May 1937 in Music History

Events in Music

Room Service

May 19 John Murray and Allen Boretz's stage comedy "Room Service", starring Sam Levene, Eddie Albert, and Phillip Loeb, opens at the Cort Theatre, NYC; runs for 500 performances

Birthdays in Music

  • May 1 Bo Nilsson, Swedish composer (Doppelspiel), born in Skellefteå, Sweden (d. 2018)
  • May 2 Torbjörn Hultcrantzn, Swedish jazz double bass player, born in Stockholm, Sweden (d. 1994)
  • May 4 Dick Dale [Mansour], American surf guitarist ("Let's Go Tripping"; "Misirlou"; "Pipeline"), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 2019)
  • May 4 Hans Ulrich Lehmann, Swiss composer, born in Biel, Switzerland (d. 2013)
  • May 4 Ron Carter, American jazz double bassist and cellist (Ron Carter Meets Bach), born in Ferndale, Michigan
  • May 5 Delia Derbyshire, English musician and composer (Doctor Who theme; White Noise), born in Coventry, England (d. 2001)
  • May 9 Dave Prater, American soul singer (Sam & Dave - "Soul Man"), born in Ocilla, Georgia (d. 1988)
  • May 9 Sonny Curtis, American guitarist and singer-songwriter (The Crickets - " I Fought The Law"; solo - "Love Is All Around"), born in Meadow, Texas
  • May 10 Mike Melvoin, American jazz and studio pianist, composer, and arranger, born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin (d. 2012)
  • May 13 Judith Somogi, American conductor (Frankfurt Opera-1982), born in NYC, New York
  • May 13 Teddy Randazzo, American pop singer-songwriter (I'm on the Outside Looking In), born in NYC, New York (d. 2003)
  • May 14 Peter Williams, British organist and musicologist, born in Wolverhampton, England (d. 2016)
  • May 14 Vic Flick, British studio guitarist ("James Bond Theme"; George Martin Orchestra; John Barry Seven), film score composer and arranger, born in Worcester Park, Surrey, England
  • May 15 (Trinidad) "Trini" Lopez, American singer and guitarist ("If I Had A Hammer"; "Lemon Tree"), and actor (The Dirty Dozen), born in Dallas, Texas (d. 2020) [1]
  • May 15 Karin Krog, Norwegian jazz singer and composer, born in Oslo, Norway
  • May 26 Yehuda Yannay, Romanian-Israeli-American composer (Exit Music at Century's End), and educator (University of Wisconsin, 1970-2004), born in Timișoara, Romania
  • May 29 Hibari Misora [Kazue Katō], Japanese pop singer ("Kawa no nagare no yō ni" - Like the Flow of the River), and actress born in Yokohama, Japan (d. 1988)
  • May 29 Irmin Schmidt, German keyboardist and rocker (Can), born in Berlin, Germany
  • May 29 Peter Kolman, Austrian composer, born in Bratislava, Slovakia

Deaths in Music

  • May 2 Arthur Somervell, English composer, dies at 73
  • May 4 Noel Rosa, Brazilian guitrist, mandolin player, and songwriter, dies of tuberculosis at 26
  • May 11 Viliam Figuš-Bystrý, Slovak composer, dies at 62