Pick a Day

Music History Events: Births

February 13, 1923 Gene Ames (of The Ames Brothers) is born in Malden, Massachusetts.

February 12, 1923 Mel Powell, founding dean of the school of music at the California Institute of the Arts and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer of the 1990 concerto Duplicates, is born Melvin Epstein in The Bronx, New York City.

February 5, 1923 Country singer-songwriter Claude King, known for the 1962 hit "Wolverton Mountain," is born in Keithville, Louisiana.

January 31, 1923 Broadway and film star Carol Channing is born in Seattle, Washington. Her breakout role comes in 1949 when she plays Lorelei Lee in the Broadway production of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and introduces the popular tune "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend."

January 28, 1923 Ivo Robic is born in Garešnica, Croatia.

January 26, 1923 Broadway and film star Anne Jeffreys is born Anne Carmichael in Goldsboro, North Carolina.

January 21, 1923 Frank Virtue, of the rock and roll band The Virtues, is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

January 20, 1923 Country signer Slim Whitman is born in Tampa, Florida.

January 5, 1923 Record producer Sam Phillips, founder of Sun Records (which launched careers for Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash), is born in Florence, Alabama.

January 1, 1923 Jazz vibraphonist Milt "Bags" Jackson is born in Detroit, Michigan. He is discovered by famous jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie.

December 5, 1922 Songwriter Don Robertson is born in Beijing, China. Aside from his own 1956 hit, "The Happy Whistler," he penned songs for several artists, including Elvis Presley ("Anything That's Part of You," "Love Me Tonight," among others), The Chordettes ("Born to Be with You") and Les Paul and Mary Ford ("Hummingbird").

November 7, 1922 Jazz trumpeter Al Hirt is born Alois Maxwell Hirt in New Orleans, Louisiana.

October 29, 1922 Neal Hefti is born in Toluca Lake, California. A jazz trumpeter and arranger for Woody Herman, he also composed classic TV themes of the '60s, notably for Batman and The Odd Couple.

October 7, 1922 Actress Martha Stewart (not to be confused with the TV personality Martha Stewart) is born Martha Haworth in Bardwell, Kentucky, but would be raised in Brooklyn, New York.

September 30, 1922 Oscar Pettiford, jazz double bassist and cellist, is born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma.

September 13, 1922 Peruvian soprano Yma Sumac is born Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chávarri del Castillo in Callao, Peru.

September 13, 1922 Blues singer Charles Brown is born Tony Russell Brown in Texas City, Texas.

August 16, 1922 Bandleader/pianist Ernie Freeman is born in Cleveland, Ohio. Also a session musician, he worked on hits like Dean Martin's "Everybody Loves Somebody" and Frank Sinatra's "That's Life."

July 27, 1922 Record producer Bob Thiele is born in New York City. Co-wrote Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" under the pseudonym George Douglas.

July 21, 1922 Jazz singer Kay Starr, known for the '50s chart-toppers "Wheel of Fortune" and "Rock And Roll Waltz," is born Katherine Laverne Starks on a reservation in Dougherty, Oklahoma.

June 29, 1922 Jazz drummer Elmer J. "Mousey" Alexander, who would accompany Benny Goodman on a tour of the Far East, is born in Gary, Indiana.

June 29, 1922 Ralph Burns, pianist and composer who arranged the string orchestra for Ray Charles' "Come Rain or Come Shine" and "Georgia On My Mind," is born in Newton, Massachusetts.

June 5, 1922 Jazz drummer Gordon "Specs" Powell is born in New York.

May 18, 1922 Kai Winding, jazz composer and trombonist, is born in Aarhus, Denmark.

April 22, 1922 Jazz double bassist Charles Mingus is born in Nogales, Arizona.

April 8, 1922 Jazz singer Carmen McRae is born in Harlem, New York City.

April 6, 1922 Jazz pianist Dorothy Donegan is born in Chicago, Illinois.

April 5, 1922 Actress and singer Gale Storm, star of the '50s TV shows My Little Margie and The Gale Storm Show, is born Josephine Owaissa Cottle in Bloomington, Texas.

March 24, 1922 Dave Appell (leader of The Applejacks) is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

March 20, 1922 Jazz bandleader Larry Elgart is born in New London, Connecticut. Along with his older brother, Les, he records the American Bandstand theme, "Bandstand Boogie."