Chapter 01 — Today in music
On a day like today December 29
1946
Marianne Faithfull is born, the muse who returned from the abyss with a new voice
Marianne Faithfull is born in London, discovered at 17 to sing Jagger and Richards' “As Tears Go By”. After her seventies fall through addiction and homelessness, she returned with “Broken English” (1979) and a cracked voice that proved more expressive than the original. Her second career turned scars into the instrument itself.
Marianne Faithfull
1876
Pablo Casals is born, who found Bach's suites in a shop and studied them for twelve years
On December 29, 1876, Pau Casals was born in El Vendrell. At thirteen he found in a Barcelona shop an edition of Bach's suites for solo cello, then regarded as mere exercises. He studied them for twelve years before daring to play them in public and made them the heart of the repertoire. After Franco's victory he refused to play in countries that recognised the regime.
Pablo Casals
Johann Sebastian Bach
1914
Billy Tipton is born, a jazz pianist whose story was only known at his death
On December 29, 1914, Billy Tipton was born in Oklahoma. From the thirties on he lived, worked and performed as a man in a world that had no place for women instrumentalists. He led his own trio, made records, married and raised three adopted sons. Only when he died in 1989 did the paramedics discover he had been assigned female at birth.
Billy Tipton
1943
Rick Danko is born, the bassist who sang as if each line cost him something
On December 29, 1943, Rick Danko was born on an Ontario farm, bassist and one of the three voices of The Band. They backed Bob Dylan on the 1966 electric tour, the one with the booing, and then made the records that invented a whole way of sounding old. His trembling voice carries "It Makes No Difference", among the most desolate things the group recorded.
Rick Danko
The Band
Bob Dylan
1965
Dexter Holland is born, a punk singer with a doctorate in molecular biology
On December 29, 1965, Bryan Holland was born in California. He was working on a doctorate when his band, The Offspring, released "Smash" in 1994. The album came out on a tiny independent label and sold more than eleven million copies, a mark no independent album has beaten. Holland went back to university and completed his PhD on the AIDS virus in 2017.
Dexter Holland
The Offspring
1973
Pimp C is born, who gave southern American rap a sound of its own
On December 29, 1973, Chad Butler was born in Texas. With his partner Bun B he formed UGK. He produced his own beats with organs and slow guitars, far from what was playing in New York or Los Angeles, and argued for years that the South deserved equal respect. His verse on "Big Pimpin'", with Jay-Z, settled the argument. He died in 2007.
Pimp C
UGK
Jay-Z
1980
Tim Hardin dies, the songwriter others sang better than his luck
Tim Hardin dies of an overdose in Los Angeles at 39. He wrote “If I Were a Carpenter” and “Reason to Believe”, gems that triumphed in other voices, from Bobby Darin to Rod Stewart, while heroin dismantled his own career. He played Woodstock and died nearly forgotten: the classic case of a major writer with a minor life.
Tim Hardin
1929
Matt "Guitar" Murphy is born, from Memphis blues to the big screen
On December 29, 1929, Matt Murphy was born in Mississippi. He grew up in Memphis and played with Howlin' Wolf, Memphis Slim and Junior Wells, the whole lineage of electric blues. In 1980 he joined the Blues Brothers band and appeared in the film, which gave him in his seventies an audience the club circuit would never have found him.
Matt Murphy
Howlin' Wolf
The Blues Brothers
1947
Cozy Powell is born, drummer for half a dozen of England's heaviest bands
On December 29, 1947, Cozy Powell was born in Cirencester. He played with Jeff Beck, Rainbow, Whitesnake, Black Sabbath and Emerson, Lake and Powell, among others. His style was enormous and hard-hitting, always recognisable. He also had instrumental hits of his own on the British charts. He died in 1998 crashing his car on a motorway, aged fifty.
Cozy Powell
Rainbow
Jeff Beck
1951
Yvonne Elliman is born, who went from Mary Magdalene to the dance floor
On December 29, 1951, Yvonne Elliman was born in Honolulu, discovered singing in a London pub at nineteen. She was hired to play Mary Magdalene in "Jesus Christ Superstar" and from there went on to sing backing vocals for Eric Clapton for seven years. In 1977 she recorded "If I Can't Have You", written by the Bee Gees, and it was number one in the United States.
Yvonne Elliman
Eric Clapton
Bee Gees
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