Pick a Day

Music History Events: Births

May 14, 1936 Rock and roll singer Charlie Gracie, known for the 1957 hit "Butterfly," is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

May 7, 1936 Soul singer Jimmy Ruffin is born in Collinsville, Mississippi, to a family that will later include younger brother David Ruffin (of The Temptations).

May 2, 1936 English pop singer Engelbert Humperdinck is born Arnold George Dorsey in Madras, British India (present-day Chennai, India). He'll borrow his stage name from the German composer of the 1893 opera Hansel and Gretel.

April 29, 1936 Pop singer April Stevens is born Carol LoTempio in Niagara Falls, New York. She and her brother, Nino Tempo, will perform as a duo and win a Grammy Award for the 1963 single "Deep Purple."

April 17, 1936 "Robbin' the Cradle" (1959) singer Tony Bellus is born Anthony J. Bellusci in Chicago, Illinois.

April 16, 1936 Country entertainer Judy Lynn is born Judy Lynn Voiten in Boise, Idaho.

April 10, 1936 R&B singer Bobbie Smith (of The Spinners) is born in Detroit, Michigan.

April 4, 1936 Margo Sylvia, lead singer of The Tune Weavers (known for the 1957 hit "Happy, Happy Birthday Baby"), is born Margo Lopez.

March 26, 1936 Fred Parris, a founder of The Five Satins and composer of their hit "In The Still Of The Nite," is born in Connecticut.

March 22, 1936 Roger Whittaker is born in Nairobi, British Kenya.

March 15, 1936 Songwriter Howard Greenfield ("Breaking Up Is Hard To Do," "Oh! Carol") is born in Brooklyn, New York.

March 9, 1936 Country singer Mickey Gilley is born in Mississippi. His Gilley's Club outside of Houston is the setting for much of the 1980 movie Urban Cowboy.

March 4, 1936 Eric Allandale (of The Foundations) is born in Dominica, West Indies.

January 30, 1936 German jazz pianist Horst Jankowski is born in Berlin.

January 28, 1936 Country singer Bill Phillips, known for the 1966 hit "Put It Off Until Tomorrow," is born in Canton, North Carolina.

January 24, 1936 Canadian rock 'n roll singer Jack Scott is born Giovanni Domenico Scafone, Jr. in Windsor, Ontario.

January 24, 1936 Country singer/musician Doug Kershaw is born in Tiel Ridge in Cameron Parish, Louisiana.

January 21, 1936 Blues guitarist Snooks Eaglin is born in New Orleans, Louisiana.

January 15, 1936 Edward "Sonny" Bivins of The Manhattans is born in Macon, Georgia.

January 14, 1936 Clarence Carter is born blind in Montgomery, Alabama. He has a hit with the heart-rending "Patches" in 1970, and in 1986 he releases "Strokin'," a song too raunchy for radio that becomes a favorite at bars and weddings.

January 7, 1936 Jazz double-bass and cello player Eldee Young (Young/Holt Unlimited, The Ramsey Lewis Trio) is born Chicago, Illinois.

December 26, 1935 Duke Fakir, a founding member of The Four Tops, is born Abdul Fakir in Detroit.

December 23, 1935 R&B/jazz singer "Little" Esther Phillips is born Esther Mae Jones in Galveston, Texas. At age 14 she's discovered by Johnny Otis, a musician and talent scout, and soon lands her first hit with "Double Crossing Blues."

December 23, 1935 Johnny Kidd (of Johnny Kidd & the Pirates) is born Frederick Albert Heath in Willesden, North London, England.

December 11, 1935 Steel guitarist Tom Brumley (of Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, Stone Canyon Band) is born in Stella, Missouri.

December 9, 1935 Country singer David Houston is born Bossier City, Louisiana. His 1966 breakthrough hit "Almost Persuaded" spends nine weeks atop the Country chart - a feat not matched again until Taylor Swift's 2012 smash "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" goes on a 9-week run.

November 30, 1935 Country singer Jack Reno, who has a Top 10 hit in 1967 with "Repeat After Me," is born in Bloomfield, Iowa.

November 26, 1935 Actress and singer Marian Mercer is born in Akron, Ohio. Won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role in Promises, Promises, a 1968 musical based on the classic Jack Lemmon/Shirley MacLaine film The Apartment.

October 16, 1935 R&B singer Sugar Pie DeSanto is born Umpeylia Marsema Balinton in Brooklyn, New York. Known for her 1960 hit, "I Want to Know," and "Do I Make Myself Clear," a 1965 duet with Etta James.

October 15, 1935 Singer/songwriter Barry McGuire (of The New Christy Minstrels) is born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, but would be raised in California.