Short Biography: Meredith Willson

Sarah Willis Parton was born July 9, 1811 in Portland, Maine. She was the fifth of nine children born to Nathaniel and Hannah Parker Willis. Her father was the editor of two news publications in Boston. Her brother, Nathaniel Parker Willis, was an accomplished journalist. As a young woman, Sarah attended a boarding school in Hartford, Connecticut. It was at this school

“76 trombones led the big parade! With 110 cornets close at hand!” Wow, isn’t that a great song? It can get annoying, but yes, it is a fun, upbeat song, created by Mason City’s Meredith Willson. Who is Meredith Willson? How did someone from Mason City get so famous? These questions, and more unanswered questions will be revealed in this essay.

If one was to go out into the street, walked up to a random stranger and asked them if they knew who Louis Armstrong was, chances are that they would be able to answer you correctly. Louis Armstrong (Aug 4th, 1901 - Jul 6th, 1971) was an American trumpeter, composer, singer and occasional actor who became one of the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned many decades, from the 1920s to his death in 1971, and many different eras in jazz. He first came to prominence in the 1920s as a trumpeter and cornet player with no technique as well as being very skilled in scat singing, Armstrong was a foundational influence in jazz, influencing many later jazz artists as well as shifting the focus of the music from collective improvisation to solo performance.With his very well-known and recognizable gravelly voice, a technique that was later named “crooning”, Armstrong was an incredibly influential singer, demonstrating great dexterity as an improviser by bending the lyrics and melody of a song for expressive purposes on demand. Renowned for his charming and incredibly charismatic stage presence and voice almost as much as for his trumpet and/or cornet playing, Armstrong 's influence extends far beyond jazz music, and by the end of his career in the early 1970s at his death, he was widely regarded as a deep and profound influence on popular music in general. Armstrong was one of the first very popular

Mel was born in Bellingham Washington, when he was young he moved many times because his dad got different jobs in different areas. He moved to Friday Harbor, Oregon, and many places around Whatcom County. He said "We moved around so much while I was growing up that I don’t even remember some of the places we lived." Although most of his childhood he lived in Everson, where he grew up with four older sisters, and worked on the family farm.

Canady was born in Lansing, Michigan, on November 7, 1950. Her parents taught her the importance of hard work and learning, which then helped her graduate from school with honors. While Canady was attending the University of Michigan, a health careers summer program for minority student’s sparked interest in medicine for her. After graduating she went on to the Universities medical school.

Aretha Franklin was born March 25, 1942 in Memphis, Tennessee; to Barbara and Clarence LaVaughn Franklin. Her mother was an accomplished piano player and vocalist while her father was an itinerant preacher. Franklin’s father sermons were so emotionally driven that he was known as “million

My famous Parisian, AKA Hank Williams Jr, was born on May 26, 1949. He was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. His late father died 3 year later, leaving Hank and his mother

Hank Williams Jr. was born on May 26, 1949 in Shreveport, Louisiana. However, he is now a current resident of Paris TN. He is an American country singer, songwriter, and musician. This was the result of his mother pushing him to pursue his career in country music when he was eight, after his father passed away when he was three years old.

She was born in 1937 in Jacksonville, Florida, to Billy Daniels a jazz musician. Growing up she was always surrounded by music. She has said that her dad influenced her taste in music from an early age. He would play soothing blues and jazz tunes during her early life. When she was 17, Daniels decided to get her first radio job at a rhythm and blues station in Jacksonville. While at night she would sing at locals nightclubs. Daniels was popular for her

Washington D.C. Daughter of Dr. William S. Lofton who was a well known black dentist and

A legend of the modern music was born on 21st of May, 1904 to humble and religious parents in an uptown state of New York. Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller, or simply known as Fats Waller, mom was a well-known instrumentalist who had influenced the boy from his early childhood. His fierce determination for jazz overruled his father’s desire for him to pursue a religious career and do classical music instead of jazz. During his lifetime he wrote multiple classics and showed the world that despite the bounds of society and one's race, one can achieve one’s lifelong dream. He has demonstrated through his lyrics from his songs, even though the world wasn't with him, he loved jazz and also became an idol for modern day jazz and became very relevant

in Kansas City and became one of the most famous jazz musicians of all time. He led us

One night in 1937, a teenage musician named Charlie Parker joined a jam session onstage at Kansas City's Reno Club. It was a special because a big-time drummer, Jo Jones, was there. He was the drummer for Count

Maria Eva Duarte was born on May 7, 1919 in Los Toldos Argentina. She was the youngest illegitimate child of Juan Duarte and his mistress Juana Ibarguen. Eva had a difficult childhood, her father had his own wife and children, and he gave Juana’s Ibarguen children his last name and would visit them once in a while. When Eva was seven her father died living them in very poor conditions, all the family, her mother and the five children lived in a tiny one room and in order to pay the rent and have something to eat Eva’s mother her sisters and herself had to work as cook’s for a rich and powerful family in Los Toldos. It was then that Eva got her fist close look at the very wealthy families who controlled Argentina. Eva would recall her

Loretta Lynn was born Loretta Webb on April 14, 1932, in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky. Lynn grew up in a small poor Appalachian coal-mining community and was the second of eight children. Loretta’s career began when she started singing in church as a child. When she was 16, she married Oliver Lynn. The couple soon moved to Custer, Washington. During their first four years in Washington Lynn has four children, Betty Sue, Jack Benny, Ernest Ray and Clara Marie. Lynn was still passionate about music and began to play at local venues. By 1960, she had released her first single, “I’m a Honky Tonk Girl.” She moved to Nashville, where she continued to perform and promote her music. Moving to Nashville was arguably one of Lynn’s best decisions. That is where she met one of her best friends and role models, Patsy Cline, as well as find fame and recognition there. During her career Lynn has garnered an impressive release of more than 160 songs, 60 albums, a total sale of 45 million records, ten Number 1 albums and sixteen Number 1 singles on the country charts, and was the first women to win the the CMA’s Entertainer of The Year.