1944 in music

Events

January 18 - The Metropolitan Opera House in New York City for the first time hosts a jazz concert; the performers are Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Artie Shaw, Roy Eldridge and Jack Teagarden.

January 20 - Paul Hindemith's Symphonic Metamorphoses on Themes of Weber is premiered in New York City.

February - The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra loses its concert hall in an Allied air raid.

July 2 – The Zorian Quartet gives the first public performance of Priaulx Rainier's String Quartet in C (composed in 1939), at the Wigmore Hall in London.

July 28 - Sir Henry Wood, aged 75, conducts his last Promenade Concert in London.

July–August - Sergei Prokofiev composes his Symphony No. 5 at a Soviet composers' retreat.

August 19 - Italian singers Lucia Mannucci and Virgilio Savona get married.

September 20 – Yehudi Menuhin gives the first British performance of Béla Bartók's Second Violin Concerto in Bedford, in the opening concert of a tour with the B.B.C. Orchestra conducted by Sir Adrian Boult.

October 18 - Orville "Hoppy" Jones, bass singer of the Ink Spots, dies in New York City.

October 25 - Florence Foster Jenkins gives a recital in Carnegie Hall.

December 1 - Béla Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra is premiered in Boston, Massachusetts, by the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Serge Koussevitzky

December 15 - Glenn Miller is reported missing. The official explanation is that his plane went down somewhere over the English Channel, although many alternate theories have been suggested.

Flo Sandon's makes her stage debut, singing in a charity show.

Jo Stafford launches her solo career.

Frankie Laine cuts his first singles for the Beltone and Atlas labels.

Albums released

The Wayfaring Stranger - Burl Ives

Going My Way - Bing Crosby

Boogie Woogie In Blue - Harry Gibson

Biggest hit songs

The following songs achieved the highest chart positions in the limited set of charts available for 1944.

Top hit records

"Amor" recorded by

Andy Russell

Bing Crosby

"And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine" by Stan Kenton with Anita O'Day

"Artistry In Rhythm" by Stan Kenton

"Besame Mucho" performed by

Jimmy Dorsey

Andy Russell

"Cherry" by Harry James

"D-Day" by Nat King Cole

"Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me" by Duke Ellington

"Don't Fence Me In" by Bing Crosby & the Andrews Sisters

"Don't Sweetheart Me" by Lawrence Welk

"First Class Private Mary Brown" by Perry Como

"G.I. Jive" by Louis Jordan

"Goodnight Irene" by Lead Belly

"A Hot Time In the Town of Berlin" by Bing Crosby & the Andrews Sisters

"I Love You" performed by

Bing Crosby

Perry Como

"I'll Be Seeing You" by Bing Crosby

"I'll Get By" by Harry James

"Long Ago" performed by

Dick Haymes and Helen Forrest

Bing Crosby

Jo Stafford

Perry Como

"Is You Is or Is You Ain't" by The Andrews Sisters

"It Could Happen To You" by Jo Stafford

"It Had To Be You" by Dick Haymes and Helen Forrest

"It's Love-Love-Love" by Guy Lombardo

"Mairzy Doats" by Merry Macs

"My Heart Tells Me" by the Casa Loma Orchestra

"San Fernando Valley" by Bing Crosby

"Saturday Night (Is the Loneliest Night of the Week)" by Frank Sinatra

"Shoo-Shoo Baby" by The Andrews Sisters

"Speak Low" by Guy Lombardo

"Straighten Up and Fly Right" by Nat King Cole

"Swinging on a Star" by Bing Crosby

"(There'll Be A) Hot Time in the Town of Berlin" by The Andrews Sisters

"The Trolley Song" by Judy Garland

"Time Waits For No One" by Helen Forrest

"You Always Hurt the One You Love" by The Mills Brothers

Published popular music

"Ac-cent-tchu-ate The Positive" w. Johnny Mercer m. Harold Arlen

"All of a Sudden My Heart Sings" w. (Eng) Harold Rome (Fr) Jean Marie Blanvillain m. Herpin

"And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine" w. Joe Greene m. Stan Kenton & Charles Lawrence

"Bell Bottom Trousers" w.m. Moe Jaffe

"The Boy Next Door" w.m. Hugh Martin & Ralph Blane

"Candy" w. Mack David & Joan Whitney m. Alex Kramer

"Can't Help Singing" w. E. Y. Harburg m. Jerome Kern

"Dance with a Dolly" w.m. Terry Shand, Jimmy Van Eaton & David Kapp

"Don't Explain" w. Billie Holiday m. Arthur Herzog Jr.

"Don't Fence Me In" w.m. Cole Porter

"Dream" w.m. Johnny Mercer

"Fine Brown Frame" w.m. Guadalupe Cartiero & J. Mayo Williams

"First Class Private Mary Brown" w.m. Frank Loesser

"The Flaming Sword of Liberation" m. Glenn Miller

"G.I. Jive" w.m. Johnny Mercer

"Going My Way" w. Johnny Burke m. Jimmy Van Heusen

"Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" w.m. Hugh Martin & Ralph Blane

"A Hot Time in the Town Of Berlin" w. John De Vries m. Joe Bushkin

"How Blue the Night" w. Harold Adamson m. Jimmy McHugh

"How Little We Know" w. Johnny Mercer m. Hoagy Carmichael. Introduced by Lauren Bacall in the film To Have And Have Not.

"I Begged Her" w. Sammy Cahn m. Jule Styne

"I Didn't Know About You" w. Bob Russell m. Duke Ellington

"I Dream of You (More Than You Dream I Do)" w.m. Marjorie Goetschius & Edna Osser

"I Fall in Love Too Easily" w. Sammy Cahn m. Jule Styne

"I Love You" w.m. Cole Porter

"I'll Walk Alone" w. Sammy Cahn m. Jule Styne

"I'm Beginning to See the Light" w.m. Duke Ellington, Don George, Johnny Hodges & Harry James

"I'm Headin' For California" w.m. Glenn Miller & Artie Malvin

"I'm Making Believe" w. Mack Gordon m. James V. Monaco

"Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall" w.m. Allan Roberts & Doris Fisher

"It Could Happen to You" w. Johnny Burke m. Jimmy Van Heusen. Introduced by Dorothy Lamour and Fred MacMurray in the film And the Angels Sing

"It's Love, Love, Love" w. Mack David m. Alex Kramer & Joan Whitney

"Jealous Heart" w.m. Jenny Lou Carson

"Keep a Sunbeam in Your Pocket" w.m. V. Guest & M. Sherwin from the film Bees in Paradise

"Leave the Dishes in the Sink, Ma" w.m. Milton Berle, Gene Doyle & Spike Jones

"Like Someone in Love" w. Johnny Burke m. Jimmy Van Heusen. Introduced by Dinah Shore in the film Belle of the Yukon.

"A Little on the Lonely Side" w.m. Dick Robertson, Frank Weldon & James Cavanaugh

"Long Ago (and Far Away)" w. Ira Gershwin m. Jerome Kern. Introduced by Martha Mears dubbing for Rita Hayworth in the film Cover Girl

"Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet" w.m. Don Raye & Gene De Paul

"More and More" w. E. Y. Harburg m. Jerome Kern From the Universal film Can't Help Singing

"My Dreams Are Getting Better All The Time" w. Mann Curtis m. Vic Mizzy

"Nancy (With the Laughing Face)" w. Phil Silvers m. Jimmy Van Heusen

"New York, New York" w. Betty Comden & Adolph Green m. Leonard Bernstein

"Now I Know" w. Ted Koehler m. Harold Arlen

"On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe" w. Johnny Mercer m. Harry Warren

"One Meat Ball" w. Hy Zaret m. Lou Singer

"Please Don't Say No" w. Ralph Freed m. Sammy Fain from the film Thrill of a Romance

"Put It There Pal" w. Johnny Burke m. Jimmy Van Heusen

"Rum and Coca-Cola" w.m. Morey Amsterdam, Paul Baron & Jeri Sullivan

"Saturday Night" w. Sammy Cahn m. Jule Styne

"Sentimental Journey" w. Bud Green m. Les Brown & Ben Homer

"Seven-O-Five m. Glenn Miller

"Sleighride in July" w. Johnny Burke m. Jimmy Van Heusen. Introduced by Dinah Shore in the film Belle of the Yukon.

"Someday (You'll Want Me to Want You)" w.m. Jimmie Hodges

"Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year" w.m. Frank Loesser

"Stella by Starlight" w. Ned Washington m. Victor Young

"Swinging on a Star" w. Johnny Burke m. Jimmy Van Heusen

"There Goes That Song Again" w. Sammy Cahn m. Jule Styne

"There's A Fellow Waiting In Poughkeepsie" w. Johnny Mercer m. Harold Arlen

"There's No You" w. Tom Adair m. Hal Hopper

"This Heart of Mine" w. Arthur Freed m. Harry Warren

"Till Then" w.m. Eddie Seiler, Sol Marcus & Guy Wood

"Twilight Time" w.m. Buck Ram, Mortie Nevins & Artie Dunn

"Umbriago" w.m. Irving Caesar & Jimmy Durante

"You Always Hurt the One You Love" w.m. Allan Roberts & Doris Fisher

"You Belong To My Heart" w. (Eng) Ray Gilbert m. Agustín Lara

"You Can't Get That No More" w.m. Louis Jordan & Sam Theard

"You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You" w.m. Russ Morgan, Larry Stock & James Cavanaugh

Compositions

George Antheil – Symphony No. 4

Samuel Barber –

Capricorn Concerto, Op. 21, for flute, oboe, trumpet, and string orchestra

Excursions, Op. 20, for piano

Béla Bartók – Sonata for solo violin

Arnold Bax –

A Legend, tone poem, for orchestra

To Russia, for choir with baritone solo

Leonard Bernstein – Fancy Free (ballet)

John Cage –

A Book of Music, for two prepared pianos

Four Walls, for piano and voice

The Perilous Night, suite for prepared piano

Prelude for Meditation, for prepared piano

Root of an Unfocus, for prepared piano

Spontaneous Earth, for prepared piano

Triple-Paced No. 2, for prepared piano

The Unavailable Memory Of, for prepared piano

A Valentine Out of Season, for prepared piano

Julián Carrillo –

Himno a la paz, for two choirs and piano

Suite No. 4, for piano

Elliott Carter –

The Difference, for soprano, baritone, and piano

The Harmony of Morning, for SSAA choir and small orchestra

Holiday Overture

Carlos Chávez – La hija de Cólquide (ballet)

Aaron Copland – Appalachian Spring (ballet)

Henry Cowell –

Animal Magic of the Alaskan Esquimo, for band

Derwent and the Shining Sword, incidental music

Elegie for Hanya Holm, for piano

Manaunaun’s Birthing, for orchestra

Hymn and Fuguing Tune No. 1, for band

Hymn and Fuguing Tune No. 2, for string orchestra

Hymn and Fuguing Tune No. 3, for orchestra

Hymn and Fuguing Tune No. 4, for soprano, alto, and bass recorders, woodwinds, and strings

Kansas Fiddler, for piano

Mountain Music, for piano

The Pasture, for voice and piano

Sonatina, for baritone, violin, and piano

George Crumb – Two Duos for flute and clarinet

David Diamond – Rounds

Ernő Dohnányi – Symphony No. 2

George Enescu – Piano Quartet No. 2 in D minor, Op. 30

John Fernström – Symphony No. 10

Vivian Fine – Concertante for Piano and Orchestra

Gerald Finzi – Farewell to Arms

Cecil Armstrong Gibbs – Westmoreland Symphony

Camargo Guarnieri – String Quartet No. 2

Alois Hába –

Milenci (The Lovers), song cycle for soprano and piano, Op. 57

Moravian Love-Songs (5), for mezzo-soprano with guitar or piano accompaniment, Op. 58

Sonata for chromatic harp, Op. 59

Sonata for diatonic harp, Op. 60

Suite, for quarter-tone trumpet and trombone, Op. 56

Paul Hindemith – Hérodiade, ballet, for orchestra

Vagn Holmboe – Symphony No. 4

Alan Hovhaness –

Armenian Rhapsody No. 1, Op. 45, for percussion and strings

Armenian Rhapsody No. 2, Op. 51, for string orchestra

Elibris, Op. 50, concerto for flute and strings

Khrimian Hairig, Op. 49, for trumpet and strings

Lousadzak, Op. 48, concerto for piano and strings

Mazert Nman Rehan ("Thy Hair is Like Basil Leaf"), Op. 38, for piano

Varak, Op. 47a, for violin and piano

Jacques Ibert

Trio, for violin, cello and harp

Petite suite en 15 images, for piano

Les Petites du quai aux fleurs, film score

Joseph Jongen – Concerto for Harp No. 1

Dmitry Kabalevsky –

Easy Pieces (24), Op. 39, for piano

Easy Variations, in D major (Toccata) and A minor, Op. 40, for piano

Preludes (24), Op. 38, for piano

Aram Khachaturian –

Anthem of the Armenian SSR, for orchestra

Choreographic Waltz, for piano

Russian Fantasy, for orchestra

Suite from Masquerade, for orchestra

Symphony No. 2, "The Bell" (second version)

Zoltán Kodály – Missa Brevis

Frank Martin – Petite symphonie concertante

Bohuslav Martinů –

Piano Quintet No. 2

Písničky na dvě stránky [Songs on Two Pages], for voice and piano

Sonata No. 3, for violin and piano

Symphony No. 3

Trio, for flute, cello, and piano

Olivier Messiaen – Vingt regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus, for piano

Darius Milhaud –

Air, Op. 242, for viola and orchestra

Le bal martiniquais, Op. 249, versions for orchestra and for two pianos

Borechou – Schema Israël (Bless Ye the Lord – O Hear, Israel), Op. 239, for cantor, chorus, and organ

Caïn et Abel, Op. 241, for reciter and orchestra

Jeux de printemps, Op. 243, ballet

La libération des Antilles, Op. 246, for voice and piano

La muse ménagère, Op. 245, for piano (also orchestrated)

Printemps lointain, Op. 253, for voice and piano

Sonata No. 1 "sur des thèmes inédits et anonymes de XVIIIe siècle", Op. 240, for viola and piano

Sonata No. 2, Op. 244, for viola and piano

Suite française, Op. 248, for band or for orchestra

Symphony No. 2, Op. 247

Harry Partch –

Yankee Doodle Fantasy

Two Settings from Joyce's Finnegans Wake

Francis Poulenc – Un soir de neige, for six-part choir

Sergei Prokofiev –

Adagio, for cello and piano, Op. 97bis

Cinderella, Op. 87, ballet, for orchestra

March in B-flat, Op. 99, for band

Piano Sonata No. 8 in B-flat major, Op. 84

Pieces (6) from Cinderella, Op. 102, for piano

Russian Folksongs (12), Op. 104, for voice and piano

Symphony No. 5, in B-flat major, Op. 100

Dmitri Shostakovich –

Trio for violin, cello and piano No. 2 E minor, Op. 67

String Quartet No. 2 in A major, Op. 68

Igor Stravinsky –

Babel, for choir

Elegy, for solo viola

Scherzo à la russe, for orchestra

Scènes de ballet, for orchestra

Stjepan Šulek – First Symphony

Michael Tippett –

Plebs Angelica, motet for double choir

The Weeping Babe, motet for soprano and SATB choir

Heitor Villa-Lobos -

Bachianas Brasileiras No. 8, for orchestra

String Quartet No. 8

Symphony No. 2 Asenção (Ascension), revised or completed

Symphony No. 6 – Sobre a linha das montanhas do Brasil (On the Outline of the Mountains of Brazil)

William Walton – Lai and Rondet de carol, for piano

Grace Williams – Sea Sketches

Musical theater

Bloomer Girl Broadway production opened at the Shubert Theatre on October 5 and ran for 654 performances.

Follow The Girls Broadway production opened at the New Century Theatre on April 8 and ran for 882 performances.

Mexican Hayride Broadway production opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on January 28 and transferred to the Majestic Theatre on December 18 for a total run of 481 performances

A Night In Venice (Johann Strauss II) London production opened at the Cambridge Theatre on May 25

On the Town (Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden and Adolph Green) - Broadway production opened at the Adelphi Theatre (New York) on December 28, transferred to the 44th Street Theatre on June 4, 1945, and transferred to the Martin Beck Theatre on July 30, 1945, for a total run of 462 performances.

Seven Lively Arts Broadway production opened at the Ziegfeld Theatre on December 7 and ran for 183 performances

Song Of Norway Broadway production opened at the Imperial Theatre on August 21 and transferred to the Broadway Theatre on April 15, 1946, for a total run of 860 performances

Sweeter And Lower London production

Musical films

Allergic to Love starring Noah Beery Jr., Martha O'Driscoll, David Bruce, Franklin Pangborn and Maxie Rosenbloom. Directed by Edward Lilley.

And the Angels Sing starring Dorothy Lamour, Fred MacMurray and Betty Hutton. Directed by Claude Binyon.

Babes on Swing Street starring Ann Blyth, Peggy Ryan and Andy Devine and featuring Marion Hutton and Freddie Slack & his Orchestra. Directed by Edward Lilley.

Bees in Paradise released March 20 starring Arthur Askey, Anne Shelton, Ronald Shiner and Jean Kent

Belle of the Yukon starring Randolph Scott, Gypsy Rose Lee, Dinah Shore and Bob Burns.

Can't Help Singing starring Deanna Durbin, Robert Paige and Akim Tamiroff

Carolina Blues starring Ann Miller and Kay Kyser & his band

Champagne Charlie starring Tommy Trinder

Cover Girl starring Rita Hayworth, Gene Kelly, Phil Silvers, Lee Bowman, Jinx Falkenburg, Otto Kruger and Eve Arden. Directed by Charles Vidor.

Here Come the Waves starring Bing Crosby, Betty Hutton and Sonny Tufts.

Hey, Rookie starring Ann Miller and Larry Parks

Hollywood Canteen starring Jack Benny, Eddie Cantor, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Roy Rogers, Barbara Stanwyck and Jane Wyman and featuring The Andrews Sisters, Jimmy Dorsey & his Orchestra and Carmen Cavallaro & his Orchestra. Directed by Delmer Daves.

Jam Session starring Ann Miller and featuring Louis Armstrong & his Orchestra, Alvino Rey & his Orchestra and Charlie Barnet & his Orchestra

Knickerbocker Holiday starring Nelson Eddy and Charles Coburn

Lady In The Dark starring Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland

Lost in a Harem starring Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Marilyn Maxwell and John Conte, and featuring Jimmy Dorsey & his Orchestra. Directed by Charles Reisner.

Meet Me in St. Louis starring Judy Garland, Mary Astor, Tom Drake, Lucille Bremer and Margaret O'Brien. Directed by Vincente Minnelli.

Meet Miss Bobby Sox starring Bob Crosby, Lynn Merrick and Louise Erickson and featuring Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five. Directed by Glenn Tryon.

The Merry Monahans starring Donald O'Connor, Peggy Ryan, Jack Oakie, Rosemary DeCamp, Ann Blyth and Isabel Jewell

Minstrel Man starring Benny Fields and Gladys George

One Exciting Night starring Vera Lynn

Pardon My Rhythm starring Gloria Jean, Patric Knowles and Mel Torme and featuring Bob Crosby & his Orchestra. Directed by Felix E. Feist.

Rainbow Island starring Dorothy Lamour and Eddie Bracken

Shine on Harvest Moon starring Ann Sheridan, Dennis Morgan and Jack Carson.

Something for the Boys released November 1 starring Carmen Miranda, Phil Silvers, Vivian Blaine and Perry Como.

Step Lively starring Frank Sinatra, Gloria DeHaven, George Murphy and Anne Jeffreys.

Sweet and Low-Down starring Benny Goodman & his Orchestra, Linda Darnell, Jack Oakie and Lynn Bari

Swing in the Saddle starring Jane Frazee, The Hoosier Hot Shots, Cousin Emmy and featuring The King Cole Trio and Jimmy Wakely & his Oklahoma Cowboys

Take It Big starring Jack Haley, Harriet Hilliard, Mary Beth Hughes and Richard Lane and featuring Ozzie Nelson & his Orchestra. Directed by Frank McDonald.

Time Flies starring Tommy Handley and Evelyn Dall

Two Girls and a Sailor starring June Allyson, Gloria DeHaven and Van Johnson

You Can't Ration Love starring Betty Jane Rhodes and Johnny Johnston. Directed by Lester Fuller.

Births

January 3 - David Atherton, British conductor

January 6 - Alan Stivell, folk musician

January 9

Scott Walker, singer

Jimmy Page, guitarist (Led Zeppelin)

January 10 - Frank Sinatra, Jr., singer (died 2016)

January 12 - Cynthia Robinson, trumpeter and ad-lib vocalist (Sly and the Family Stone) (Graham Central Station) (died 2015)

January 16 - Jim Stafford, singer-songwriter and musician

January 17 - Françoise Hardy, singer

January 19 - Shelley Fabares, actress and singer

January 28 - John Tavener, composer (d. 2013)

February 2 - Andrew Davis, conductor

February 3 - Trisha Noble, singer and actress

February 4 - Florence LaRue, American singer and actress (The 5th Dimension)

February 5 - Al Kooper, musician, songwriter and record producer (Blood, Sweat & Tears)

February 10

Rufus Reid, American bassist and composer (The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra)

Clifford T. Ward, singer-songwriter (d. 2001)

February 12 - Moe Bandy, American singer and guitarist

February 15 - Mick Avory, drummer (The Kinks)

February 17 - Karl Jenkins, composer

February 20 - Lew Soloff, jazz trumpeter, composer and actor Blood, Sweat & Tears

February 23

Johnny Winter, blues guitarist, singer and producer (d. 2014)

Mike Maxfield, lead guitarist (The Dakotas)

February 24

Paul Jones, R&B singer, actor and broadcaster

Nicky Hopkins, keyboard player and session musician (d. 1994)

March 1

Mike d'Abo, vocalist (Manfred Mann)

Roger Daltrey, vocalist (The Who)

March 4 - Bobby Womack, singer-songwriter

March 6 - Mary Wilson (The Supremes)

March 9 - Mark Lindsay, vocalist (Paul Revere & the Raiders)

March 17

John Sebastian, songwriter and harmonica player (The Lovin' Spoonful)

John Lill, pianist

Pattie Boyd, ex-wife and muse of both George Harrison and Eric Clapton

March 23 - Michael Nyman, composer

March 26 - Diana Ross, singer

March 29 – Terry Jacks, singer/songwriter, producer, environmentalist

April 3 - Tony Orlando, singer

April 5 - Crispian St. Peters, singer (d. 2010)

April 6

Michelle Phillips, actress and vocalist (The Mamas & the Papas)

Felicity Palmer, operatic mezzo-soprano

April 12 - John Kay, singer, songwriter and guitarist (Steppenwolf)

April 13 - Brian Pendleton, original member of The Pretty Things (d. 2001)

April 13 - Jack Casady, bass guitarist (Jefferson Airplane)

April 15 - Dave Edmunds, rock singer and guitarist

April 17 – Bobby Curtola, pop singer and teen idol

April 18 - Skip Spence, singer-songwriter (Moby Grape) (d. 1999)

April 27 - Cuba Gooding Sr., lead singer (The Main Ingredient)

May 9 - Richie Furay, country musician and singer (Buffalo Springfield)

May 12 - James Purify, singer

May 14 - Gene Cornish, guitarist (The Rascals)

May 17 - Jesse Winchester, musician and songwriter

May 20

Joe Cocker, English singer (d. 2014)

Boudewijn de Groot, Dutch singer

May 21 - Marcie Blane, singer

May 24 - Patti LaBelle, singer

May 28

Billy Vera, singer, actor and writer

Gladys Knight, singer

May 31 - Mick Ralphs, guitarist and songwriter (Mott the Hoople)

June 2 - Marvin Hamlisch, songwriter and composer (d. 2012)

June 6 - Edgar Froese, electronic music pioneer (Tangerine Dream)

June 7 - Clarence White (The Byrds), guitarist (Nashville West) (d. 1973)

June 8 - Boz Scaggs, singer-songwriter

June 17 - Chris Spedding, guitarist and songwriter

June 21 - Ray Davies, singer-songwriter (The Kinks)

June 22 - Peter Asher, singer and record producer (Peter & Gordon)

June 23 - Rosetta Hightower, singer

June 24:

Chris Wood, rock musician (Traffic) (d. 1983)

Jeff Beck, guitarist

Arthur Brown, singer (The Crazy World of Arthur Brown)

June 26 - Arthur Doyle, American singer-songwriter, saxophonist, and flute player (d. 2014)

June 30 - Glenn Shorrock, singer and songwriter (Little River Band)

July 6 - Byron Berline, American fiddler (The Flying Burrito Brothers)

July 8

Michael Johnson, singer-songwriter and guitarist

Jai Johanny Johanson, drummer (The Allman Brothers Band)

July 22 - Rick Davies, keyboardist (Supertramp)

July 27 - Bobbie Gentry, singer-songwriter

August 2 - Jim Capaldi, drummer, singer and songwriter (Traffic) (d. 2005)

August 3 - Nino Bravo, singer (d. 1973)

August 12 - Larry Troutman, R&B musician (Zapp) (d.1999)

August 18 - Carl Wayne, vocalist (The Move) (d. 2004)

August 19 - Eddy Raven, country musician

August 27 - Tim Bogert, bass guitarist (Vanilla Fudge)

September 1

Archie Bell, R&B singer-songwriter (Archie Bell & the Drells)

Leonard Slatkin, conductor (Detroit Symphony Orchestra)

September 3 - Gary Leeds (The Walker Brothers)

September 4 - Gene Parsons (The Byrds) (The Flying Burrito Brothers)

September 12 - Barry White, soul singer-songwriter and record producer (d. 2003)

September 13 - Peter Cetera, vocalist (Chicago)

September 16

Winston Grennan, drummer

Betty Kelley (Martha and the Vandellas)

September 23 - Ivan Martin Jirous, poet and musician (The Plastic People of the Universe)

September 29

Tommy Boyce, songwriter (d. 1994)

Mike Post, TV theme composer

October 1 - Barbara Parritt, (The Toys)

October 4 - Marlena Davis (The Orlons) (d. 1993)

October 9

John Entwistle, bassist (The Who) (d. 2002)

Nona Hendryx, singer-songwriter, author and actress

October 13 - Robert Lamm, keyboardist, singer and songwriter (Chicago)

October 16 - Patsy Watchorn, folk musician

October 19 - Peter Tosh, reggae musician (d. 1987)

October 24

Ted Templeman, record producer

Bettye Swann, soul singer

October 25 - Jon Anderson, lead singer (Yes)

October 26 - Jim McCann, folk musician

October 29 - Denny Laine, guitarist & singer (The Moody Blues), singer & multi-instrumentalist (Wings)

November 2 - Keith Emerson, keyboardist and composer (Emerson, Lake & Palmer) (d. 2016)

November 8 - Bonnie Bramlett, singer (Delaney & Bonnie)

November 10 - Sir Tim Rice, lyricist

November 12 - Booker T. Jones, musician, record producer, composer and arranger

November 17 - Gene Clark, singer-songwriter (The Byrds) (d. 1991)

November 25 - Bev Bevan, drummer & vocalist (The Move) (Electric Light Orchestra), drummer (Black Sabbath)

November 26 - Jean Terrell, singer

November 28 - R. B. Greaves, singer

December 1 - John Densmore (The Doors)

December 4 - Dennis Wilson (The Beach Boys) (d. 1983)

December 6 - Jonathan King, singer, songwriter and record producer

December 7 - Daniel Chorzempa, organist

December 9

Neil Innes, singer-songwriter and comedian

Shirley Brickley (The Orlons) (d. 1977)

December 11 - Brenda Lee, singer

December 12 - Rob Tyner, American singer-songwriter and bass player (MC5) (d. 1991)

December 13 - Marti Webb, singer

December 19

Alvin Lee, guitarist and singer (Ten Years After)

Zal Yanovsky, guitarist and singer (The Lovin' Spoonful) (d. 2002)

William Christie, harpsichordist and conductor

December 20 - Bobby Colomby, drummer (Blood, Sweat & Tears)

December 21 - Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor

December 22 - Barry Jenkins, drummer (The Animals)

December 25 - Henry Vestine, guitarist (Canned Heat) (d. 1997)

December 27 - Mick Jones, guitarist, songwriter and record producer (Foreigner)

Deaths

January 9 - Johanna Beyer, pianist and composer (b. 1888)

January 29 - Carl Aeschbacher, choirmaster and composer (b. 1886)

February 4 - Yvette Guilbert, cabaret singer and actress (b. 1865)

February 7 - Lina Cavalieri, opera singer (b. 1874)

April 4 - Alma Rosé, violinist and composer (b. 1906) (food poisoning or typhoid at Auschwitz concentration camp)

April 13 - Cecile Chaminade, pianist (b. 1857)

April 19 - Jimmie Noone, jazz musician (b. 1895)

April 23 - Marion Harris, jazz singer (b. 1896) (hotel fire)

May 9 - Dame Ethel Smyth, composer (b. 1858)

May 16 - Leone Sinigaglia, composer (b. 1868)

May 20 - Vincent Rose, Italian-born US bandleader and composer (b. 1880)

June 2 - Zikmund Schul, composer (b. 1916) (tuberculosis)

June 5 - Riccardo Zandonai, opera composer (b. 1883)

June 10 - Sylvio Lazzari, composer (b. 1857)

June 25 - Lucha Reyes (Mexican singer) (b. 1906) (suicide)

July 4 - Alice Burville, singer and actress (b. 1856)

July 14 - Asmahan, Syrian singer and actress (b. 1912) (drowned)

July 19 - Will Marion Cook, violinist and composer (b. 1869)

August 1 - Cecil Mack, songwriter and music publisher (b. 1883)

August 7 - Agustin Barrios, composer (b. 1885)

August 8 - Aino Ackté, operatic soprano (b. 1876)

August 12 - James Simon, pianist, composer and musicologist (b. 1880) (killed at Auschwitz concentration camp)

August 19 - Sir Henry Wood, conductor (b. 1869)

October 1 - Carlo Sigmund Taube, pianist, conductor and composer (b. 1897) (killed at Auschwitz concentration camp)

October 16 - Hans Krása, Czech-German composer (b. 1899) (gassed in Auschwitz)

November 14 - Carl Flesch, violinist (b. 1873)

November 26 - Florence Foster Jenkins, soprano famous for her lack of musical ability (b. 1868)

November 27 - Margarete Dessoff, conductor, singer and voice teacher (b. 1874)

November 30 - Antoine Mariotte, conductor and composer (b. 1875)

December 2 - Josef Lhévinne, pianist (b. 1874)

December 15 - Glenn Miller, trombonist, composer and bandleader (b. 1904) (missing in action)

December 27 - Amy Beach, composer and pianist (b. 1867)

date unknown - Lalla Miranda, coloratura soprano (b. 1874)