, known among other works for the jazz compositions “Lullaby of Birdland” and “Conception”.

Jazz singer Frieda Lipschitz, known professionally as Georgia Gibbs, was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. She became famous for hits such as “Kiss of Fire”, “Dance With Me Henry (Wallflower)” and “If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake”.

Jazz saxophonist Irv Williams was born.

American country singer and songwriter Ellen Muriel Deason, known as Kitty Wells and the “Queen of Country Music”, was born in Nashville, Tennessee. Her 1952 hit “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” made her the first female country singer to reach No. 1 on the US country chart and the first female country star. Wells died on July 16, 2012, at the age of 92.

English singer Teddy Johnson was born. With his wife Pearl Carr, he formed an English husband-and-wife singing duo that was popular in the 1950s and early 1960s. They represented the United Kingdom at the 1959 Eurovision Song Contest and finished second with “Sing, Little Birdie.”

American jazz drummer and bandleader Art Blakey, also known as Arthur Blakey, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He worked with leading bebop musicians, including Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. In the mid-1950s, he co-founded the Jazz Messengers with Horace Silver and led the group for approximately 35 years. The band also became famous for helping develop young jazz talent. Blakey died of lung cancer on October 16, 1990, at the age of 71.

American jazz trumpeter, arranger, and composer Charlie Shavers was born in New York City. Early in his career, he gave 1917 as his birth year to circumvent child labor laws, which led to the incorrect year appearing in some older biographies.