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.
March 13, 1939 ~ Pop singer, pianist, songwriter Neil Sedaka born in Brooklyn, New York, USA ~ Briefly a member of the Tokens. Best known as a solo artist and songwriter having penned or co-penned over 500 songs, often teaming up with Howard Greenfield and Phil Cody. Well known songs include Oh Carol, Calender Girl, Breaking Up Is Hard To Do and Laughter In The Rain. Artists who have recorded his songs include Connie Francis (Stupid Cupid), Bobby Darin, Lavern Baker, Clyde McPhatter, the Monkees, Lesley Gore, Eydie Gormé, Jimmy Clanton, Peggy Lee, Captain & Tennille (Love Will Keep Us Together), Cher, Lovelace Watkins, Johnny Mathis, Carole King, Little Eva, Petula Clark, the Carpenters (Solitaire), Tom Jones, and Elvis Presley ~ Sedaka passed away in 2026
March 13, 1938 ~ R&B singer Erma Franklin, full name Erma Vernice Franklin, born in Shelby, Mississippi, USA ~ Elder sister of singer Aretha Franklin. Best known for recording the original version of Piece Of My Heart in 1967, which reached top 10 Billboard R&B and earned Franklin a Grammy Award nomination. However, the song would become best known as covered by Big Brother & the Holding Company featuring Janis Joplin the following year. Franklin's original remained her sole charting single ~ Franklin passed away in 2002
March 13, 1938 ~ Bandleader, drummer, composer Julian Bahula, full name Sebothane Julian Bahula, born in Eersterust, South Africa ~ One of several South African expatriates fleeing the Apartheids regime, finding success in Europe in the 1970s. Best known for founding and leading Jabula, with whom he recorded five albums through the early 1980s. The group is also known for guesting on the Mike Oldfield-albums Ommadawn, Incantations and Amarok. In 2012 South African president Jacob Zuma presented Bahula with the Order of Ikhamanga for exceptional achievements in the field of music ~ Bahula passed away in 2023March 13, 1938 ~ Operatic soprano Roberta Knie born in Cordell, Oklahoma, USA ~ Worked with the Graz Opera, the Opernhaus Zurich, the Opera National De Lyon, the Dallas Opera, the San Francisco Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, the Vienna State Opera, the Bavarian State Opera, the Welsh National Opera, the Opera De Montreal, and the Teatro Colón ~ Knie passed away in 2017
March 13, 1936 ~ Singer Clarence Bassett born in Queens, New York, USA ~ Member of doo-wop outfit Shep & the Limelites, known for their 1961 Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit Daddy's Home. The songs would become to be seen as one of all-time best doo-wop songs, covered by PJ Proby, Frank Zappa, Jermaine Jackson, Toots & the Maytals, the Carpenters, Junior English, and Cliff Richard. Bassett has also worked with the Five Sharps and the Flamingos ~ Bassett passed away in 2005
March 13, 1935 ~ Marjorie Hendrix, commonly known as R&B singer Margie Hendrix, born in Register, Georgia, USA ~ Member of the Cookies. Left in the late 1950s to form the backup vocal section, Raelettes, for Ray Charles with whom she also had a brief affair resulting in the birth of a son in 1959. Hendricks can be heard on many classic Charles tracks including Tell The Truth, The Night Time Is The Right Time, What'd I Say, Sticks & Stones, Hit The Road Jack, Unchain My Heart, I Can't Stop Loving You, Bye Bye Love, and You Are My Sunshine. Charles fired Hendrix in 1964 due to alcohol and drug abuse ~ Hendrix passed away in 1973
March 13, 1933 ~ Songwriter Mike Stoller born in New York, New York, USA ~ Frequent collaborator of Jerry Leiber. The pair is known for penning pivotal R&B, rock & roll hits for artists such as Little Willie Littlefield (Kansas City), Big Mama Thornton (Hound Dog), the Robins, Ruth Brown, the Coasters (Young Blood, Yakety Yak), Elvis Presley (Love Me, Jailhouse Rock, King Creole), the Drifters, Ben E King (Stand By Me), Damita Jo, and Chuck Jackson
March 13, 1930 ~ Richard Allen Mitchell, commonly known as R&B, jazz, hard bop, jazz fusion trumpeter Blue Mitchell, born in Miami, Florida, USA ~ Although somewhat forgotten today, Mitchell is fondly remembered by jazz aficionados for his rich, soulful tone and funky melodic phrasing, his style suitable in both jazz and R&B settings. Mitchell's mother had long hoped her son would become a musician, yet it would not be until age 17 he finally picked up the trumpet. Five years later, he would make his recording debut. Following his high school graduation, Mitchell would spend several years on the road, touring with the likes of Paul Williams, Earl Bostic, and Chuck Willis. Upon returning to Miami, he teamed up with Cannonball Adderley, and subsequently joined Horace Silver's combo, while simultaneously landing a record deal of his own through his connection to Adderley. Mitchell would record about half a dozen albums with Silver through the mid 1960s, including the acclaimed Song For My Father. As a leader, Mitchell recorded over two dozen albums, notably Big 6 and Blue Soul, both issued in 1959, and The Thing To Do, one of the first albums to feature a then-relatively unknown Chick Corea, released in 1964. Over the course of his lengthy career, Mitchell has toured with Ray Charles and John Mayall, served as principal trumpeter for Tony Bennett and Lena Horne, and prolifically sessioned for a wide array of artists, appearing on albums by Lou Donaldson, Philly Joe Jones, Sam Jones (The Soul Society), Bobby Timmons, Jimmy Smith (Open House), Jackie McLean (Jackie's Bag), Sonny Red, Harold Vick, Freddie Roach, Stanley Turrentine (The Spoiler), George Benson, Richard Groove Holmes, Hank Mobley, Jimmy McGriff (The Worm), Yusef Lateef, Harold Mabern, Cedar Walton, Grant Green, Joe Zawinul, David Fathead Newman, Papa John Creach, Bobby Hutcherson (Montara), Nancy Wilson, Elmo Hope, and Louie Bellson (Prime Time) ~ Mitchell passed away in 1979
March 13, 1929 ~ Lulu Grace Johnson, commonly known as country singer Jan Howard, born in West Plains, Missouri, USA ~ Actively recording since the late 1950s, regularly reaching the higher echelons of the country charts with songs such as The One You Slip Around With, Evil On Your Mind, Bad Seed, Count Your Blessings Woman and Love Is Like A Spinning Wheel. Howard is also remembered for a number of duets, perhaps most notably with Wynn Stewart on The Wrong Company, and with Bill Anderson on For Loving You and If It's All The Same To You ~ Johnson passed away in 2020
March 13, 1929 ~ Mezzo-soprano Rosalind Elias born in Lowell, Massachusetts, USA ~ Praised for her dramatic voice and stage presence that spanned six decades. Best known for her association with the Metropolitan Opera, noted for portraying the role of Erika in Samuel Barber's Vanessa in 1958. Elias has also performed with the Scottish Opera, the Vienna State Opera, the Opera De Monte Carlo, the Los Angeles Opera, and the New York City Opera ~ Elias passed away in 2020
March 13, 1925 ~ Jazz, swing, jazz fusion, avant-garde jazz drummer Roy Haynes, full name Roy Owen Haynes, born in Boston, Massachusetts, USA ~ One of the most recorded drummers in jazz with a career spanning eight decades starting in the early 1940s. Has recorded as a leader or co-leader since the mid 1950s, especially acclaimed for Out Of The Afternoon released in 1962. Also noted for the collaborative album We Three with Phineas Newborn Jr and Paul Chambers released four years earlier. In-demand sideman, present on albums by the likes of Lester Young, Charlie Parker, JJ Johnson, Bud Powell, Cal Tjader, Sarah Vaughan (At Mister Kelly's), Sonny Rollins (The Sound Of Sonny), Thelonious Monk, Art Farmer, Booker Little (Booker Little), Etta Jones, Ray Charles (Genius+Soul=Jazz), Oliver Nelson, Eric Dolphy, Eddie Lockjaw Davis (Trane Whistle), Rahsaan Roland Kirk, John Coltrane (Impressions), Gary Burton, Jack DeJohnette, Sonny Stitt, and Chick Corea ~ Haynes passed away in 2024March 13, 1924 ~ Richard Aaron Katz, commonly known as pianist, arranger Dick Katz, born in Baltimore, Maryland, USA ~ Best known as a versatile sideman and producer, though has on occasion recorded as a leader. Has produced albums such as Helen Merrill's The Feeling Is Mutual, James Moody's The Blues And Other Colors, and Lee Konitz's Spirits. As a pianist present on albums by Al Cohn, JJ Johnson (Nuf Said), Carmen McRae, Manny Albam, Sonny Rollins, Ray Charles, Thelonious Monk (Criss-Cross), and Jack DeJohnette ~ Katz passed away in 2009
March 13, 1919 ~ Songwriter, arranger, producer, label executive Dave Cavanaugh born in St Paul, Minnesota, USA ~ Started his career as a saxophonist sessioning for Eddie Miller, Bobby Sherwood, Benny Carter, Woody Herman, Sammy Davis Jr, Ella Mae Morse, and Peggy Lee. Became Capitol Records Director of A&R in the early 1950s signing artists such as Dakota Staton, Donna Hightower, Nancy Wilson, Plas Johnson, and Sandler & Young. Cavanaugh continued to become one of the label's main producers, working with Nat King Cole, Stan Kenton, Kay Starr, Billy May, and Frank Sinatra. Cavanaugh would eventually rise to the position of President of the label in the 1970s and continue to work until his death at age 62 ~ Cavanaugh passed away in 1981March 13, 1918 ~ Singer Al Jolson records Rock-a-bye Your Baby With A Dixie Melody ~ Written by Jean Schwartz, Sam M Lewis and Joe Young for the Broadway musical Sinbad in which Al Jolson premiered the song. Jolson's studio version would make it to the No.1 spot the same year. Covered by a host of artists, including Dean Martin, Judy Garland, Sonny Rollins, Brenda Lee, Aretha Franklin, and Cher
March 13, 1913 ~ Otis Verries Hicks, commonly known as blues singer, guitarist, songwriter Lightnin' Slim, born in Good Pine, Louisiana, USA ~ Lesser-known of the 1950s bluesmen, yet critically held on par with the likes of peers Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf and Sonny Boy Williamson II. Known for songs such as Farming Blues, It's Mighty Crazy, and Bad Luck Blues ~ Hicks passed away in 1974
March 13, 1909 ~ R&B, blues guitarist, singer, songwriter Saunders King, full name Saunders Samuel King, born in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, USA ~ Sang with the Southern Harmony Four. Switched to blues by the early 1940s, releasing the self-penned SK Blues in 1942 which would become a nationwide hit and one of the first recordings prominently featuring the electric guitar. Other well known songs include Empty Bedroom Blues and Stay Gone Blues ~ King passed away in 2000
March 13, 1901 ~ Jazz clarinetist, saxophonist Andrew Morgan born in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, USA ~ Member of sibling outfit the Young Morgan Band. Also worked with the Imperial Band, Kid Howard, Kid Rena, Kid Thomas Valentine, Alphonse Picou, Herb Morand, Kid Clayton, the Young Tuxedo Brass Band, Percy Humphrey, Sweet Emma Barrett, Alvin Alcorn, the Onward Brass Band, the Eureka Brass Band, and Captain John Handy ~ Morgan passed away in 1972
March 13, 1894 ~ Blues singer Clara Smith born in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, USA ~ Dubbed “the Queen of the Moaners”. Known for songs such as Troublesome Blues, the risqué Whip It To A Jelly and a number of duets with Bessie Smith, no relation, notably My Man Blues and Far Away Blues. Has also worked with Fletcher Henderson, Louis Armstrong, and with Don Redman ~ Smith passed away in 1935
March 13, 1860 ~ Composer, pianist Hugo Wolf, full name Hugo Philipp Jacob Wolf, born in Windischgratz, Slovenia ~ Child prodigy. Wrote hundreds of lieder, also composed three operas, choral, orchestral and chamber music. Influenced mainly by Richard Wagner, Wolf's song Zur Ruh Zur Ruh said to be an elegy for Wagner. Best known for his 1887 instrumental work Italian Serenade, originally intended for string quartet and later transcribed to orchestra ~ Wolf passed away in 1903