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.
July 4, 1942 ~ Bluegrass, folk, country, country rock singer, guitarist Peter Rowan born in Boston, Massachusetts, USA ~ Influenced by Eric von Schmidt, Joan Baez, the Country Gentlemen, the Stanley Brothers. Briefly a member of Bill Monroe's backing unit the Bluegrass Boys in the mid 1960s, co-writing Walls Of Time. Co-founded Earth Opera with David Grisman. Has also worked with Muleskinner, Old & In The Way, the Rowans, Tony Rice, Seatrain, Benjamin Logan, and Jerry DouglasJuly 4, 1941 ~ Pop singer, songwriter Dick Addrisi born ~ Formed the sibling duo the Addrisi Brothers with Don Addrisi. Both brothers auditioned for Mickey Mouse Club, but were rejected. As a duo the brothers scored hits with songs such as Cherrystone, We've Got To Get It On Again and Slow Dancin' Don't Turn Me On. The pair also wrote Never My Love, a 1967 Billboard Hot 100 No.2 hit for the Association ~ Addrisi passed away in 2025
July 4, 1938 ~ Singer, songwriter Bill Withers, full name William Harrison Withers Jr, born in Salb Fork, West Virginia, USA ~ Known for songs such as Lean On Me, Ain't No Sunshine, Use Me, the Grover Washington Jr duet Just The Two Of Us, Lovely Day, and Grandma's Hands. Has worked with Stephen Stills, James Gadson, Benorce Blackmore, Ray Jackson, Melvin Dunlap, Gladys Knight, the Crusaders, Ralph MacDonald, Michel Berger, Jimmy Buffett, Bobby Womack, and Ruby Lee ~ Withers passed away in 2020
July 4, 1938 ~ Vibraphonist Mike Mainieri born in New York, New York, USA ~ Best known for his work with the pivotal jazz fusion band Steps Ahead. Married to harpist, singer, songwriter Dee Carstensen. Active as a leader since the early 1960s. Guested on a number of quintessential pop, rock albums including Don McLean's American Pie, Aerosmith's Toys In The Attic, Nils Lofgren's I Came To Dance, Billy Joel's 52nd Street, the Dire Straits' Love Over Gold and Brothers In Arms, and Paul Simon's Hearts And Bones. Has also worked with Pino Daniele, Manny Albam, George Benson, Kenny Burrell, Art Farmer, Urbie Green, Tim Hardin, Etta Jones, Pat Martino, Marcus Miller, Wes Montgomery, Buddy Rich, Carly Simon, Sonny Stitt, and Kazumi Watanabe
July 4, 1937 ~ Country singer Ray Pillow, full name Herbert Raymond Pillow, born in Lynchburg, Virginia, USA ~ Charted over a dozen singles on the Billboard Country charts, his best known the Jean Shepard-duet I'll Take The Dog which reached top 10 in 1966. Other well known songs include Thank You Ma'am, Common Colds And Broken Hearts and Volkswagen. Pillow has also co-founded Sycamore Records and worked as A&R representative for Capitol Records ~ Pillow passed away in 2023
July 4, 1934 ~ Marcus Barkan, commonly known as musical director, songwriter, producer Mark Barkan, born in Brooklyn, New York, USA ~ Got his first success in the early 1960s when Adam Wade took The Writing On The Wall, written by Barkan, Sandy Baron and George Eddy, to the Billboard Hot 100 top 10. Barkan would go on to write or co-write songs for the likes of Jay & the Americans, Connie Francis (I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter), Lesley Gore, Neil Sheppard, Barbara Chandler, Shelley Fabares, Kurt Harris, Elvis Presley (Big Love Big Heartache), Lesley Gore (She's A Fool), Gene Pitney (Pretty Flamingo), the Archies, and the Monkees ~ Barkan passed away in 2020
July 4, 1931 ~ Jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, flutist, bandleader Duncan Lamont born in Greenock, UK ~ Worked with Kenny Graham, Johnny Keating, Johnny Scott. Backed visiting American musicians including Tony Bennett, Bing Crosby, Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra, Count Basie, Benny Goodman. Led his own band for over a decade. Perhaps best known for penning I Told You So, first recorded by Blossom Dearie and covered by Cleo Laine, Trudy Kerr, and Natalie Cole ~ Lamont passed away in 2019July 4, 1930 ~ Mary Ann Ward, commonly known as Marion Worth, born in Alabama, USA ~ Popular the Grand Ole Opry performer known for a number of late 1950s, early 1960s songs such as That's My Kind Of Love, I Think I Know, Shake Me I Rattle (Squeeze Me I Cry), and duetting with George Morgan, Slipping Around ~ Ward passed away in 1999
July 4, 1930 ~ Nellie Paulina Burgin, commonly known as actress, singer Polly Bergen, born in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA ~ Best known as an actress, notably starring in the 1962 Cape Fear film. Also actively recording as a singer, best known for her 1950s albums Bergen Sings Morgan and The Party's Over ~ Burgin passed away in 2014
July 4, 1929 ~ Musicologist James Haar born in St Louis, Missouri, USA ~ Specialist in Renaissance music. Editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Musicological Society during the 1960s, and serving as the Society's President during the mid 1970s. Perhaps best known for his doctoral dissertation Musica Mundana (Variations On A Pythagorean Theme), exploring the ancient belief in musica universalis and considered a standard work on the subject to this day. Has taught at Harvard University, the University of Philadelphia, the New York University, and the University of North Carolina ~ Haar passed away in 2018July 4, 1928 ~ Bassist, singer Mitch Jayne, full name Mitchell Franklin Jayne, born in Sumter, North Carolina, USA ~ Member of the Dillards. Co-wrote a number of the band's songs nowadays considered bluegrass classics including Dooley, There Is A Time, The Old Home Place and The Whole World Round ~ Jayne passed away in 2010
July 4, 1923 ~ Jazz saxophonist, clarinetist Aaron Sachs born in New York, New York, USA ~ Worked with Benny Goodman, Earl Hines, Machito, Tito Puente, Tito Rodriguez, Louie Bellson, Henry Glover, Stan Getz, Sarah Vaughan, Chet Baker, Billie Holiday, Red Norvo, Gene Krupa, Anita O'Day, Cozy Cole, John Lewis, and Specs Powell ~ Sachs passed away in 2014
July 4, 1911 ~ Oboist, producer, conductor Mitch Miller born in Rochester, New York, USA ~ One of the most influential people in music during the 1950s and early 1960s, especially as conductor and A&R executive at Columbia Records. Host and bandleader of the NBC TV series Sing Along With Mitch. As a producer known for his cheery arrangements and knack for comic novelty as evidenced in Rosemary Clooney's Come On-a My House and Frank Sinatra's Mama Will Bark. As a recording artist known for songs such as The Children's Marching Song, Tzena Tzena Tzena and The Yellow Rose Of Texas, the latter a No.1 hit and million-seller in 1955 ~ Miller passed away in 2010
July 4, 1910 ~ William Thomas Dupree, commonly known as blues, boogie-woogie pianist, singer Champion Jack Dupree, born in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA ~ Dupree was notoriously vague about his background, claiming his parents died in a house fire started by the Ku Klux Klan, at other times saying the fire was accidental. Orphaned, Dupree grew up in a New Orleans Home for Boys before making a name for himself as a boxer, a career during which he earned the nickname “Champion Jack”. Dupree turned to music by the early 1940s, and is perhaps most acclaimed for his Blues From The Gutter album released in 1958. Dupree relocated to the less racially polarized Europe by the late 1950s, where he would continue to perform and record his distinctive rowdy, rollicking boogie-woogie infused piano blues, attracting admiration from a generation of future stars including John Mayall and Eric Clapton. Dupree is well remembered for songs such as Shim Sham Shimmy, Walkin' The Blues, Mail Order Woman, Let The Doorbell Ring, My And My Mule, Nasty Boogie, and perhaps most notably his rendition of Junker's Blues, the latter one of his earliest recordings that reportedly inspired Fats Domino's 1949 The Fat Man debut single ~ Dupree passed away in 1992
July 4, 1895 ~ Isidor Keiser, commonly known as songwriter, lyricist Irving Caesar, born in New York, New York, USA ~ Best remembered for co-writing songs such as Swanee (Al Jolson, the Peerless Quartet, Judy Garland, the Temptations), Sometimes I'm Happy (the Six Hottentots, Jack Hylton, Mildred Bailey), Crazy Rhythms (Roger Wolfe Kahn, Doris Day, Patti Page, Shirley Bassey), and perhaps his best known Tea For Two (Helen Clark, Waring's Pennsylvanians, Fats Waller, Anita O'Day) ~ Caesar passed away in 1996July 4, 1889 ~ Joseph Young, commonly known as singer, lyricist, songwriter Joe Young, born in New York, New York, USA ~ Toured as a singer during World War I, entertaining the US troops. Would go on to become a successful songwriter. Best remembered for co-writing songs such as Lullaby Of The Leaves (Connee Boswell, Bert Ambrose, the Platters), Dinah (Eddie Cantor, Louis Armstrong, Adelaide Hall), I'm Sitting On Top Of The World (Sam Lanin, the Four Aces, the Del Vikings), In A Little Spanish Town (Paul Whiteman, the Revelers, Pérez Prado), I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter (Fats Waller, Eddy Arnold, Frank Sinatra), and Rock-a-bye Your Baby With A Dixie Melody (Al Jolson) ~ Young passed away in 1939
July 4, 1884 ~ Vaudeville actress, singer Anna Chandler born in New Cumberland, Pennsylvania, USA ~ First to introduce Lovesick Blues, penned by Cliff Fiend/Irving Mills, in the 1922 Oh Ernest musical. The song would later become most closely associated with country singer Hank Williams, who recorded the tune in 1948, nearly instantly making it a country classic ~ Chandler passed away in 1957
July 4, 1852 ~ Pianist, composer Alfred Grünfeld born in Prague, Czechoslovakia ~ Became the most popular salon pianist in Vienna. Frequently worked with Arnold Rosé, the Hellmesberger Quartet, and with his brother Heinrich Grünfeld. One of the first pianists of note to make commercial recordings, starting in the late 1880s. Also known for his transcriptions of close friend Johann Straus II ~ Grünfeld passed away in 1924