On May 17th, 1942, a highly influential blues musician, trombonist, singer, pianist, composer, guitarist, songwriter, arranger, harmonica player, multi-label recording artist, Farm Aid performer/supporter, clarinetist, champion of world music, film scorer, and founding member of The Rising Sons-Taj Mahal (Henry Saint Clair Fredericks) was born in Harlem, New York. He’s most known in the hip hop community for his infamous The Cuckoo break beat, that was used as an interlude by DJ Premier on Gang Starr’s Hard To Earn LP for their song called The Planet. The blues rock world know Mahal for his association with the Rising Sons which included multi-instrumentalist Ry Cooder and Jessie Lee Kincaid (1964). Movie buffs know him for the films he’s scored like Sounder (1972), Brothers (1977), Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991) and the Blues Brothers 2000 (1998).
He worked with Star Wars creator-George Lucas, composing the Ewoks theme song, he also worked with the Rolling Stones on their 1996 film-The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus. World and jazz music fans know him for incorporating both genres into the blues giving him an original and unique style. He was a product of the Harlem Renaissance, with both of his parents being entertainers (mother-singer, father-jazz pianist). He was influenced by jazz and world music that he heard on his parents’ shortwave radio. It picked up music from all around the globe. He started playing piano, clarinet and trombone as a child. He got into guitar in his teens and started calling himself Taj Mahal in the late 50s after he had a dream about Ghandi and social injustice. He’s 76 today.
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On May 17th, in 1996, we lost a seminal blues funk musician, sideman, pianist, composer, guitarist, arranger, singer, bassist, multi-label recording artist, keyboardist, bandleader, producer, founder of the Watsonian Institute, drummer, one of the forefathers of the hip hop MC, the original writer of Gangster of Love and the man credited with inspiring Frank Zappa to become a musician-Johnny Guitar Watson (Young John Watson). TOV covered the artist’s birthday on the February 3rd post. Please refer to it for more information. Johnny is one of the funkiest blues guitarists in the world. His songs and style have been sampled by his contemporaries like P-Funk leader George Clinton who used his catchphrase line-‘Bow Wow Wow Yippie Yo Yippie Yay’-for his song Atomic Dog.
Rapper Snoop Dogg went on to make this his own catchphrase in songs produced by Dr. Dre. He also had hits like Superman Lover and A Real Mother For Ya that have been chopped and looped in numerous sequencers. His infamous 1980 song-Telephone Bill, as well as his recordings going back to the late 50s, showcase his rhythmic rap style on introductions of songs and during breaks. Having clever lines that rhymed was part of the urban culture among Black youth, particularly males. Watson often used this on his recordings. He was influenced by T-Bone Walker and Clarence Gatemouth Brown. He was the official west coast bluesman that had his recording debut in 1952 (age 17, Federal Records subsidiary of King Records). He was 61 when he passed.
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On May 17th, in 2012, we lost the female musician dubbed: ‘The Queen of Disco’, singer, songwriter, actress and 5-time Grammy award winner-Donna Summer (LaDonna Adrian Gaines). TOV covered the artist’s birthday on the December 31st post, please refer to it for more information. She’s most known for pioneering Electronic Dance Music (EDM) with seminal producer Giorgio Moroder. The two made classics like-I Feel Love (1977) and Love to Love You Baby (1975). The latter influenced other producers to use a slower intro, and then heighten the energy and speed up the tempo as the song went on. Diana Ross did this on-Love Hangover, Taana Gardner followed suit with-When You Touch Me and house producer ‘Lil Louis borrowed it on-French Kiss.
It’s safe to say, without the combination of Summer and Moroder, EDM would be drastically different than it is today. They showed that sound vocals, hypnotic synths lines and a strong backing beat can come together to make a great song, regardless of tempo. Her fame blossomed during the disco era and continued to grow after it died. In the 80s, she sang pop tunes with a hint of R&B flavor. Comedian Tracy Morgan used her song-On the Radio for his Netflix comedy special, while songs like Bad Girls stayed on heavy rotation. Quincy Jones worked with her on her 1982 self-titled LP while her 1983 album-She Works Hard for the Money (Geffen Records) peaked in the top #5 on the US Billboard chart. In the mid 80s, she started singing gospel, rockabilly and new wave. She was 63 when she passed.
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HONORABLE MENTION: On May 17th, in 1956, Olympic Light Welterweight gold medalist (1976), member of the ‘Fabulous Four’ with Roberto Duran-Marvelous Marvin Hagler-and Tommy The Hitman Hearns, social activist, Golden Gloves Champion, motivational speaker, actor, sportscaster, and one of the greatest boxers of all time-Sugar Ray Leonard (Ray Charles Leonard) was born in Wilmington, NC. Sugar Ray is most known for his fights with Hagler, Hearns and Duran. He also was one of the first boxers to be televised throwing a wind-up punch. His demeanor in the ring was playfully smooth, and he often taunted opponents while beating them. He’s 63 today.
On May 17th, in 1970, two seminal cuts were recorded at Malaco Records in Jackson, MS-King Floyd’s Groove Me and Jean Knight’s Mr Big Stuff. Both of these songs contain several breaks and were huge hits during their time. Wardell Quezergue produced them using his house band consisting of: Jimmy Honeycutt (sax), Vernie Robbins (bass), Perry Lomax (trumpet), Quezergue (organ), James Stroud (drums), Hugh Garraway (sax) and Jerry Puckett (guitar). Groove Me was the b-side to Floyd’s-What Our Love Needs that was released on Chimneyville in 1970. Local DJs started playing it and it shot up the charts.
On May 17th, in 1975, Elton John reocorded his performance on the TV show-Soul Train that was set to air a week later on May 24th, 1975. He performed 2 songs-Philadelphia Freedom and Beenie and the Jets (season 4, episode 142). He was the 3rd White performer to appear on the show. Dennis Coffey was the first when he performed Scorpio on January 8th in 1972 during the show’s first season (episode 15). Gino Vanelli was the second, performing People Gotta Move and Power People on the show that aired February 22nd, 1975 (Season 4, episode 128). Interesting act: Beenie and the Jets was sampled by Mary J. Blige for her song-Deep Inside.
On May 17th, in 1976, singer, actress, reality-TV personality, producer, businesswoman, dancer, songwriter and former co-founding member of Xscape-Kandi (Lenice) Burruss was born in College Park, GA. She’s most known for singing co-lead on Xscape songs. They had their greates success in the 90s with the Atlanta boom of artists like T.L.C., Usher, Lil Bow Wow, Outkast and Ludacris. Jermaine Dupri signed the act to his So So Def imprint and they released 3 Platinum LPs from 1993 to 1998. Internal strife led to her going solo in 1999, and releasing her debut in 2000-Hey Kandi…(Columbia Records). She currently produces and appears in several shows on TV. She’s 43 today.
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