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December 1, 1954 Fred Rose, country music songwriter and publisher, dies in Nashville, Tennessee, in his mid-50's. Started the first Nashville-based music publishing company with Roy Acuff. Among many others, known for writing the songs "Crazy Heart" and "Take These Chains From My Heart" for Hank Williams and "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain," made famous by Willie Nelson.
November 23, 1954 Singer-songwriter Bruce Hornsby is born in Williamsburg, Virginia. He has a string of hits in the late '80s, including "The Valley Road" and the chart-topper "The Way It Is." From 1990-1992 he tours with the Grateful Dead as a keyboard player.
November 22, 1954 Craig Huxley, film and soundtrack producer, is born Craig Hundley in Hollywood, California. He starts his career as a child actor with guest roles on Star Trek, Bewitched, and The Brady Bunch. As a producer and arranger, he works with scores of artists, including Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder.
November 19, 1954 While driving from Vegas to Los Angeles, Sammy Davis, Jr. crashes into another car on Route 66 in San Bernardino, California, and three days later, permanently loses use of his left eye. While in the hospital, friend Eddie Cantor tells Davis about the twin struggles of the Jewish and African-Americans, leading Davis to convert to Judaism. (The accident, paradoxically, increased his popularity.)
November 15, 1954 Tony Thompson (drummer for The Power Station and Chic) is born in Queens, New York City.
November 15, 1954 Joan Weber sings "Let Me Go, Lover" on the CBS Studio One variety show, sending the song up the charts to #1 in America.
November 4, 1954 Rock musician and songwriter Chris Difford (of Squeeze) is born in Greenwich, London, England.
November 1, 1954 Chris Morris (guitarist for Paper Lace) is born in Nottingham, England.
October 23, 1954 Elvis Presley's second Sun single, "Blue Moon Of Kentucky," breaks out in Nashville and New Orleans, becoming his first chart hit outside of his native Memphis.
October 17, 1954 Sun Records signs John R. Cash, recently discharged from the Air Force, to a record deal, where he joins Elvis Presley on the roster. Label boss Sam Phillips renames him Johnny Cash.
October 10, 1954 Longtime Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth is born in Bloomington, Indiana. Wildly extroverted, he's one of the most flamboyant frontmen in rock and helps the band earn lots of airtime on early MTV. As a solo artist, his hits include the MTV favorites "California Girls" (a Beach Boys cover) and "Just Like Paradise."
October 6, 1954 David Hidalgo (guitarist/vocalist for Los Lobos) is born in Los Angeles, California.
September 30, 1954 R&B performer Patrice Rushen is born in Los Angeles, California. Known for her 1982 single "Forget Me Nots," which earned her a Grammy Nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.
September 29, 1954 The original musical version of A Star Is Born, featuring Judy Garland, opens in Hollywood. The first non-musical version debuted in 1932 as What Price Hollywood?, starring Constance Bennett.
September 26, 1954 Guitarist Craig Chaquico (of Jefferson Airplane) is born in San Francisco, California.
September 14, 1954 Barry Cowsill (drummer, then bassist for The Cowsills) is born in Newport, Rhode Island.
September 9, 1954 Rising young star Elvis Presley performs at the opening of Memphis' Lamar-Airways shopping mall, and, afterward, meets audience member Johnny Cash for the first time.
September 8, 1954 The DJ Alan Freed makes his move from Cleveland to New York, where he begins broadcasting his "Alan Freed Rock 'n' Roll Show" on WINS. The first white DJ to play black music, Freed brings R&B music to a wider audience in New York, and the sound quickly goes mainstream with the rise of Elvis and the popularization of rock music.
August 21, 1954 Drummer Steve Smith (of Focus and Journey) is born in Whitman, Massachusetts.
August 11, 1954 Guitarist Bryan Bassett (of Wild Cherry) is born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
August 11, 1954 Singer/musician Joe Jackson is born David Ian Jackson in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England.
July 28, 1954 Guitarist Steve Morse is born in Hamilton, Ohio. After forming The Dixie Dregs, he joins Deep Purple in 1994.
July 18, 1954 Country/bluegrass singer Ricky Skaggs is born in Cordell, Kentucky.
July 8, 1954 Dewey Phillips at WHBQ in Memphis becomes the first DJ to play an Elvis Presley song when he spins "That's Alright Mama" on his Red Hot & Blue show. The switchboard lights up, so Phillips keeps playing the song, giving Elvis some prime publicity early in his career.
July 5, 1954 Elvis Presley makes his first professional recording, putting down "That's All Right" at Sun Studio in Memphis.
July 2, 1954 Pete Briquette (bassist for The Boomtown Rats) is born Patrick Martin Cusack in Ballyjamesduff, County Cavan, Ireland. His stage name is a nod to his homeland, where peat briquettes were burned for heat.
June 17, 1954 Danny Cedrone, guitarist featured on Bill Haley & His Comets' "Rock Around The Clock," dies at age 33 after falling down stairs and breaking his neck.
June 16, 1954 Garry Roberts (lead guitarist for The Boomtown Rats) is born in Dublin, Ireland.
June 8, 1954 Greg Ginn (guitarist for Black Flag) is born in Tucson, Arizona.
June 5, 1954 Jazz drummer Pete Erskine (of Weather Report) is born in Somers Point, New Jersey.
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