BIRTHDAYS Bob Shane [born Robert Schoen] (1934) Kingston Trio singer/guitarist/songwriter/co-founder [“Tom Dooley”] (died 2020) age 85 – long illness Don Everly (1937) The Everly Brothers singer/guitarist/songwriter/co-founder (died 2021) age 84 – unknown causes Ray “Eye Patch” Sawyer (1937) Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show singer/guitarist/percussionist/co-founder [“The Cover of the Rolling Stone”] (died 2018) age 81… Continue reading February 1 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS Franz Schubert (1797) composer [“Ave Maria”] (died 1828) age 31 – typhoid fever Eddie Cantor [born Edward Itzkowitz] (1892) singer/songwriter [“Makin’ Whoopee”/”If You Knew Susie”/”Merrily We Roll Along”], also actor (died 1964) age 72 – heart attack Mario Lanza [born Alfredo Cocozza] (1921) operatic tenor singer [“Be My Love”/”The Loveliest Night of the Year”],… Continue reading January 31 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS Joe Terry [born Joe Terranova] (1941) Danny and the Juniors lead baritone singer [“At the Hop”] (died 2019) age 78 – unknown causes Marty Balin [born Martyn Buchwald] (1942) Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship co-lead singer/guitarist/keyboardist/songwriter [“Miracles”] and solo singer/guitarist/keyboardist/songwriter (died 2018) age 76 – unknown causes Sandy Deanne [born Sandy Yaguda] (1945) Jay… Continue reading January 30 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS David Byron [born David Garrick] (1947) Uriah Heep lead singer/songwriter/co-founder [“Easy Livin’”] (died 1985) age 38 – alcohol-related complications Bill Kirchen (1948) Commander Cody and His Lost Airmen guitarist/singer/songwriter/co-founder [“Hot Rod Lincoln”] Tommy Ramone [born Tamás Erdélyi] (1949) The Ramones drummer/songwriter/co-founder (died 2014) age 65 – bile duct cancer Peter Baumann (1953) Tangerine Dream… Continue reading January 29 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS Arthur Rubenstein (1887) classical pianist (died 1982) age 95 – natural causes Bernard “Acker” Blik (1929) jazz clarinetist [“Stranger on the Shore”] (died 2014) age 85 – cancer Dick Taylor (1943) The Pretty Things guitarist/songwriter/co-founder Brian Keenan (1943) Manfred Mann drummer (died 1984) age 42 – heart attack Marty Fried (1944) the Cyrkle drummer… Continue reading January 28 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756) composer/pianist (died 1791) age 35 – unknown (more than 100 causes have been considered) Elmore James [born Elmore Brooks] (1918) blues guitarist/singer/songwriter [“King of the Slide Guitar”] (died 1963) age 45 – heart attack David Seville [born Ross Bagdasarian Sr.] (1919) singer/pianist [“Witch Doctor”] and creator and voice of Alvin… Continue reading January 27 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS Maria von Trapp (1905) Trapp Family Singers singer (died 1987) age 82 – heart failure Huey “Piano” Smith (1934) R&B pianist/songwriter [“Don’t You Just Know It”/”Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu”] Marshall Leib (1939) The Teddy Bears harmony singer/co-founder [“To Know Him is to Love Him”] (died 2002) age 63 – heart attack… Continue reading January 26 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS Etta James [born Jamesetta Hawkins] (1938) blues, jazz, and gospel singer [“At Last”] (died 2012) age 73 – leukemia Dave Walker (1945) Savoy Brown, Fleetwood Mac, and Black Sabbath singer/guitarist Andy Pratt (1947) singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist [“Avenging Annie”] Michael Cotten (1950) The Tubes keyboardist/songwriter/co-founder Malcolm Green (1953) Split Enz drummer/songwriter Andy Cox (1956) Fine Young Cannibals… Continue reading January 25 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS Zeke Carey (1933) The Flamingos second tenor singer [“I Only Have Eyes for You”] (died 1999) age 66 – cancer Doug Kershaw (1936) country and Cajun music fiddler/singer/songwriter Ray Stevens [born Harold Ragsdale] (1939) country singer/songwriter/keyboardist [“Everything is Beautiful”/”The Streak”] Neil Diamond (1941) singer/songwriter/guitarist Aaron Neville (1941) The Neville Brothers singer/songwriter/co-founder and solo singer/songwriter… Continue reading January 24 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS Ken Errair (1928) The Four Freshman singer (died 1969) age 41 – plane crash Joe Dowell (1940) singer [“Wooden Heart”] (died 2016) age 76 – heart attack Jerry Lawson (1944) The Persuasions lead singer/co-founder and solo singer (died 2019) age 75 – Guillain–Barré syndrome Anita Pointer (1948) The Pointer Sisters singer/songwriter/co-founder (died 2022) age… Continue reading January 23 Music History Report