About maketodayrock.com: We celebrate musicians' birthdays, remember those we've lost, and highlight key moments in music such a release dates, chart peak dates, or anything else tied to a specific date. Pick any day from the menu in the top right. The front page shows recent obituaries.
April 18, 1946 ~ Singer, saxophonist Lennie Baker born in Whitman, Massachusetts, USA ~ Member of 1950s rock group Danny & the Juniors. Member of Sha Na Na, touring with the band and appearing on the TV series of the same name. Also appears in Grease, singing lead vocals on the band's performance of Blue Moon ~ Baker passed away in 2016
April 18, 1945 ~ R&B, funk, soul guitarist, singer Charles Love, full name Charles Dee Love Jr, born in Salina, Kansas, USA ~ Constant member of R&B, funk outfit Bloodstone. The band has recorded about a dozen albums, starting with their eponymous Bloodstone in 1972 which spawned their only Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit Natural High. Songs such as Never Let You Go, Outside Woman, and We Go A Long Way Back would reach top 10 Billboard R&B ~ Love passed away in 2014
April 18, 1943 ~ Drummer Clyde Stubblefield born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA ~ Best known for backing James Brown from the mid 1960s through the early 1970s, including on songs such as Cold Sweat, There Was A Time, I Got The Feeling, Ain't It Funky Now, Mother Popcorn, and Give It Up Or Turn It Loose. Also worked with fellow the JB's members Bootsy Collins, Maceo Parker and John Jabo Starks, with Steve Skaggs, Luther Allison, Cris Plat, Randy Sabien, the Common Faces, Neo, Richard Mazda, Fred Wesley, Ben Sidran, and Garbage ~ Stubblefield passed away in 2017April 18, 1943 ~ Bassist Tony Reeves born in New Eltham, UK ~ Member of John Mayall's seminal blues outfit the Bluesbreakers, present on the 1968 album Bare Wires. Co-founding member of Colosseum, present on the critically acclaimed albums Those Who Are About To Die Salute You and its follow-up Valentyne Suite. Other notable credits include the New Jazz Orchestra, John Martyn, Sandy Denny, Greenslade, and Curved Air
April 18, 1942 ~ Label executive Seymour Stein born in New York, New York, USA ~ Had the opportunity to sign Jimi Hendrix in 1966, yet decided against it after seeing Hendrix smash his guitar on-stage and argue with Stein's friend, model Linda Keith, on successive occasions. After positions at King Records and Billboard, Stein co-founded Sire Records with Richard Gottehrer in the mid 1960s. Would be incremental to the careers of pop, rock, and new wave artists of the 1970s and 1980s including the Ramones, Talking Heads, the Pretenders, Depeche Mode, the Cure, Ice-T, and Echo & the Bunnymen. Stein remained active with Sire Records and Warner Bros Records until his retirement in 2018 ~ Stein passed away in 2023
April 18, 1941 ~ Reggae singer Hortense Ellis born in Trenchtown, Jamaica ~ Sister of reggae singer, songwriter Alton Ellis. Toured with Byron Lee during the 1960s. As a solo artist worked with Jamaica's finest producers including Ken Lack, Coxsone Dodd, Duke Reid, Bunny Lee, and Lee Scratch Perry. Known for songs such as I'm Not Saying No At All, Hell And Sorrow, I Will Come Softly, Unexpected Places, Down Town TIng, and reggae covers of pop songs including Patti LaBelle's Down The Aisle and Candi Staton's Young Hearts Run Free. Has worked with the Soul Syndicate, the Aggrovators, and the then-unknown Sly Dunbar and Robbie ShakespeareApril 18, 1941 ~ Clarinetist Murray Khouri born in Wellington, New Zealand ~ Classical clarinetist worked with orchestras such as the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, the Royal Ballet Orchestra, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and conductors such as Leopold Stokowski, Pierre Boulez, Georg Solti, Bernard Haitink, Adrian Boult, and Eugen Jochem ~ Khouri passed away in 2018
April 18, 1939 ~ Rock & roll, rockabilly, country, country rock keyboardist, songwriter Glen Dee Hardin born in Wellington, Texas, USA ~ First gained attention playing in the house band at the Palomino Club, at the time considered Country music's most important West Coast club. Member of the house band on Shindig music variety show, aired on ABC during the mid 1960s. Would go on to become an in-demand songwriter and session pianist, working with the likes of Bing Crosby, Nancy Sinatra, Ricky Nelson, Buck Owens, Linda Ronstadt, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, and John Denver. Wrote Count Me In, a Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit for Gary Lewis & the Playboys. Closely associated with Elvis Presley, serving in Presley's backing unit the TCB Band from 1970 through 1976 and arranging songs such as The Wonder Of You, Let It Be Me, and I Just Can't Help Believin'. Backed Gram Parsons on the albums GP and its follow-up Grievous Angel. Member of Emmylou Harris's backing unit the Emmylou Harris Hot Band
April 18, 1938 ~ Jazz pianist, bandleader Hal Galper born in Salem, Massachusetts, USA ~ Worked with Chet Baker, Stan Getz, Joe Williams, Anita O'Day, Chris Connor, Cannonball Adderley, Phil Woods, Randy Brecker, Victor Gaskin, Terumasa Hino, Cecil McBee, Reggie Workman, Jerry Bergonzi, Franco Ambrosetti, John Scofield, and others ~ Galper passed away in 2025
April 18, 1931 ~ Jazz pianist, composer, arranger Willie Pickens born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA ~ Worked with Eddie Harris, Buddy DeFranco, Louie Bellson, Elvin Jones, Dan Shapera, Robert Shy, Nicholas Payton, Marian McPartland, George Mraz, Joe Farnsworth, Larry Gray, Milton Suggs, Bunky Green, Francine Griffin, Steve Grossman, Clark Terry, Frank Catalano, Von Freeman, Peter Lerner, and Malachi Thompson ~ Pickens passed away in 2017
April 18, 1924 ~ Singer Clarence Gatemouth Brown born in Vinton, Louisiana, USA ~ Plays guitar, fiddle, mandolin, violin and viola, harmonica, drums and percussion, sings and writes too. Blends just about every imaginable roots music into a high-energy, raw hybrid. Hates being called a “blues” musician ~ Brown passed away in 2005April 18, 1918 ~ Jazz guitarist Tony Mottola born in Kearny, New Jersey, USA ~ Leader and sideman. Known for his 1968 easy listening hit This Guy's In Love With You. Worked with Carl Kress, John Serry Sr, Skitch Henderson, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Urbie Green, Dick Hyman, Enoch Light, Charles Magnante, Joe Reisman, Doc Severinsen, Louie Bellson, Ray Conniff, Johnny Desmond, Neal Hefti, and Cootie Williams ~ Mottola passed away in 2004
April 18, 1902 ~ Bandleader, cornetist, songwriter Harry Owens, full name Harry Robert Owens, born in O'Neill, Nebraska, USA ~ Best known for leading the Royal Hawaiians. Probably best known for penning Sweet Leilani, first recorded by Ted Fio Rito in 1937 and covered by numerous artists including Bing Crosby for the film Waikiki Wedding. The song would earn Crosby his first gold record and be awarded an Academy Award for Best Song in 1938. Other songs written or co-written by Owens include Linger Awhile (Bailey's Lucky Seven, Fletcher Henderson, Sarah Vaughan), To You Sweetheart Aloha (Dick McIntyre, Louis Armstrong, the Ames Brothers), and Sing Me A Song Of The Islands (Ray Kinney, Alvino Rey, Bert Ambrose) ~ Owens passed away in 1986
April 18, 1882 ~ Conductor Leopold Stokowski born in London, UK ~ English conductor of Polish/Irish descent considered one of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century. Best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra and his appearance in the Disney-film Fantasia ~ Stokowski passed away in 1977