October 28th

Musical birthdays today include avant-garde composer Gershon Kingsley (96), jazz & pop singer Dame Cleo Laine (91), Charlie Daniels (82), R&B singer Curtis Lee (78), Shadows guitarist Hank Marvin (77), Wayne Fontana (73), ex-Tony Orlando & Dawn vocalist Telma Hopkins (69), Joy Division/New Order drummer Stephen Morris (60), Jesus & Mary Chain guitarist William Reid (59), alt-country fiddler Caitlin Cary (49), Ben Harper (48), country singer Brad Paisley (45), Joaquin Phoenix (43), and rapper Frank Ocean (30). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Cajun accordion virtuoso Iry Lejeune, who would have been 89 today... for ex-Soft Machine saxophonist Elton Dean, who would have been 72...  for big band leader Woody Herman, who died on this date in 1987... and for Porter Waggoner, who left us today in 2007. 

Also on October 28: Tchaikovsky's Symphony no. 6 in B Minor, the Pathétique, receives its premiere performance in St. Petersburg only nine days before the composer's death (1893)... In Berlin, Richard Strauss conducts the first performance of his tone poem Eine Alpensinfonie (1915)... After a show at the Pan Pacific Auditorium in Los Angeles, police tell Elvis Presley that he is not allowed to wiggle his hips onstage. The local press also run editorials saying the King would have to clean up his act. The next night, the LAPD vice squad film his entire concert, in order to study his performance for illegalities (1957)... Buddy Holly makes his final US national TV appearance on Dick Clark's American Bandstand, where he lip-synchs 'It's So Easy' and 'Heartbeat' (1958)...  A Liverpool electrician named Raymond Jones goes into the NEMS Record store trying to buy discs released in Germany by a local group called the Beatles who are currently residing in Hamburg. Shop manager Brian Epstein promises to investigate further (1961)... The Kinks release Face to Face, their first LP consisting entirely of Ray Davies compositions (1966)... The № 1 album on the Billboard chart today is Diana Ross and the Supremes' Greatest Hits (1967)... Nick Gilder goes to № 1 in the US with 'Hot Child in the City'. When released in the singer's native Britain, the single failed to chart (1978)... The Jam announce that they are breaking up (1982)... Columbia Records releases the 3 LP Bob Dylan career retrospective Biograph (1985)... Sheena Easton guest stars on Miami Vice as Sonny Crockett's fiancée (1987)... R.E.M. drummer Bill Berry announces that he is  leaving the group after 17 years to become a farmer (1997)... A Kenny Rogers fan is injured at a concert in Dallas when the singer throws a frisbee into the crowd. Concertgoer Kevin O'Toole will later sue Rogers for $2 million, claiming that the accident left him impotent (1999)... Joseph 'Afroman' Foreman starts a two-week run at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with 'Because I Got High.' The song about how cannabis use was degrading his quality of life rose from obscurity after it went viral on the Internet (2001).

     

  

October 27th

Musical birthdays today include Québecois singer-songwriter Gilles Vigneault (90), country singer Lee Greenwood (76), E Street Band bassist Garry Tallent (69), former Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing (67), Simon Le Bon (60), and jazz pianist David Hazeltine (60).

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for violin virtuoso Niccolò Paganini, born on this date in 1782.. for song and dance woman Nanette Fabray, born in 1920 (and who left us earlier this year)... for Stone Temple Pilots lead singer Scott Weiland, who would have been 49 today... for former T Rex member Steve Took, who on this day in 1980 choked to death on a cherry stone after some magic mushrooms he had consumed numbed all sensation in his throat ~ he was 31... and for bandleader Xavier Cugat, who left us today in 1990. 

Also on October 27: Violinist Efrem Zimbalist makes his American debut with the Boston Symphony (1911)... The first recorded use of the word 'jazz' in  musical context occurs in an article in today's Chicago Daily Tribune (1916)... The Crickets start a three-week run at № 1 on the UK singles chart with 'That'll Be The Day'. It is also a № 3 hit in the US where it goes on to sell over a million. The song was inspired by a trip to the movies by Buddy Holly, Jerry Allison and Sonny Curtis in June 1956 to see the John Ford film 'The Searchers', in which John Wayne's frequently-used, world-weary catchphrase "That'll be the day" inspired the young musicians (1957)... Ben E King records 'Stand by Me' and 'Spanish Harlem' at Atlantic Studios in NYC (1960)... 31 year old Salvatore Philip Bono marries 18-year-old Cherilyn Sarkisian La Piere in Los Angeles. For a time they will perform together as Caesar and Cleo before changing the name of their act to Sonny and Cher. Their union lasts 12 years (1964)... Muddy Waters is seriously injured in a road accident in Champagne, Illinois. Three other people in the car are killed... With Abbey Road in the can, Ringo Starr becomes the first of The Beatles to formally begin work on a solo album, entering the studio to record Sentimental Journey (1969)... Stevie Wonder releases Talking Book (1972)... Gladys Knight and the Pips top the US singles chart with 'Midnight Train to Georgia' (1973)... Two months after the release of the album Born To Run, Bruce Springsteen has the rare honour of simultaneous covers on both Time and Newsweek magazines (1975)... In Honolulu, an unemployed former security guard named Mark David Chapman buys a Charter Arms five-shot .38 special for $169 (1980)...  Prince releases 1999 (1982)... For the first time during one of their tours, the Grateful Dead allocate a specific recording area for fans to bootleg the show; tonight's gig is in Berkeley, CA (1984)... The Phil Joanou-directed U2 film 'Rattle And Hum' receives its world premiere in the group's hometown of Dublin (1988)...  Bob Dylan releases Good as I Been to You (1992)... Lonnie Donegan goes to Buckingham Palace to receive an MBE for his services to British culture. Lonnie pioneered skiffle in the 1950's and inspired a generation of teenagers, including the future Beatles, to start bands (2000)... Amy Winehouse releases Back to Black, her final studio album... Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth offers the U.S. premiere of her experimental film 'Perfect Partner' at Montclair State University in New Jersey and participates in a live performance of the soundtrack (2006)... Eric Clapton pulls out of a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame gala concert in New York City after he undergoes an operation to remove gallstones. His place at the Madison Square Garden gig is taken by Jeff Beck (2009).

October 26th

Musical birthdays today include German composer and Brian Eno collaborator Hans-Joachim Roedelius (84), jazz trumpeter Eddie henderson (78), Milton Nascimento (76), Herman's Hermits guitarist Keith Hopwood (72), Bootsy Collins (67), keyboardist & former Frank Zappa sideman Tommy Mars (67), B-52s multi-instrumentalist Keith Strickland (65), Natalie Merchant (55), country singer Keith Urban (51), and Yellowcard bassist Josh Portman (39). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer Domenico Scarlatti, born on this date in 1685... for Mahalia Jackson, born in 1911... for Jordanaires vocalist Neal Matthews Jr. , who would have been 89... for country singer Hoyt Axton, who died on this date in 1999... and for Blaque rapper Natina Reed, who left us today in 2012, 2 days short of her 34th birthday. 

Also on October 26th: Bill Haley & the Comets play the first rock & roll show in Germany, in West Berlin. The 7,000 fans present turn the concert into a riot (1958)... John Coltrane and sidemen complete the recording of the My Favorite Things album (1960)... At Curly Clayton Studios in Highbury, London, the Rolling Stones, consisting of Keith Richard, Mick Jagger, Brian Jones, pianist Ian Stewart and drummer Tony Chapman, make their first demo tape . They record three songs: Jimmy Reed's 'Close Together', Bo Diddley's 'You Cant Judge A Book By The Cover' and Muddy Waters' 'Soon Forgotten' (1962)... Queen Elizabeth II invests the Beatles with their MBEs at Buckingham Palace. According to an account by John Lennon, the group smoked marijuana beforehand in one of the palace bathrooms to calm their nerves. Many former recipients give their MBE's back in protest, to which John Lennon responds "Lots of people who complained about us receiving the MBE received theirs for heroism in the war, for killing people. We received ours for entertaining other people. I'd say we deserve ours more." When asked how he enjoyed meeting  the Queen, John said "She's much nicer than she is in the photos" (1965)... A wake is held at the Lion's Share in San Anselmo, California to celebrate the life of Janis Joplin. The singer, who died of an accidental drug overdose at the beginning of the month, had left $2,500 in her will to throw a party in the event of her demise. Attending are her sister Laura and Joplin's close friends. Brownies laced with hashish are passed around amongst the guests unbeknownst to them. Joplin was cremated in the Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Mortuary in Los Angeles, and her ashes scattered on Stinson Beach, north of San Francisco (1970)... John Lennon releases his 'Mind Games' single (1973)... Elton John closes out his latest US tour at Dodger Stadium wearing a sequin-studded Dodgers uniform (1975)... Jefferson Starship guitarist Paul Kantner suffers a stroke during a recording session. He will make a full recovery after spending two weeks in a Los Angeles hospital (1980)... Men at Work have the № 1 song in the US with 'Who Can It Be Now?' (1982)... Roman Catholic churches in San Juan, Puerto Rico ask residents to tie black ribbons around trees in protest against Madonna's first live appearance on the island... Bob Dylan releases World Gone Wrong, his second consecutive album of folk and blues standards (1993)...  In a cricket ground in the state of Meghalaya, N.E. India, 1,730 guitarists play Dylan's 'Knocking On Heaven's Door' in a bid to break a record. The guitarists hope their achievement will earn them a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. The current Guinness mark is held by a community guitar project from Kansas City, MO who assembled 1,683 pickers to play Deep Purple's 'Smoke On The Water' (2007)... A coroner's inquest into the Amy Winehouse case reaches a verdict of death by misadventure. The report explains that Winehouse's blood alcohol content was 416 mg/decilitre at the time of her death, more than five times the legal drink-drive limit. According to the coroner, ‘The unintended consequence of such potentially fatal levels was her sudden death' (2011).

October 25th

Musical birthdays today include Brazilian bossa nova pioneer Roberto Menescal (84), Helen Reddy (77), Yes lead singer Jon Anderson (74), Judas Priest guitarist Glenn Tipton (71), Television frontman Richard Lloyd (67), bluegrass singer Mollie O'Brien (66), Scorpions guitarist Matthias Jabs (63), Red Hot Chili Peppers' drummer Chad Smith (57), Bare Naked Ladies frontman Ed Robertson (48), rapper Jerome 'Young Rome' Jones (37), Katy Perry (34), and Ciara (32). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer Johann Strauss, born on this date in 1825... for composer Georges Bizet, born in 1838... for country singer Minnie Pearl, born in 1912... for bluesman Coco Robicheaux, who would have been 71 today... for Divinyls lead singer Chrissy Amphlett, who would have been 59... for concert promoter Bill Graham, who died on this date in 1991... for Roger 'King of the Road' Miller, who passed away in 1992... and for legendary DJ John Peel, who left us today in 2004. 

Also on October 25: Milhaud's one-act ballet La Création du Monde is premiered by Les Ballets Suédois at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées (1923)... The Archbishop of Dubuque, IA, Francis J.L. Beckman, denounces swing as "a degenerated musical system... turned loose to gnaw away at the moral fiber of young people" and warns that it leads "down the primrose path to hell" (1938)...  Cliff Richard makes his British radio debut on the BBC's 'Saturday Club.' The show started life as 'Saturday Skiffle Club' in 1957 hosted by Brian Matthew and is broadcast from 10 AM to 12 noon Saturday mornings on the BBC Light Programme (1958)... The Beatles kick off their tour of Sweden by playing two shows at the Nya Aulan in Karlstad. The local pop reviewer is not impressed, saying 'The Beatles should be grateful to their screaming fans for drowning out the group's dreadful performance', adding that The Beatles 'are of no musical importance whatsoever, and their local support group, The Phantoms, decidedly outshone them' (1963)... The Rolling Stones appear for the first time on The Ed Sullivan Show, performing ‘Around and around’ and ‘Time is on My Side’. A riot breaks out in the studio, prompting Sullivan’s infamous quote, "I promise you they’ll never be back on our show again". The Stones will go on to make a further five appearances on Sullivan’s program between 1965 and 1969 (1964)... The double album 'Electric Ladyland' by the Jimi Hendrix Experience is released. It is also made available as two albums with changed artwork after complaints about the naked women who were pictured on the sleeve. The female models were each paid £5 for the photo shoot, and another £5 if they posed completely nude (1968)... 'Sugar Sugar' by the Archies goes to the top of the UK singles chart, to remain there for 8 weeks (1969)... 
R.E.M., The Smiths and Tom Waits all appear on local Northern England TV show The Tube, at Tyne Tree Television Studios, in Newcastle (1985)... For the first time in the history of the Billboard Hot 100, the top three spots are held by female solo acts. Cyndi Lauper's 'True Colors' occupies the No.1 position, followed by Tina Turner's 'Typical Male' at No. 2, and Janet Jackson's 'When I Think Of You' at No. 3 (1986)... After falling over on stage when reaching for a guitar pick during  gig in Ann Arbor Michigan, Johnny Cash announces to the crowd that he is suffering from Parkinson's disease... The Spice Girls go to № 1 on the UK singles chart with 'Spice Up Your Life'. Taken from their second album Spiceworld, the single sets a new record, making them the only act ever to have their first five singles reach the top of the charts (1997)... A poster from a 1968 Led Zeppelin gig at Surrey University [the first time the group played under their new name after abandoning the moniker The New Yardbirds] sells at auction for £2,400 (2003).

October 24th

Musical birthdays today include Bill Wyman (82), Catalyst saxophone & winds player Odean Pope (80), producer Ted Templeman (74), New Age composer David Wright (65), Neutral Milk Hotel frontman Jeff Mangum (48), Laura Veirs (45), ex-Silverhair drummer Jeff Gillies (39), former Blizzards lead guitarist Niall Breslin (38), and Drake (32). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for bluesman Sonny Terry, born on this date in 1911... for British coloratura soprano Anne Sharp, born in 1916... for R&B singer Willie Mabon, born in 1926... for J.P. 'The Big Bopper' Richardson, who would have been 88... for Steppenwolf drummer Jerry Edmonton, who would have been 72... and for Roy Orbison sideman and songwriting collaborator [most notably on 'Pretty Woman'] Bill Dees, who left us in 2012.

Also on October 24th: Victor Herbert's Naughty Marietta premieres in Syracuse, NY (1910)... James Brown records the Live at the Apollo album (1962)... As their first foreign tour begins, the Beatles spend the day in the Swedish capital, recording a performance for a radio program entitled 'The Beatles popgrupp fran Liverpool på besök i Stockholm', (The Beatles pop group from Liverpool visiting Stockholm). The Fab Four, enthused by the chance to perform before an audience not screaming so loudly that they cannot hear themselves, play seven songs: ‘I Saw Her Standing There’, ‘From Me to You’ ‘Money’, ‘You Really Got a Hold On Me’, ‘She Loves You’, ‘Roll Over Beethoven’ and ‘Twist and Shout' (1963)... Pink Floyd are at № 1 on the UK album chart with the 'Atom Heart Mother', the group's first chart-topper. The album cover shows a cow standing in a pasture with no text or any other clue as to what might be on the record (1970)... John Lennon's greatest hits collection Shaved Fish appears in shops, the ex-Beatle's last release of the '70s (1975)... A day in the life of Keith Richards... The guitarist is fined £205 after admitting having cannabis, Chinese heroin, Mandrax tablets and an unlicensed revolver at his Chelsea home in the UK. Later in the evening, Keith and Anita Pallenberg accidentally set fire to their London hotel bedroom (1977)... Michael Jackson starts a two week run at № 1 on the US singles chart with 'Bad'. A music video for the song, directed by Martin Scorsese and featuring one of the first appearances of an as yet-undiscovered Wesley Snipes, will be released later in the year... Topping the album chart on the other side of the pond is Sting, with Nothing like the Sun, his third solo outing. The title comes from Shakespeare's Sonnet № 130 ('My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun'), which Sting used in the song 'Sister Moon' (1987)... Garth Brook's No Fences becomes the first country album certified for shipments of more than 5 million copies (1991)... The Smashing Pumpkins release Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995)...  Queen become the first rock act to receive an official seal of approval in Iran. Western music is still strictly censored in the Islamic republic, where homosexuality is considered a crime, but an album of Queen's greatest hits is released today in Iran. Freddie Mercury was proud of his Iranian ancestry, and illegal bootleg albums and singles had made Queen one of the most popular bands in the country (2004)... Madonna gives a surprise lecture in NYC, discussing her career and new film after she arrives unannounced at Hunter College as part of the MTV series Stand In. Students had been expecting a screening of her new documentary, 'I'm Going to Tell You a Secret' but they are also given the chance for a Q&A with the singer (2005). 

October 23rd

Musical birthdays today include Argentine singer-songwriter Charly Garcia (67), jazz singer Diane Reeves (62), Dwight Yoakam (62), Weird Al Yankovic (59), Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo (54), Melvins drummer Dale Crover (51), and ex-Jack Off Jill lead singer Jessica 'Jessicka' Fodera (43). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for bebop saxophonist Sonny Criss, born on this day in 1927... for pop singer and producer Ellie Greenwich, who would have been 77 today... for former Motörhead guitarist Mike 'Würzel' Burston, who would have been 69... for Gong drummer Pierre Muerlen, who would have been 66... for Al Jolson, who died on this date in 1950... for pioneering country guitarist Maybelle Carter, who passed away in 1978... and for operatic baritone Robert Merrill, who left us today in 2004. 

Also on October 23: Scriabin is at the keyboard for the premiere of his Piano Concerto № 1 in Odessa (1897)... Leoš Janáček's opera Káťa Kabanová premieres in Brno, Czechoslovakia (1921)... Dion has the № 1 single in the US with 'Runaround Sue' (1961)... 12-year-old Little Stevie Wonder records his first single for Motown Records, 'Thank You For Loving Me All The Way' backed by the Funk Brothers (1962)... The Beatles complete the final session for their second album With the Beatles, recording 'I Wanna Be Your Man'. The group are then driven to Gatwick airport for a flight to Stockholm to start their first foreign tour. The Fab Four are met at Stockholm airport by hundreds of female fans who have taken the day off school (1963)... Bob Dylan records 'The Times They Are A-Changin' at Columbia Studios in NYC (1963)... The Jimi Hendrix Experience record their first single 'Hey Joe' at De Lane Lea studios in London. The earliest known commercial recording of the song is the late-1965 single by the Los Angeles garage band The Leaves; the band then re-recorded the track and released it in 1966 as a follow-up single which became a hit (1966)... A spokesman for Columbia Records announces that the label will take legal action to stop distribution of The Great White Wonder, a bootleg album of previous unreleased Dylan material (1969)... Al Green releases I'm Still in Love with You (1972)... Led Zeppelin make their long-awaited US television debut, performing ‘Black Dog’ and ‘Dazed And Confused’ on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert (1976)... Sid Vicious attempts suicide by hanging himself in his cell at Rikers Island (1978)... Mark David Chapman signs out of his job as a security guard in Honolulu for the last time before heading for NYC. He scrawls the name 'John' in the log book (1980)... Elvis Costello releases the country album Almost Blue (1981)... Iggy Pop releases Blah Blah Blah (1986)... Nirvana play their first ever European show when they appear at Newcastle's Riverside Club in North East England. It is the first night of a 36 date European tour for the group, who are sharing the bill with Tad (1989)... Def Leppard earn themselves a place in the Guinness book Of World Records by playing three gigs in three continents in 24 hours ~ Tangier, London and Vancouver (1995)... Apple introduces the iPod portable music player (2001)... Arctic Monkeys score their first UK No.1 with 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor', the Sheffield band's debut single (2005).

October 22nd

Musical birthdays today include Mountain lead guitarist Leslie West (73), Rascals vocalist Eddie Brigati (72), Bad Brains bassist Darryl Jenifer (58), country singer Shelby Lynne (50), Tim Kinsella (44), Switchfoot frontman Jon Foreman (42), and Zac Hanson (33). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer Franz Liszt, born on this date in 1811... for French film score composer Joseph Kosma, born in 1905... for chansonnier George Brassens, born in 1921... for Bobby Fuller, who would have been 76 today... for punk rocker Stiv Bators, who would have been 69... for cellist Pablo Casals, who died on this date in 1973... for British folk singer & activist Ewan McColl who passed away today in 1989.... and for Elliot Smith, who took his own life 12 years ago today at the age of 34. 

Also on October 22: The original Metropolitan Opera House in NYC opens with a performance of Charles Gounoud's Faust (1883)... EMI reject a group from Leeds auditioning as The High Numbers. They will go on to greater success the following year after renaming themselves The Who (1964)... The Supremes become the first female group to have a № 1 album on the US chart, with The Supremes a Go Go knocking Revolver from the top spot...  The Beach Boys ‘Good Vibrations’ makes its debut in the US Top 40. Written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, the track was recorded over 6 weeks in four different Los Angeles studios at a cost of over $16,000. The recording engineer would later say that the last take sounded exactly like the first, six months earlier. The record will reach № 1 on the chart in December (1966)... Paul McCartney once again publicly denies rumors that he is dead. The most recent of many 'clues' to the hoax was the fact that he was the only barefoot Beatle on  'Abbey Road' LP cover. The story was actually started as a prank by Fred La Bour, a sports and arts writer for the University of Michigan student newspaper The Michigan Daily (1969)... Led Zeppelin II is released on Atlantic Records in the UK (1969)... In Louisville, KY, Earth, Wind & Fire kick off a sold-out 75-date US tour (1976)... Van Halen add a date in Worcester, MA to their current tour after a petition signed by 25,000 locals asking them to play is delivered to the band (1982)...  Pearl Jam play their first live gig, at the Off Ramp in Seattle (1990)... A Bob Dylan concert in Rochester, NY is interrupted by a stage invasion that will turn out to have been orchestrated by the makers of documentary about the singer (1994)... Dylan plays his first show in his birthplace of Duluth, MN since the beginning of the 'Never-Ending Tour' ten years earlier (1998)... George Michael pays £1.45 million for the Steinway piano on which John Lennon wrote 'Imagine.' George says, "I know that when my fingers touch the keys of that Steinway, I will feel truly blessed. And parting with my money has never been much of a problem, just ask my accountant." The singer outbid Robbie Williams and The Oasis brothers... R.E.M. give a three-song performance on the steps of the Clarke Co. courthouse in Athens, GA as part of Land Aid, a local festival that strives to improve the economic environment of Athens and its surrounding area (2005).