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.
May 8, 1944 ~ Dorothy Marie Combs, commonly known as gospel, blues singer Dorothy Combs Morrison, born in Longview, Texas, USA ~ First recorded with family outfit the Combs Family, the single I Am Free released when she was a mere 13. Best known as member of the Edwin Hawkins Singers, singing lead vocals on the Oh Happy Day released in 1967. Sang lead on Respect Yourself, a 2002 cover by Huey Lewis & the News of the Staple Singers classic track. Member of the Blues Broads, teaming up with Angela Strehli, Annie Sampson and Tracy NelsonMay 8, 1944 ~ Paul Francis Gadd, commonly known as glam rock, rock & roll, pop rock singer, guitarist, songwriter Gary Glitter, born in Banbury, UK ~ Scored some of the biggest UK hits of the 1970 and helped define glam rock with songs such as Rock & Roll (Parts 1 & 2) and I Love How You Love Me. Has since fallen from grace and is banned by several countries after repeated offenses and convictions of possession of child pornography and child abuse. Convicted to a 16-year sentence in 2015 in the UK
May 8, 1943 ~ Rock bassist Paul Samwell-Smith, full name Paul Granville Samwell-Smith, born in London, UK ~ Co-founding member of the Yardbirds, remaining with the band from its inception in 1963 through 1966 and present on albums such as Five Live Yardbirds, For Your Love and Heart Full Of Soul. Would go on to become a producer working with artists such as Cat Stevens, Jethro Tull, Carly Simon, Renaissance, Chris De Burgh, Paul Simon, Illusion, and Claire HamillMay 8, 1942 ~ Country guitarist, keyboardist, singer Jack Blanchard born ~ Formed a husband-wife country duo with his wife Misty Morgan, actively recording since the late 1960s. The duo is best known for their 1970 Billboard Country No.1 hit Tennessee Bird Walk. Other well known songs include Humphrey The Camel, Somewhere In Virginia In The Rain and Just One More Song
May 8, 1941 ~ Singer, guitarist, mandolinist Mahmoud Ahmed born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia ~ Active since the early 1960s. Member of the Imperial Bodyguard Band through the mid 1970s before pursuing a parellel solo career alongside his associations with acts such as the Ibex Band, the Walias Band, Getatchew Kassa, and the Roha Band. Enjoyed popularity in his native Ethiopia during the 1970s and 1980s. Would reach an international audience from the mid-1980s forward, especially through the release or re-release of several collections on Western labels, notably Ere Mela Mela in 1986, and extensive touring in Europe and America
May 8, 1940 ~ Eric Hilliard Nelson, commonly known as rock & roll, pop singer, actor, teen idol Ricky Nelson, born in Teaneck, New Jersey, USA ~ Stole America's hearts as child actor in the radio and TV series The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet. Would go on to score numerous hits, popularizing rock & roll. Best known for songs such as A Teenager's Romance, Be-bop Baby, Stood Up, Poor Little Fool, Lonesome Town, Sweeter Than You, Travelin' Man, Hello Mary Lou, Teen-age Idol, It's Up To You, For You, and Garden Party ~ Nelson passed away in 1985
May 8, 1940 ~ Cathryn Antoinette Tennille, commonly known as pop, soft rock singer Toni Tennille, born in Montgomery, Alabama, USA ~ Formed the duo Captain & Tennille with Daryl Dragon, with whom she was also married from 1975 through 2014, best known for their signature song and 1975 Billboard No.1 hit Love Will Keep Us Together written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield. Other well known hits include Muskrat Love and Do That To Me One More Time. Tennille also sang backup on Elton John's 1974 Caribou album, on Pink Floyd's pivotal 1979 The Wall album, and has recorded a number of solo albums mostly from the mid-1980s through the mid 1990s
May 8, 1935 ~ Label executive Jerry Moss, full name Jerome S Moss, born in New York, New York, USA ~ Co-founded A&M Records in 1962 with trumpeter, bandleader Herb Alpert. The label's stable of artists included acts such as Sérgio Mendes, the Carpenters, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Captain & Tennille, Rita Coolidge, Wes Montgomery, Toni Basil, Joan Baez, Phil Ochs, Billy Preston, Cat Stevens, Joe Cocker, Procol Harum, Carole King, Styx, Supertramp, Joan Armatrading, Squeeze, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, Janet Jackson, the Police, Sting, Atlantic Starr, Human League, and Joe Jackson. Moss and Alpert sold the label to Polygram Records in 1989 and continued to manage the company until 1993 ~ Moss passed away in 2023
May 8, 1928 ~ Recording engineer Larry Levine born in New York, New York, USA ~ Received a Grammy Award nomination for his work with producer Phil Spector on the 1964 Walking In The Rain single by the Ronettes, which included the then-novice sound effects of thunder and lightning. Other notable recordings engineered by Levine include Herb Alpert's A Taste Of Honey single, which earned Levine a Grammy Award, and the highly acclaimed Pet Sounds album by the Beach Boys, regarded as one of the all-time greatest albums. Levine passed away of emphysema on his 80th birthday ~ Levine passed away in 2008
May 8, 1927 ~ Jazz trumpeter, harpist, cornetist, hornist, saxophonist Phil Cohran, full name Kelan Phil Cohran, born in Oxford, Mississippi, USA ~ First gained attention backing Sun Ra during the late 1950s and early 1960s, present on the albums Interstellar Low Ways, Holiday For Soul Dance, In A Pleasant Mood and Angels And Demons At Play. Co-founded the Association For The Advancement Of Creative Musicians in 1965. Has recorded over half a dozen albums as a leader, starting with On The Beach with his backing unit the Artistic Heritage Ensemble released in 1968 ~ Cohran passed away in 2017
May 8, 1911 ~ Blues guitarist, singer, songwriter Robert Johnson, full name Robert Leroy Johnson, born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, USA ~ Dying of undisclosed causes at age 27, Johnson only recorded 11 songs during his lifetime, yet he is considered perhaps the most important and influential pre-war blues guitarist. Johnson is especially noted for his distinctive guitar technique, called a boogie shuffle or boogie bass pattern and described as fifth-sixth oscillation above the root chord. The technique has sometimes been attributed to Johnny Temple, who was the first to record a song using it, yet Temple has stated he had learned it from Johnson: “He was the first one I ever heard use it.” The boogie shuffle rapidly became the predominant pattern used by blues guitarists, Johnson's style and songs further popularized by the likes of Elmore James, specifically in songs such as James' 1951 adaptation Dust My Broom (I Believe My Time Ain't Long) based on Johnson's 1937 recording I Believe I'll Dust My Broom, and by Jimmy Reed, whose trademark Reed shuffle was an updated and electrified version of Johnson's technique. Many of Johnson's songs, including Cross Road Blues, Walkin' Blues, Hell Hound On My Trail, and Love In Vain Blues, have become blues standards, covered by numerous blues and later rock artists. Artists who have cited Johnson as an influence include John Lee Hooker, Lightnin' Hopkins, Muddy Waters, Taj Mahal, Alexis Korner, Eric Clapton, and Keith Richards ~ Johnson passed away in 1938
May 8, 1910 ~ Mary Elfrieda Scruggs, commonly known as jazz singer, pianist, songwriter Mary Lou Williams, born in Atlanta, Georgia, USA ~ Dubbed “the First Lady of the Jazz Keyboard” for her prowess on the ivories, and one of the first women in jazz to achieve wide critical acclaim and commercial success. Child prodigy, learnt to play the piano at age three, performed in public from age seven and professionally from age fifteen onwards. Drawing from spirituals, gospel, ragtime, stride, bebop, blues, and jazz, Williams may have written and arranged hundreds of compositions including for Andy Kirk, Benny Goodman, and Dizzy Gillespie. Williams served as mentor to numerous jazz greats early on in their career, including Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Tadd Dameron, and Bud Powell. In the mid 1950s, most likely in part triggered by the death of close friend Charlie Parker, Williams converted to Catholicism and retreated from music for several years. She would devote her time to church, her own Bel Canto Foundation, and turned her apartment in the Hamilton Heights neighborhood of New York into a halfway house for the poor and musicians who were struggling with addition. Reportedly, Williams did not intend to return to music, but it were several clergymen who convinced her she could serve God and the Catholic Church by utilizing her gift of creating music. Dizzy Gillespie had also tried to persuade her to return to music, and she gave a remarkable performance with his band at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1957. Throughout the 1960s, much of her work would be religiously themed, including the Mass Black Christ Of The Andes issued on vinyl in 1964 and considered one of her finest works. Williams remained active until her death in the early 1980s, her career flourishing in the 1970s. Near the end of her life, looking back at her lengthy and impressive career, Williams has been quoted as saying: “I did it, didn't I? Through muck and mud” ~ Scruggs passed away in 1981
May 8, 1905 ~ Ernest Loring Nichols, commonly known as jazz cornetist, bandleader, composer Red Nichols, born in Ogden, Utah, USA ~ Child prodigy. Influenced by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band and Bix Beiderbecke. Closely associated with trombonist Miff Mole. Also worked with Jimmy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Jack Teagarden, Pee Wee Russell, Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang, Gene Krupa. Known for songs such Wasshboard Blues recorded with the Five Pennies, Sugar recorded with the Red Nichols Stompers, and for penning Nervous Charlie Stomp, the latter a hit for Fletcher Henderson ~ Nichols passed away in 1965May 8, 1903 ~ Fernand Joseph Désiré Contandin, commonly known as actor, singer Fernandel, born in Marseille, France ~ First gained attention as comedian in French vaudeville, operettas and revues. Took his stage name from his mother-in-law's pet name for him, “Fernand d'elle” (Fernand of her). Would go on to become one of of France's top comedians starring in numerous films, including Italian and American films ~ Contandin passed away in 1971
May 8, 1846 ~ Theater impresario, composer Oscar Hammerstein I born in Stettin, Kingdom of Prussia ~ Credited with rekindling opera's popularity in America, specifically as entrepreneur, founder, proprietor of several opera houses in New York starting with the Harlem Opera House on 125th Street opened in 1889. Composed the comic opera Santa Maria, presented in 1896 in his fourth venue the Olympia Theatre on Longacre Square. Would produce several contemporary operas and presented American premieres of Gustave Charpentier's Louise, Claude Debussy's Pelleas Et Melisande, Richard Strauss's Salomé and other works ~ Hammerstein passed away in 1919