January 1948 in Music History

Events in Music

Music Premiere

Jan 9 Walter Piston's 3rd Symphony in E, premieres in Boston by the Boston Symphony Orchestra; conducted by Serge Koussevitzky; wins 1947 Pulitzer Prize

Jan 10 Harold Rome's musical "Call Me Mister", starring Betty Garrett closes at Plymouth Theater, NYC, after 734 performances
Jan 10 J.B Priestley's stage drama "An Inspector Calls" closes at the Booth Theatre, NYC, after 95 performances
Jan 13 1st country music TV show, "Midwestern Hayride", premieres on WLW-T in Cincinnati, Ohio
Jan 15 Richard Lewine, Hassard Short, and Arnold Horwitt's musical comedy revue "Make Mine Manhattan", featuring Broadway debut of Sid Caesar opens at Broadhurst Theater, NYC; runs for 429 performances
Jan 24 Henry Duffy's musical "Music in My Heart", based on life and work of Piotr Tchaikovsky, closes at Adelphi Theater, NYC, after 124 performances
Jan 29 "Look Ma, I'm Dancin'" opens at Adelphi Theater NYC for 188 performances

Birthdays in Music

Jan 3 Larry McNeeley, American bluegrass and session banjo player (The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour), born in Lafayette, Indiana
Jan 5 Rob Quist, American country and bluegrass singer-songwriter, guitarist and banjo player (Mission Mountain Wood Band), born in Cut Bank, Montana
Jan 7 Kaz Lux, Dutch blues-rock guitarist and singer, born in Oosterhout, Netherlands
Jan 7 Kenny Loggins, American singer-songwriter (Loggins and Messina - "Danny's Song"; "Your Mama Don't Dance"; solo - "This Is It"; "Footloose"), born in Everett, Washington
Jan 7 Rick Marotta, American session drummer (Carly Simon; Steely Dan; Warren Zevon), and composer, born in New York City
Jan 9 Bill Cowsill, American singer and musician (The Cowsills - "Hair"; "The Rain, The Park, And Other Things"), born in Newport, Rhode Island (d. 2006)
Jan 9 Cassie Gaines, American rock singer (Lynyrd Skynyrd), born in Miami, Oklahoma (d. 1977)
Jan 9 Paul King, British rock guitarist and banjo player (Mungo Jerry, 1970-72), born in Dagenham, Essex, England
Jan 9 Tim Hart, British folk-rock singer, guitaist, mandolin and dulcimer player (Steeleye Span, 1969-82 - "All Around My Hat"; "Gaudete"), born in Lincoln, England (d. 2009)

Donald Fagen (75 years old)

Jan 10 American rock vocalist, keyboardist, and songwriter (Steely Dan - "Reelin' In The Years"; "Deacon Blue"), born in Passaic, New Jersey

Jan 10 Fayette Pinkney, American pop and disco singer (The Three Degrees, 1963-76 - "TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)"; "When Will I See You Again?"), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2009)
Jan 10 Mischa Maisky, Latvian cellist, born in Riga, Latvia
Jan 11 Terry Williams, Welsh rock drummer (Man; Rockpile; Dire Straits, 1982-88), born in Swansea, Wales
Jan 12 John Etheridge, British guitarist (Soft Machine), born in Lambeth, England
Jan 14 Joseph Henry "T Bone" Burnett, American musician and producer (Los Lobos; Sam Philips: BoDeans), born in St. Louis, Missouri
Jan 15 Ronnie Van Zant, American rock musician (Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Gimme Three Steps"), born in Jacksonville, Florida (d. 1977)
Jan 17 Anne Queffélec, French concert pianist, born in Paris, France
Jan 17 Mick Taylor, British rock guitarist (John Mayhall's Bluesbreakers, 1967-69; Rolling Stones, 1969-74 - "Brown Sugar", "Honky Tonk Woman"), born in Welwyn Garden City, United Kingdom
Jan 19 Harvey Hinsley, British musician, born in Northampton, United Kingdom
Jan 20 Mel Pritchard, British progressive rock drummer (Barclay James Harvest), born in Oldham, Lancashire (d. 2004)
Jan 22 Gilbert Levine, American orchestral conductor, born in Brooklyn, New York
Jan 23 Anita Pointer, American pop and R&B singer (The Pointer Sisters - "He's So Shy"; "I'm So Excited"), born in Oakland, California (d. 2022)
Jan 23 Glenn Wheatley, Australian rock bassist (The Masters Apprentices), and talent manager (Little River Band; John Farnham), born in Nambour, Queensland, Australia (d. 2022)
Jan 24 Charlie Souza, American session and touring bass player and vocalist (Mudcrutch), born in Tampa, Florida
Jan 24 Michael Des Barres, British rock singer (Detective; Power Station), actor (MacGyver; The New WKRP in Cincinnati), and radio DJ, born in Hove, England
Jan 26 (Laurence) "Corky" Laing, Canadian rock drummer and songwriter (Mountain, Cork), born in Montreal, Quebec
Jan 27 Chuck Larsen, American country-rockabilly singer and banjo player (Snuff - "Bad, Bad, Billy")
Jan 27 Kim Gardner, English rock bassist (Ashton, Gardner & Dyke), born in London (d. 2001)
Jan 27 Mikhail Baryshnikov, Russian-American ballet dancer,and choreographer (American Ballet Theater), and actor (The Turning Point; Sex In The City), born in Riga, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union (now Latvia)
Jan 29 Felice Taylor, American R&B singer (I Feel Love Comin' On), born in Richmond, California (d. 2017)
Jan 29 Marc Singer, Canadian-American actor (V, Dallas), born in Vancouver, British Columbia

Weddings in Music

Jan 29 American singer and comic actor Dennis Day (31) weds American Peggy Almquist (24) in San Juan Capistrano, California, until his death in 1988

Deaths in Music

Jan 1 Hermann Zilcher, German pianist and composer (Dr Eisenbart, Die Liebesmesse), dies at 66
Jan 1 Willem Landré, Dutch composer, and music educator, dies at 73
Jan 8 Richard Tauber [Denemy], Austrian-British operatic tenor and film actor, dies of lung cancer at 56
Jan 9 Violet Gordon-Woodhouse, British musician (harpsichord and clavichord), dies at 75