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 27, 1942 ~ James Lee Keltner, commonly known as drummer Jim Keltner, born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA ~ Highly in-demand session drummer. Member of the Wrecking Crew. Member of supergroups Little Village and the Traveling Wilburys. Appears on recordings by John Lennon (Imagine), George Harrison, Carly Simon, Delaney & Bonnie, Randy Newman, the Bee Gees, Jackson Browne (For Everyman), Derek & the Dominos, Bonnie Raitt, Bob Dylan, Jack Bruce, Steely Dan (Aja), the Steve Miller Band, JJ Cale, Richard Thompson, John Lee Hooker (Mr Lucky), Chris Isaak (Silvertone), Sheryl Crow, JD Souther, Delbert McClinton, Don Henley (The End Of Innocence), Neil Young, Gillian Welch, Céline Dion, Charlie Watts, Todd Snider, Keb' Mo, Michael Bublé, Melody Gardot (The Absence), John Mayer, Beth Orton, and Michelle BranchApril 27, 1940 ~ Hard bop, post-bop drummer Freddie Waits, full name Frederick Douglas Waits, born in Jackson, Mississippi, USA ~ Although he majored in flute in college, Waits would rise to fame as a in-demand drummer. Early on in his career Waits worked with blues acts, including Memphis Slim and John Lee Hooker, yet he turned to jazz by the early 1960s. Waits is perhaps best known for his association with Max Roach, including as a founding member of Roach's M'Boom percussion ensemble acclaimed especially for their 1979 eponymous M'Boom album. Over the course of his lengthy career, Waits has also appeared on albums by Willis Gator Jackson, Denny Zeitlin, Richard Groove Holmes (Soul Mist), Joe Zawinul, McCoy Tyner (Time For Tyner), Andrew Hill, Willie Bobo (A New Dimension), James Moody, Pharoah Sanders (Karma), Lee Morgan, Hubert Laws (Afro-Classic), Don Patterson (The Genius Of The B-3), Bennie Maupin, René McLean, Charles McPherson (New Horizons), Curtis Fuller, Bunky Green (Places We've Never Been), Clifford Jordan, Ray Bryant, Jay Hoggard, and Buck Hill. Waits' son Nasheet Waits followed in his father's footsteps and also became a professional drummer ~ Waits passed away in 1989
April 27, 1938 ~ Country singer, songwriter Julie Daraîche born in Saint-François-de-Pabos, Canada ~ Considered Quebec's “Queen of Country Music,” actively performing and recording since the mid 1960s. Known for songs such as Noël Dans Mon Village, Un Verre Sur La Table, and Mon Hommage. Has worked with Paul Brunelle, Marcel Martel, and Willie Lamothe ~ Daraîche passed away in 2022
April 27, 1933 ~ Guitarist Calvin Newborn born in Whiteville, USA, USA ~ Active since the mid 1950s. Equally at home in jazz and blues. A fluid player praised for his blues sensibility and smooth execution, though somewhat overlooked next to his more famous brother and regular collaborator pianist Phineas Newborn Jr. Has recorded about half a dozen albums as a leader or co-leader, noted especially for Up City released in 1998. As a sideman, Newborn is present on albums by Booker Little, Earl Hines (Earl's Pearls), Jimmy Forrest, Wild Bill Davis, Al Grey (Having A Ball), Lou Donaldson, Billy The Kid Emerson (Little Healthy Thing), Hank Crawford, Jimmy Witherspoon (Midnight Lady Called The Blues), Big Walter Horton, and Jerry McCain ~ Newborn passed away in 2018
April 27, 1931 ~ Folk singer Alex Campbell born in Glasgow, UK ~ Known for futing with Ewan MacColl which resulted into folk lovers divided into two camps, the MacCollites and the Campbellites. MacColl took the purist view that folk singers should only sing songs from their own regional heritage, whereas Campbell had an eclectic repertoire and sang whatever he liked, be it a Scottish, English or American song. Also known for a marriage of convenience to Peggy Seeger in 1958, whom he was infatuated with, to keep the American singer from being deported back to America. Ironically, Seeger would later marry MacColl for love, the singer he futed with, and remain married until MacColl's death in 1989 ~ Campbell passed away in 1987April 27, 1931 ~ Krysztod Trzcinski, commonly known as jazz pianist, composer Krzysztof Komeda, born in Poznán, Poland ~ Perhaps best known for his film scores, notably for Rosemary's Baby, and for his 1965 album Astigmatic, generally considered one of the most important European jazz albums ~ Trzciński passed away in 1969
April 27, 1931 ~ Country singer Maxine Brown, full name Ella Maxine Brown, born in Campti, Louisiana, USA ~ One third of 1950s country outfit the Browns, alongside siblings Jim Ed Brown and Bonnie Brown, known for songs such as I Take The Chance, I Heard The Bluebirds Sing and perhaps their biggest hit The Three Bells. The trio disbanded in 1967 after which Maxine recorded a sole solo album Sugar Cane County ~ Brown passed away in 2019
April 27, 1927 ~ Conrad Henry Kirnon, commonly known as jazz drummer Connie Kay, born in Tuckahoe, New York, USA ~ Member of the Modern Jazz Quartet for nearly two decades, replacing Kenny Clarke in 1955 and remaining with the band until their dissolution in 1974. To R&B, rock & roll audiences perhaps best known as a session musician for Atlantic Records, including on Big Joe Turner's Shake Rattle & Roll and Ruth Brown's Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean. Other notable associations include Jim Hall, Randy Weston (Piano A La Mode), Ray Charles, Sonny Rollins, Cannonball Adderley, John Coltrane (Coltrane Plays The Blues), Sonny Stitt, Van Morrison (Astral Weeks), and Red Norvo ~ Kirnon passed away in 1994April 27, 1917 ~ Drummer Denzil Best, full name Denzil DaCosta Best, born in New York, New York, USA ~ In-demand jazz, bebop drummer most active during the 1950s. Worked with Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, Illinois Jacquet, Chubby Jackson, George Shearing, the Birdlanders, Lennie Tristano, Lee Konitz, Artie Shaw, Erroll Garner, Phineas Newborn Jr, Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Tyree Glenn, and Sheila Jordan ~ Best passed away in 1965
April 27, 1914 ~ Kathleen Twomey, commonly known as songwriter, arranger Kay Twomey, born in Boston, Massachusetts, USA ~ Co-wrote Sammy Kaye's 1947 No.3 hit Serenade Of The Bells, also recorded by the Fleetwoods, Carl Mann, Gene Pitney, Frank Sinatra, and Bobby Vinton. Wrote or co-wrote a number of well known Elvis Presley songs, including Put The Blame On Me, In The Beginning and Wooden Heart. Other artists who recorded her songs include Jo Stafford, Doris Day, Eddy Arnold, Eartha Kitt, Johnnie Ray, Brian Hyland, Perry Como, the Sandpipers, the Statler Brothers, Lucille Starr, David Houston, Teresa Brewer, and Nat King Cole ~ Twomey passed away in 1995
April 27, 1909 ~ Country, bluegrass singer, guitarist, songwriter Jimmie Skinner born in Blue Lick, Kentucky, USA ~ Wrote Let's Say Goodbye Like We Said Hello, a 1946 hit for Ernest Tubb. As a recording artist Skinner is best known for a number of late 1950s, early 1960s recordings including What Makes A Man Wander, Dark Hollow, I Found My Girl In The USA, The Riverboat Gambler, and Reasons To Live. Though largely forgotten today, Skinner has notably influenced Johnny Cash, who covered Skinner's Doing My Time. Others who recorded his songs include Ray Campi, Hank Williams (When The Book Of Life Is Read), the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Tony Rice, and Travis Tritt (Don't Give Your Heart To A Rambler) ~ Skinner passed away in 1979April 27, 1907 ~ Julian Clifton Matlock, commonly known as dixieland, jazz saxophonist, clarinetist Matty Matlock, born in Paducah, Kentucky, USA ~ Played with Ben Pollack, joining the band in 1929 as replacement for Benny Goodman. Joined Bob Crosby's band in 1935, working with both Crosby's main band and the smaller the Bobcats ensemble. Also worked with Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Heindorf, and Beverly Jenkins ~ Matlock passed away in 1978
April 27, 1904 ~ Label executive Syd Nathan born in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA ~ Founded King Records. Discovered James Brown. Artists signed to King or its subsidiaries would include Bull Moose Jackson, Lucky Millinder, Tiny Bradshaw, Earl Bostic, Eddie Cleanhead Vinson, Wynonie Harris, the Dominoes, Little Willie John, Bill Doggett, Hank Ballard, the Delmore Brothers, the Stanley Brothers, Moon Mullican, Cowboy Copas, and Grandpa Jones ~ Nathan passed away in 1968