March 12

Singer-songwriter introspection's gentlest voice James Taylor celebrates his 78th birthday today, the North Carolina troubadour whose "Fire and Rain" and vulnerable confessions about mental illness and addiction made him the 1970s' most therapeutic artist for wounded souls…

 

Bebop lost its greatest innovator on this day in 1955 when Charlie Parker died at 34 from a heart attack in New York, the alto saxophonist's years of heroin abuse making the coroner estimate his age at 60, ending the life that revolutionized jazz improvisation…

 

Beatles love found its truest match today in 1969 when Paul McCartney married photographer Linda Eastman at Marylebone Register Office, beginning the partnership that would produce Wings and four children before breast cancer took her in 1998, ending rock's most solid marriage…

 

We remember Chess Records' co-founder Leonard Chess on his birthday today in 1917, the Polish immigrant whose Chicago label recorded Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Chuck Berry, preserving and popularizing blues while creating rock and roll's foundation before his death in 1969…

 

Little Feat's keyboard architect Bill Payne was born today in 1949, the pianist whose jazzy fills and Hammond organ work on "Willin'" and "Dixie Chicken" made him essential to Lowell George's swampy rock vision across five decades of groove…

 

We remember jazz's most versatile vocalist Al Jarreau on his birthday today in 1940, the seven-time Grammy winner whose scat singing and ability to cross pop, R&B, and jazz boundaries made him one of vocal music's most respected artists before his death in 2017…

 

Show business royalty was born today in 1946 when Liza Minnelli entered the world to Judy Garland and director Vincente Minnelli, destined to emerge from her mother's shadow through her own Oscar and Tony-winning performances proving talent ran in Hollywood dynasties…

 

We honor Badfinger's timekeeper Mike Gibbins on his birthday today in 1949, the drummer whose solid beats supported the band's power-pop perfection before tragedy and legal battles destroyed the group, his own death in 2005 another sad chapter in Badfinger's curse…

 

Rock's wildest drinking buddies got kicked out on this night in 1974 when John Lennon and Harry Nilsson were ejected from LA's Troubadour during the former Beatle's "Lost Weekend" separation from Yoko, their drunken heckling proving even legends could be disorderly patrons…

 

Southern alternative rock's most poetic voice Kevn Kinney celebrates his 65th birthday today, the Drivin N' Cryin frontman whose blend of country, punk, and literary lyrics made him Athens, Georgia's most underrated songwriter beyond R.E.M.'s shadow…

 

Southern rock's greatest live document was captured on this night and the previous evening in 1971 when the Allman Brothers played two legendary shows at New York's Fillmore East, the performances becoming 'At Fillmore East,' the album that defined the genre's improvisational power.