Music History

Baritone singer Doc Green of The Drifters was born in Harlem, New York.

American R&B musician James “Sugar Boy” Crawford is born. He wrote the 1954 song “Jock-A-Mo,” later made famous as “Iko Iko” in a version by The Dixie Cups.

Hank Cochran, an influential country singer and songwriter and co-writer of the hit “I Fall to Pieces,” was born on August 2, 1935, in Isola, Mississippi.

American soul singer Yusuf Hazziez, known as Joe Tex, was born in Rogers, Texas. He became famous for hits including “Hold What You've Got”, “Skinny Legs and All” and “I Gotcha”.

Country singer and songwriter Justin Tubb, son of Texas Troubadour Ernest Tubb, was born in San Antonio, Texas.

Singer Bob Markley, controversial co-founder of the West Coast Pop Experimental Art Band, was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

American singer, songwriter and guitarist “Papa” John Phillips was born on Parris Island, South Carolina. He was best known as the leading figure of the folk-rock group The Mamas & The Papas. The group had the 1965 hit “California Dreamin'”, the US No. 1 single “Monday Monday” in 1966 and the 1967 hit “Dedicated to the One I Love”. Phillips died of heart failure on March 18, 2001, at the age of 65.

American country and pop singer-songwriter Ronald “Ronnie” Dove was born on September 7, 1935, in Herndon, Virginia. He became known, among other things, for his popular cover of Wanda Jackson's “Right or Wrong”. In 1965, he had the US hit “One Kiss For Old Times' Sake” at No. 14.

English actress, singer, and author Julie Andrews, born Julia Elizabeth Wells, was born in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey. She later won an Academy Award for her leading role in “Mary Poppins” and also became famous as the star of “The Sound of Music”.

Opera tenor Luciano Pavarotti is born in Modena, Italy. He later becomes world-famous and a member of the vocal group The Three Tenors. Among his notable successes are the recording of “Nessun Dorma” and the album The Essential Pavarotti.

American jazz and R&B drummer Paul Humphrey is born. He played on Marvin Gaye’s album Let’s Get It On and also recorded with Steely Dan, Frank Zappa, Dusty Springfield, and Marc Bolan.

Sam Moore, born Samuel Hicks, is born in Miami, Florida. He later takes his stepfather’s surname and forms the soul and R&B duo Sam & Dave with singer Dave Prater. Their best-known hits include “Soul Man,” “I Thank You,” “Hold On, I’m Comin’,” and “You Don’t Know Like I Know.”

Gospel singer and songwriter Etterlene DeBarge was born. She was a member of the family vocal group DeBarge. The group's song "Rhythm of the Night" reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1985.

Kenny Hodges, bassist and singer with Spanky and Our Gang, was born in Jacksonville, Florida.

Elsbeary Hobbs, bassist and vocalist with The Drifters, was born in New York City.

Charles Pope ze skupiny The Tams se narodil v Atlantě ve státě Georgia.

“Godfather of go-go” Chuck Brown was born in Gaston, North Carolina. He later moved to Washington, D.C., and became a pioneer of the go-go style, best represented by his hit “Bustin' Loose”.

R&B singer Rudy Lewis of The Drifters, born Charles Rudolph Harrell, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Blues guitarist Willie Woods, a member of Junior Walker and the All Stars, was born.

Charles Hardin Holley, known as Buddy Holly, was born in Lubbock, Texas. His name was misspelled on his first recording contract, and he decided to keep the spelling. Holly, singer and songwriter with The Crickets, was one of the pioneers of rock'n'roll and had a major influence on The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and other stars of the 1960s. The Crickets had the US No. 1 hit “That'll Be The Day” in 1957, while Holly had the UK No. 1 single “It Doesn't Matter Anymore” in 1959 and more than 15 other UK Top 40 hits. He died at the age of 22 in a plane crash on February 3, 1959, alongside The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens. Don McLean's song “American Pie” is about his death.

American R&B and soul musician and producer Joe Simon was born in Simmesport, Louisiana. In 1975, he had the US hit “Get Down, Get Down On The Floor” at No. 8, and between 1964 and 1981 he had 51 hits on the US pop and R&B charts. He was also known for the hits “Power of Love” and “The Chokin’ Kind”. Some of his songs were later sampled by other artists, including OutKast and Lil' Kim. He died on December 13, 2021.

American jazz drummer Billy Higgins was born. Beginning in 1958, he played on early recordings by Ornette Coleman and worked with musicians including Donald Byrd, Dexter Gordon, Herbie Hancock, Don Cherry, Milt Jackson, Pat Metheny, Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins. He appeared on more than 700 recordings. He died on May 3, 2001, from kidney and liver failure.

Garth Hudson, the Canadian multi-instrumentalist, keyboardist, and saxophonist and one of the key members of The Band, was born on August 2, 1937, in Windsor, Ontario.

American producer, songwriter and arranger Shel Talmy was born in Chicago. He produced The Who's first album and many early recordings by The Kinks, including the hit “You Really Got Me.” He also produced “My Generation” by The Who and “Friday on My Mind” by The Easybeats. He died on November 13, 2024, aged 87.

Blues guitarist Roy Gaines was born; he later worked as a session musician and collaborated with numerous prominent artists.

American blues guitarist Luther Allison was born.

Scottish multi-instrumentalist Phil Shulman was born in the Gorbals district of Glasgow, Scotland. He was the eldest brother of Derek and Ray Shulman, and all three performed in the psychedelic group Simon Dupree and the Big Sound. Phil Shulman later became a member of the progressive rock band Gentle Giant, in which he performed during the 1970s.

American pop singer and actor Thomas “Tommy” Sands was born in Chicago, Illinois. He was best known for the 1956 single “Teen-Age Crush”, which reached No. 1.

English drummer Clemente "Clem" Cattini was born on August 28, 1937, in north London. He became known as a member of The Tornados and later as a sought-after session musician who played on a record 44 different UK No. 1 singles.

Bassist and session musician Joe Osborn was born in Mound, Louisiana. As a member of The Wrecking Crew, he played on recordings by The Mamas & the Papas, The Carpenters, The Association, and The 5th Dimension. He also played on “Bridge Over Troubled Water” by Simon & Garfunkel and “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” by The 5th Dimension and was also known for his work with the studio musicians’ group known as the A-Team.

Singer John Perkins of The Crew-Cuts was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The group was known for their 1954 hit “Sh-Boom”, a cover of the song by The Chords.

American steel guitarist Lloyd Green, one of the prominent studio musicians of Nashville's A-Team, was born in Leaf, Mississippi. He played on more than 5,000 recording sessions and contributed to 116 country hits that reached number one. In 1988, he was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame.

American doo-wop and progressive rock singer Carlo Mastrangelo was born in the Bronx, New York. He was a founding member of The Belmonts, performed with and without Dion, and later pursued progressive rock and jazz.

American singer, songwriter, and guitarist Chester “Chet” Powers was born in Danbury, Connecticut. He was also known as Dino Valenti, Dino Valente, and Jesse Oris Farrow. He was one of the lead singers of Quicksilver Messenger Service and wrote “Get Together,” which was made famous by The Youngbloods.

Pat Burke, tenor saxophonist with the British soul band The Foundations, was born in Kingston, Jamaica. The group scored the 1967 UK No. 1 single "Baby Now That I've Found You" and the 1969 US No. 3 single "Build Me Up A Buttercup."

Actress and singer Connie Stevens was born in Brooklyn, New York. In 1960, she had the hit "Sixteen Reasons", which reached No. 3.

David Cortez Clowney was born in Detroit, Michigan, later becoming known as Dave “Baby” Cortez.

Musician and founding member of the rock 'n' roll group Sha Na Na was born.

R&B and pop singer and actress Ketty Lester, best known for the 1962 hit "Love Letters", was born in Hope, Arkansas.

Singer and songwriter Ernie Maresca, the writer of several hits by Dion, was born in the Bronx, New York.

Country and pop singer, songwriter and producer Kenny Rogers was born in Houston, Texas. His best-known song “The Gambler” was released when he was 40 years old.

Lyricist and producer Roger Greenaway was born in Fishponds, Bristol, Gloucestershire. He was a member of David & Jonathan and The Kestrels and became known for his songwriting partnership with Roger Cook on songs including “My Baby Loves Lovin'”, “Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress”, “Gasoline Alley Bred”, “You've Got Your Troubles”, “Melting Pot”, “Good Morning Freedom”, “Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart” and “I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)”, which originally originated as a Coca-Cola advertising slogan.

American multi-instrumentalist and singer David Freiberg was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He became known as a bassist and member of Quicksilver Messenger Service, Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship.

Mason Williams was born in Abilene, Texas. In addition to working as a comedy writer for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and Saturday Night Live, he also worked as a guitarist and composer.

English drummer Brian John Duffy, known as Jet Black, was born in Ilford, England. He was one of the founding members of The Stranglers, who achieved major mainstream success, including with the 1982 single “Golden Brown”.

Teen idol Jimmy Clanton was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He became known for the swamp pop and R&B hits “Just a Dream” from 1958 and “Venus in Blue Jeans” from 1962.

Blues guitarist Earl Wade was born.

American blues, rock, and folk singer, songwriter, and guitarist Nick Gravenites was born. He was known for his work with Electric Flag, Janis Joplin, and Mike Bloomfield. He wrote several songs for Joplin, including “Work Me, Lord,” and produced the hit “One Toke Over the Line” for Brewer & Shipley and the album “Right Place, Wrong Time” for Otis Rush, for which he was nominated for a Grammy.

American rock 'n' roll and rockabilly singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist was born in Albert Lea, Minnesota. He became famous for songs including “Twenty Flight Rock,” “C’mon Everybody” and “Summertime Blues,” which reached No. 8 in the US in 1958; in 1960, “Three Steps To Heaven” reached No. 1 in Britain. He experimented with multitrack recording, distortion and overdubbing as early as his first singles and played guitar, piano, bass and drums. He died on April 17, 1960, at the age of 21 in a car accident while touring in Britain; songwriter Sharon Sheeley and singer Gene Vincent were also in the car and survived the crash.