November 1st, Today in Music History

1731 

Theodore-Jean Tarade, French composer, born in Paris (d. 1788)

1748 

Christoph Rheineck, German composer, born in Memmingen, Bavaria, Germany (d. 1797)

1761 

Antonín Volánek, Czech organist and composer, born in Jaroměř, Czech Republic

1805 

Alessandro Nini, Italian composer, born in Fano, Pesaro, Italy

1832 

Gottfred Matthison-Hansen, Danish composer, born in Roskilde, Denmark (d. 1909)

1847 

Emma Albani, Canadian operatic soprano, born in Chambly, United Province of Canada

1855 

Guido Adler, Bohemian-Austrian musicologist (Still in the Music), born in Eibenschütz, Moravia, Austrian Empire

1859 

W. H. Grattan Flood, Irish author and composer, born in Lismore, County Waterford, Ireland

1862

Johan Wagenaar, Dutch composer (Cyrano de Bergerac), born in Utrecht, Netherlands (d. 1941).

1863 

Alfred Reisenauer, German pianist and composer, born in Königsberg.

1871 

Alexander Spendiaryan, Russian-Soviet composer, born in Kakhovka, Russian Empire

1877 

Roger Quilter, British composer, born in Hove, Sussex

1887 

Max Trapp, German composer, born in Berlin.

1891 

D. H. Th. Vollenhoven, Dutch composer and philosopher, born in Amsterdam

1892

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera-ballet (in four acts) Madla premiered on Nov. 1. It is a considered part of romantic period and was composed between 1889-1890.

1898 

Sippie Wallace [Beulah Belle Thomas], American blues singer, (Women Be Wise), was born Beulah Thomas in Houston in 1898. Dubbed the Texas Nightingale.

She sang and played the organ in her father’s church, and on summer nights sneaked out with her brothers to hear blues singers at the traveling tent shows that came through Houston. Before long, she left home to join one of the shows as a singer, actress, chorus girl, and snake charmer’s assistant. She moved to New Orleans with her brother, musician George Thomas, and performed with many jazz and blue legends. While in New Orleans, she married Matt Wallace.

By the early 1920s, Wallace moved to Chicago and recorded an album that featured many of her own songs, including “Mighty Tight Woman” and “Women be Wise,” both later popularized for a new generation by blues singer Bonnie Raitt in the 1960s. After Wallace’s brother, pianist Hersel Thomas, and her husband both died in 1936, she left the music business and worked as a church organist for the next forty years. She staged a comeback with help from fellow Texas musician Victoria Spivey in the 1960s, and later recorded an album with Raitt. Nominated for a Grammy award for the album Sippie in 1985, she died less than a year later, on her birthday.

1907 

Rio Gebhardt, German musician and composer, born in Heilbronn 

1909 

Bruno Bjelinski [Weiss], Croatian composer, born in Trieste, Italy.

1914 

Sabby Lewis, American jazz pianist and arranger, born in Middleburgh, North Carolina.

He grew up in Philadelphia.  Sabby began taking piano lessons at a young age because his mother wanted him to.  At first, he resisted, but ultimately, he found he not only enjoyed it, but it was a great way to entertain his friends.  By the time he was a teenager, he had decided on a career in music.  It turned out to be a wise choice.

Throughout the 1940s, Sabby’s popularity continued to grow. Audiences found his music so danceable that they wanted him and the band to stay on.  As one New York reporter noted, Sabby’s orchestra became famous for long engagements:  they performed at the Zanzibar for seven months, at Kelly’s Stables for sixteen weeks, at the Famous Door for ten weeks; and when they played in Boston, they spent nearly four years as the main attraction at the Savoy Café.  By the late 1940s, however, Sabby and his band had settled into a different Boston club—the Hi-Hat, on Columbus Ave.  He was finally able to put out some recordings, including “I Made Up My Mind,” “Bottoms Up,” “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love,” and “The King,” all of which got favorable reviews from music industry trade publications.  Several of these recordings were on the Mercury label. 

1921 

Jan Tausinger, Romanian-Czech violist and composer, born in Piatra Neamţ, Romania (d. 1980).

1921 

John W. Peterson, American songwriter, born in Lindsborg, Kansas (d. 2006).

One of the most prolific gospel composers of the 20th century, authoring such contemporary Christian classics as “It Took a Miracle,” “Over the Sunset Mountains,” and “So Send I You.”

He published in excess of 1,000 contemporary hymns and spirituals, as well as 35 cantatas and musicals. His most beloved efforts also include “Heaven Came Down,” “Jesus Is Coming Again,” and “Surely Goodness and Mercy.” While at the peak of his compositional prowess, he spent over a decade as president and editor-in-chief of Grand Rapids, MI-based sacred music publisher Singspiration before relocating to Scottsdale, AZ, and founding his own Good Life Productions. The recipient of the National Evangelical Film Foundation’s 1967 Sacred Music Award

1922

George S. Irving [Shelasky], American broadway singer and actor (Dumplings), born in Springfield, Massachusetts

Karol Szymanowski’s premiered his Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. 35 which was composed in 1916.

1923 

Victoria de los Ángeles, Spanish operatic lyric soprano, born in Barcelona.

She studied at the Barcelona Conservatory with Dolores Frau. In 1941 she made her operatic debut as Mimi in Barcelona, but then resumed her training.

In 1945 Victoria de Los Angeles made her formal operatic debut as Mozart’s Countess in Barcelona. After winning 1st prize in the Geneva International Competition in 1947, she sang Salud in La Vida Breve with the BBC in London in 1948.

Her concert career continued as she entered her 7th decade, highlighted by a well-received recital appearance at New York Alice Tully Hall in March 1994. Among her other acclaimed operatic roles were Donna Anna, Rosina, Manon, Nedda, Desdemona, Cio-Cio-San, Violetta, and Mélisande. As a concert artist, she excelled particularly in Spanish and French songs.

1926
Alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson born in Badin, NC.

1934 

William Mathias, Welsh composer, born in Whitland.

1936 

[Zephire] Andre Williams, American R&B musician (Shake a Tail Feather), born in Bessemer, Alabama (d. 2019)

1937 

Bill Anderson, American country music singer (Still, From This Pen), born in Columbia, South Carolina.

1939
Pianist Roger Kellaway born in Newton, MA.

1942

Johnny Kendall [Johan Donkerkaat], Dutch blues singer. He is known for his band: Kendall and The Heralds.

1945 

Rick Grech, British rock musician (Blind Faith, Traffic), born in Bordeaux, France. Grech played with Rod Stewart, Ronnie Lane, Vivian Stanshall and Muddy Waters. He also worked with Rosetta Hightower, the Crickets, Bee Gees and Gram Parsons.

In January 1973, he performed in Eric Clapton’s Rainbow Concert, and he reunited with Roger Chapman and Charlie Whitney when the duo recorded an album in 1974.

Grech retired from music in 1977 and moved back to Leicester and was even rumored to have been in the carpeting business. Royalties probably kept him somewhat comfortable, but unfortunately drugs and alcohol abuse were part of the picture too.

On March 17, 1990, at the age of 43, Ric Grech died at Leicester General Hospital. Liver and kidney failure were listed as the cause of death; these were brought on by a brain hemorrhage.

1947 

Bob Weston, English, guitarist and songwriter (Fleetwood Mac), born in Devon

1947 

Jim Steinman, American Grammy Award-winning songwriter and record producer (Bat Out of Hell, Total Eclipse of the Heart), born in NYC, New York.

Eddy Arnold began a 21-week run at #1 on U.S. country music charts with I’ll Hold You in My Heart (Till I Can Hold You in My Arms). It was the biggest hit of Arnold’s illustrious career.

1949 

David Foster, Canadian musician, composer, and record producer (Chicago, Celene Dion, Andrea Bocelli; “The Prayer”), born in Victoria, British Columbia.

1950 

Dan Peek, American rock vocalist and guitarist, born in Panama City, Florida. Peek, a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, formed America in the late Sixties with along with Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley, who he had met at a high school in London, where their fathers were stationed with the United States Air Force.

The band’s first album, America, yielded the Number One hit “A Horse with No Name,” which led to a Grammy for best new act later that year. He left the group in 1977 and then continued on as a somewhat reclusive Christian pop artist.

1954 

Chris Morris, Britsh rock guitarist and singer (Paper Lace – “The Night Chicago Died”), born in Nottingham, England.

Bilboard’s list of Most Promising New Country or Hillbilly singers showed Elvis Presley at #8.

1955

“Famous Flames,” featuring James Brown, recorded “Please, Please, Please” at radio station WIBB in Macon, Georgia.

1957 

Carlos Paião, Portuguese singer, born in Coimbra, Portugal. In 1978 he won two awards at the Festival da Canção de Ílhavo. In 1988, a short month before the release of his third album Intervalo, Carlos Paião was killed in a car accident following a concert in Leiria.

1959

Bassist/composer Charles Mingus records “Mingus Dynasty” including Jimmy Knepper, Booker Ervin and Roland Hanna.

Ray Charles left Atlantic Records after signing with the ABC-Paramount label

1962 

Magne Furuholmen, Norwegian keyboardist and vocalist (Aha – “Take On Me”), born in Oslo, Norway

The Beatles returned to the Star Club in Hamburg. Little Richard was also on the bill and taught Paul McCartney his “wail.” A bootleg recording of these shows was released years later.

Anthony Kiedis, American rock vocalist (Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Snow (Hey Oh)”; “Give It Away”), born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His godfather was Sonny Bono. With Red Hot Chili Peppers’ album Californication reached various number hits in Billboard.

1963

Rick Allen, English one-armed rock drummer (Def Leppard – “Hysteria”; “Pour Some Sugar On Me”), born in Dronfield, Derbyshire, England. In 1984, at the peak of their fame, Rick lost his left arm in a car accident driving his Corvette Stingray and trying to pass an Alfa Romeo.

1964

The British Invasion continued as the Dave Clark Five performed “Glad All Over” on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” The host told the audience that unlike the Rolling Stones, the DC5 were “nice, neat boys.”

1965 

1st concert at Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco.

1966

Elvis Presley had three albums certified Gold: his debut album “Elvis Presley,” plus “Elvis Golden Records Vol. 2 & 3.”

1968

George Harrison released his first solo album, ‘Wonderwall Music’ on the Apple label. The songs which were mostly Harrison instrumentals, featured Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr and an unaccredited banjo contribution by Peter Tork of The Monkees.

1969 

The Beatles “Abbey Road” album goes #1 in US & stays #1 for 11 weeks.

Elvis Presley‘s comeback was complete as his “Suspicious Minds”  hit the top of the pop charts in North America. It was his first #1 single since Good Luck Charm in 1962 and his last #1 entry.

1970

ABBA, then known as the Festfolk Quartet, played their first concert at a restaurant in Gothenburg, Sweden.

1974

The No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit was “You Haven’t Done Nothin” by Stevie Wonder. The Jackson Five sing backup vocals on the song.

2005

Pianist & bandleader Skitch Henderson died at age 87. On radio he was a sometime musical director for Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby; he was the original orchestra leader on the NBC TV Tonight Show with Steve Allen, went with Steve to his prime time shows, and returned to Tonight for Johnny Carson‘s early years.

2012

The Who launched the US Tour in Sunrise Florida after a four year hiatus.