February 5, 1941 Barrett Strong, who teams with producer Norman Whitfield to write a number of Motown hits, including "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," is born in West Point, Mississippi.
January 13, 1941 Glenn Miller makes the vocal group The Modernaires a part of his band. The quartet soon adds a female member, Paula Kelly, and appears on some of Miller's most popular songs, including "Chattanooga Choo Choo" and "That Old Black Magic."
December 26, 1940 Famed record producer Phil Spector is born in The Bronx, New York. He moves to Los Angeles in his teens and develops his "wall of sound" recording technique, heard on classic songs like "Be My Baby" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'." He goes on to produce The Beatles' Let It Be album and also solo albums for George Harrison and John Lennon.
October 18, 1940 Songwriter Cynthia Weil is born in New York. Known for her work with husband Barry Mann, including "On Broadway," "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling," and "We Gotta Get Out of This Place," to name a few.
September 19, 1940 Singer/songwriter Paul Williams is born in Omaha, Nebraska. A TV fixture in the '70s and '80s, he also writes many popular songs, including Three Dog Night's "An Old Fashioned Love Song," the Carpenters' "We've Only Just Begun," and David Bowie's "Fill Your Heart."
July 20, 1940 The industry publication Billboard combines their sales charts for the first time, including all major labels. The first #1 is Tommy Dorsey's "I'll Never Smile Again," with vocals by Frank Sinatra.
May 19, 1940 Mickey Newbury, who penned a record-breaking string of hits across four different charts in 1968, including The First Edition's "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)," is born in Houston, Texas.
February 17, 1940 Gene Pitney is born in Hartford, Connecticut. He has a string of hits in the '60s, including "(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance" and "Only Love Can Break A Heart."
August 9, 1939 Billy Henderson, a founding member of The Spinners, is born in Detroit, Michigan.
February 9, 1939 Barry Mann is born Barry Imberman in Brooklyn, New York City. He teams with wife Cynthia Weil to write a number of classic hits, including "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'."
May 10, 1938 Henry Fambrough, a founding member of The Spinners, is born in Detroit. He keeps the group going into the 2020s with various lineups.
April 3, 1938 Songwriter Jeff Barry is born Joel Adelberg in Brooklyn, New York. In 1964, 17 songs he co-wrote make the Hot 100, including three chart-toppers: "Do Wah Diddy Diddy," "Chapel Of Love" and "Leader of the Pack."
January 25, 1938 Blues singer Etta James, known for the enduring ballad "At Last," is born Jamesetta Hawkins in Los Angeles, California.More
November 19, 1937 Geoff Goddard (keyboardist on The Tornados' "Telstar") is born in Reading, Berkshire, England. Wrote John Leyton's hit UK single "Johnny Remember Me" (1961).
September 7, 1936 Buddy Holly is born. He lives just 22 years but influences many of the biggest stars of the '60s, including The Beatles. Don McLean's "American Pie" is about his death.
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.
December 26, 1935 Duke Fakir, a founding member of The Four Tops, is born Abdul Fakir in Detroit.
November 12, 1934 Charles Manson is born. Why is he on a music calendar? He wrote and recorded songs before he was imprisoned, including one called "Cease To Exist," which Dennis Wilson re-wrote for The Beach Boys as "Never Learn Not to Love."
June 1, 1934 Pat Boone (birth name: Charles Eugene Boone) is born in Jacksonville, Florida.More
May 17, 1933 Weak from fighting tuberculosis, Jimmie Rodgers arrives in New York and starts recording his last songs. He dies nine days later.
March 13, 1933 Songwriter Mike Stoller is born in Long Island, New York. Along with his partner Jerry Leiber, he writes a slew of hits, including "Jailhouse Rock," "Yakety Yak" and "Stand By Me."
February 23, 1933 Daisy Canfield Danziger, oil heiress and estranged wife of silent screen star Antonio Moreno, dies on the way home from a party when her car careens off Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles. The music connection? Daisy allegedly haunts her former home, The Paramour Mansion, which has been the site of many album recording sessions, from My Chemical Romance's The Black Parade to Papa Roach's The Paramour Sessions.More
November 30, 1931 Teddy Wilburn (of the country duo The Wilburn Brothers) is born in Hardy, Arkansas. In addition to recording hit records, Teddy and brother Doyle start a music publishing company and sign an up-and-coming singer named Loretta Lynn.
September 24, 1931 Anthony Newley is born in London, England. The actor will also write a string of popular ballads with songwriting partner Leslie Bricusse, including "Feeling Good."
August 7, 1931 Herb Reed (founding member of The Platters) is born in Kansas City, Missouri.
November 12, 1930 Songwriter and music executive Bob Crewe is born Stanley Robert Crewe in Newark, New Jersey. Co-wrote many Four Seasons hits with Bob Gaudio, including "Big Girls Don't Cry" and "Walk Like a Man."
May 12, 1929 Burt Bacharach is born in Kansas City, Missouri.More
June 29, 1928 The Winterland Ballroom opens in San Francisco, California. It's an ice-skating rink that can be converted into a general entertainment venue for opera, boxing, and other events, costing a whopping (for 1928) $1 million to build. It will go on to become a concert location for many famous acts, including The Sex Pistols, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Peter Frampton, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, and Pink Floyd.
December 3, 1927 Columbia Records talent scout Frank Buckley Walker records Blind Willie Johnson, Billiken Johnson, and Coley Jones in Dallas, Texas. The recordings turn Johnson into one of the most popular musical acts of his time and capture his immortal "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground."
May 25, 1927 Norman Petty, recording engineer for Buddy Holly, is born in Clovis, New Mexico. He'll also produce hits for Roy Orbison and Waylon Jennings.
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