by Britt Ryan | Oct 7, 2020 | Today in Music History
A birthday tip of the hi-hat to drumming legend “Papa” Jo Jones (1911-1985), born 109 years ago on this day in Chicago. The National Endowment for the Arts, which named him an NEA Jazz Master in 1985, says he is “credited with the transfer of the essential pulse of...
by Britt Ryan | Oct 6, 2020 | Today in Music History
Seen here playing “One O’Clock Jump” (1959) is jazz, boogie-woogie and jump blues pianist and bandleader Sammy Price (1908 –1992), born on this day in Honey Grove, Texas. Despite appearing on countless Decca recordings under his own name and with gospel singers such...
by Britt Ryan | Oct 5, 2020 | Today in Music History
Some people call him the “Space Cowboy,” others call him the gangsta of love. Born in Milwaukee on this day in 1943 and raised in Texas, it wasn’t long before blues rock superstar Steve Miller was flying all over the place in a big ole “Jet Airliner” playing music for...
by Britt Ryan | Oct 4, 2020 | Today in Music History
Oh, Pearl. A self-described high school “misfit” who went on to become one of the most powerful and best-known vocalists of her time, Janis Joplin died of a heroin overdose on this day in 1970, just 27 years old. As a teenager, her blues influences included Leadbelly...
by Britt Ryan | Oct 3, 2020 | Today in Music History
Ever feel like you’re walking a “Tightrope” or caught up in some sort of “Crossfire”? Stevie Ray Vaughan sure did. Here he rips out both hits for a 1989 TV special, a year before his death in that tragic helicopter crash in Wisconsin. Born in Dallas, Texas, on this...
by Britt Ryan | Oct 2, 2020 | Today in Music History
The rock star formerly known as Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner was born in Wallsend, Northumberland, England on this day in 1951. No truth to the rumor that he dubbed himself Sting after a childhood encounter with a bumblebee; in these clips from on “Inside the Actor’s...
