Pick a Day

Music History Events: Births

August 2, 1910 Scottish playwright Roger MacDougall ("The Emperor Of Lancashire") is born in Glasgow.

June 23, 1907 Eddie Pola, co-writer of the Christmas classic "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," is born in New York City.

December 31, 1905 The composer Jule Styne is born Julius Kerwin Stein in London.

March 11, 1905 Songwriter Michael Carr is born Maurice Alfred Cohen. His credits include the Shadows hit "Kon-Tiki."

May 2, 1904 Broadcaster, singer and occasional lyricist Wilfrid Coad Thomas is born in Britain. Wrote the English lyrics to "Rose, Rose, I Love You," recorded by Frankie Laine in 1951.

October 20, 1901 Film composer Frank Churchill is born in Rumford, Maine. Known for his work on Disney films, including memorable songs for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, like "Heigh-Ho."

August 15, 1901 Songwriter Ned Washington ("Wild Is The Wind," "Theme From 'The Unforgiven'") is born in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

July 8, 1900 Avant-garde composer George Antheil is born Georg Johann Carl Antheil in Trenton, New Jersey.

January 28, 1900 Composer Michael Head is born Michael Dewar Head in Eastbourne, England.

January 3, 1900 Lawyer turned composer Maurice Jaubert is born in Nice, France.

January 9, 1898 Music hall star Gracie Fields is born Grace Stansfield at Rochdale, Lancashire, England.

January 25, 1897 Blind Willie Johnson, known best for "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground," is born in Pendleton, Texas.More

April 8, 1896 Edgar Yipsel Harburg, known as "Yip," is born in New York City. He co-writes many popular songs, including "Over The Rainbow" and "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime."

January 27, 1895 Film producer, record executive and occasional lyricist Buddy DeSylva is born George Gard DeSylva in New York. He co-wrote the Al Jolson hit "April Showers."

May 10, 1894 Composer Dimitri Tiomkin is born Dimitri Zinovievich Tiomkin in the Ukraine.

February 8, 1894 Lonnie Johnson, one of the first blues guitarists, is born in New Orleans.

August 28, 1890 Poet and composer Ivor Gurney is born in Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England.

September 6, 1889 "April Showers" composer Louis Silvers is born in New York City.

April 11, 1889 Jazz musician Nick LaRocca, composer of the jazz classic "Tiger Rag," is born Dominic James LaRocca in New Orleans, Louisiana.

February 15, 1888 Frederick Lawrence Wright, founder of Melody Maker, is born at 23 Upper Conduit Street, Leicester.

January 31, 1882 Peter Dawson, famed Australian bass-baritone who made popular recordings of "Advance Australia Fair," "Waltzing Matilda," and "Song Of Australia," is born in Adelaide, South Australia, to Scottish parents Thomas and Alison Dawson.

October 7, 1879 Songwriter Joe Hill (Joseph Hillström) is born Joel Emmanuel Hägglund at Gävle, Sweden. His labor activism during the early 20th century in America influenced his most famous songs, including "The Preacher and the Slave" in 1911.

January 28, 1878 Hymn composer William Matthew Golden is born William M. Golding in Mississippi to James Golding and Camella Hood Golding.

December 30, 1865 The author, journalist and poet Rudyard Kipling is born in Bombay, Imperial India. The Joni Mitchell song "If" is based on his poem of the same name.

December 3, 1863 Gussie Davis, the first popular black Tin Pan Alley composer, is born in Dayton, Ohio.

April 15, 1861 Poet William Bliss Carman ("Soft Was The Wind") is born in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.

June 25, 1860 The composer Gustave Charpentier is born at Dieuze, France.

November 9, 1845 Elizabeth Reed Napier is born. She provides the title for the The Allman Brothers Band song "In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed" when Dickey Betts sees her headstone at Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon, Georgia.

January 21, 1834 Peter Dodds McCormick, the man who is best known for the patriotic tune, "Advance Australia Fair", is born in Glasgow, Scotland. Though his date of birth is usually given as being on an unknown date in 1834, this is a little off. Twenty-two years later, he would emigrate to Sydney, Australia, where in 1878, he would compose his famous tune, as well as many other patriotic songs, most of which were Scottish tunes. A little side note, one of Peter's siblings, most likely a brother, was credited as having invented the life jacket.

December 8, 1828 Martha Ella Blocksom, subject of the song "Lorena," is born in Zanesville, Ohio.