Where Were you on this Day in Music History: October 8th!

A Day in Music History        

October 8th...

Barrie Wilson A.K.A,  B.J Wilson

March 18, 1947 - October 8, 1990 (aged 43)

Births

1934: Doc Green (The Drifters)

1940: Fred Cash (The Impressions)

1941: George Bellamy (The Tornadoes)

1941: Dave Arbus (East Of Eden)

1942: Buzz Clifford

1944: Susan Raye

1945: Ray Royer (Procol Harum)

1945: Butch Rillera (Redbone)

1947: Tony Wilson (Hot Chocolate)

1949: Hamish Stuart (The Average White Band)

1950: Robert "Kool" Bell (Kool and the Gang)

Deaths

1990: Barrie Wilson (Procol Harum)

Events

1935: Bandleader Ozzie Nelson marries his lead vocalist, Harriet Hilliard.

1962: Joining what he is told is a gospel music tour in England with Sam Cooke, Little Richard instead finds himself part of a rock and roll revue (featuring a young Billy Preston on keyboards). Cooke's popularity with his secular set convinces Richard to return to rock, and his self-imposed exile is ended... for the first time, anyway.

1966: Cream drummer Ginger Baker collapses while on stage at a Sussex University gig in England, just after completing his epic 20-minute solo on "Toad."

1968: "Mama" Cass Elliot's initial solo engagement at Caesars' Palace is a disaster, with Elliot collapsing from exhaustion and her backup band ill-rehearsed. While hospitalized, she contracts tonsillitis, forcing the cancellation of the entire two-week engagement.

1977: NBC airs The Paul Simon Special, which again reunites the singer with old friend Art Garfunkel.

1985: Little Richard passes out behind the wheel while driving his sports car in West Hollywood and runs into a telephone pole, seriously injuring him and forcing him to miss his induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. After he recovers, he returns yet again to spiritual music.

1987: The acclaimed Chuck Berry documentary Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll premieres in US theaters on the same day that Berry himself is awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame at 1777 N. Vine.

1987: Promoting their space-themed Afterburner record, ZZ Top book passage on what is announced as the first passenger flight to the moon.

1988: The Rolling Stones' Keith Richards performs his first solo single, "Take It So Hard," on tonight's episode of Saturday Night Live.

1989: After Rolling Stone Ron Wood suggested the Who were reforming for the money alone, Who guitarist Pete Townshend publicly answered: "Mick needs a lot more than I do. His last album was a flop," referring to the Stones' legendary miscue Dirty Work.

1992: The US Postal Service issues a booklet of commemorative rock and roll stamps featuring Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Otis Redding, Bill Haley, Ritchie Valens, Clyde McPhatter, and Dinah Washington.

Releases

1979: Fleetwood Mac, Tusk

Recording

1941: Benny Goodman, "Buckle Down Winsocki"

1957: Jerry Lee Lewis, "Great Balls Of Fire"

1964: The Beatles, "She's A Woman"

1968: The Beatles, "Long Long Long," "I'm So Tired," "The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill"

Charts

1955: The Four Aces' "Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing" hits #1

1977: Billy Joel's LP The Stranger enters the charts

Certifications

1974: Dionne Warwick and The Spinners' "Then Came You" is certified gold

Where Were you on this Day in Music History: October 7th!

A Day in Music History        

October 7th...

Smiley Lewis

July 5, 1913 - October 7, 1966 (aged 53)

Births

1911: Vaughn Monroe

1911: "Papa" Jo Jones

1922: Martha Stewart

1927: Al Martino

1939: Colin Cooper (The Climax Blues Band)

1941: Tony Silvester (The Main Ingredient)

1941: Martin Murray (The Honeycombs)

1945: Kevin Godley (10cc)

1949: David Hope (Kansas)

1950: David Taylor (Edison Lighthouse)

Deaths

1966: Smiley Lewis

Events

1950: CBS debuts The Frank Sinatra Show, a variety program and the first TV show for the crooner. Though he has a five-year contract, the show only lasts two seasons.

1952: The Philadelphia dance show Bandstand, hosted by Bob Horn and, later, by Dick Clark as American Bandstand, debuts on WFIL-TV.

1957: Elvis Presley's upcoming first Christmas album, entitled simply Elvis' Christmas Album, goes gold in pre-orders nine days before its release.

1959: Connie Stevens lands the role that will make her famous, as the TV detective show Hawaiian Eye debuts on ABC-TV.

1964: The Beatles appear (on tape) during a special British Invasion-themed episode of the popular ABC-TV variety show Shindig!, performing "Kansas City / Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!," "I'm A Loser," and "Boys."

1967: After a London hotel accuses the Mamas and the Papas' Cass Elliot of running out on her bill, the singer is jailed overnight and strip-searched, forcing the cancellation of both an upcoming gig and television appearance.

1967: Promoter Sid Bernstein, who had promoted the Beatles at their first two Shea Stadium concerts, offers one million dollars to the group, who is retired from the road, to perform a third concert there. They refuse.

1968: At the fifth game in baseball's World Series (Detroit vs. St. Louis), Jose Feliciano stuns and outrages the attendees with his jazzy acoustic take on the US National Anthem.

1975: The US Court of Appeals overturns the longstanding deportation order for John Lennon, ruling that Lennon, in being held accountable for violating a foreign law (a 1968 rap for possession of marijuana in England), had been denied due process.

1976: Dennis Edwards announces he is leaving the Temptations. Four years later, he would rejoin for the group's successful Power album.

1978: The Rolling Stones perform their new single, "Beast Of Burden," on tonight's episode of NBC-TV's Saturday Night Live.

1978: Merle Haggard marries third wife Leona Williams, a bass player and singer with Loretta Lynn. The marriage lasts six years.

1978: Billboard magazine reveals that Marvin Gaye has declared bankruptcy twice in the past year claiming debts of over seven million dollars.

1982: Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page is given a one year suspended sentence for cocaine possession.

Releases

1971: Michael Jackson, "Got To Be There"

Recording

1940: Artie Shaw, "Stardust"

1960: Elvis Presley, "Flaming Star"

1968: The Beatles, "Long Long Long"

Certifications

1969: The Youngbloods' "Get Together" is certifie

Where Were you on this Day in Music History: October 5th!

A Day in Music History        

October 5th...

Jud Strunk

June 11, 1936 - October 5, 1981 (aged 45)

Births

1907: Mrs. Miller

1924: Bill Dana

1935: Margie Singleton

1938: Carlo Mastrangelo (Dion and the Belmonts)

1938: Johnny Duncan

1939: Abi Ofarim

1942: Richard Street (The Temptations)

1943: Steve Miller

1947: Brian Johnson (AC/DC)

1948: Lucius Ross (Funkadelic)

1949: B.W. Stevenson

1949: Brian Connolly (sweet)

Deaths

1981: Jud Strunk

1992: Eddie Kendricks (The Temptations)

1997: Arthur Tracey

2005: Michael Gibbins (Badfinger)

Events

1947: The first taped radio show is broadcast on ABC, a performance by Bing Crosby that demonstrated the capabilities of the new Ampex 200 recorder.

1957: Cliff Richard plays his first gig with the Shadows at Hanley, England's Victoria Hall.

1959: The legendarily bad movie Girls Town, featuring Paul Anka and Mel Torme, premieres in US theaters.

1962: The Beatles release their first single, "Love Me Do" b/w "P.S. I Love You," in the UK. That night, it is played on Radio Luxembourg, owned by EMI, representing the first time a Beatles song is ever heard on the airwaves.

1966: The Jimi Hendrix Experience forms in London.

1975: The three original Wailers -- Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer -- perform together for the last time at Stevie Wonder's benefit concert, the Wonder Dream Concert, in Kingston, Jamaica.

1999: After breaking up "permanently" in 1983, the Who reform with an announcement by singer Roger Daltrey that the trio will re-form for a Las Vegas concert.

2000: The book The Beatles Anthology, some twenty years in the making, is published in the US. Price: $60.

2006: Jeffrey Borer, owner of company that sold Michael Jackson his private Gulfstream jet, is sentenced to six months in prison for ordering employee Arvel Jett Reeves to install two videocameras in it in order to catch Jackson saying something for which he could be blackmailed.

2007: A federal jury finds a Minnesota woman guilty of online music file sharing through the public service KaZaa, fining her $220,000.

Releases

1961: The Marcels, "Heartaches"

1975: Harry Chapin, "Cat's In The Cradle"

1999: Paul McCartney, Run Devil Run

Recording

1939: Ted Weems, "I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now"

1961: Neil Sedaka, "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen"

1968: The Beatles, "Savoy Truffle," "Martha My Dear"

Charts

1959: Paul Evans' "Seven Little Girls (Sitting in the Back Seat)" enters the charts

1959: Bobby Darin's "Mack The Knife" hits #1

1974: The Beach Boys' LP Endless Summer hits #1

1974: Olivia Newton-John's "I Honestly Love You" hits #1

Certifications

1965: Henry Mancini's soundtrack LP The Pink Panther is certified gold

1976: Hall and Oates' LP Abandoned Luncheonette is certified gold

1979: The Who's LP soundtrack LP The Kids Are Alright is certified platinum

Where Were you on this Day in Music History: October 4th!

A Day in Music History        

October 4th...

Janis Joplin

January 19, 1943 - October 4, 1970 (aged 27)

Births

1929: Leroy Van Dyke

1937: Perkle Lee Moses (The El Dorados)

1942: Helen Reddy

1944: Marlena Davis (The Orlons)

1947: Jim Fielder (Buffalo Springfield, Mothers of Invention, Blood, Sweat and Tears) 

1963: Lena Zavaroni

Deaths

1970: Janis Joplin

1991: J. Frank Wilson

1996: Jerry Rivers (Hank Williams Sr.)

1999: Art Farmer

2004: Michael Gibbins (Badfinger)

2004: Bruce Palmer (The Buffalo Springfield)

Events

1957: Elvis Presley comes in second as England's most popular vocalist in the annual New Musical Express (NME) music poll, coming in just behind... Pat Boone.

1961: Bob Dylan debuts at Carnegie Hall, playing for a grand total of 53 fans.

1961: Popular "recording" group Alvin and the Chipmunks get their own TV show when The Alvin Show debuts on CBS.

1963: A 17-year-old Eric Clapton, late of the Roosters and Casey Jones and the Engineers, joins the Yardbirds for tonight's gig at the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond, England, replacing original guitarist Anthony "Top" Topham.

1964: Dusty Springfield interviews the Beatles on this, their first appearance on England's ITV television program Ready Steady Go!

1968: Cream begins their announced farewell tour with a performance at Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, CA.

1974: Thin Lizzy debut their new twin-guitar attack with new additions Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson at tonight's concert in Wales.

1978: Country singer Tammy Wynette is allegedly kidnapped at a Nashville shopping center by an unknown man in a ski mask, beaten, and forced at gunpoint to drive roughly 90 miles. Doubt still exists as to whether this incident took place, due to a puzzling lack of physical evidence.

1980: For their work on the recent Fleetwood Mac single "Tusk," the University of Southern California Country marching band is presented with a platinum version of the album of the same name by three members of the rock band.

1980: On stage during a concert in Pittburgh, PA, Carly Simon collapses from "nervous exhaustion."

1988: Determined to finally clean his system of the alcohol and drugs he's been abusing for years, Ringo Starr, along with wife Barbara Bach, flies to Tucson, AZ to enter the Sierra Tucson Rehabilitation Clinic. He will stay six weeks.

1994: Singer Glenn Frey's stomach surgery causes the Eagles to postpone their much-anticipated reunion tour, puckishly titled Hell Freezes Over.

1996: The major motion picture That Thing You Do!, which deals with a fictional 1964 band attempting to break big, and starring Tom Hanks and Liv Tyler, opens in US theaters.

1999: Jimi Hendrix's half-sister Janie announces her plans to exhume the body of her famous brother and move it to a mausoleum where curious onlookers can view it for a price. The public outcry forces her to shelve the idea.

Releases

1943: Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five, "Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby?"

1974: John Lennon, Walls and Bridges

Recording

1939: Ted Weems, "That Old Gang Of Mine"

1968: The Beatles, "Martha My Dear," "Honey Pie"

Charts

1969: Creedence Clearwater Revival's LP Green River hits #1

1975: Pink Floyd's LP Wish You Were Here hits #1

Certifications

1966: Bobby Hebb's "Sunny" is certified gold

Where Were you on this Day in Music History: October 3rd!

A Day in Music History        

Woody Guthrie 

July 14, 1912 - October 3, 1967 (aged 55)

October 3rd...

Births

1938: Eddie Cochran

1940: Alan O'Day

1941: Chubby Checker

1945: Antonio Martinez (Los Bravos)

1949: Lindsey Buckingham (Fleetwood Mac)

1950: Ronnie Laws (Earth Wind and Fire)

Deaths

1967: Woody Guthrie

Events

1901: The first record company, The Victor Talking Machine Company, is incorporated, later merging with the Radio Corporation of America to become RCA-Victor.

1952: The long-running radio hit The Adventures Of Ozzie and Harriet, now featuring a 12-year-old Ricky Nelson, debuts on CBS-TV, where it will run for another 14 years, bringing the total life of the show to 22 years!

1955: The Mickey Mouse Club, featuring a 12-year-old Annette Funicello, debuts on ABC-TV.

1957: ABC-TV premieres The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom variety show, later featured in Michael Moore's documentary Roger and Me. The show runs for three years.

1964: John Lennon writes "I Feel Fine."

1965: Johnny Cash is stopped by US Customs officials at the Mexican border on suspicion of heroin smuggling and found to be holding over 1,000 prescription narcotics and amphetamines. He receives a suspended sentence.

1977: The TV event Elvis In Concert, filmed just weeks before the King's death, is shown on CBS, with good friend Ann-Margret hosting. It shocks many with the depiction of a bloated and drug-addled Elvis Presley in his final days.

1978: Aerosmith posts bail for 30 fans convicted of smoking pot during their show at the Fort Wayne Coliseum in Ft. Wayne, IN.

1980: At tonight's show in Ann Arbor, MI, the first of his new tour, Bruce Springsteen forgets the words to his anthem "Born To Run."

1987: Lithonia, GA declares today "Brenda Lee Day" in honor of the native singer. A new street is named Brenda Lee Lane in her honor.

1988: Hollywood premiers the acclaimed documentary Imagine: John Lennon.

2000: After being questioned for nearly an hour by his parole board, John Lennon's killer is denied release on his first eligible parole, with the board stating that letting him free would "deprecate the seriousness of the crime."

2003: The film of the benefit concert The Concert For George, an all-star tribute to the recently deceased ex-Beatle George Harrison, opens in US theaters.

2007: The Rolling Stones' "A Bigger Bang" tour, named after their latest album, sets a new world record for grosses when the two-year jaunt rakes in nearly 560 million dollars.

Recording

1945: Stan Kenton, "Painted Rhythm"

1963: The Beatles, "Little Child," "I Wanna Be Your Man"

1968: The Beatles, "Savoy Truffle"

Charts

1964: The Supremes' "Baby Love" enters the charts

1964: The LP The Animals enters the charts

Where Were you on this Day in Music History: October 2nd!

A Day in Music History        

October 2nd...

Gene Autry

September 29, 1907 - October 2, 1998 (aged 91)

Births

1933: David Somerville (The Diamonds)

1939: Lolly Vegas (Redbone)

1941: Ron Meagher (The Beau Brummels)

1945: Don McLean

1950: Mike Rutherford (Genesis)

Deaths

1998: Gene Autry

Events

1928: The first professional recordings in Nashville take place as DeFord Bailey lays down eight tracks in Victor Records (later RCA) Studios.

1945: Elvis Presley, then just ten years old, makes his first public appearance at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show singing "Old Shep" in a talent contest. He comes in second.

1954: Elvis Presley bombs at the Grand Ole Opry, which does not approve of his take on traditional country music. The Opry's talent director, Jim Denny, famously tells Presley he should go back to driving a truck. Elvis swears never to return.

1965: Manfred Mann plays Prague in Czechoslovakia, becoming the first Western band to take the stage behind the infamous Communist "Iron Curtain."

1967: The entire Grateful Dead are arrested for marijuana possession in San Francisco.

1968: Motown sues their most prolific songwriting team, Holland-Dozier-Holland, for their refusal to write more songs until their royalty rate is increased. The trio are eventually released from the label and go on to start their own Invictus and Hot Wax labels.

1971: The syndicated half-hour dance show Soul Train, sort of an American Bandstand of R&B, premieres, with special guests Gladys Knight and the Pips, Eddie Kendricks, and the Honey Cone.

1976: In response to John Belushi's popular caricature of himself on Saturday Night Live, Joe Cocker appears on the show, singing a dual-Cocker duet with Belushi on "Feelin' Alright."

1977: After a plot is uncovered to steal it, Elvis Presley's body is moved from its Memphis mausoleum to its final resting place in the Meditation Garden at Graceland.

1983: ABBA's Agnetha Faltskog is involved in a car crash in Skane, Sweden, and suffers a concussion, but soon recovers.

1986: The Everly Brothers are awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7000 Hollywood Blvd.

2000: Paul Anka files papers to end his 37-year marriage to former fashion model Anne de Zogheb.

2004: 55-year-old Billy Joel causes a stir by marrying his third wife, the 22-year-old cooking student Katie Lee, at his Long Island home.

Releases

1961: The Crystals, "There's No Other Like My Baby"

1962: The Cookies, "Chains"

1976: Rod Stewart, "Tonight's The Night"

Recording

1937: Benny Goodman, "Flying Home"

1957: Connie Francis, "Who's Sorry Now"

1967: The Beatles, "Hello Goodbye"

1968: The Beatles, "Honey Pie"

Charts

1960: Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs' "Stay" enters the charts

1965: The McCoys' "Hang On Sloopy" hits #1

1971: Rod Stewart's "Maggie May" b/w "Reason To Believe" hits #1

1971: Rod Stewart's LP Every Picture Tells A Story hits #1

1971: John Lennon's LP Imagine enters the charts

Certifications

1977: The LP Gene Simmons is certified platinum