BIRTHDAYS Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873) pianist/composer/conductor (died 1943) age 70 – melanoma Debbie Reynolds [born Mary Reynolds] (1932) singer [“Tammy”], also actress (died 2016) age 84 – stroke Rudy Isley (1939) The Isley Brothers singer/songwriter/co-founder (died 2023) age 84 – heart attack Tom Shipley (1941) Brewer & Shipley singer/guitarist/co-founder [current] [“One Toke Over the Line”] Philip… Continue reading April 1 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS Franz “Joseph” Haydn (1732) composer [“Father of the String Quartet”] (died 1809) age 77 – unknown causes William “Lefty” Frizzell (1928) country singer/songwriter/guitarist [“Saginaw, Michigan”/”If You’ve Got the Money (I’ve Got the Time)”] (died 1974) age 47 – stroke Shirley Jones (1934) The Partridge Family singer/”keyboardist”/tambourine player and solo singer, also actress Herb Alpert… Continue reading March 31 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS Frankie Laine (1913) singer/songwriter [“Mule Train”/”Blazing Saddles”] (died 2007) age 93 – heart failure Graeme Edge (1941) The Moody Blues drummer/songwriter/co-founder (died 2021) age 80 – cancer Jay Traynor (1943) Jay and the Americans lead singer/co-founder [“She Cried”] (died 2014) age 70 – liver cancer Eric Clapton (1945) The Yardbirds guitarist/songwriter/co-founder, John Mayall &… Continue reading March 30 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS Pearl Bailey (1918) singer [“Takes Two to Tango”], also actress (died 1990) age 72 – arteriosclerotic coronary artery disease Ray Davis (1940) The Parliaments/Parliament/Funkadelic bass singer/co-founder (died 2005) age 65 – respiratory problems Astrud Gilberto [born Astrud Weinert] (born 1940) samba and bossa nova singer [“The Girl from Ipanema”]/songwriter, also actress (died 2023) age… Continue reading March 29 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS Chuck Portz (1945) The Turtles bassist/songwriter/co-founder Milan Williams (1948) The Commodores keyboardist/songwriter/co-founder (died 2006) age 58 – cancer John Evan (1948) Jethro Tull keyboardist Reba McEntire (1955) country singer/songwriter [“Fancy”/”The Nights the Lights Went Out in Georgia”/”Consider Me Gone”/”Turn On the Radio”] Steve Turner (1965) Mudhoney lead guitarist/co-founder [current] Salt [born Cheryl James] (1966)… Continue reading March 28 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS Sarah Vaughan (1924) jazz singer (died 1990) age 66 – lung cancer Andy Brown (1946) Status Quo multi-instrumentalist/songwriter [current] Tony Banks (1950) Genesis keyboardist/guitarist/songwriter/co-founder [current] Wally Stocker (1953) The Babys lead guitarist/co-founder [current] [“Every Time I Think of You”/”Isn’t It Time”] and Air Supply guitarist Andrew Farriss (1959) INXS keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist/composer/co-founder Derrick McKenzie (1964) Jamiroquai… Continue reading March 27 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS Rufus Thomas Jr. (1917) R&B and soul singer/songwriter [“Walking the Dog”/”Do the Funky Chicken”] (died 2001) age 84 – heart failure Fred Parris (1936) The Five Satins lead singer/co-founder [current] [“In the Still of the Night”] (died 2022) age 85 – brief illness Diana Ross [born Diane Ross] (1944) The Supremes lead singer/co-founder and… Continue reading March 26 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS Johnny Burnette (1934) singer/songwriter [“You’re Sixteen”] (died 1964) age 30 – boating accident Hoyt Axton (1938) singer/guitarist/songwriter [“Della and the Dealer”/”When the Morning Comes”], also actor (died 1999) age 61 – heart attack Anita Bryant (1940) singer [“Paper Roses”] Aretha Franklin (1942) singer/songwriter/pianist (died 2018) age 76 – pancreatic cancer Sir Elton John [born… Continue reading March 25 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS Don Covay [born Don Randolph] (1936) singer [“Mercy, Mercy”/”Seesaw”] songwriter [“Pony Time”/”Chain of Fools”] (died 2015) age 78 – stroke Klaus Dinger (1946) Kraftwerk drummer/guitarist (died 2008) age 61 – heart failure Mike Kellie (1947) Spooky Tooth drummer/songwriter/co-founder (died 2017) age 69 – unknown illness Lee Oskar (1948) War harmonica player/songwriter/co-founder [current] Steve Lang… Continue reading March 24 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS Ric Ocasek [born Richard Otcasek] (1944) The Cars co-lead singer/songwriter/guitarist/co-founder [“current”], Milkwood, Richard and the Rabbits, and Orr and Ocasek co-lead singer/songwriter/guitarist/co-founder and solo singer/songwriter/guitarist [“Emotion in Motion”] (died 2019) age 70 – hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease Phil Lanzon (1950) Uriah Heep keyboardist/songwriter/co-lead singer [current] Chaka Khan [born Yvette Stevens] (1953) Rufus lead… Continue reading March 23 Music History Report