Chapter 01 — Today in music
On a day like today December 17
1942
Paul Butterfield is born, the white Chicagoan who earned the blues' respect
Paul Butterfield is born in Chicago: a harmonica player who learned directly from Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf in South Side clubs. His interracial, electric Butterfield Blues Band brought real blues to rock youth and backed Dylan at his controversial electric debut at Newport 1965. A key hinge between two musical worlds.
Paul Butterfield
1910
Sy Oliver is born, a Black arranger hired by a white orchestra when that did not happen
On December 17, 1910, Sy Oliver was born in Michigan, the arranger who gave Jimmie Lunceford's orchestra its sound. In 1939 Tommy Dorsey offered him a bigger salary to write for him, and he took it: he was among the first Black musicians hired on staff by a white big band. His arrangements reshaped the orchestra that would soon back a young Frank Sinatra.
Sy Oliver
Tommy Dorsey
1937
Art Neville is born, whose band is among hip hop's most sampled ever
On December 17, 1937, Art Neville was born in New Orleans. At seventeen he already had a local hit with "Mardi Gras Mambo". In 1965 he founded The Meters, the studio group that defined New Orleans funk: four musicians playing very few notes with a groove impossible to imitate. Those grooves ended up sampled on hundreds of rap records.
Art Neville
The Meters
1939
James Booker is born, the impossible pianist who played Chopin and blues at once
On December 17, 1939, James Booker was born in New Orleans, able to drop a Bach fugue inside a blues without showing the seam. He played wearing an eyepatch decorated with a star and dragged addiction and prison behind him all his life. Dr. John called him the best pianist the city had ever produced. He died at forty-three waiting for care in a hospital.
James Booker
Dr. John
1939
Eddie Kendricks is born, The Temptations' silk falsetto
Eddie Kendricks is born in Union Springs, Alabama: the falsetto that crowns “Just My Imagination” and defines The Temptations' first golden era. Solo, he signed “Keep On Truckin'”, a number one that anticipated disco's arrival. His ethereal timbre is one of Motown's essential textures, imitated by modern R&B to this day.
Eddie Kendricks
The Temptations
1949
Paul Rodgers is born, who was twenty when he recorded "All Right Now"
On December 17, 1949, Paul Rodgers was born in Middlesbrough, an industrial town in the north of England. With Free he recorded "All Right Now" at twenty, one of the most played tracks in British radio history. He then founded Bad Company, and in the 2000s spent several seasons singing in front of Queen, never once trying to imitate Freddie Mercury.
Paul Rodgers
Free
Bad Company
1903
Ray Noble is born, whose tune "Cherokee" became the entrance exam for bebop
On December 17, 1903, Ray Noble was born in Brighton, a bandleader and composer of elegant dance songs, among them "The Very Thought of You". He also wrote "Cherokee", a harmonically tricky piece that jazz musicians adopted as a challenge. It was while working on it that Charlie Parker found, by his own account, the way into bebop.
Ray Noble
Charlie Parker
1943
Ron Geesin is born, whom Pink Floyd called when they got stuck with a whole suite
On December 17, 1943, Ron Geesin was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, an experimental composer and friend of Roger Waters. In 1970 Pink Floyd had recorded the backing of a twenty-three-minute suite and had no idea how to finish it: they asked Geesin to write the brass and choir arrangements. That is how "Atom Heart Mother" came about, the band's first UK number one album.
Ron Geesin
Pink Floyd
1967
Gigi D'Agostino is born, whose 1999 track went viral again twenty years later
On December 17, 1967, Luigino Di Agostino was born in Turin. He worked in a factory and played clubs in northern Italy at night. As Gigi D'Agostino he defined the sound of italo dance with simple melodies and sped-up vocals. "L'Amour Toujours", from 1999, had a second life on the internet two decades later, among people who had not been born when it came out.
Gigi D'Agostino
1989
Taylor York is born, the guitarist who joined as a tour player and ended up writing the albums
On December 17, 1989, Taylor York was born in Nashville. He backed Paramore as a touring musician without being an official member. When two members left in 2010, he became Hayley Williams's main writing partner. Since then he has co-signed the band's riskiest turns, including the shift to synthesiser pop that took everyone by surprise.
Taylor York
Paramore
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