More UK Sue

  Jazz drummer, session musician, songwriter, music publishing company owner, record producer, recording studio owner, record label owner, cartoon, television and film music composer and arranger Jackie Mills was born in New York City on 11 March 1922. He was a child prodigy who first learned how to play guitar, then switched to drumming when he was just ten years old.  By the 1940s he was playing in the big swing orchestras including Charlie Barnet, Jazz At the Philharmonic, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, and with André Previn, Woody Herman, Stan Getz and Lionel Hampton. At the same time through the 40s and 50s he had regular work as a session musician. In the 60s he was part of Jimmy McGriff's trio, then in the 70s he switched into production work, producing recording sessions for Columbia, MGM, Liberty and other record labels. He also nurtured new talent, including Janis Joplin and Irene Kral. He acquired the Larrabee Sound Studios from its founders, Carole King and Gerry ...

  Guitarist, baritone singer. music teacher and author Edward Morris Dow was born on 25 February 1935. He attended boarding schools in Philadelphia and Maryland. After graduating from High School he joined the US Forces and served in Germany. After his service he joined the US Postal Service but his interest in music prevailed and he became a respected jazz guitarist, playing with Jimmy McGriff and George Benson.  He settled in Baltimore, where he formed Morris Dow And The Eastern Sound, remembered for their recording of "Black Child". He published a book, "The Journey To Fourth Season". Then after residence in night clubs in Baltimore, in 1995 he joined The Ink Spots singing as well as playing guitar and harmonica. In his eighties he was a music teacher at Baltimore County Community College.  Morris Dow died in Baltimore on 26 July 2025. Image: Ever Loved

  Songwriters and record producers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller created a large catalogue of R&B and rock and roll smash hits including "Hound Dog/Tom Cat", "Little Egypt" and many others in a long career which included stage show music as well as pop singles. Jerome Leiber was born in Baltimore, Maryland on 15 April 1933. Michael "Mike" Stoller was born in Queens, New York, on 13 March 1933. They met in Los Angeles in 1950 when they were students. They found they shared a love of rhythm and blues and blues music. That year Jimmy Witherspoon recorded their song "Real Ugly Woman" and they began their songwriting and producing partnership. In 1952 Charles Brown's recording of "Hard Times" gave them their first hit. That was also the year they wrote "Hound Dog" which has been recorded countless times. The first version of "Kansas City", "K C Lovin'", was a hit in 1959, when they started producing ...

  Singer, song writer, record producer and record company owner Bobby E. Boyd was born in Dunlap, Tennessee (date uncertain). He was the owner of Boyd Records in Oklahoma and also worked as an independent record producer. He relocated to Austin, Texas to continue production work. He frequently collaborated with other writers, singers and producers. "You can't sit down" by Phil Upchurch was released on his Boyd label. As a song writer, he had major successes with country songs, including "In Pictures" (co-written with Joe Doyle) which was initially recorded by Linda Davis in 1994, and "Bless the Broken Road" (co-written with Jeff Hanna and Marcus Hummon) initially recorded by Hanna's group The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, also in 1994.  Bobby Boyd died in Spicewood, Texas on 22 June 2017. Image: Restored by Google