People, Locations, Episodes

Muddy Waters, Blues Musician born

*This date marks the birth of Muddy Waters in 1915. He was an African American musician, singer and cultural icon.

Billie Holiday, Jazz/Blues Singer born

*Billie Holiday was born on this date in 1915. She was an African American vocalist.

Born Eleanora Fagan in Philadelphia, she spent an impoverished childhood in Baltimore before moving to New York City in the late 1920s, when she began singing in Harlem nightclubs. A recording session in 1935 brought her to public attention. Thereafter she was vocalist with various orchestras, including those of Count Basie and Artie Shaw, and made many recordings with the saxophonist Lester Young and with the pianist Teddy Wilson.

Violet Burnside, Musician born

*Violet “Vi” Burnside was born on this date in 1915. She was a Black jazz saxophonist and bandleader. Viola May Kendrick Burnside was from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Burnside worked for much of her career in all-girl bands. She worked in Bill Baldwin’s group in the mid-1930s, joined the Dixie Rhythm Girls in 1937, then joined the […]

Johnny Shines, Blues Musician born

*Johnny Shines was born on this date in 1915. He was an African American blues musician.

HoneyBoy Edwards, Delta Musician born

*David “Honeyboy” Edwards was born on this date in 1915. He was an African American blues musician.

Willie Dixon, Blues Legend born

Willie Dixon was born on this date in 1915. He was an African American blues musician who influenced the emergence of an eclectic blues and rock and roll. He was the behind-the-scenes creator of blues classics, notably “I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man,” which was interpreted by such recording stars as Jimi Hendrix, the Allman Brothers, and Muddy Waters.

Paul Hucklebuck Williams, Musician born

*Paul Williams was born on this date in 1915. He was an African American musician.

Floyd McDaniel, Blues Musician born

On this date in 1915, Floyd McDaniel, an African American blues singer and musician, was born.

Albert Hibbler, Singer born

*Albert George Hibbler was born on this date 1915. He was an African American jazz singer.

Memphis Slim, Blues Musician born.

*Memphis Slim was born on this date in 1915. He was a Black blues pianist, Singer, and composer. Memphis Slim was born John Len Chatman in Memphis, Tennessee. For his first recordings, for Okeh Records in 1940, he used the name of his father, Peter Chatman (who sang, played piano and guitar, and operated juke […]

Harry ‘Sweets’ Edison, Jazz Artist born

Harry Edison, an African American musician, was born on this date in 1915 born in Columbus, Ohio.

Harry “Sweets” Edison was a trumpeter who was inspired by Louis Armstrong. He gained valuable early experience with a number of bands, including the Jeter-Pillars Orchestra. After a short spell with Lucky Millinder, Edison joined the Count Basie band in 1938, where he remained until Basie folded his big band in 1950. Edison then began a long career as leader of small groups, a solo artist, and studio musician; he also worked occasionally with band leaders such as Buddy Rich.

Lawrence Winters, Opera Vocalist born

*Lawrence Winters was born on this date in 1915.  He was a Black opera singer with an active international career from the mid-1940s through the mid-1960s.   Lawrence Lafayette Whisonant was from King’s Creek, South Carolina.  He began to study singing privately before entering Howard University in 1941, where he studied singing with Todd Duncan. After […]

Conrad Johnson, Teacher, and Musician born

*On this date in 1915, Conrad Johnson was born.  He was an African American jazz saxophonist and music teacher.

From Victoria, Texas Conrad O. Johnson was nine when his family moved to Houston. Following studies at Yates High School, he attended Houston College for Negroes and graduated from Wiley College. He was a active member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.

Billy Strayhorn, Composer born

On this date in 1915, Billy Strayhorn was born. He was an African American composer and jazz pianist.

Brownie McGhee, Blues Musician born

On this date, Brownie McGhee was born in 1915. He was an African American blues singer, guitarist, pianist, songwriter, and longtime partner of the vocalist and harmonica player Sonny Terry.