BIRTHDAYS Lou Rawls (1933) singer [“Love is a Hurtin’ Thing”/”You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine”] (died 2006) age 72 – cancer Billy Paul (1934) soul singer [“Me and Mrs. Jones”] (died 2016) age 81 – pancreatic cancer Sandy Nelson (1938) The Teddy Bears drummer/co-founder [“To Know Him is to Love Him”] and solo drummer… Continue reading December 1 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS Allan Sherman [born Allan Copelon] (1924) song parodist/songwriter [“Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh”/”The Twelve Gifts of Christmas”], also actor (died 1973) age 48 – emphysema Dick Clark (1929) “American Bandstand” host (died 2012) age 82 – heart attack Luther Ingram (1937) R&B and soul singer/songwriter [“(If Loving You is Wrong) I Don’t Want to Be… Continue reading November 30 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS Merle Travis (1917) country singer/songwriter [“Sixteen Tons”]/inventor of the first solid-body electric guitar (died 1983) age 65 – heart attack John Mayall (1933) John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers singer/guitarist/songwriter/founder Meco [born Domenico Monardo] (1939) trombonist/arranger [“Theme From ‘Star Wars’”] Denny Doherty (1940) The Mamas & The Papas singer/songwriter/co-founder (died 2007) age 66 – kidney… Continue reading November 29 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS Berry Gordy Jr. (1929) producer/songwriter/founder of Motown Records and Tamla Records Gary Troxel (1939) The Fleetwoods singer/songwriter/co-founder [“Come Softly to Me”] Bruce Channel [born Bruce McMeans] (1940) singer/songwriter [“Hey! Baby”] Clem Curtis (1940) The Foundations lead singer/co-founder [“Build Me Up Buttercup”] (died 2017) age 76 – lung cancer Randy Newman (1943) singer/songwriter/pianist/composer/arranger [“Short People”/”I… Continue reading November 28 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS Al “The Human Timekeeper” Jackson Jr. (1935) Booker T. & the M.G.’s drummer/songwriter/co-founder [“Green Onions”/”Time is Tight”] (died 1975) age 39 – murdered Eddie Rabbitt (1941) country singer/songwriter/guitarist [“I Love a Rainy Night”/”Drivin’ My Life Away”/”Every Which Way But Loose”] (died 1998) age 56 – lung cancer James Marshall “Jimi” Hendrix [born Johnny Hendrix]… Continue reading November 27 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS Robert Goulet (1933) singer, also actor (died 2007) age 73 – idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis David White (1939) Danny & the Juniors singer/songwriter/founder “At the Hop”/”You Don’t Own Me”] (died 2019) age 79 – cancer Tina Turner [born Annie Mae Bullock] (1939) Ike & Tina Turner singer/songwriter/co-founder [“Proud Mary”/”Nutbush City Limits”] and solo singer/songwriter (died… Continue reading November 26 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS Percy Sledge (1940) R&B and soul singer [“When a Man Loves a Woman”] (died 2015) age 74 – liver cancer Bev Bevan (1944) The Move and Electric Light Orchestra drummer/songwriter/co-founder Amy Grant (1960) singer/songwriter/guitarist Mark Lanegan (1964) Screaming Trees lead singer/songwriter/guitarist/keyboardist/co-founder [“Nearly Lost You”/”All I Know”], Queens of the Stone Age co-lead singer/songwriter/keyboardist and… Continue reading November 25 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS Scott Joplin (1867 or 1868) composer/pianist/multi-instrumentalist [“King of Ragtime”] [“The Entertainer”/Maple Leaf Rag”] (died 1917) age 48 or 49 – syphilitic dementia Tommy Allsup (1931) Buddy Holly’s Crickets guitarist (died 2017) age 85 – hernia surgery complications Jim Yester (1939) The Association guitarist/keyboardist/singer [current] [“Along Come Mary”/”Windy”/”Never My Love”] Pete Best [born Randolph Scanland]… Continue reading November 24 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS Johnny Mandel (1925) composer/arranger [“Suicide is Painless”] (died 2020) age 94 – heart ailment Betty Everett (1939) soul singer/pianist [“The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s in His Kiss)”] (died 2001) age 61 – heart attack Freddie Marsden (1940) Gerry and the Pacemakers drummer/co-founder [“Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying”/”Ferry Cross the Mersey”] (died 2006)… Continue reading November 23 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS Hoagland “Hoagy” Carmichael (1899) composer/pianist/bandleader/singer [“Heart and Soul”/”Georgia on My Mind”] (died 1981) age 82 – heart failure Jesse Colin Young (1941) The Youngbloods lead singer/songwriter/co-founder [“Get Together”] and solo singer/songwriter/guitarist/bassist Terry Stafford (1941) singer/songwriter [“Suspicion”] (died 1996) age 54 – liver failure Floyd Sneed (1942) Three Dog Night drummer Stephen Caldwell (1942) The… Continue reading November 22 Music History Report