Art Garfunkel Was Born On November 5, 1941

Art Garfunkel was born as Arthur Ira Garfunkel on November 5th of 1941 in the Queens borough of New York City.

He is best known for being half of the folk rock duo Simon and Garfunkel with Paul Simon. He met Simon in the 6th grade.

Simon and Garfunkel had many hits including 1965's "The Sounds of Silence" which reached #1 in the US, 1966's "I Am A Rock" which reached #3 in the US (and #17 in the UK), 1968's "Mrs. Robinson" which reached #1 in the US (and #4 in the UK) and 1970's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" which reached #1 in both the US and the UK.

After Simon & Garfunkel broke up in 1970, Garfunkel went on to release many solo albums. 1973's Angel Clare was his first solo album and it charted at a career high #5 on the US charts. His peak in the UK came with 1979's Fate for Breakfast which charted at #2 thanks primarily to the #1 UK single "Bright Eyes." He also had a #1 UK single with 1975's "I Only Have Eyes For You."

Garfunkel has been primarily a singer throughout his career. He never wrote any of his own songs until 2002's Everything Waits to be Noticed.

David Crosby was born on August 14, 1941

David Crosby was born on August 14th of 1941.

Crosby was a founding member of both The Byrds in 1964 and Crosby, Stills, & Nash in 1968.

Among the songs that Crosby wrote with Crosby, Stills, & Nash are "Guinnevere" and "Delta." He also co-wrote "Wooden Ships" with Stephen Stills and Jim Kantner (of the Jefferson Airplane.)

Crosby is known for being a fantastic harmony singer and the soaring harmonies of both the Byrds and Crosby, Stills, & Nash (and sometimes Young) are in great part the work of Crosby.

David Crosby and Graham Nash performing "Guinnevere" on September 11, 1970:



iPod Downloads - The Byrds and/or Crosby, Stills, & Nash

Harry Nilsson was born on June 15, 1941

Singer-Songwriter Harry Nilsson was born June 15th of 1941 in Brooklyn, New York.

He was usually credited without his first name just as Nilsson.

Perhaps his most well known track is "Everybody's Talkin'" which was featured in the 1969 movie Midnight Cowboy starring Dusting Hoffman and Jon Voight.

The song can be heard over the opening credits:


Harry Nilsson died in 1994 of heart failure at only age 52.

Ritchie Valens was born on May 13, 1941

Ritchie Valens was born as Richard Steven Valenzuela on May 13th of 1941. He took the stage name Ritchie Valens in 1958.

He recorded & released "Donna" & La Bamba" in 1958 at the age of 17. Valens wrote "Donna" about a real girlfriend of his while "La Bamba" was a traditional tune turned into a rock song by Valens.

"Donna" was chosen as a "Great Song" by Mozart Breath.

Valens died before reaching his 18th birthday in a plane crash on February 3, 1959 that killed not only Valens but also the Big Bopper, Buddy Holly, and their pilot Roger Peterson.

Listen to this recording of Valens attempting to record "La Bamba" -