Ray Davies (born 1944) and his brother Dave (born 1947) were the two youngest of eight children born to working class parents who lived in Muswell Hill. He had six older sisters, one of whom gifted Ray a guitar on his 13th birthday, before she tragically died at a WestContinue Reading
Margo Guryan (born 1937) is a sadly underrated songwriter, whose work melds jazz and 1960s pop. She was born in New York City. Both parents played the piano, so she had early access to a good instrument and was encouraged to study from a young age. She also started writingContinue Reading
Billie Holiday (1915-59) is rightfully considered one of the greatest of all jazz singers. Though her voice had limited range – she was no virtuoso vocalist like Ella Fitzgerald or Sarah Vaughan – her singing had an emotional impact that is perhaps unmatched. She was born Eleanora in Baltimore toContinue Reading
Born Norma Jean Egstrom in Jamestown, North Dakota, Peggy Lee (1920-2002) had her first professional singing experience sing on local radio shows, for which we she was occasionally paid in free food by the restaurant sponsor. Lee sang in the Doll House in Palm Springs and then The Buttery RoomContinue Reading
Born in Cherry Hill, Arkansas, but brought up in Plainview, Texas, Bob Dorough (1923-2018) is one of a handful of songwriters who were able to continue the legacy of the Great American Songbook into the latter part of the 20th Century. His songs have been recorded by everyone from MilesContinue Reading
Dorothy Fields (1904-1974) is one of the most successul lyricists of all time with a career spanning almost five decades. She is particularly remembered for her work with composers Jimmy McHugh and Jerome Kern. Born in New Jersey, her father was a well know vaudeville comedian and producer. She marriedContinue Reading
Arthur Schwartz (1900-1984) studied law at New York University, supporting his studies by playing the piano and writing popular songs. He wangled a summer job at Brant Lake Camp, in order to meet and write with Lorenz Hart, resulting in a song called ‘I Love To Lie Awake In Bed’Continue Reading
Sonny Burke (1914-1980) is perhaps best known as a big band leader and arranger, who worked with Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Torme and Frank Sinatra among many others. Burke produced Sinatra’s 1980 triple album ‘Trilogy’ just before his death from cancer. His first significant arranging work came in the 1940s withContinue Reading
Shelton Brooks (1886-1975) was a songwriter and vaudeville performer, best know for his hit song ‘Some Of These Days‘, written in 1910, and for ‘Darktown Strutters Ball’ from 1917. Born in Canada, his family moved to Detroit when he was 15. His early vaudeville career involved impersonating Bert Williams, butContinue Reading
Sam M Lewis (1885-1959) was a New York born lyricist, whose first hit song came in 1912 – ‘That Mellow Melody’. Four years later he teamed up with another lyricist Joe Young, and together the Tin Pan Alley duo penned a string of hits until 1930. Lewis and Young workedContinue Reading