Chapter 01 — Today in music
On a day like today November 21
1965
Björk is born, the Icelander who expanded pop's limits
Björk Guðmundsdóttir is born in Reykjavik; she recorded her first album at 11 and fronted the Sugarcubes before flying solo. From “Debut” to “Homogenic”, she fused electronics, orchestra and a volcanic voice into an art pop without precedent or possible heirs. Each of her albums is a new world: few careers have been so free.
Björk
1852
Francisco Tárrega is born, whose melody is heard a billion times a day
On November 21, 1852, Francisco Tárrega was born in Castellón, the man who turned the guitar into a concert hall instrument. He wrote "Recuerdos de la Alhambra", the tremolo piece every guitarist attempts and almost none masters. And he wrote a waltz from which, a century later, a Finnish company took thirteen notes for its telephone ringtone: the most heard melody on the planet.
Francisco Tárrega
1904
Coleman Hawkins is born, who turned the tenor saxophone into a solo instrument
On November 21, 1904, Coleman Hawkins was born in Missouri. He took up the saxophone when the instrument was still regarded as a circus band curiosity. In 1939 he recorded "Body and Soul" barely stating the melody at all: three minutes of pure improvisation over the chords. Nobody expected it to sell and it was an enormous hit. From then on the tenor became the central voice of jazz.
Coleman Hawkins
1941
David Porter is born, who bagged groceries across from Stax until they let him in
On November 21, 1941, David Porter was born in Memphis. He worked in a store directly across the road from the Stax studio and kept crossing the street to pester them until they gave him a chance. With Isaac Hayes he formed the songwriting pair that defined the label's sound: they wrote "Hold On, I'm Comin'" and "Soul Man" for Sam & Dave, plus nearly two hundred more songs.
David Porter
Isaac Hayes
Sam & Dave
1907
Buck Ram is born: the lawyer who wrote "Only You" and managed the Platters
On November 21, 1907, Samuel Ram was born in Chicago, a trained lawyer who decided to go into music. He was the Platters' manager and also their songwriter: "Only You" and "The Great Pretender" are his, two of the best-selling songs of the fifties. As a lawyer he made sure to retain the rights to the group's name, which produced lawsuits lasting decades.
Buck Ram
The Platters
1933
Jean Shepard is born, one of the first women to sell a million country records
On November 21, 1933, Jean Shepard was born in Oklahoma, third of ten children in a sharecropping family. In 1953, aged nineteen, she recorded "A Dear John Letter" and sold more than a million copies: almost no woman had managed that in the genre. She sang about divorce, infidelity and drink when that was considered improper, and spent sixty years at the Grand Ole Opry.
Jean Shepard
1948
Alphonse Mouzon is born: Weather Report's first drummer
On November 21, 1948, Alphonse Mouzon was born in South Carolina. He came to New York to study drama and ended up playing drums in a Broadway musical pit. In 1970 he was called in for Weather Report's first album, the band that invented electric jazz fusion. He later founded his own label, acted in films and recorded with Herbie Hancock and Carlos Santana.
Alphonse Mouzon
Weather Report
1950
Livingston Taylor is born, who signed a record deal before his more famous brother
On November 21, 1950, Livingston Taylor was born in Boston, fourth of five siblings in a family where four ended up making records. He signed to a label at nineteen, before James, the eldest, became famous. That condemned him to always being introduced as the brother of. He built a fifty-year career anyway and teaches stage performance at the Berklee school.
Livingston Taylor
James Taylor
1968
Alex James is born: the Blur bassist who became a cheesemaker
On November 21, 1968, Alex James was born in England, Blur's bassist and, through the nineties, the member most dedicated to spending the band's money: he later calculated he had got through more than a million pounds on champagne and aeroplanes. In 2003 he bought a farm, started making cheese, and today runs an agricultural business as well as still playing with the group.
Alex James
Blur
1985
Carly Rae Jepsen is born, whose most famous song obscured the albums critics adore
On November 21, 1985, Carly Rae Jepsen was born in Canada. She came third on a television contest and in 2012 released "Call Me Maybe", a song so sticky it became a global phenomenon and a meme. The interesting part came afterwards: her following albums, far more ambitious, did not sell a fraction of that but built her a critical devotion few pop artists achieve.
Carly Rae Jepsen
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