Born on this day ...

[jazzboCR]

Terry Jacks - born on this day in 1944 in Canada
that makes him 71

#1 US/#1 UK in 1974 with this
I can imagine this playing while on my deathbed

...which we all sincerely hope is no time soon.

[Ruby]

Happy Birthday to Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou, or to keep it simple, Vangelis. Born this day in Greece - in 1943.

If this rare interview is anything to go by, the huge body of his work that we know about is only the tip of the iceberg, and seems likely to remain that way. Apart from his very obvious musical genius, the man is a philosophical luminary; we need more of them. He sees right through all the nonsense - plenty of food for thought - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K0kiYSStZM.

… and because I like it a lot - here's "Islands of the Orient" from Oceanic -

[video=youtube;r4JyczDRNeA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4JyczDRNeA[/video]

[Music Head]

Lene Lovich - born on this day in 1954 in Detroit, Michigan
that makes her 61

funny, I just mentioned her in another thread and she pops up on the birthday list
#3 UK in 1979 with this
the girl is strange

[video=youtube;kGoEmhQP774]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGoEmhQP774[/video]

[CRAZY-HORSE]

She always reminded me of Bjork in a couple of ways...both artists are "out there"

[Ruby]

Eric Clapton was born this day in 1945 in Surrey, England. There’s no way to paraphrase his career and contribution to music into one paragraph, and anyone who really doesn’t know who he is will be able to access masses of info with great ease.

I can’t remember a time when there wasn’t a copy of 461 Ocean Boulevard lurking around! It remains a fixture.

[video=youtube;KXDf9UwHGF4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXDf9UwHGF4[/video]

[Ruby]

Thijs van Leer was born on 31 March 1948 in Amsterdam, Holland, and is best known as the frontman for Dutch prog band Focus. He’s classically trained, plays the flute, piccolo, keyboards, including harpsichord, organ and piano, and his vocal work includes yodelling and whistling. In 2008, he was awarded a Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau for special services to music – he’s gone more in the classical and jazz directions of late.

Focus was fairly prolific in output, and are credited for their technical proficiency - guitarist Jan Akkerman, co-founder of the band, is brilliant. I need to look into their back catalogue a bit more – Focus III is great, Hamburger Concerto up next. van Leer is almost like Holland’s answer to Ian Anderson (a comparison that’s been drawn more than once); imaginative, uninhibited, highly skilled and wonderfully whacky!!

[video=youtube;g4ouPGGLI6Q]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4ouPGGLI6Q[/video]

[Music Head]

Herb Alpert - born on this day in 1935 in Los Angeles, California
that makes him 80

9 Grammy Awards
Hollywood Walk Of Fame
Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame
co-founder of A&M Records
more hits with the Tijuana Brass
but this #1 vocal hit from 1971 is my fav

[video=youtube;4WZjqdPVaI0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WZjqdPVaI0[/video]

[Music Head]

Susan Boyle - born on this day in 1961 in Scotland
that makes her 54

what an amazing rise to fame
thanks to everyone's favorite talent show judge
haters gonna hate
but Susan got the last laugh
with 2 #1 albums here and 3 in the UK

[video=youtube;Aeo86iOS0QU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aeo86iOS0QU[/video]

[Ruby]

James Chambers, aka Jimmy Cliff was born this day in 1948. I always think of “Many Rivers to Cross” when his name crops up, but there is so much more. Jimmy is the only living musician to hold the Jamaican Order of Merit – the highest accolade that can be bestowed by that country's powers that be for contributions to music and the arts.

He’s a reggae/ska musician (as one would imagine), he’s acted in a couple of movies, and incidentally was never a Rastafarian. He’s released 90 singles ranging through from 1962 (yep - I did a double take at the numbers too - his first single "Hurricane Hattie" was made when he was 14) to the present time, and his most recent album is Rebirth from 2012, which I listened to out of interest. He’s always had a lot to say in terms of rights/protest songs. There are a couple of cool tracks on it, with lots of energy, this being one of them - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afmqp8AK6SA.

“Many Rivers to Cross” is a must to post though -

[video=youtube;EzS-Jis7kfA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzS-Jis7kfA[/video]

[jazzboCR]

Ruby covered his accomplishments well. As was said, an actor, starring in the 1st all-Jamaican production: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070155/?ref_=nv_sr_1 and the album from that movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm6SN8cKSUU A Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Cliff Wanna get in touch? http://www.jimmycliff.com/ << Tough to imagine Jamaican music without him.