Pick a Day

Music History Events: Births

January 24, 1936 Canadian rock 'n roll singer Jack Scott is born Giovanni Domenico Scafone, Jr. in Windsor, Ontario.

January 24, 1936 Country singer/musician Doug Kershaw is born in Tiel Ridge in Cameron Parish, Louisiana.

January 21, 1936 Blues guitarist Snooks Eaglin is born in New Orleans, Louisiana.

January 15, 1936 Edward "Sonny" Bivins of The Manhattans is born in Macon, Georgia.

January 14, 1936 Soul singer Clarence Carter is born in Montgomery, Alabama.

January 7, 1936 Jazz double-bass and cello player Eldee Young (Young/Holt Unlimited, The Ramsey Lewis Trio) is born Chicago, Illinois.

December 26, 1935 Duke Fakir, a founding member of The Four Tops, is born Abdul Fakir in Detroit.

December 23, 1935 R&B/jazz singer "Little" Esther Phillips is born Esther Mae Jones in Galveston, Texas. At age 14 she's discovered by Johnny Otis, a musician and talent scout, and soon lands her first hit with "Double Crossing Blues."

December 23, 1935 Johnny Kidd (of Johnny Kidd & the Pirates) is born Frederick Albert Heath in Willesden, North London, England.

December 11, 1935 Steel guitarist Tom Brumley (of Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, Stone Canyon Band) is born in Stella, Missouri.

December 9, 1935 Country singer David Houston is born Bossier City, Louisiana. His 1966 breakthrough hit "Almost Persuaded" spends nine weeks atop the Country chart - a feat not matched again until Taylor Swift's 2012 smash "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" goes on a 9-week run.

November 30, 1935 Country singer Jack Reno, who has a Top 10 hit in 1967 with "Repeat After Me," is born in Bloomfield, Iowa.

November 26, 1935 Actress and singer Marian Mercer is born in Akron, Ohio. Won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role in Promises, Promises, a 1968 musical based on the classic Jack Lemmon/Shirley MacLaine film The Apartment.

October 16, 1935 R&B singer Sugar Pie DeSanto is born Umpeylia Marsema Balinton in Brooklyn, New York. Known for her 1960 hit, "I Want to Know," and "Do I Make Myself Clear," a 1965 duet with Etta James.

October 15, 1935 Singer/songwriter Barry McGuire (of The New Christy Minstrels) is born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, but would be raised in California.

October 12, 1935 Sam Moore is born Samuel Hicks in Miami, Florida. He takes the last name of his stepfather, Charlie Moore, and forms the duo Sam & Dave with Dave Prater. Their big hits are "Soul Man," "I Thank You" and "Hold On, I'm Comin'."

October 12, 1935 Operatic tenor Luciano Pavarotti (of The Three Tenors) is born near Modena in Northern Italy.

October 5, 1935 Country singer Margie Singleton is born Margaret Louis Ebey in Coushatta, Louisiana. Known for her 1964 duet with Faron Young, "Keeping Up With The Joneses."

September 30, 1935 Johnny Mathis is born John Royce Mathis in Gilmer, Texas. He is raised in San Francisco.More

September 23, 1935 Les McCann is born in Lexington, Kentucky. The soul jazz musician will gain popularity with the 1961 anti-war song "Compared to What."

September 11, 1935 Composer Arvo Pärt is born in Paide, Järva County, Estonia. Created the tintinnabuli style of composition.

September 7, 1935 Country/pop singer Ronnie Dove is born in Herndon, Virginia. Known for a popular cover of Wanda Jackson's "Right or Wrong."

September 1, 1935 Country singer Conway Twitty is born Harold Lloyd Jenkins in Friars Point, Coahoma County, Mississippi.

August 30, 1935 "Papa" John Phillips, leader of The Mamas & The Papas, is born in Parris Island, South Carolina, raised in Alexandria, Virginia. He's the primary writer in the group, penning hits like "Monday, Monday" and "California Dreamin'." He also co-writes the Beach Boys hit "Kokomo."

August 20, 1935 Country singer/songwriter Justin Tubb is born in San Antonio, Texas, to Texas Troubadour Ernest Tubb.

August 2, 1935 Country singer Hank Cochran, who co-wrote Patsy Cline's "I Fall to Pieces," is born in Isola, Mississippi.

July 23, 1935 Cleveland Duncan (original tenor for The Penguins) is born in Los Angeles, California.

July 18, 1935 Johnny Funches (of The Dells) is born in Chicago, Illinois.

July 13, 1935 Latin jazz percussionist Pete Escovedo (of Santana) is born in Pittsburg, California.

July 8, 1935 Steve Lawrence is born Sidney Liebowitz in Brooklyn, New York City.