BIRTHDAYS Tommy Evans (1927) The Drifters bass singer [“Fools Fall in Love”] (died 1984) age 57 – unknown causes Boxcar Willie [born Lecil Martin] (1931) country singer (died 1999) age 67 – leukemia Marshall Lytle (1933) Bill Haley & His Comets bassist (died 2012) age 79 – lung cancer Conway Twitty [born Harold Jenkins] (1933)… Continue reading September 1 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS Jerry Allison (1939) The Crickets drummer/songwriter/co-founder [“That’ll Be the Day”/”Peggy Sue”] (died 2022) age 82 – long illness Itzhak Perlman (1945) violinist/conductor Bob Welch (1945) Fleetwood Mac guitarist/singer/songwriter and solo guitarist/singer/songwriter [“Ebony Eyes,” “Sentimental Lady” ] (died 2012) age 66 – suicide by self-inflicted gunshot wound Sir George “Van” Morrison (1945) Them singer/saxophonist/harmonica player/songwriter/co-founder… Continue reading August 31 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS Kitty Wells [born Ellen Deason] (1919) singer/songwriter/guitarist [“It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels”] (died 2012) age 92 – stroke “Papa John” Phillips (1935) The Mamas & The Papas singer/songwriter/founder (died 2001) age 65 – heart failure Charles Colbert (1939) American Breed bassist/co-founder [“Bend Me, Shape Me”] John McNally (1941) The Searchers lead… Continue reading August 30 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS Charlie “Bird” Parker Jr. (1920) jazz saxophonist [“Billie’s Bounce”/”Ornithology”] (died 1955) age 34 – lobar pneumonia and bleeding ulcer Dinah Washington (1924) blues and R&B singer/pianist [“Unforgettable”/”Teach Me Tonight”/”What a Diff’rence a Day Makes”/”TV is the Thing (This Year)”] (died 1963) age 39 – drug overdose Sterling Morrison (1942) Velvet Underground guitarist/bassist/co-founder (died 1995)… Continue reading August 29 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS Tommy Sands (1937) singer/guitarist [“Teen-Age Crush”], also actor Daryl Dragon (1942) The Captain and Tennille keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist/songwriter/co-founder [“Love Will Keep Us Together”/”Muskrat Love”/”Shop Around”] (died 2019) age 76 – renal failure Tim Bogert (1944) Vanilla Fudge bassist/co-lead singer/songwriter/co-founder [“You Keep Me Hangin’ On”] (died 2021) age 76 – cancer Cuba Gooding Sr. (1944) The Main… Continue reading August 27 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS Jet Black [born Brian Duffy] (1938) Stranglers drummer/co-founder [current] Fred Milano (1939) Dion and the Belmonts second tenor/co-founder (died 2012) age 72 – lung cancer Vic Dana (1940) singer/dancer [“Red Roses for a Blue Lady”] Chris Curtis [born Christopher Crummey] (1941) The Searchers drummer/songwriter/singer (died 2005) age 63 – long illness Maureen “Moe” Tucker… Continue reading August 26 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS Leonard Bernstein (1918) composer/conductor/pianist (died 1990) age 72 – mesothelioma-related heart attack Wayne Shorter (1933) jazz saxophonist (died 2023) age 89 – unknown causes Walter Williams (1943) The O’Jays baritone singer/co-founder [current] Keith Tippett [born Keith Tippetts] (1947) King Crimson pianist (died 2020) age 72 – heart attack Gene Simmons [born Chaim Witz] (1949)… Continue reading August 25 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS Mason Williams (1938) guitarist/singer/songwriter/composer [“Classical Gas”] David Freiberg (1938) Quicksilver Messenger Service bassist/guitarist/co-founder [current], Jefferson Starship bassist/guitarist/singer/keyboardist/co-founder [current], and Jefferson Airplane singer Ernest Wright Jr. (1941) Little Anthony and the Imperials singer/songwriter/co-founder Jimmy Soul [born James McCleese] (1942) soul singer [“If You Wanna Be Happy”] (died 1988) age 45 – drug-related heart attack Marshall… Continue reading August 24 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS Gene Kelly (1912) dancer/singer/actor [“Singin’ in the Rain”] (died 1996) age 83 – stroke complications Rudy Lewis [born Charles Harrell] (1936) the Drifters lead singer [“Up on the Roof”/”On Broadway”] (died 1964) age 27 – probable drug overdose Pete Shannon [born Peter Harris] (1941) The Nashville Teens bassist/guitarist/co-founder [“Tobacco Road”] Jim Sohns (1946) The… Continue reading August 23 Music History Report