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.
November 9, 1959 ~ Gospel singer, songwriter Donnie McClurkin born in Amityville, New York, USA ~ Sold over 10 milion records. Dubbed “the Reigning King of Urban Gospel” by Variety magazine. Best known for song such as as I Call You Faithful, Wait On The Lord featuring Karen Clark Sheard, We Are Victorious featuring Tye Tribbett, and I Need You. Has also collaborated with Yolanda Adams, Kirk Franklin, and Erica Campbell
November 9, 1959 ~ Singer Frankie Avalon releases Why, which would become his seventh and final top 10 hit ~ Written by Frankie Avalon's manager Bob Marcucci and Peter De Angelis, Why would become the teen idol's seventh and final Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit, and after Venus earlier the same year his second and final No.1. Why would be covered several times, including in a French translation by Dalida in 1960, retitled to Bras Dessus Bras Dessous, and notably by Donny Osmond in the 1970s, whose single reached No.3 in the UK. Although he did continue to record as a singer, from the early 1960s onward Avalan would focus primarily on his acting career
November 9, 1959 ~ Bass-baritone singer Thomas Quasthoff born in Hildesheim, Germany ~ Though talented denied admission to the Hochschule Fur Music Theater Und Medien for his physical inability to play the piano, standing at a mere 1.34 meters or just under 5 ft 5 due to birth defects. Would go on to study voice privately. Rose to fame in the late 1980s winnning the ARD International Music Competition. Best known for performing and recording Johann Sebastian Bach cantates, lieder and jazz. Won a Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Performance in 2000 for his recording of Gustav Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn with the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Claudio AbbadoNovember 9, 1956 ~ Alternative rock, indie rock, blues rock drummer Jerome Deupree born in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA ~ Best known as original drummer of alternative rock outfit Morphine. After the band disbanded following the sudden death of frontman Mark Sandman, Deupree has played with Orchestre Morphine supporting the band's final album, 2000's The Night, and notably collaborated with jazz guitarist Joe Morris as well as sessioned for artists including Eric Hutchinson, Merrie Amsterburg, Jen Trynin and James McMurtry
November 9, 1951 ~ Jazz drummer Gerry Brown born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA ~ Worked with Chris Hinze, Lionel Hampton, Jasper van 't Hof, Toto Blanke, Charlie Mariano, Eef Albers, Gary Bartz, Larry Coryell, Return To Forever, Stanley Clarke, Chick Corea, George Gruntz, Joachim Kühn, Herb Geller, Anne Haigis, Kraan, Billy Cobham, Stevie Wonder, George Benson, Michal Urbaniak, Urszula Dudziak, Marcus Miller, Lionel Richie, Sonny Fortune, Alphonso Johnson, Roberta Flack, Joe Sample, Tom Harrell, Chuck Loeb, Phil Collins, and Nathan Watts
November 9, 1949 ~ Bassist, guitarist, drummer, singer Tommy Caldwell, full name Thomas Michael Caldwell, born in Spartanburg, South Carolina, USA ~ Bassist of Southern rock outfit the Marshall Tucker Band from its inception in 1973 until his death from injuries sustained in a car accident, succeeded by Franklin Wilkie. The 1980 Full Moon by the Charlie Daniels Band is dedicated to Caldwell ~ Caldwell passed away in 1980
November 9, 1948 ~ Pop rock, rock drummer Alan Gratzer born in Syracuse, New York, USA ~ Co-founding member of REO Speedwagon, remaining with the band from 1967 through 1988 to be succeeded by Graham Lear. Present on the band's best known including Keep On Loving You, Take It On The Run, Can't Fight This Feeling all of which reached Billboard Hot 100 top 10. One of the last songs featuring Gratzer, 1988's In My Dreams, would reach the top 20. After his departure from the band Gratzer would retire from music and open a restaurant
November 9, 1946 ~ Blue-eyed soul, pop singer, songwriter Benny Mardones, full name Ruben Armand Mardones, born in Cleveland, Ohio, USA ~ Known for his hit single Into The Night which reached the Billboard top 20 twice, first in 1980 and again in 1989 after KZZP, an Arizona radio station, featured a segment titled “Whatever happened to the guy who sang Into the Night”. Other stations picked up and the single became a top 20 hit again ~ Mardones passed away in 2020November 9, 1943 ~ Drummer Lee Graziano born in Chicago, Illinois, USA ~ Drummer, trumpeter, backing singer with the American Breed throughout its existence appearing on all four albums including 1967's Bend Me Shape Me, its title track a Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit. Also drummed with funk, R&B outfit Rufus from 1970 through 1972, leaving the band before their 1973 eponymous Rufus debut album
November 9, 1942 ~ Jazz drummer Bill Elgart born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA ~ Leader and sideman. Worked with artists such as Carla Bley, Paul Bley, Marion Brown, Sam Rivers, Lowell Davidson, Mark Levinson, Roswell Rudd, John Tchicai, Jack Walrath, Glenn Ferris, Gary Peacock, Karl Berger, Dave Holland, Ed Schuller, Wayne Darling, Lee Konitz, Thomas Zoller, the Sundial Trio, Peter O'Mara, Caoma, Sigi Finkel, Tomasz Stańko, Vlatko Kucan, Annemarie Roelofs, Frank Mobus, Vitold Rek, Ingrid Sertso, Leszek Zadlo, Manfred Brundl, Kenny Wheeler, Charlie Mariano, Arrigo Cappelletti, Franco D'Andrea, Wolfgang Lackerschmid, Claudio Fasoli, Tim Berne, Barre Phillips, Eddie Gomez, Conny Bauer, Sheila Jordan, and Matthias SchubertNovember 9, 1941 ~ Singer Perry Como, backed by Ted Weems and orchestra, records Deep In The Heart Of Texas ~ Written by Don Swander and June Hersher. Peggy Lee released the song as a single the following January, b/w Ollie Ollie Outs In The Free. Bandleader Alvino Rey, the Merry Macs, Horace Heidt, and Bing Crosby would also each separately chart with their respective versions. Used in a number of 1942 films, namely sung by Tex Ritter and Jimmy Wakely in Deep In The Heart Of Texas, and by Gene Autry in both Stardust On The Stage and Autry joined by Smiley Burnette and Joe Strauch Jr in Heart Of The Rio Grande. Over the years the song would become a country classic, covered by a wide array of artists
November 9, 1937 ~ Songwriter, singer, poet Roger McGough, full name Roger Joseph McGough, born in Litherland, UK ~ Best known as a poet, rising to fame in the late 1960s with the publication of The Mersey Sound, an anthology of poetry by McGough, Brian Patten and Adrian Henri. To pop audiences known as co-founding member of the Scaffold, performing a mixture of comic songs, sketches and poetry by McGough. The band in best known for their 1968 UK charttopper Lily The PinkNovember 9, 1937 ~ Walton Alderton, commonly known as rockabilly singer, guitarist Vernon Taylor, born ~ Recorded a handful of overlooked rockabilly singles, notably Today Is A Blue Day and Mystery Train, before retiring from music by the late 1950s to pursue a career in business. After playing a tribute concert for rock & roll icon Charlie Feathers at the turn of the 1990s earned him renewed attention would record his first full-length album, Daddy's Rockin' released in 1999
November 9, 1936 ~ Singer Mary Travers, full name Mary Allin Travers, born in Louisville, Kentucky, USA ~ Sang backup for Pete Seeger before becoming one third of quintessential 1960s vocal folk group Peter Paul & Mary, alongside Peter Yarrow and Paul Stookey. The group disbanded at the turn of the decade and Travers released five solo albums, starting with 1971's Mary before re-forming the trio in 1978 ~ Travers passed away in 2009
November 9, 1932 ~ Trumpeter, conductor, director, composer, arranger Johnny Harris, full name John Stanley Livingstone, born in Edinburgh, UK ~ Turned down an offer from Elvis Presley, twice. Trumpeter in bands led by Vic Lewis, Ken Mackintosh, and Cyril Stapleton. Member of beat group the Shubdubs. As a conductor, arranger, director, or producer Harris has worked with artists such as Petula Clark, Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck, Lynda Carter, Jackie Trent, Roy Budd, Lulu, Ginette Reno, Paul Anka, and Odia Coates ~ Harris passed away in 2020
November 9, 1922 ~ Actress, singer, dancer Dorothy Dandridge, full name Dorothy Jean Dandridge, born in Cleveland, Ohio, USA ~ First African-American actress to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress, namely for her role in the 1954 film Carmen Jones. As a singer performed in classic venues such as the Cotton Club and Apollo Theater. Member of the female trio the Dandridge Sisters active from the mid-1930 until 1940 and known for songs such as Undecided, If I Were Sure Of You, You Ain't Nowhere and That's Your Red Wagon ~ Dandridge passed away in 1965November 9, 1845 ~ Folk figure Elizabeth Jones Reed Napier born in Madison, Georgia, USA ~ Reed had the Allman Brothers Band instrumental In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed named after her. Married to Army captain Briggs Hopson Napier, with whom she had a dozen children. The couple worked as farmers and ran a local pub in Macon, Georgia, during the early-1900s. Guitarist Dickey Betts would name the song after seeing her headstone at the Rose Hill Cemetery, a place the band would frequent to relax and write songs. A critically acclaimed jazz-influenced track, the original nearly seven minute long studio version was first included on the 1970 Idlewild South album. It would become a concert favorite, often running for half an hour. Reed's grave is not far from those of bandmembers Duane Allman, Berry Oakley, Butch Trucks, and Gregg Allman ~ Reed passed away in 1935