On May 13th, in 1950, seminal Motown musician, pianist, singer, drummer, songwriter, bassist, former spouse of Syreeta Wright, producer, harmonica player, multi-Grammy Award winner, father, film scorer, Pan-Africanist, harpejji player, Civil Rights Activist and champion for the visually impaired-Stevie Wonder AKA Little Stevie Wonder (Stevland Hardaway Judkins) was born in Saginaw, Michigan. Most people know Stevie from his solo LPs on Motown/Tamla like-Songs in the Key of Life (1976), Innervisions (1973), Down to Earth (1966), The Woman in Red (1984), Jungle Fever (1991), Talking Book (1972) and Music of My Mind (1972). Others recall his collaborative work with Bob Marley, Minnie Ripperton, Sergio Mendes, the Jacksons (especially Michael & Jermaine), Paul McCartney, Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, Aretha Franklin and the Pointer Sisters.
On a political front, he’s the man responsible for helping make Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday a federal holiday. He also worked diligently in the anti-apartheid movement to help call attention to the injustices that were going on at the time. He and Nelson Mandela were great friends with a common cause-the liberation of Black people and all people of color world wide. Interesting fact: When Stevie turned 21, he was released from his contract with Motown as part of his original agreement. Berry Gordy gave him $1 million on top of the $30 million he made from his stint with the label from 1961 (signing year) to 1971. Instead of signing with a new company, he resigned with Tamla Records a subsidiary of Motown. He’s 69 today.
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Another infamous Motown vocalist was born on May 13th, in 1943-Mary Wells AKA the Queen of Motown (Mary Esther Wells). She’s most remembered for her singles as a solo artist and the duets she did with Marvin Gaye. She was the first female artist on Motown to have a top 40 hit. One of her biggest hits was the song-My Guy. Wells helped craft the sound of pop and soul music in the 60s, as well as on the Motown label. She grew up hard, contracting spinal meningitis when she was 2 that nearly made her blind, temporarily paralyzed and partially deaf in one ear. When she was 10, she was diagnosed with tuberculosis. She beat both illnesses and started working as a housekeeper with her mother when she was 12. She hated the job.
Wells sang in church and at work to pass the time. She started performing in nightclubs and singing secular music around the age of 10. She continued to sing and started writing her own songs during high school. She decided she wanted to be a professional singer/songwriter after she graduated high school and learned about the success Smokey Robinson and Jackie Wilson were having. She approached then Motown Records owner-Berry Gordy at the Twenty Grand Club in Detroit. She asked him for a job and told him that she’d written a song for Jackie Wilson called-Bye Bye Baby. Gordy made her sing it to him on the spot. He was so impressed with her writing and singing skills that he hired to cut the track herself at United Sound Systems studio in Detroit. This was the start of her career that lasted 30 years. She was 49 when she passed.
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On May 13th, in 1912, one of the greatest jazz composers of our time-Gil Evans (Ian Ernest Gilmore Green) was born in Toronto, Canada. Evans was a sideman, pianist, arranger, bandleader, producer and multi-label recording artist. He’s most known for his association with Miles Davis during the cool jazz era. He worked as a co-arranger/composer with Miles on some of his best LPs: The Birth of the Cool (1957), Miles Ahead (1957), Porgy & Bess (1958), Sketches of Spain (1960) and Quiet Nights (1962). Davis handpicked Evans when he was given the option to work with any arranger in jazz by his then record company-Columbia. He immediately chose Gil.
Evans' legacy goes back before Miles Davis-he and Davis continued to work throughout the 60s with Davis’ second great Quintet-Tony Williams (drums), Wayne Shorter (sax), Herbie Hancock (keys) and Ron Carter (bass). Going back to the 40s, Evans worked with Claude Thornhill and Charlie Parker. In the 50s, he worked with Count Basie, Miles Davis and Quincy Jones. He also started his recording career as a bandleader, making his full-length debut in 1957 on Prestige Records-Gil Evans & Ten. In the 60s, he continued to record as a bandleader and started getting into free jazz. By the 70s, he was doing fusion jazz with Ryo Kawasaki and Jaco Pastorius. Evans was inspired by Jimi Hendrix’s guitar playing, which coerced him to alter his composing style. He was a truly innovative musician of modal, hard bop, cool, free and fusion jazz. He was 75 when he passed.
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HONORABLE MENTION: On May 13th, in 1985, the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) implemented Parental Advisory stickers on the first 15 songs they found to be morally questionable for minors to buy. It was started by 4 women known as the Washington Wives: Tipper Gore, Pam Howar, Susan Baker and Sally Nevius. These 15 tracks became known as the infamous-Filthy Fifteen: Prince-Darling Nikki, Sheena Easton-Sugar Walls, Mary Jane Girls-In My House, Vanity-Strap on Robbie Baby, Cyndi Lauper-She Bop, AC/DC-Let Me Put Love Into You, WASP-Animal (F like a Beast), Venom-Possessed, Def Leppard-High ‘n’ Dry, Madonna-Dress You Up, Judas Priest-Eat Me Alive, Motley Crue-Bastard, Mercyful Fate-Into the Coven, Twisted Sister-We’re Not Gonna Take It and Black Sabbath-Trashed.
On May 13th, in 1988, we lost a seminal jazz musician, pianist, singer, flugelhornist, composer, sideman, trumpeter, arranger, songwriter, bandleader and west coast jazz innovator-Chet Baker (Chesney Henry Baker). He’s most known for his work as a bandleader during the 50s/60s, and with Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan, and Art Pepper. He toured with Charlie Parker when he was on the west coast. He also was a bit different from his contemporaries in that he sang. He released a 1956 LP on Pacific Jazz Records called-Chet Baker Sings. A lot of the jazz artists during the time felt he’d crossed over. He wasn’t fully received by the singing world either, but remained true to himself. He was 58 when he passed.
On May 13th, in 2006, we lost a prolific soul/funk singer, songwriter, disco innovator, accident survivor and former lead singer of the 70s band Heatwave-Johnnie Wilder Jr. The Dayton, OH native is most known for the seminal ballad he sings lead on-Always and Forever. He also sang lead on other hits like: Ain’t No Half Steppin’, Boogie Nights, Star of the Story, The Groove Line and Mind Blowing Decisions. He was involved in an automobile accident in 1979 that left him paralyzed from the neck down. However, he continued to record with the group in the 80s and started a gospel career in the 90s. Interesting fact: Rod Temperton was the other major songwriter in the band. He wrote Rock With You for Wilder, but when he turned it down, Temperton gave it to Michael Jackson. Wilder was 56 when he passed.
On May 13th, in 2012, we lost a prominent musician that helped shape the sound of Southern soul, Memphis music innovator, session musician, Stax studio recording artists and former member of Booker T. & the M.G.’s-Donald ‘Duck’ Dunn. TOV covered the artist’s death on the November 24th post. Please refer to it for more information. He’s most known for his basslines on songs that were recorded at Stax studios from the early 60s until the label folded in the mid 70s. From the late 70s up to his death, he continued to play bass for musicians like: Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters, Rod Stewart, Freddie King, Sinead O’Connor, Stevie Nicks, Stevie Wonder, Neil Young and Tom Petty. He was 70 when he passed.
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