December 11, 1934 Bass baritone singer Curtis Williams (of The Penguins) is born in Los Angeles, California.
December 1, 1934 Soul singer Billy Paul ("Me And Mrs. Jones") is born in Philadelphia.
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."
September 8, 1934 Country singer Bill Parsons is born in Crossville, Tennessee. Known for his association with Bobby Bare, who was the real voice on the 1959 hit "The All American Boy," which was mistakenly credited to co-writer Parsons.
August 20, 1934 Country/rock musician "Sneaky" Pete Kleinow (of The Flying Burrito Brothers) is born in South Bend, Indiana.
August 9, 1934 Country singer-songwriter Merle Kilgore is born in Chickasha, Oklahoma. Co-wrote "Ring of Fire" with June Carter Cash.
July 24, 1934 Jazz drummer Rudy Collins, who performed with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie and Cab Calloway, is born in New York City.
July 2, 1934 Folk singer Tom Springfield (of The Springfields) is born Dionysius P. A. O'Brien in Hampstead, London, England. He'll welcome sister Dusty Springfield a few years later.
June 30, 1934 Adolf Hitler begins Operation Hummingbird, the Röhm Putsch, or the Night of the Long Knives which culminates in the murder of Ernst Röhm on July 2. Al Stewart later writes a song about it called "The Last Day Of June 1934."
June 1, 1934 Pat Boone (birth name: Charles Eugene Boone) is born in Jacksonville, Florida.More
April 24, 1934 Country singer Red Foley and his second wife, Eva Alaine Overstake, welcome baby daughter Shirley Lee Foley. Shirley will marry pop singer Pat Boone in 1953.
April 17, 1934 Record producer and songwriter Don Kirshner (The Monkees, The Archies, Kansas) is born in The Bronx, New York City.
April 1, 1934 Country singer-songwriter Jim Ed Brown (The Browns) is born in Sparkman, Arkansas. Aside from forming The Browns with his two sisters, he'll find fame as a solo artist and frequent duet partner of Helen Cornelius ("I Don't Want To Have To Marry You").
March 31, 1934 Actress/singer Shirley Jones is born in Charleroi, Pennsylvania. After staring in various musicals, she plays Shirley, the matriarch of The Partridge Family on their TV show from 1970-1974. She and David Cassidy, who plays Keith Partridge, are the only cast members to actually sing on their songs.
March 31, 1934 John D. Loudermilk is born in Durham, North Carolina. He records as "Johnny Dee," but has his biggest success as a songwriter, composing "Tobacco Road" and "Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian)," a #1 hit for the Raiders in 1971.
March 4, 1934 Singer/actress Barbara McNair is born in Chicago, Illinois. She releases her debut single, "Till There Was You," in 1958 and goes on to tour with Nat King Cole.
February 7, 1934 Saxophonist King Curtis is born Curtis Montgomery in Fort Worth, Texas. He plays the distinctive solo on The Coasters' hit "Yakety Yak."
February 7, 1934 Earl King is born Earl Silas Johnson IV in New Orleans, Louisiana. Composer of the blues standard "Come On" (aka "Let The Good Times Roll"), among others.
January 16, 1934 Bob Bogle (lead guitarist, bassist for The Ventures) is born in Oklahoma.
November 21, 1933 Country singer Jean Shepard is born Ollie Imogene Shepard in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma. Her biggest hit was 1953's "A Dear John Letter," a duet with Ferlin Husky, which topped the country chart and peaked at #4 on the pop chart.
October 17, 1933 Jeanne Deckers, "The Singing Nun," is born in Brussels, Belgium. In 1963, she has a #1 hit in America with "Dominique."
September 30, 1933 Gospel/soul singer Cissy Houston is born Emily Drinkard in Newark, New Jersey. She gives birth to future superstar Whitney Houston in 1963.
September 24, 1933 Mel Taylor (drummer for The Ventures) is born in New York City to a family that will include future Canned Heat bassist Larry Taylor.
September 15, 1933 Pop singer Pat Barrett (of The Crew-Cuts) is born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Known for the 1954 hit "Sh-Boom," a cover of the Chords' song.
August 15, 1933 Country singer Bobby Helms is born in Bloomington, Indiana. He scores two #1 hits on the Country chart, but is best remembered for the holiday favorite "Jingle Bell Rock."
August 8, 1933 Southern Soul singer Joe Tex is born Joseph Arrington Jr. in Rogers, Texas.
May 26, 1933 Country singer Jimmie Rodgers dies at age 35 after a long battle with tuberculosis (which he sings about in "T.B. Blues.")
May 17, 1933 Weak from fighting tuberculosis, Jimmie Rodgers arrives in New York and starts recording his last songs. He dies nine days later.
May 3, 1933 James Brown is born in Barnwell, South Carolina, raised in Augusta, Georgia. His '60s and '70s hits like "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag" and "Funky Drummer" break new ground with a percussive soul sound that lays the foundation for hip-hop when they're heavily sampled in the '80s and '90s. He's also an electrifying performer whose dazzling stage moves are emulated by the likes of Michael Jackson and Prince.
May 2, 1933 Bunk Gardner (played woodwinds and tenor sax for Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention) is born John Leon Gardner in Cleveland, Ohio.
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