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 6th!

A Day in Music History        

October 6th...

Nelson Riddle

June 1, 1921 - October 6, 1985 (aged 64)

Births

1945: Robin Shaw (The Flowerpot Men)

1946: Millie Small

1949: Thomas McClary (The Commodores)

1949: Bobby Farrell (Boney M)

1951: Kevin Cronin (REO Speedwagon)

1951: Gavin Sutherland (The Sutherland Brothers)

Deaths

1966: Johnny Kidd

1978: Johnny O'Keefe

1985: Nelson Riddle

Events

1967: Jimi Hendrix performs on the new BBC 1 radio show Top Gear, with Stevie Wonder, who was visiting the studios, sitting in on drums for a jam called (appropriately enough) "Jammin'" and a version of Stevie's "I Was Made To Love Her."

1971: Pat Boone guest-stars on tonight's "The Academy" episode of NBC-TV's thriller Night Gallery.

1977: Rod Stewart is named in a $15 million "palimony" suit by actress Britt Eklund.

1978: ABBA songwriter / musician Benny Anderson marries fellow band vocalist Anni-Frid Lyngstad in Sweden. The marriage lasts three years. (The group's other male-female pair had been married in 1971.)

1978: The Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger apologizes to activist Jesse Jackson, who raised a public outcry over the lyrics of the Stones' recent song "Some Girls," specifically the line "black girls just want to get ------ all night." Jagger refuses calls to change the lyrics.

1980: With the disco craze officially over, The Bee Gees file a $200 million mismanagement lawsuit against longtime manager Robert Stigwood and his label RSO Records, one that would within the year be settled out of court.

1991: The Fox TV network airs the special Ray Charles: 50 Years Of Music, featuring guests Stevie Wonder, Willie Nelson, Paul McCartney, Randy Travis, Michael Bolton, and more.

1991: Michael Jackson gives Elizabeth Taylor away to Larry Fortensky during her eighth wedding, held at Jackson's California ranch, Neverland.

2002: Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones donates 100,000 pounds to the school he once attended in Dartford, England, for musical instruments and a band director. The resultant musical center is named after the singer.

2006: Before Game Three of baseball's AL Divisional Playoff in Detroit, MI, the Four Tops sing the US national anthem.

Releases

1956: Elvis Presley, "Love Me Tender"

1969: The Beatles, "Something" b/w "Come Together"

1979: The Eagles, "Heartache Tonight"

Recording

1941: Claude Thornhill, "Autumn Nocturne"

1964: The Beatles, "Eight Days A Week"

1965: Gary Lewis and the Playboys, "She's Just My Style," "Sure Gonna Miss Her"

1967: The Beatles, "Blue Jay Way"

1976: Salsoul Orchestra, "Christmas Medley"

Charts

1973: Cher's "Half-Breed" hits #1

1979: Robert John's "Sad Eyes" hits #1

Certifications

1976: Rick Dees and His Cast of Idiots' "Disco Duck" is certified gold

Fall Songs for the ROAD!!!

“Autumn...the year's last, loveliest smile.”

― William Cullen Bryant

As I was driving down to the Cape Cod in beautiful Massachusetts, on a spectacular fall day in 2011, my iPod classic played an apropos song: James Taylor's Country Road. I decided that instant I needed to research all  fall songs and create a fall playlist for all of my autumn trips.

If you're planning to hit the highway on a New England fall foliage road trip this year, here are some suggested fall songs for your listening pleasure. I've selected an eclectic collection of classic New England and fall songs, contemporary tunes and a few songs that simply seem fitting for a fall driving soundtrack. I'd love it if you shared YOUR FAVORITE TOO!

Brandon's Fall Playlist:

1. Indian Summer – Poco, from the CD Poco: The Ultimate Collection

2. Country Road - James Taylor, from the CD James Taylor: Greatest Hits

3. Change of Season - Hall & Oates, from the CD Change of Season

4. O New England – The Decemberists, from the CD single Always the Bridesmaid: Volume I

5. When Fall Comes to New England – Cheryl Wheeler, from the CD Driving Home

6. Weekend in New England – Barry Manilow, from the CD Barry Manilow Greatest Hits Volume II

7. Autumn Leaves – Nat King Cole, from the CD The Unforgettable Nat King Cole

8. True Colors - Cyndi Lauper, from the CD Twelve Deadly Cyns… And Then Some

9. Moonlight in Vermont - Willie Nelson, from the CD Stardust

10. Seasons Change – Expose, from the CD Exposure

11. When the Leaves Come Falling Down – Van Morrison, from the CD The Best of Van Morrison, Vol. 3

12. Boston – Augustana, from the CD All the Stars and Boulevards

13. Beautiful Sunday – Daniel Boone (Available on iTunes)

14. Forever Autumn – The Moody Blues, from the CD Lovely to See You (Live)

15. Moondance - Moondance is the third solo album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison.

Fall Instrumental Selections

If you'd prefer instrumental songs to accompany your fall ramblings, George Winston's Autumn album of New Age piano music would also be very appropriate.

More Instrumental Songs for Fall

1. The First of Autumn – Enya, from the CD A Day Without Rain

2. Falling Leaves – Glen Miller Orchestra, from the CD Glen Miller 100th Anniversary: 75 Top Ten Hits

3. Falling Leaves – Mark Wesling, from the CD A Day of Music

4. Gently Raindrops Falling on Leaves – Daniel Kobialka, from the CD Pathless Journey