May 7
The Grateful Dead's most steady timekeeper Bill Kreutzmann was born on this day in 1946, the drummer whose rhythmic partnership with Mickey Hart created the "rhythm devils" foundation that allowed Jerry Garcia's improvisations to soar across three decades of psychedelic exploration… We remember Romantic music's greatest symphonist Johannes Brahms on his birthday today in 1833, the German composer whose perfectionism and Classical influences made him Beethoven's spiritual heir while his influence on chamber music and orchestral writing shaped everything that followed before his death in 1897… Country-pop lost its smoothest crossover voice today in 1998 when Eddie Rabbitt died at 56 from lung cancer, ending the career of the singer whose "I Love a Rainy Night" proved that Nashville could embrace disco while his songwriting for Elvis showed his versatility… We honor the Beatles' most psychedelic publicist Derek Taylor on his birthd...
