Pick a Day

Music History Events: Births

May 9, 1914 Country singer Hank Snow is born Clarence Eugene Snow is born in Brooklyn, Nova Scotia, Canada.

April 4, 1914 Singer and actress Frances Langford is born Julia Frances Langford in Hernando, Florida.

March 30, 1914 Blues harmonica player Sonny Boy Williamson is born John Lee Williamson in Jackson, Tennessee. An influential musician known for playing the harmonica as the lead instrument, he becomes an early victim of identity theft when another bluesman impersonates him and assumes his name. That musician, often referred to as Sonny Boy Williamson II, becomes more famous, known for writing blues standards like "Help Me" and "One Way Out."

March 19, 1914 Actress/singer Patricia Morison is born in New York City.

March 11, 1914 Art Todd is born in Baltimore, Maryland. Billed as Art and Dotty Todd, he forms a singing duo with wife Dotty in the '50s.

February 18, 1914 Country singer Pee Wee King, co-writer of "Tennessee Waltz," is born Julius Frank Anthony Kuczynski in Abrams, Wisconsin.

February 12, 1914 Saxophonist Tex Beneke, who solos on the Glenn Miller Orchestra's "In The Mood," is born in Fort Worth, Texas.

February 11, 1914 Matt Dennis is born in Seattle, Washington. Among many other tunes, he composes the pop standard "Everything Happens to Me," first recorded by the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra featuring Frank Sinatra.

February 11, 1914 Bluesman Josh White is born in Greenville, South Carolina.

February 10, 1914 Renowned harmonica player Larry Adler is born in Baltimore, Maryland.

February 9, 1914 Ernest Tubb is born in Crisp, Texas.

December 25, 1913 Singer/actor Tony Martin is born Alvin Morris in San Francisco, California. A steady presence on the pop charts throughout the '40s and '50s, his biggest hits are 1940's "It's a Blue World" (#2) and 1949's "There's No Tomorrow" (#2).

December 1, 1913 Broadway performer Mary Martin, star of the original productions of The Sound of Music and South Pacific, is born in Weatherford, Texas.

October 26, 1913 Jazz saxophonist Charlie Barnet is born in New York City. Known for a hit rendition of "Cherokee" and the 1944 swing hit "Skyliner."

October 15, 1913 David Carroll - arranger, conductor and musical director (for Mercury Records) - is born in Taylorville, Illinois. Known for his hit versions of "Melody of Love" in the '50s.

October 1, 1913 Producer/composer Charles Randolph Grean is born. Wrote the popular 1950 novelty song "The Thing."

August 23, 1913 Bob Crosby, Dixieland bandleader and swing singer (of the Bob-Cats), is born in Spokane, Washington. He is one of seven siblings, one of them another famous entertainer: Bing Crosby.

July 15, 1913 Country singer Cowboy Copas is born Lloyd Estel Copas in Blue Creek, Ohio.

July 5, 1913 R&B singer and guitarist Smiley Lewis, known for the 1955 hit "I Hear You Knocking," is born Overton Amos Lemons in DeQuincy, Louisiana.

June 22, 1913 Pop singer Dotty Todd is born Doris Dabb in Elizabeth, New Jersey. She and her husband will form the '50s singing duo Art and Dotty Todd, known for the UK hits "Broken Wings" and "Chanson D'Amour."

May 16, 1913 Woody Herman, jazz clarinetist and saxophonist, is born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

April 13, 1913 Western Swing fiddler "Pappy" Wade Ray is born in Evansville, Indiana.

April 4, 1913 Chicago blues legend Muddy Waters is born McKinley Morganfield in Rolling Fork, Mississippi.

March 30, 1913 Frankie Laine is born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio in Chicago.

January 26, 1913 Composer Jimmy Van Heusen, who teams with lyricist Sammy Cahn to write a number of hits, including "Come Fly With Me" for Frank Sinatra, is born Edward Chester Babcock in Syracuse, New York.

January 25, 1913 Polish composer Witold Lutoslawski is born.

January 17, 1913 Jazz tenor saxophonist and clarinetist Vido Musso is born in Carini, Italy.

December 5, 1912 Blues legend Sonny Boy Williamson, author of "Eyesight To The Blind" and "One Way Out," is born Alex "Rice" Miller in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi. This is the date he claims he was born, but his headstone (erected 12 years after his death) reads March 11, 1908. He became Sonny Boy Williamson after impersonating another blues musician with that name, and is often referred to as Sonny Boy Williamson II so they don't get mixed up.

November 24, 1912 Jazz pianist Teddy Wilson is born in Austin, Texas. He works with a host of influential performers, including Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, and Lena Horne.

October 31, 1912 Western singer-songwriter Dale Evans is born Lucille Wood Smith (changed to Frances Octavia Smith soon after) in Uvalde, Texas. She meets screen partner Roy Rogers in 1944 and the pair marry in 1947.