Pick a Day

Music History Events: Births

January 21, 1942 Country singer-songwriter Mac Davis is born in Lubbock, Texas. He writes "In The Ghetto" and "A Little Less Conversation" for Elvis Presley.

January 21, 1942 Edwin Starr is born Charles Edwin Hatcher in Nashville, Tennessee. He grows up in Cleveland but launches his career in Detroit, eventually joining Motown, where he has big hits with "Twenty-Five Miles" and "War."

January 19, 1942 Michael Crawford is born Michael Patrick Smith in Salisbury, England. He originates the title role in the Broadway musical The Phantom of the Opera.

January 17, 1942 Cassius Clay is born in Louisville, Kentucky. Later changing his name to Muhammad Ali, he becomes a champion boxer and one of the world's most famous athletes. His clever, boastful raps during interviews and other public appearances influence hip-hop, and he becomes an icon of the genre. He is also one of the first athletes to make music: his cover of "Stand By Me" is a minor hit in 1964.

January 16, 1942 Billy Francis (keyboardist for Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show) is born in Mississippi.

January 16, 1942 Electric blues guitarist Barbara Lynn, known for the 1962 R&B hit "You'll Lose A Good Thing," is born Barbara Lynn Ozen in Beaumont, Texas.

January 7, 1942 Pop singer Danny Williams is born in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa.

January 4, 1942 Jazz guitarist John McLaughlin is born in Doncaster, England.

January 1, 1942 Joe McDonald (lead singer of Country Joe & The Fish) is born in Washington, DC, but will grow up in El Monte, California.

December 29, 1941 Rock 'n' roller Bobby Comstock is born in Ithaca, New York. Known for a hit 1959 cover of "Tennessee Waltz" and the 1963 pop hit "Let's Stomp."

December 29, 1941 Ray Thomas (flautist, percussionist for The Moody Blues) is born in Stourport-on-Severn, England.

December 27, 1941 Les Maguire (pianist for Gerry and the Pacemakers) is born in Wallasey, Cheshire, England.

December 27, 1941 Mike Pinder (original keyboardist for The Moody Blues) is born in Erdington, Birmingham, England.

December 23, 1941 Folk musician Tim Hardin is born James Timothy Hardin in Eugene, Oregon. Wrote the '60s hit "If I Were A Carpenter."

December 18, 1941 Sam Andrew (guitarist for Big Brother & the Holding Company) is born in Taft, California.

December 17, 1941 Dave Dee (of Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich) is born David John Harman in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. He is one of the first police cadets on scene at Eddie Cochran's fatal car accident and learns to play the guitar on Cochran's impounded Gretsch.

December 12, 1941 Terry Kirkman (of The Association) is born in Salina, Kansas.

December 11, 1941 J. Frank Wilson (of J. Frank Wilson & the Cavaliers) is born in Lufkin, Texas.

December 10, 1941 Chad Stuart of Chad & Jeremy is born David Stuart Chadwick in Windermere, Cumbria, England.

December 10, 1941 R&B singer Ralph Tavares is born, the eldest of his singing brothers that form Tavares.

December 10, 1941 Kyu Sakamoto is born Hisashi Oshima in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan.

December 9, 1941 Country singer Dan Hicks is born in Little Rock, Arkansas. Known for songs like "I Scare Myself" and "Canned Music."

December 8, 1941 Bobby Elliott (drummer for The Hollies) is born in Burnley, Lancashire, England.

December 6, 1941 Country singer Helen Cornelius, known for a string of popular duets with Jim Ed Brown ("I Don't Want To Have To Marry You," 1976), is born in Monroe City, Missouri.

December 2, 1941 Tom McGuinness (guitarist for Manfred Mann) is born in Wimbledon, South London, England.

November 27, 1941 Country singer Eddie Rabbitt is born in Brooklyn, New York. Before embarking on a recording career, he pens the hits "Kentucky Rain" for Elvis Presley and "Pure Love" for Ronnie Milsap.

November 24, 1941 Bass guitarist Donald "Duck" Dunn (of Booker T. & the MG's) is born in Memphis, Tennessee. His dad gives him the nickname "Duck" while they watch cartoons together featuring the popular Donald Duck.

November 24, 1941 Original The Beatles drummer Pete Best is born in Delhi, India.

November 22, 1941 Terry Stafford, known for the hits "Suspicion" (1964) and "Amarillo By Morning" (1973), is born in Hollis, Oklahoma, but would be raised in Amarillo, Texas.

November 22, 1941 Jesse Colin Young (vocalist, bassist for The Youngbloods) is born Perry Miller in Queens, New York City.