Pick a Day

Music History Events: Births

May 1, 1907 Kate Smith, known for her rendition of "God Bless America," is born Kathryn Elizabeth Smith in Greenville, Virginia.

December 27, 1906 Hollywood composer and pianist Oscar Levant is born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

December 10, 1906 Lyricist Harold Adamson is born in Greenville, New Jersey. He would write the lyrics for the iconic theme to I Love Lucy. Though it was kept as an instrumental, Desi Arnaz sings the lyrics in the episode "Lucy's Last Birthday."

December 9, 1906 Tenor saxophonist Freddy Martin is born in Cleveland, Ohio.

October 15, 1906 Blues singer/songwriter Victoria Spivey is born in Houston, Texas. Composed "Black Snake Blues," "Dope Head Blues" and "Organ Grinder Blues," among others.

June 3, 1906 Josephine Baker is born in in St. Louis, Missouri, but makes her mark in France, where she becomes a renowned singer, dancer and actress.

April 13, 1906 Jazz saxophonist Bud Freeman, who collaborates with Benny Goodman, is born in Chicago, Illinois.

March 20, 1906 Ozzie Nelson is born in Jersey City, New Jersey. He starts his career as a bandleader before starring with his family, including son Rick Nelson, in the long-running radio and television series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.

January 12, 1906 Country blues performer Mississippi Fred McDowell is born in Rossville, Tennessee. The Rolling Stones cover his "You Gotta Move" on their 1971 album, Sticky Fingers.

November 19, 1905 Bandleader Tommy Dorsey is born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania.

November 16, 1905 Jazz banjoist/guitarist Albert "Eddie" Condon is born in Goodland, Indiana.

November 15, 1905 Conductor Mantovani is born Annunzio Paolo Mantovani in Venice, Italy.

August 24, 1905 Blues musician Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup is born in Forest, Mississippi.

July 15, 1905 Dorothy Fields, co-writer of "The Way You Look Tonight," is born in Allenhurst, New Jersey.

June 14, 1905 Jazz banjoist Nappy Lamare is born Joseph Hilton Lamare in New Orleans, Louisiana.

February 15, 1905 Harold Arlen is born Hyman Arluck in Buffalo, New York. A prolific composer, he writes "Over The Rainbow" with lyricist Yip Harburg.

January 12, 1905 Country singer Tex Ritter is born Woodward Maurice Ritter in Murvaul, Texas. He becomes the first artist to sign with Capitol Records.

January 2, 1905 Composer Michael Tippett - known for the 1955 opera The Midsummer Marriage, among many other notable works - is born in Cornwall, England.

November 21, 1904 Coleman Hawkins, jazz tenor saxophonist, is born in Saint Joseph, Missouri.

August 28, 1904 Swing/Jazz musician Ernie Fields is born in Nacogdoches, Texas. Raised in Oklahoma, he would be known as bandleader to Tulsa-based Royal Entertainers.

August 21, 1904 Jazz pianist/bandleader Count Basie is born in Red Bank, New Jersey.

May 26, 1904 George Formby, who will become a popular comedic actor and singer throughout the '30s and '40s, is born George Hoy Booth in Wigan, Lancashire, England.

May 21, 1904 Fats Waller is born Thomas Waller in New York City.

April 27, 1904 Syd Nathan, King Records founder who signed James Brown, is born in Cincinnati, Ohio.

March 1, 1904 Glenn Miller is born in Clarinda, Iowa.

February 29, 1904 Jazz musician and bandleader Jimmy Dorsey is born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, to a coal-mining family that includes older brother (and future bandleader) Tommy Dorsey.

February 12, 1904 Ted Mack is born William Edward Maguiness in Greeley, Colorado. He takes over as host of the popular radio talent contest The Original Amateur Hour in 1948 when it makes the leap to television, where it runs until 1970.

December 28, 1903 Jazz pianist Earl "Fatha" Hines is born in Duquesne, Pennsylvania.

October 29, 1903 Composer Vivian Ellis is born in Hampstead, London, England. Known for "Spread A Little Happiness" (1929) and "Coronation Scot," the theme for BBC Radio's Paul Temple.

September 15, 1903 Country singer Roy Acuff is born in Maynardville, Tennessee. Along with Fred Rose, he founded the Acuff-Rose music publishing company and signed Hank Williams and Roy Orbison, among others.