August 17, 1919 Jazz singer Georgia Gibbs is born in Worcester, Massachusetts. Known for the 1950 hit "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake."
March 21, 1919 Music executive Lew Bedell, also known by the pseudonym Billy Joe Hunter, is born in El Paso, Texas. He establishes Doré Records, later known as Era Records, in 1958. The label's first hit is the Teddy Bears' "To Know Him Is To Love Him."
March 15, 1919 Record producer George Avakian is born in Russia. Produced albums for Jazz artists like Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis.
January 27, 1919 Ross Bagdasarian is born in Fresno, California. Using the stage name David Seville, he would create the The Chipmunks.
December 2, 1918 Milton DeLugg is born in Los Angeles, California. Aside from being a talented accordionist, he writes the Nat King Cole hit "Orange Colored Sky," and composes music for popular game shows such as The Newlywed Game, The Dating Game, The Gong Show, and What's My Line?
September 14, 1918 Double bassist/composer Cachao is born Israel López Valdés in Habana Vieja, La Habana, Cuba. Pioneered the modern mambo with the 1938 song "Mambo."
April 18, 1918 Guitarist Tony Mottola, known for working with Frank Sinatra and Perry Como, is born in Kearny, New Jersey.
April 11, 1918 Jazz bassist Jimmy Lewis is born in Nashville, Tennessee. Known for working with the Count Basie Orchestra, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Sam Cooke, and King Curtis, among others.
March 7, 1918 Lena Guilbert Ford, who wrote the lyric to "Keep The Home Fires Burning," is killed in a zeppelin raid on her London home.
January 27, 1918 Lyle "Skitch" Henderson is born on a farm near Halstad, Minnesota. As a pianist and composer, he will work with the likes of Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, and Bing Crosby.
August 23, 1917 Country/Western swing musician Tex Williams is born Sollie Paul Williams in Ramsey, Illinois. Known for the 1947 novelty song "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)."
June 7, 1917 Dean Martin is born Dino Paul Crocetti in Steubenville, Ohio. After teaming with Jerry Lewis in the popular comedy act Martin & Lewis, he becomes a top entertainer of the 1950s and 1960s, known for hits like "Memories Are Made Of This" and "That's Amore."
May 14, 1917 Norman Luboff, a film and TV composer who also recorded with the likes of Frank Sinatra and Doris Day, is born in Chicago, Illinois.
March 26, 1917 Funky soul singer Rufus Thomas, known for his recordings at Stax Records, is born in Mississippi.
March 20, 1917 Vera Lynn is born Vera Welch in East Ham, Essex, England. She becomes one of England's top entertainers during World War II, a time when she becomes an emblem of wartime spirit and national pride thanks in part to her rendition of "We'll Meet Again."
January 14, 1917 Jazz trumpeter Billy Butterfield is born in Middletown, Ohio. In 1940, he plays a legendary solo on Artie Shaw's hit rendition of "Stardust."
January 10, 1917 Jerry Wexler is born in New York City. As a producer and executive with Atlantic Records, he plays a key role in the success of Aretha Franklin, Led Zeppelin and Wilson Pickett.
December 15, 1916 Buddy Cole is born Edwin LeMar Cole in Irving, Illinois. The jazz pianist will accompany the likes of Rosemary Clooney and Bing Crosby.
November 10, 1916 Billy May - trumpeter, composer, and arranger - is born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Arranged Frank Sinatra's acclaimed concept albums Come Fly with Me (1958), Come Dance with Me! (1959) and Come Swing with Me! (1961).
April 12, 1916 Composer and arranger Russ Garcia (The Benny Goodman Story (1956), The Complete Porgy and Bess (1956)) is born in Oakland, California.
March 22, 1916 Bernard Weissman, the future George Wyle, is born in New York City. Among his compositions: the Gilligan's Island theme song.
December 12, 1915 Frank Sinatra is born Francis Albert Sinatra in Hoboken, New Jersey.More
April 26, 1915 Blues singer and guitarist Johnny Shines is born in Frayser, Memphis, Tennessee.
April 7, 1915 Billie Holiday is born Eleanora Fagan in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. More
March 28, 1915 Composer Jay Livingston is born in McDonald, Pennsylvania. He teams with lyricist Ray Evans to write a number of popular songs for films, including the Academy Award-winning "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)" for The Man Who Knew Too Much.
January 25, 1915 Folk singer Ewan MacColl is born James Henry Miller in London. In 1957 he takes an hour to write "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" for a play his mistress is appearing in and, 15 years later, it becomes a #1 hit for Roberta Flack.
December 10, 1914 Dorothy Lamour, actress and big band singer, is born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton in New Orleans, Louisiana. Starred with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope in their series of Road To... movies.
October 17, 1914 Jazz musician John Clifford Mosley Jr., a trumpeter who also played the flugelhorn, the long horn and the flute, is born in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania. That's Mosley playing the flute during the intro of The Isley Brothers' 1971 cover of "Spill the Wine."
October 10, 1914 Singer/songwriter/pianist Ivory Joe Hunter is born in Kirbyville, Texas. Known for R&B hits like "I Lost My Mind" and "I Need You So," later recorded by Elvis Presley.
September 14, 1914 Music producer/songwriter Mae Axton is born in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Known as "The Queen Mother of Nashville," Axton co-wrote Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel."
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