June 1948 in Music History

Events in Music

Music Premiere

Jun 3 Musical "Sleepy Hollow", based on Washington Irving's novel, opens at St James Theater, NYC; runs for 12 performances

Jun 5 "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky: A Cowboy Legend" single released by Stan Jones

Musical Finale

Jun 8 Revival of Jerome Kerns' musical "Sally" closes at Martin Beck Theater, NYC, after 36 performances

Jun 12 "Hold It!" closes at National Theater NYC after 46 performances
Jun 12 George Lessner, Russell Maloney and Miriam Battista's musical adaptation of Washington Irving's "Sleepy Hollow" closes at St James Theater, NYC, after 12 performances

Goodbye Scratchy 78s, Hello Vinyl

Jun 21 Columbia Records unveil the 33-1/3 rpm LP phonograph record invented by Peter Carl Goldmark, allowing up to 20 minutes per side (available in 10 and 12 inch diameters), at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, NYC; over the next decade the popularity and profitability of the LP pushed the 78 rpm out of production [1]

The original Broadway cast of South Pacific – the first million-selling LP

Birthdays in Music

Jun 4 Paquito D'Rivera, Cuban-American Grammy Award-winning clarinetist, saxophonist and jazz and classical composer, born in Havana, Cuba
Jun 5 Gail Davies, American country singer and producer ("I'll Be There (If You Ever Want Me)"; "Blue Heartache"), born in Broken Bow, Oklahoma
Jun 6 Phil Jones, American session and touring drummer and percussionist (Tom Petty; Cracker; Pegi Young), born in Oskaloosa, Iowa
Jun 6 Richard Sinclair, British progressive rock bassist, singer, guitarist, and songwriter (Caravan -"In the Land of Grey and Pink"), born in Canterbury, England
Jun 9 Nathaniel Rosen, American cellist (Tchaikovsky-gold-1978), born in Altadena California
Jun 11 Bob Roetker, American jazz guitarist (Jazz Ambassadors), and teacher (Armed Forces School of Music), born in Cincinnati, Ohio
Jun 11 Lynsey de Paul, British singer and actress (Sugar Me), born in London (d. 2014)
Jun 11 Skip Alan, English drummer (Them - "G-L-O-R-I-A", Pretty Things - "S.F. Sorrow"), born in Westminster, London
Jun 12 Barry Bailey, American rock guitarist (Atlanta Rhythm Section), born in Atlanta, Georgia (d. 2022) [1]
Jun 12 Lyn Collins [Gloria Lavern Collins], American soul singer (Think About It), born in Dime Box, Texas (d. 2005)
Jun 14 Stephen John Hunter, American guitarist, born in Decatur, Illinois
Jun 15 Leah Kunkel (née Cohen), American singer-songwriter (Coyote Sisters), session vocalist (Jackson Browne; Art Garfunkel), and entertaimnet lawyer, born in Baltimore, Maryland
Jun 18 Éva Marton, Hungarian operatic soprano, born in Budapest, Hungary
Jun 19 Nick Drake, English singer-songwriter (Pink Moon), born in Rangoon, Burma (d. 1974)
Jun 19 Phylicia Rashad, American Tony Award-winning actress (The Cosby Show - "Clair"; A Raisin in the Sun; One Life to Live), and singer, born in Houston, Texas
Jun 20 Alan Longmuir, Scottish pop-rock musician (Bay City Rollers - "Saturday Night"), born in Edinburgh, Scotland (d. 2018)

Jun 20 Nigel Morris, British Jazz-fusion drummer (Isotope), born in London, England
Jun 22 Todd Rundgren, American rock singer-songwriter ("We Gotta Get You A Woman"; "Hello It's Me"; "Bang The Drum All Day"), multi-instrumentalist and producer (The Tubes; XTC; Grand Funk Railroad), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jun 23 Myles Goodwyn, rock guitarist/vocalist (April Wine), born in Montreal, Quebec
Jun 23 Nigel Osborne, British composer, teacher and music therapist, born in Manchester, England
Jun 24 Patrick Moraz, Swiss progressive rock keyboard player (Yes, 1974-77; The Moody Blues, 1978-91), born in Morges, Switzerland
Jun 27 Bill Summers, American jazz, fusion, and Afro-Cuban jazz percussionist and conguero (Herbie Hancock's Headhunters; Sonny Rollins; Quincy Jones), born in Detroit, Michigan
Jun 27 Camile Baudoin, American guitarist (The Radiators), born in New Orleans, Louisiana
Jun 29 Bill Kirchen, American singer and guitarist (Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen - "Hot Rod Lincoln"), born in Bridgeport, Connecticut
Jun 29 Dervin Gordon, British musician (The Equals), born in Jamaica
Jun 29 Ian Paice, British hard rock drummer (White Snake; Deep Purple - "Smoke On The Water"), born in Nottingham, England

Deaths in Music

Jun 1 Sonny Boy Williamson I [John Lee], American blues musician (Down & Out Blues), dies at 34
Jun 7 Georges Hüe, French composer, dies at 90
Jun 8 Franz Carl Bornschein, American composer, dies at 69
Jun 14 Ernst Henrik Ellberg, Swedish composer, dies at 79
Jun 14 John Blackwood McEwen, Scottish classical composer, dies at 80
Jun 20 George Frederick Boyle, Australian-American composer, dies at 61
Jun 27 George Templeton Strong, American composer, dies at 92