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December 30, 1947 Electric Light Orchestra leader Jeff Lynne is born in Shard End, Birmingham, England. He becomes a top rock producer, helming acclaimed albums by Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and George Harrison. In 1988 he forms The Traveling Wilburys with those three guys and Bob Dylan.
December 29, 1947 Drummer Cozy Powell is born in Gloucestershire, England. He does stints in Black Sabbath and Rainbow, and also plays on albums for Whitesnake, Robert Plant, Brian May and many others. (Powell sometimes listed his date of birth as December 29, 1948, but the death register gives it as December 29, 1947.)
December 23, 1947 Three scientists at Bell Labs in New Jersey demonstrate the transistor, which leads to the invention of small, portable "transistor" radios. The scientists win the 1956 Nobel Prize for their work.
December 23, 1947 Graham Bonnet is born in Skegness, England. He'll go on to front the rock bands Alcatrazz and Rainbow.
December 20, 1947 Little Stevie Wright (lead singer for The Easybeats) is born in Leeds, England, but would be raised in Australia (Melbourne and Sydney).
December 12, 1947 Ralph Scala (keyboardist, vocalist for Blues Magoos) is born in The Bronx, New York.
December 6, 1947 Jazz bassist Miroslav Vitous (of Weather Report) is born in Prague, Czechoslovakia.
December 3, 1947 Patti Page records her first hit single, "Confess." Unable to find background singers due to a strike, Mercury Records sound engineer Bill Putnam overdubs Page's own vocals. It's the first-ever recording with overdubbed vocals.
November 28, 1947 Gary Taylor (bassist, rhythm guitarist for The Herd) is born Graham John Taylor in Walton-on-Thames, London, England.
November 17, 1947 Robert "Stewkey" Antoni (vocalist, keyboardist for The Nazz) is born in Newport, Rhode Island.
November 13, 1947 Toy Caldwell, the lead guitarist and primary songwriter in The Marshall Tucker Band, is born in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Instead of using a pick, he strums with his thumb, giving him a distinctive tone that helps set the band apart from other Southern rockers.
November 12, 1947 Blue Öyster Cult guitarist Buck Dharma is born Donald Brian Roeser in Long Island, New York. He writes their hit "(Don't Fear) The Reaper."
November 5, 1947 Peter Noone is born in Davyhulme, Manchester, England. He becomes lead singer of Herman's Hermits.
November 1, 1947 Songwriter Jim Steinman is born in Hewlett, New York. His bold, ornate love songs become huge hits for Meat Loaf ("I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)"), Bonnie Tyler ("Total Eclipse Of The Heart") and Celine Dion ("It's All Coming Back to Me Now").
October 21, 1947 Bass guitarist Tetsu Yamauchi (of The Faces and Free) is born in Fukuoka, Japan.
October 18, 1947 Celebrated songwriter Laura Nyro, whose compositions include "Wedding Bell Blues" and "And When I Die," is born in New York City. She dies of cancer in 1997 at age 49; in 2012 she is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
October 17, 1947 Michael McKean, who portrays frontman David St. Hubbins in the fictional band Spinal Tap, is born in New York City. He's also known as wacky neighbor Lenny Kosnowski on Laverne & Shirley and brilliant but troubled lawyer Chuck McGill on Better Call Saul.
October 16, 1947 Grateful Dead rhythm guitarist and co-founder Bob Weir is born in San Francisco, California. The youngest member of the band (just 17 when they form), he anchors them musically and often contributes to vocals and songwriting, including on "One More Saturday Night" and "Truckin'."
October 14, 1947 Al Atkins - the first frontman for Judas Priest - is born at West Bromwich, England.
October 13, 1947 Sammy Hagar is born in Salinas, California. After fronting the band Montrose and establishing himself as a solo artist with songs like "There's Only One Way To Rock" and "I Can't Drive 55," he replaces David Lee Roth as lead singer of Van Halen in 1985.
October 4, 1947 Jim Fielder (bassist for Buffalo Springfield, Mothers of Invention, Blood, Sweat & Tears) is born in Denton, Texas.
October 1, 1947 Bing Crosby broadcasts the first ever pre-recorded radio show when he airs his Philco Radio Time show on the ABC network using a magnetophon, a Nazi recording technology discovered and brought to America by US Army Corps Officer John Thomas "Jack" Mullin. The magnetophon leads to the evolution of multi-track recording technology, which revolutionizes the music industry. Crosby becomes an investor in the technology, which he uses so he doesn't have to always do his shows live.
September 28, 1947 Peter Hope-Evans (of Medicine Head) is born in Brecon, Powys, Wales. Known for the 1973 UK hit "One and One is One."
September 27, 1947 Meat Loaf is born Marvin Lee Aday in Dallas, Texas. He's often asked how he got his name, so he makes up a few stories, sometimes claiming a football coach told him he had "meat loaf for brains," and other times saying he looked like a wad of meat as an infant.
September 26, 1947 Country singer Lynn Anderson is born in Grand Forks, North Dakota, but would be raised in Fair Oaks, California. Known for the 1970 hit "(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden."
September 23, 1947 Don Grolnick is born in Brooklyn, New York, and grows up in nearby Levittown. The pop pianist/composer goes on to work with Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Steely Dan, and Carly Simon, among others.
September 18, 1947 The first-ever country music presentation is held at Carnegie Hall, featuring Ernest Tubb and Roy Acuff.
September 9, 1947 Freddy Weller (guitarist for Paul Revere and the Raiders) is born Wilton Frederick Weller in Atlanta, Georgia. Co-wrote Tommy Roe's 1970 hit, "Jam Up and Jelly Tight."
September 8, 1947 Ben Orr (lead singer/bassist for The Cars) is born Benjamin Orzechowski in Lakewood, Ohio.
August 24, 1947 Jim Fox (drummer for the James Gang) is born in Cleveland, Ohio.
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