Month of Musicians:
January
Roger Miller
- Born January 2, 1936 in Fort Worth, TX– Died October 25, 1992 in Los Angeles
- Served in the US Army
- Began writing songs in the 1950s for Jim Reeves and Ray Price
- Best known of honky-tonk influenced novelty songs
- Began recording in the 1960s "Nashville sound" era
- Toured and recorded into the 1990s
- Wrote the music and lyrics for the 1985 Tony-award winning Broadway musical Big River, in which he acted
Elvis Presley
- Born January 8, 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi
- Moved to Nashville at age 13
- Began recording with Sun Records in 1954
- Was one of the first to make rockabilly music: an uptempo, backbeat-driven fusion of country music and rhythm and blues
- Released first RCA Victor single "Heartbreak Hotel" in 1956, which became a hit single
- Was drafted into the US Army in 1958
- King of Rock and Roll
- Began performing in Hollywood films, recording thier soundtracks, and making TV appearances
- Died from a heart attack on August 16, 1977 in Memphis at age 42
Heartbreak Hotel &
Return to Sender
Heartbreak Hotel & Return to Sender
Dolly Parton
- Born January 19, 1946 in Locust Ridge, Tennessee
- Number 4 of 12 children
- Grew up very poor, and began playing a homemade guitar at age 7
- Began playing on radio and TV as a child, and recorded a single, "Puppy Love" at age 13
- Moved to Nashville the day after she graduated high school
- Was initially pitched as a bubble-gum pop singer, but she wanted to make country music
- Released her debut album in 1967, Hello, I'm Dolly
- Her songs have been recorded by many artists, such as Hank Williams and Kitty Wells
- Most popular in 70s and 80s country
- Has written over 3,000 songs
Coat of Many Colors
&
9 to 5
Coat of Many Colors & 9 to 5
Sam Cooke
- Born January 22, 1931 in Clarksdale, Mississippi but grew up in Chicago
- Sang gospel music with his siblings as a child
- Began singing with the gospel group the Soul Stirrers in 1950
- His first pop/soul single was "Lovable" (1956), a remake of the gospel song "Wonderful." It was released under the alias "Dale Cook"
- Had 30 U.S. top 40 hits between 1957 and 1964
- His first hit was "You Send Me" in 1957
- Had contiued commercial success as a soul singer, and created his own record lable
- Died at the age of 33 on December 11, 1964 from a gunshot wound
You Send Me &
Basin Street Blues
You Send Me & Basin Street Blues
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Born January 27, 1756 in Salzburg
- Musical prodigy from childhood
- Played keyboard and violin at age 5, and composed and performed for European royalty
- Musician for the Salzburg court at age 17
- Later moved to Vienna, where we became famous for his music, but received little money
- Composed over 600 symphonies, concertos, operas, chamber pieces, and choral music
- Requiem, Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro, The Magic Flute
- Forefront of Classical music
- Died December 5, 1791
Franz Schubert
- Born January 31, 1797 in Vienna
- Began playing violin, viola, and piano at a young age
- Composed pieces for his family string quartet
- Late Classical and early Romantic era
- Composed 600 secular vocal works (mainly Lieder), seven complete symphonies, sacred music, operas, incidental music and a large body of chamber and piano music
- Most prolific works are for solo voice and piano
- Died November 19, 1828
Franz Schubert
Nacht und Träume & Ave Maria