Big Tiny Little born 31 August 1930

Dudley "Big Tiny" Little, Jr. (August 31, 1930 – March 3, 2010) was an American musician who appeared on The Lawrence Welk Show from 1955 to 1959. His primary instrument was the piano. 

Born in Worthington, Minnesota as Richard Dudley Little, the son of Tiny Little Sr., a prominent musician and bandleader, Big Tiny first took up playing piano at the age of five, becoming both a honky-tonk, ragtime pianist and playing other instruments such as the organ, bass horn and bass fiddle. After playing in his father's band for a while, he joined the United States Air Force and did a tour in the Far East. During his hitch in Japan organized a jazz band composed of Japanese musicians. “We played every night,” he says. 

He became a member of Lawrence Welk's famous "Champagne music makers" just one month after Welk's national TV debut in 1955. A regular feature of Welk's popular show, Tiny's outstanding keyboard artistry has earned him millions of fans from coast to coast. One critic said he played like the piano was on fire and another wrote that he had the speed of Oscar Peterson, the left hand of Fats Waller, the rhythm of Errol garner and the imagination of Andre Previn.  Welk dubbed him Tiny Little Jr., to distinguish him from his father. Later facing his own rather portly reality, Little added the “Big” and dropped the “junior,” creating the splendid moniker he carried for the remainder of his career. As a result of his leap to national fame during four years on television’s The Lawrence Welk Show, Little has been labeled “Mr. Honky Tonk” 

                                     

After his tenure on the show (where he was replaced by Jo Ann Castle), he went solo again; recording more than 45 albums and making guest appearances on several television programs over the years. More recently, he played with Mary Lou Metzger, Jack Imel, Ralna English, Ava Barber and Dick Dale in the touring Live Lawrence Welk Show. His 1959 recording of the ragtime standard "12th Street Rag" was used for years as the theme of The Joe Franklin Show.

The Dinah Shore Chevy Show of January 20, 1963, was devoted entirely to masters of the piano, featuring Dinah Shore's four guests, Liberace, Peter Nero, Ray Charles and Big Tiny Little. By the end of the sixties he settled into what became his most popular venue, other than the later Lawrence Welk revival shows. Slowly developing a finely-honed band, Tiny worked in the casinos in Nevada, alternating between Las Vegas, Carson City and Lake Tahoe. He also performed on virtually every music and variety show on the air including the first Mike Douglas Show, Ed Sullivan and Dean Martin.

Little also performed at President Ronald Reagan's inaugural balls in 1985 and returned to television in the PBS special; Lawrence Welk: Milestones and Memories, which featured a reunion of stars from the Welk show. The versatile pianist was also accustomed to numerous showrooms in Reno and Las Vegas, including the Riverside and Mapes Hotels and the Stardust, Tropicana and Riviera (having also performed in every state in the U.S. except Maine). When asked, “Why not Maine?” Tiny repled wryly, “Having been born in Minnesota, I’d had enough of cold weather.” He also played regularly at the Colorado Belle Hotel & Casino (which he and trumpeter Al Hirt helped open in 1987). 

He continued to draw fans and make new ones into the 21st century. He was also one of the only artists who had the tenacity and talent to adapt Christmas songs into ragtime format for a recording. Tiny brought friendliness, fun and familiarity to ragtime. He was just as enthusiastic about the musicians he worked with as he was for the music, and played all manner of styles, adapting to what the audience wanted to hear. During his later years he performed with the Live Lawrence Welk Show tour from 2004 to 2006. 

He battled problems with his weight, alcohol , gambling and poor money management and later in life , throat cancer and diabetes. He went bankrupt 3 times and at his death he was virtually penniless. He lived in Carson City, Nevada, and passed way at his home in Sparks, NV on March 3, 2010 at the age of 79.  

(Edited from Wikipedia and Alchetron) 

The Hager Brothers (Jim & John) born 30 August 1941

The Hager Twins, also known as the Hager Brothers and The Hagers, were a duo of American country music singers and comedians who gained fame on the TV series Hee Haw. They were identical twin brothers James Henry Hager (August 30, 1941 – May 1, 2008) and John William Hager (August 30, 1941 – January 9, 2009). While they never had any really big hits, and only charted a total of five singles, the Hagers had a long, successful career entertaining audiences for a period of nearly forty years. 

Born in Chicago, the brothers were adopted by Jack and Frances Hager. Jack Hager was a Methodist minister; Frances was a schoolteacher. Raised in the Chicago area, Jim and Jon attended Maine Township High School in Park Ridge (Class of 1959), graduating one year ahead of Harrison Ford. Hillary Rodham Clinton also graduated from Maine Township High School, albeit a half dozen years later. As might be expected, Jim and Jon first sang in their father’s church choir. Later, as teenagers, they sang on a Saturday morning television show on WGN-TV. Both brothers served in the United States Army and while in the military performed at Officers’ Clubs and NCO Clubs in the United States and Europe. 

After leaving the military, the Hager brothers moved to California and performed at Ledbetter’s Night Club in Los Angeles. They also worked at Disneyland, where their unique act caught the attention of Alvis Edgar “Buck” Owens, the biggest name in Country music at the time. Owens signed them to contracts with his organization, and the Hagers served as an opening act for Buck for several years and occasionally opened for other Capitol acts such as Tex Ritter (father of the late John Ritter), Billie Jo Spears, Lefty Frizzell and Wynn Stewart. 

                                   

In 1969, the Hager Twins became regular cast members on Buck Owens’ biggest ever vehicle Hee Haw. The Hagers appeared on the first episode and stayed with the show for 19 years. They also signed with Buck’s label, Capitol Records, landing a few hits starting with “Gotta Get To Oklahoma (’Cause California’s Gettin’ To Me)” which reached #41 and became their biggest single. Interestingly enough, the Hagers had the only charted version of Merle Haggard’s song “Silver Wings” (Haggard’s recording was on the B-side of “Working Man Blues”). 

After leaving Capitol the brothers released other albums for Barnaby Records (1972),  Elektra (1974),  Picc-A-Dilly (1980) and two for Mumford Music (1986). While the hit records never materialized for Jim and Jon Hager, various other opportunities presented themselves; the duo found work in Hollywood and on television, including appearances on an episode of the Bionic Woman, the television-movie Twin Detectives, and spots in many TV commercials. In 1987 they co-hosted Country Kitchen with Florence Henderson on The Nashville Network. In 1979 they appeared on the nationally-syndicated New Soupy Sales Show, singing "Pizza Man.” 

Whether appearing as a supporting act or as headliners, Jim and Jon Hager were two of the most effective entertainers ever to grace a stage. Equally adept at music or comedy, anyone who ever saw them will concur that they could have received numerous CMA “Entertainer of the Year Awards.” They were that good. 

In the 90s, they became noted for hosting their major annual fishing competition at Lakewood, Wisconsin, which they organized to benefit charities. 

Jim Hager died on May 1, 2008 as a result of a heart attack in Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 66 years. This proved to be a crushing loss from which his brother Jon never recovered. John’s health went into a spiral, until he was found dead in his Nashville apartment on January 9, 2009, at the age of 67 years. 

(Edited from Wikipedia, 9513 Country Music, AllMusic & Discogs) 

 

Dick Halligan born 29 August 1943

Dick Halligan (August 29, 1943 – January 18, 2022) was an American musician and composer, best known as a founding member of the jazz-rock band Blood, Sweat & Tears. 

Richard Bernard Halligan was born in Troy, but grew up in Glens Falls in New York. He was intently focused on the music of Stan Kenton, Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller and other big-band leaders. In 1967 he earned an MA in music theory and composition from the Manhattan School of Music and continued his studies in voice and piano. He turned down a teaching position when a jazz saxophonist friend, Fred Lipsius, asked him to join Blood, Sweat and Tears, an offer Halligan is said to have originally rebuffed before learning that it meant a much-wanted ticket to California. 

Dick Halligan, Jerry Weiss, Randy Brecker

He was BS&T's trombonist on their first album, Child Is Father to the Man, but when Al Kooper left the band after that first album, Halligan switched to keyboards and began playing flute as well for their second album, the self-titled, “Blood, Sweat and Tears.” for which he received a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Performance for "Variations on a Theme By Erik Satie." He also arranged many of the band's charts during this time period, and he wrote several songs including "Redemption" and "Lisa Listen to Me," significantly adding to the band’s signature jazz/rock sound, which earned several RIAA Gold album certifications, as well as a self-titled four-time platinum certified album. 

      Here’s “Variations on a Theme By Erik Satie” from above LP

                                  

Halligan left BS&T in 1971 after recording their fourth album, when the band began to shift to more rock-oriented music. In the 1970s and 1980s, Halligan composed and arranged music for more than 20 film and TV projects, his first being the Barbra Streisand film “The Owl and the Pussycat,” released in 1970, when he was still a member of Blood, Sweat and Tears. Some episodic work on shows like “The Bionic Woman” and “Holmes and Yoyo” followed, and by the late 1970s, features including “Go Tell the Spartans” (1978), “A Force of One” (1979), “The Octagon” (1980), “Cheaper to Keep Her” (1981) and “Fear City” (1984). 

Although his film credits ended after 1984, his work was heard on the big screen in “Licorice Pizza,” which had on its soundtrack a song he co-wrote with Clayton-Thomas, “”Lisa, Listen to Me,” that was released as a single from the fourth Blood, Sweat and Tears album. After getting out of the film/TV world, Halligan wrote compositions for jazz and orchestral ensembles, which were recorded or performed by the Formosa Chamber Players, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Roy Poper and others. He also conducted his original works in Carnegie Hall. 

In 2006, he was active as a composer and performer for various types of music, including jazz and chamber music. In 2011 and 2012 he developed and performed an autobiographical one-man show entitled "Musical Being". An early title for it was "Man Overboard" and in 2013 called "Love, Sweat & Fears". 

Halligan died from natural causes in Rome on January 18, 2022, at the age of 78. His daughter, Shana Halligan, was the vocalist of trip hop duo Bitter:Sweet. 

(Edited from Wikipedia & Variety)

Walter Ward born 28 August 1940

Walter Ward (August 28, 1940 – December 11, 2006) was an American R&B singer, and lead vocalist of The Olympics. 

Ward was born in Jackson, Mississippi, and began singing professionally as a child with his father and three uncles, in a gospel group known as 'The Ward Brothers'. Ward's family moved to Los Angeles in the 1950s. In 1954, when he was attending Centinela High School in Compton, California, Ward and his cousin Eddie Lewis formed a group known as 'The Challengers'. After winning a number of talent shows, Ward and Lewis were approached by another singing duo who asked to join their group. The new quartet became The Olympics. The group also included Charles Fizer (tenor), Walter Hammond (baritone), and Melvin King (bass). 

Their first record was credited to Walter Ward and the Challengers ("I Can Tell" on Melatone Records). After the name change, they recorded "Western Movies" (Demon Records) in the summer of 1958. Co-written by Fred Smith and Cliff Goldsmith, "Western Movies" made it to No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song reflected the nation's preoccupation with western themed movies and television programs. It told the story of a man who lost his girl to TV westerns, and it included doo-wop harmonies as well as background gunshots and ricochet sound effects. 

                                   

In 1959, the group recorded "(Baby) Hully Gully" (Arvee Records), which initiated the Hully Gully dance craze. "Big Boy Pete," which the group released in 1960, served as inspiration for The Kingsmen's "The Jolly Green Giant". Over the next ten years The Olympics recorded upbeat R&B songs, often about dances popular at the time. 

In 1965, The Olympics were one of the first to record "Good Lovin'", penned by Rudy Clark and Arthur Resnick. That same year Fizer was shot and killed during the Watts riots in 1965. Shortly thereafter, King left the group after his sister died in an accidental shooting. In 1966, the Olympics signed with Mirwood, the label run by ex-Vee-Jay executive Randy Wood (and not the Randy Wood from Dot Records). They recorded two hits: "(Baby) Do the Philly Dog" and the gospel-drenched East-side soul single "Mine Exclusively," which inched into Billboard's Hot 100 chart, reaching number 99 in May 1966. 

Sensing a resurgence of interest in the group, Wood decided to put out an album by the Olympics, but since he had only two minor hits, he opted to have them re-record their old hits from Demon, Arvee, and Tri- Disc for an album called Something Old, Something New. (These re-recorded versions have often been included in a vast majority of the reissues and various artist albums where the Olympics appear, much to the annoyance of collectors.) Revamped versions of the group, which continued to include Ward and his cousin, failed to match earlier successes, but the Olympics found an enduring home on the oldies circuit in the US and overseas. They continued to release singles until 1973. 

Walter Ward's song "Well (Baby Please Don't Go)" (the B-side to "Western Movies") was recorded twice by John Lennon in 1971: the February 1971 studio recording was not issued until the 1998 John Lennon Anthology, then again on Wonsaponatime. A June 1971 live recording with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention was issued on 1972's Some Time in New York City, and on Zappa's 1992's Playground Psychotics. 

Ward's last performance with The Olympics was on November 12, 2006, at a Doo-Wop Spectacular on Long Island, New York. He died in Northridge, California in December 2006, at the age of 66 after a long illness. Eddie Lewis, tenor singer and last original member of the Olympics, died on May 31, 2017. Current members of The Olympics are Vel Omarr, Alphonso Boyd, and Samuel E. Caesar. 

(Edited from Wikipedia, Rocky 52, with some photos from Marv Goldberg)

 

Chuck Girard born 27 August 1943

Chuck Girard (August 27, 1943 – August 11, 2025) was a singer, songwriter, recording artist, worship leader, and founder of Love Song, the band that revolutionized contemporary Christian music. 

Born in Los Angeles, Girard was raised in both Southern and Northern California, Chuck began playing music at an early age.  In his teens, he formed the group the Castells, which had two national top 20 hits, “Sacred”, and “So This Is Love”.  They also released a song called “I Do”, which was produced by Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys.  It was during this time as a teenager that Chuck shared the stage with stars such as Roy Orbison, Jan and Dean, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bobby Vee, Jackie Wilson, Brenda Lee and others.  This led to a successful career as a studio singer and musician which included singing the lead vocals on the Hondells first two albums and their biggest hit, “Little Honda".  

In his early twenties Chuck became disillusioned with life, and like so many of his generation, began experimenting with drugs.  This led to a five-year search for God through LSD, eastern religion, and a committed “hippie” lifestyle.  His search ended at Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa when he found true spiritual reality through accepting Jesus Christ as his Savior.  This was the early 1970’s, during the beginnings of what became known as the “Jesus Movement”.  

                                   

Girard, along with John Mehler, became a founding member of Love Song and along with the conversions of the band members came a radical change in the message. They used to play clubs, preaching “peace and love”, and LSD as the way to find God.  Now they had a new message, and with this change helped blaze the path for the beginnings of what would become Contemporary Christian Music.  Love Song’s 1972 debut album remains a landmark recording. For the next three years, Chuck played in the group until they disbanded in 1974. 

Following Love Song’s initial breakup in the early 1970s, Girard embarked on a solo career, starting with a self-titled album in 1974 on which he was backed by members of Ambrosia. That solo debut included his most popular song, “Sometimes Alleluia,” which became a staple of nondenominational church services that were seeking out fresher songs for worship in place of hymns. 

Over the decades, Girard recorded many albums, toured extensively across the United States, Europe, Australia, Africa, Indonesia, Mexico, Canada, and the Middle East, and ministered through music and teaching in churches worldwide. In 1981, at the height of his career, Girard shifted his focus to worship ministry, embracing a simpler, church-centered calling that remained his passion for the rest of his life. Chuck has appeared with Billy Graham, and on “700 Club”, “100 Huntley Street”, “Trinity Broadcasting Network”, and various television shows throughout the world. 

In 2010 Chuck reunited with his band mates from Love Song and toured the United States. In 2012, Girard and the members of Love Song were inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, a testament to their enduring impact and unmatched influence. 

Although his profile was lower as succeeding generations of artists came along in what came to be known as CCM, Girard continued to enjoy respect as one of the pioneers of the genre, and  with several long pauses in his recording career continued releasing albums up through 2024’s “Moonrise Serenade.” That year Girard was diagnosed with stage IV cancer that had metastasized to his lungs. He was taken off chemotherapy as it was ineffective and died on August 11, 2025, at the age of 81. 

Most recently, Girard was working to finish A Band Called Love Song: The Music & Movement of the Jesus Revolution, a documentary series that will be streamed nationally on Prime Video in September 2025. 

(Edited from Williamson Memorial, Variety & CCM Classic ) 

 

Chuck Foster born 26 August 1912

Chuck Foster (August 26, 1912 - December 13, 2001) was Big band leader, musician (sax/clarinet) and vocalist from Pennsylvania. 

Foster was bornCharles C. Fody,, close to the Pittsburgh area of Pennsylvania on August 26, 1912. His big break came a few years after he took over the leadership of a 10-piece band in California. He was a logical choice to be the new front man, since, besides playing saxophone and clarinet, he was handsome, sang a little, and could m.c. a floor show. 

In 1939, Foster and his orchestra were hired for two weeks at the Biltmore Bowl, a hotel in Los Angeles, but wound up staying there seven months. They went back in 1940 and ‘41, for a total of 18 months time! During that period, they made lots of network radio broadcasts. 

                                   

Their very first recordings were made as transcriptions for radio stations only, for Standard in 1939 and United in 1940. Okeh Records signed them for commercial discs, and the band recorded a total of eight sides in October 1940 and June 1941, including their theme song, Oh, You Beautiful Doll, and I’ve Been Drafted (Now I’m Drafting You) which was one of Chuck’s own compositions. During that period, they made lots of network radio broadcasts. In between engagements at the Biltmore, Foster and his musicians appeared at the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco, the Chase in St. Louis, the Baker in Dallas, all - again - with network lines for radio broadcasts to the rest of the U.S.  That's how he and his band became nationally-known. It was stated that in 1941-42 Foster and his orchestra traveled more than 50,000 miles in private automobiles and played in 28 states, mostly one-night stands or theaters, with a few steady gigs in hotels and ballrooms. 

A special highlight for the band was working the Academy Awards ceremony held in Hollywood in 1941, and which named, among other honors, the best picture ("Rebecca"), best actor (James Stewart in "The Philadelphia Story," his only Oscar win), and best actress (Ginger Rogers as "Kitty Foyle").In June of ‘42, the band added the nearby Oriental Theatre to its appearances. When they returned to the Oriental that December, former Chick Webb vocalist Ella Fitzgerald shared the bill. Then, on April 7, 1943, Foster opened an engagement at the Blackhawk Restaurant, also in Chicago's "Loop," and in August of that year, it was back to the Oriental, this time with the Mills Brothers vocal group. 

After his brief service in the Army during World War II, Foster organized a new band in early 1944, opening at the Chanticleer nightclub in Baltimore, MD. They then headed back to the Blackhawk Restaurant in Chicago for, as was typical, several months.When they operated out of New York City, they played, for example, the Hotel New Yorker in-town or the Steel Pier in nearby Atlantic City. Starting in the ‘40s, he would take trips to the Hotel Peabody in Memphis, TN for a couple of lengthy engagements each year. 

In 1953, Foster officially moved to the Chicago area, where he could continue to star at the Blackhawk, work the Aragon or Trianon ballrooms four or five months a year, and go elsewhere around the Midwest dance circuit.  He played a “battle of dance music” with Eddy Howard at the Aragon on July 31, 1955, and a similar “battle” was held between Foster and Ralph Marterie at the Aragon on June 17, 1956. (Howard’s and Marterie’s bands were also big Chicago favorites.) Foster and his orchestra recorded for Mercury in 1946-48, on Vocalion in 1949, and around the late 1950s made what seems to have been his only 12" LP, “Chuck Foster at the Hotel Peabody Overlooking Old Man River,” for Philips International. 

He decided to return to California in 1965, ready to retire. But a band was needed at Myron’s Ballroom in downtown Los Angeles, so he agreed to go there. He stayed for 8 years, stocking his playlists both with standards (Easter Parade, Avalon, Hindustan) and more-current pops (Born Free, King of the Road, Tijuana Taxi). 

Even into the late 1970s and early 1980s, he was still willing to play for a gathering of dancers, whether in southern California or somewhere back East, like the Willowbrook or Holiday ballrooms in Chicago. Sadly though, Chuck Foster died in relatively obscurity on December 13, 2001 at the age of 89. He was married for close to fifty years to one of his band's former vocalists Delores Marshall. 

(Edited from the Big Band Library & Discogs)

 

Pat Martino born 25 August 1944

Pat Martino (August 25, 1944 – November 1, 2021) was an American jazz guitarist and composer. He has been cited as one of the greatest guitarists in jazz. 

Martino who was born Patrick Carmen Azzara, spent his childhood in South Philadelphia, his father was a singer and sometime guitarist who performed in local nightspots. Inspired by Montgomery and Les Paul, Martino began playing guitar at the age of 12, eventually studying with the revered teacher Dennis Sandole, whose students included such future jazz giants as John Coltrane. In his early teens he played with friends like the saxophonist-turned organist Charles Earland and then-drummer, later-pop-idol Bobby Rydell. 

Determined to meet his jazz idols, Martino set out for Harlem at the young age of 15 and quickly settled into a busy schedule playing with masters of the Hammond B-3 organ. Traces of those soul-jazz origins can still be heard on the guitarist's 1967 debut for Prestige, El Hombre, featuring Philly organist Trudy Pitts. The album's unique lineup finds Martino already pushing into new terrain however, with a guitar/flute out front and a percussion-heavy rhythm section supplying powerful propulsion for the leader's quicksilver lines. 

By the following year he was stretching further into new inspirations, as evidenced by the exploratory Baiyina (The Clear Evidence). The album incorporated instruments and sounds from Indian classical music as Martino forged a kind of impassioned transcendentalism, merging his fervent soloing and muscular swing with meditative drones. 

By the mid-'70s, rock and jazz had collided with the birth of fusion — Miles Davis was breaking new ground with his heady electric bands, and groups like Return To Forever and John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra were finding success far beyond jazz audiences. Martino delved into the scene with "Starbright" and the landmark "Joyous Lake," bolstering his trademark sound with serrated distortion and cosmic synths, placing his meticulous fury in an appropriately electrifying setting. 

                                   

In 1980, Martino suffered a hemorrhaged arteriovenous malformation that caused a "near-fatal seizure". The resulting surgery, which removed part of his brain, left him with amnesia and no recollection or knowledge of his career or how to play the instrument that made him successful. He said he came out of surgery with complete forgetfulness, and had to learn to focus on the present rather than the past or the possible future.  Martino spent several years relearning the instrument, listening back to his own recordings and struggling with depression and the grueling process of recovering his skills. He reemerged in 1987 with The Return, which showcased a miraculous virtuosity seemingly undiminished by his brush with death and amnesia. 

Martino continued to tour and record for the next three decades, often playing in hard bop or organ combo settings that harkened back to his early career, while displaying a tasteful mastery reflecting his blissful, in-the-moment outlook. Having recaptured a number of memories in the intervening years, in 2011 he released his autobiography, Here and Now! His last release was the straight-ahead Formidable in 2017. 

Martino often spoke in aphorisms, responding to direct questions with a wandering curiosity that would circuitously wind its way to something resembling an answer. While he rejected any particular philosophy or spiritual practice, he viewed his music and life from a holistic perspective that refused to divorce art from existence. 

"I'm never not working," he insisted in 2008. "To me, work is play. Creative productivity is the most playful, childish state of mind that I reside within on a constant basis. I can't relate to vacations, because I have nothing to vacate. I'm alive and I'm happy. And thank god, I'm less occupied with thoughts about the future, which doesn't exist, or memories that are weighty." 

Martino was married to Ayako Asahi Martino; they met in Tokyo, Japan in 1995. He died on November 1, 2021, at the age of 77. The guitarist had been suffering from a chronic respiratory disorder since 2018, breathing with oxygen support and unable to play since a tour of Italy that November. Jazz music educator Wolf Marshall said Martino was "a legend, a national treasure, and an inspiration to musicians and music lovers of all stripes". 

(Edited from National Public Radio obit by Shaun Brady & Wikipedia)