Pick a Day

Music History Events: Births

January 14, 1931 Caterina Valente is born to Italian parents in Paris, France.

December 31, 1930 Blues and folk singer Odetta is born Odetta Holmes in Birmingham, Alabama. Named the "Queen of American folk music" by Martin Luther King Jr., Odetta sings "O Freedom" at the 1963 March on Washington.

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."

November 3, 1930 Mable John is born in Bastrop, Louisiana. She becomes the first female singer to be signed to Berry Gordy's Tamla label, releasing the single "Who Wouldn't Love a Man Like That?" in 1960.

October 24, 1930 J. P. Richardson (aka The Big Bopper) is born Jiles Perry Richardson in Sabine Pass, Texas.

October 14, 1930 R&B singer Robert Parker is born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Known for the 1966 hit "Barefootin'."

October 1, 1930 Singer/actor Richard Harris, who has an unlikely hit with "MacArthur Park," is born in Limerick, Ireland.

September 28, 1930 Country singer Tommy Collins is born in Bethany, Oklahoma. A forerunner of the Bakersfield sound, he penned "If You Ain't Lovin' (You Ain't Livin')," later a #1 hit for George Strait.

September 22, 1930 Traditional pop singer Joni James is born Giovanna Carmella Babbo in Chicago, Illinois. Among other hits, she's known for her 1953 cover of "Your Cheatin' Heart."

August 15, 1930 R&B singer/saxophonist Jackie Brenston is born in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Sang lead on Ike Turner's "Rocket 88."

August 13, 1930 Pop entertainer Don Ho is born in Honolulu, Hawaii. Known for the 1966 hit "Tiny Bubbles."

July 8, 1930 Italian American singer Jerry Vale is born Genaro Louis Vitaliano in the Bronx, New York City.

July 1, 1930 Bobby Day, known for his hit version of "Rockin' Robin," is born Robert James Byrd in Fort Worth, Texas.

June 17, 1930 Electric guitarist Cliff Gallup (of Gene Vincent and his Blue Caps) is born in Norfolk, Virginia.

June 4, 1930 Jazz singer Morgana King is born Maria Grazia Morgana Messina in Pleasantville, New York. As an actress, she plays Carmela Corleone, wife of Don Vito Corleone, in the first two Godfather films.

June 3, 1930 Jazz singer Dakota Staton is born in the Homewood neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Known for the 1957 hit "The Late, Late Show."

May 31, 1930 Clint Eastwood is born in San Francisco, California. The actor/director also dabbles in music, releasing an album of Cowboy Favorites in 1959 and composing scores for several of his films, including Mystic River, Gran Torino, and Grace is Gone.

May 22, 1930 Jazz bandleader/trumpeter Kenny Ball is born in Ilford, Essex, England.

May 1, 1930 Blues musician Little Walter, known for the 1952 harmonica standard "Juke," is born Marion Walter Jacobs in Marksville, Louisiana.

April 16, 1930 Jazz flautist Herbie Mann is born Herbert Jay Solomon in Brooklyn, New York.

March 30, 1930 Rolf Harris ("Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport") is born in Perth, Australia.

March 22, 1930 Composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim is born in New York City. He wins an Academy Award for Best Original Song for Madonna's "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)," written for the 1990 film Dick Tracy.

March 21, 1930 Chicago blues pianist Otis Spann is born in Mississippi.

March 19, 1930 Jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman is born in Fort Worth, Texas. Date of birth sometimes listed as March 9.

March 1, 1930 Trombone player Benny Powell is born in New Orleans.

February 13, 1930 Dorothy McGuire of The McGuire Sisters is born in Middletown, Ohio.

February 5, 1930 Jazz trumpeter Don Goldie is born Donald Elliott Goldfield in Newark, New Jersey. His father, Harry "Goldie" Goldfield, was also a trumpet player who worked with Paul Whiteman.

January 27, 1930 Bobby "Blue" Bland is born Robert Calvin Brooks in Barretville, Tennessee.

January 15, 1930 Blues guitarist Earl Hooker is born in Quitman County, Mississippi.

January 12, 1930 Glenn Yarbrough of the folk group The Limeliters is born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.