James Booker

James Booker, American pianist (died 1983)

Find birthday twins Open interactive profile

Born: December 17, 1939
Died: November 8, 1983
Zodiac sign: Sagittarius
Birth year: 1939

About James Booker

James Carroll Booker III (December 17, 1939 – November 8, 1983) was an American New Orleans rhythm and blues keyboardist and singer. Flamboyant in personality and style, and a pianist of extraordinary technical skill, he was dubbed "the Black Liberace." His 1960 recording "Gonzo" reached No. 43 on the Billboard magazine record chart and No. 3 in R&B, and he toured internationally in the 1970s. James "Jimmie" Harald Booker, a New Orleans Baptist church pastor and World War I army veteran. After being mainly a rhythm and blues artist, Booker later fused this genre with jazz and with popular music such as that of the Beatles, playing these in his signature backbeat.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Career and life highlights

After being mainly a rhythm and blues artist, Booker later fused this genre with jazz and with popul.

The world when James Booker was born

James Booker was born in 1939. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1939

#1 song"Over the Rainbow" – Judy Garland
Top movieGone with the Wind
Best-selling bookThe Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck

Headlines and milestones

Major sports momentLou Gehrig delivers his "Luckiest Man" farewell speech
Top headlineGermany invades Poland — World War II begins
Technology milestoneFirst regular television broadcasts in the US (NBC)
Defining fadThe Wizard of Oz mania
Notable inventionNylon stockings
World population2.30 billion

United States snapshot

U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt
Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
U.S. population130.9M

1939 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in James Booker's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure	1939	2026
Gas	$0.19	$3.45/gal
Average home	$5,200	$435,000
Average income	$2,900	$67,500
Minimum wage	$0.30	$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket	$0.25	$11.95
Postage stamp	$0.03	$0.73
Population	130.9M	341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, MusicBrainz, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.