People, Locations, Episodes

Adelaide Hall, Stage Entertainer born

On this date in 1901, Adelaide Hall was born. She was an African American entertainer, dancer, and vocalist.

She was born in Brooklyn, where her father taught her to sing. She made her show business debut in a number of black musical shows in New York, including “Shuffle Along,” “Chocolate Kiddies,” “Desires Of 1927,” and “Black Birds of 1928.” The last of these introduced several songs sung by Hall, including “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love.” Hall went to Paris and was married to a British seaman (Bert Hicks) who opened a club for her called La Grosse Pomme (the Big Apple).

Jesse Stone, Rock & Roll Producer born

Jesse Stone was born on this date in 1901. He was an African American band leader, song writer, and music producer.

Blind Willie Johnson, Gospel, and Blues Singer born

On this in 1902, date we remember the birth of Blind Willie Johnson. He was an African American gospel singer who performed on the streets of Southern cities.

Johnson grew up near Temple, TX. When he was seven years old, his stepmother, fighting with his father, threw lye in Johnson’s face, permanently blinding him. From his youth, he sang gospel songs while accompanying himself on guitar, for donations on the streets of small towns and cities, mostly in Texas. Johnson recorded 30 songs in Dallas, and Atlanta. in 1927-30.

Blanche Calloway, Singer, and Bandleader born

*Blanche Calloway was born on this date in 1902. She was an African American singer and bandleader.

From Baltimore, MD, in 1921, Blanche Calloway (Cab Calloway’s older sister) made her professional debut in the Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle musical Shuffle Along. Later, she sang with her brother’s band for a number of years before forming her own group. After years of slight success, she fronted the Andy Kirk band for a short period, which gave her the momentum to form her most famous orchestra, known as Blanche Calloway and Her Joy Boys (an all male band.)

Son House, Blues Musician born

*On this date in 1902, Son House was born. He was a Black blues musician.

Born in Riverton, Mississippi on a Delta plantation, House was an African American blues guitarist and singer. Early on he took up with the church and actually became a Baptist pastor by the time he turned twenty. But he straddled the sacred and secular worlds, which led to troubles with women and alcohol. He had also discovered the power of the blues. After spending time in Louisiana in the early 1920s, House returned to the Delta in 1926 and learned how to play guitar.

Vera Hall, Folk Singer born.

*Vera Hall was born on this date in 1902. She was a Black folk singer. Born Adell Hall Ward, she was from Payneville, Sumter County, Alabama, near Livingston, and sang her entire life. Her mother, Zully Hall, and father, Agnes Efron, taught her songs such as “I Got the Home,” “In the Rock,” and “When I’m […]

Jimmie Lunceford, Bandleader born

This date in 1902 marks the birth of Jimmie Lunceford, an African American musician and arranger, and one of the great band leaders of the swing era.

He may be best known for his orchestra’s consistently refined performances. Even though Duke Ellington and Count Basie may have a larger role in the jazz pantheon and popular imagination, it would be hard to imagine today’s mass of polished inventory and university bands existing without Lunceford’s blueprint. Jimmie Lunceford was born in Fultom, Mississippi, where he enhanced his talents with formal study.

Cliff Jackson, Slide Pianist born

*Cliff Jackson was born on this date in 1902.  He was a Black jazz stride pianist. From Culpeper, Virginia, after playing in Atlantic City, Jackson moved to New York City in 1923, where he played with Lionel Howard’s Musical Aces in 1924 and recorded with Bob Fuller and Elmer Snowden. He led his ensemble, the Krazy Kats, for recordings in 1930, and following their breakup, he […]

Evelyn Dove, Singer born

*The birth of Evelyn Dove in 1902 is celebrated on this date. She was a Black British cabaret and jazz singer.

Jimmy Rushing, Singer, and Musician born

On this date we mark the birth of Jimmy Rushing in 1902. Known as “Mister Five-by-Five,” he was an African American singer-pianist.

Rushing was born in Oklahoma City and reared in a family in which both parents were musical and an uncle was a pianist in a whorehouse. Rushing played piano and sang while attending Wilberforce University before joining Walter Page’s Blue Devils, then the Bennie Moten band later in the 1920s.

Mary ‘Diamond Teeth’ McClain, Blues Singer born

Mary Smith McClain was born on this date in 1902. She was an African American blues singer and entertainer.

She was born in Huntington, West Virginia, and was better known as Walking Mary and later Diamond Teeth Mary. Mary McClain was the half sister of Bessie Smith (Smith’s mother was one of Mary’s four stepmothers). At the age of 13, young McClain couldn’t stand the beatings any more and left home to join the circus disguised as a boy in her brother’s clothes. She went to Memphis, TN, worked as a chorus girl, and joined the Rabbit Foot Minstrels, where she became a featured singer.

Julia Lee, Blues Singer born

Julia Lee was born on this date in 1902. She was an African American singer and pianist.

Julia Lee was born in Boonville, Missouri and raised in Kansas City, where she attended Lincoln High School. As a child, she performed with her father’s string trio, as well as at neighborhood house parties and church socials. She began her professional musical career singing and playing the piano in her brother’s band, George E. Lee and His Novelty Singing Orchestra.

Tampa Red, Blues Musician born

*On this date, in 1903, Tampa Red was born.  He was a Black Chicago blues musician.   Tampa Red was born in Hudson Woodbridge in Smithville, Georgia. His parents died when he was a child, and he moved to Tampa, Florida, where he was raised by his aunt and grandmother and adopted their surname, Whittaker. He emulated his older brother, […]

Abel Meeropol, Composer born

*Abel Meeropol was born on this date in 1903. He was a White Jewish American writer, teacher and songwriter.

Gwendolen Avril Coleridge-Taylor, Pianist, and Composer born

*Gwendolen Avril Coleridge-Taylor was born on this date in 1903.  She was a Black English pianist, conductor, and composer.   She was born in South Norwood, London, the daughter of composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Jessie Walmisley. They had met as students at the Royal College of Music. She had an older brother Hiawatha. Gwendolyn wrote […]