mick laBriola

Bill Graham (born Wulf Wolodia Grajonca; January 8, 1931 – October 25, 1991) was a German-born American impresario and rock concert promoter.

In the early 1960s, Graham moved to San Francisco, and in 1965, began to manage the San Francisco Mime Troupe. He had teamed up with local Haight Ashbury promoter Chet Helms to organize a benefit concert, then promoted several free concerts. This eventually turned into a profitable full-time career and he assembled a talented staff. Graham had a profound influence around the world, sponsoring the musical renaissance of the 1960s from its epicenter in San Francisco. Chet Helms and then Graham made famous the Fillmore and Winterland Ballroom; these turned out to be a proving grounds for rock bands and acts of the San Francisco Bay area including the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Big Brother and the Holding Company with Janis Joplin, who were first managed, and in some cases developed, by Helms.

Singer Jerome “Little Anthony” Gourdine was born on January 8, 1941, to Victoria Stafford and Thomas Elliot Gourdine. He grew up in the Fort Greene Housing Project in Brooklyn, New York, and attended Boys High School. While in high school, Gourdine and his friends created a doo-wop group called, “The Duponts.”

In 1957, Gourdine joined a new group called the, The Chesters, as the lead vocalist. The group recorded, “Tears on My Pillow,” which became an instant success. The Chesters, changed their name to Little Anthony & The Imperials, in 1959, and released their second hit single, “Shimmy, Shimmy, Ko-Ko-Bop,” which sold one million records.

Little Anthony & the Imperials reformed under DCP records in 1964. From 1964 through 1967, Little Anthony & The Imperials achieved success with songs like, “I’m Outside Looking In,” “Goin’ Out of My Head,” and “Hurt So Bad.” They appeared on the “The Ed Sullivan Show,” the “Kraft Music Hall Television Show,” and Dick Clark’s television specials. In 1969, Little Anthony & The Imperials signed with United Artists and recorded several chart singles. Gourdine left the group in 1975 to begin a sixteen year long acting and solo singing career.

Little Anthony & The Imperials performed their first reunion show in 1992, in New York City, New York. Over the years, they have had seventeen pop and twelve R&B chart hits.

Gourdine now resides in Las Vegas, Nevada with his wife, Linda.

Jerome “Little Anthony” Gourdine was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on April 6, 2007.

Dave Weckl (born January 8, 1960, in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American jazz fusiondrummer and the leader of the Dave Weckl Band. He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 2000.

Weckl started playing his first set of drums at age 8 in his spare room along with records. He later played in the living room, sometimes with his father on piano.Weckl studied at the University of Bridgeport. Starting out on the New York fusion scene in the early 1980s, Weckl soon began working with artists such as Paul Simon, George Benson, Michel Camilo, Robert Plant, and Anthony Jackson.

He was with the Chick Corea Elektric Band from 1985 to 1991. During this time he performed on many albums and also appeared with Corea’s Akoustic Band. He said he “augmented his work with Corea by continuing his session work and appearing often with the GRP All-Star Big Band“. Weckl has released a series of instructional videotapes. His first recording as leader was in 1990 – Master Plan, for GRP. This was followed by Heads Up in 1992, and Hard-Wired in 1994. Later on, Weckl recorded and toured with guitarist Mike Stern.

Hudson Whittaker (born Hudson Woodbridge; January 8, 1903 – March 19, 1981 Smithville, GA), known as Tampa Red, was an American Chicago blues musician.

His distinctive single-string slide guitar style, songwriting and bottleneck technique influenced other Chicago blues guitarists such as Big Bill Broonzy, Robert Nighthawk, Muddy Waters, and Elmore James. In a career spanning over 30 years, he also recorded pop, R&B and hokum songs. His best-known recordings include “Anna Lou Blues”, “Black Angel Blues“, “Crying Won’t Help You”, “It Hurts Me Too“, and “Love Her with a Feeling“.

Earl Wilberforce “Wire” Lindo (7 January 1953 – 4 September 2017), sometimes referred to as Wya, was a Jamaican reggae musician. He was a member of Bob Marley and the Wailers and collaborated with numerous reggae artists including Burning Spear.

In 1973, he was invited to join The Wailers on a US tour, going on to play on Burnin’. He left the Wailers in 1974 to join Taj Mahal‘s band.

Lindo can be heard on an album credited to the Impact All-Stars. Released in 1975, the album is a collection of dub tracks recorded at Randy’s Studio 17. On his return to Jamaica he played on recordings by Big Youth, Culture, I Roy, and Al Brown, and had some success with solo singles “No Soul Today” and “Who Done It”. In 1978 he rejoined the Wailers, playing on Babylon by Bus, Survival, and Uprising.

Kenneth Clark Loggins (born January 7, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His early songs were recorded with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1970,which led to seven albums recorded with Jim Messina as Loggins and Messina from 1972 to 1977. His early soundtrack contributions date back to A Star Is Born in 1976, and he is known as the “King of the Movie Soundtrack“. As a solo artist, Loggins experienced a string of soundtrack successes, including an Academy Award nomination for “Footloose” in 1985. Finally Home was released in 2013, shortly after Loggins formed the group Blue Sky Riders with Gary Burr and Georgia Middleman. He won a Daytime Emmy Award, two Grammy Awards and was nominated for an Academy Award, a Tony Award and a Golden Globe Award.

Eldee Young (January 7, 1936 – February 12, 2007) was a jazz double-bass and cello player who performed in the cool jazz, post bop and rhythm and blues mediums.

Born in 1936 in Chicago, Illinois, Young started playing upright bass at the age of 13. He was helped by his eldest brother who played guitar. He joined the Ramsey Lewis Trio in 1955. After a decade together he split along with bandmate, Isaac “Red” Holt to form the Young-Holt Trio. They changed their name to Young-Holt Unlimited in 1968. After they split in 1974, Young continued playing, mainly with small groups in Chicago.

He also played with pianist Jeremy Monteiro for more than 20 years. Young also appeared on the albums of James Moody and Eden Atwood, among others. Young died in Bangkok, Thailand, from a heart attack at age 71.

Bobo Jenkins (January 7, 1916 – August 14, 1984 Forkland, AL) was an American Detroit bluesand electric blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He also built and set up his own recording studio and record label in Detroit. Jenkins is best known for his recordingsof “Democrat Blues” and “Tell Me Where You Stayed Last Night”.

Henry James “Red” Allen Jr. (January 7, 1908 – April 17, 1967) was an American jazztrumpeter and vocalist whose playing has been claimed by Joachim-Ernst Berendt and others as the first to fully incorporate the innovations of Louis Armstrong. Allen’s career began in Sidney Desvigne‘s Southern Syncopators. He was playing professionally by 1924 with the Excelsior Brass Band and the jazz dance bands of Sam Morgan, George Lewis and John Casimir. After playing on riverboats on the Mississippi River, he went to Chicago in 1927 to join King Oliver‘s band. Around this time he made recordings on the side in the band of Clarence Williams.

Luciano Pozo González (January 7, 1915 – December 3, 1948), known professionally as Chano Pozo, was a Cuban jazz percussionist, singer, dancer, and composer. Despite only living to the age of 33, he played a major role in the founding of Latin jazz. He co-wrote some of Dizzy Gillespie‘s Latin-flavored compositions, such as “Manteca” and “Tin Tin Deo“, and was the first Latin percussionist in Gillespie’s band. According to Rebeca Mauleón, “Few percussionists have played as integral a role in shaping Latin music as Luciano ‘Chano’ Pozo González”.

Chano Pozo was shot and killed on December 2, 1948, in the El Rio Bar at 111th Street and Lenox Avenue in Harlem. The El Rio Bar no longer exists — even the small triangular block where it was located has been removed. Pozo’s killer was a local bookie, marijuana dealer, and fellow Cuban named Eusebio “Cabito” (Little Corporal) Muñoz. Pozo is buried in the Colón Cemetery, Havana.