August 28th

 

Musical birthdays today include operatic bass Paul Plishka (85), former Chicago drummer Danny Seraphine (78), ex-Stranglers lead guitarist Hugh Cornwell (77), Shania Twain (61), CKY drummer Jess Margera (48), country singer Jake Owen (45), LeAnn Rimes (44) and Florence + the Machine lead singer Florence Welch (40).  

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for song and dance man Donald O'Connor, born on this day in 1925... for Velvet Underground founding member Sterling Morrison, who would have been 84... for Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů, who died on this day in 1959... and for Hilly Krystal, founder and owner of CBGB, who left us today in 2007. 

Also on August 28: Richard Wagner's Lohengrin has its premiere in Weimar (1850)... Bob Dylan is one of the performers at the Washington Civil Rights March. In addition to performing duets with Joan Baez and folk revivalist Len Chandler [with the latter on the traditional 'Hold On'], Dylan solos on Blowin' in the Wind and Only a Pawn in Their Game (1963)... After playing a show at the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in Queens, NYC, the Beatles meet Bob Dylan for the first time, at the Delmonico Hotel in Manhattan. Dylan and mutual journalist friend Al Aronovitz introduce the Beatles to marijuana (1964)... Bob Dylan kicks off his now legendary 1965-66 world tour with a show at the Forest Hills Stadium. The format presented at this show is to remain constant throughout the next nine months on the road. The 45-minute opening set features Dylan solo, just guitar and harmonica, followed by a similar-length electric set with the band. A large contingent in the audience boo continually during the second half, something else that will be a constant throughout the tour (1965)... Nearing the end of their final American tour, the Beatles play Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles before a crowd of 45,000. The group's attempt to escape from the stadium in an armored truck is thwarted when the main gate is found to be locked. and the Beatles have to spend two hours in the back of the vehicle before they can leave (1966)... Merle Haggard releases the classic country album Branded Man (1967)... Simon & Garfunkel's fourth studio album Bookends is at the top of the LP charts on both sides of the Atlantic... Working at London's Trident Studios, the Beatles begin recording John's new song Dear Prudence. They build the song instrument by instrument using 8-track equipment more advanced than anything at Abbey Road. Paul plays drums in place of Ringo, who has been AWOL from the group since the 22nd (1968)... David Bowie and his Spiders from Mars make their Carnegie Hall debut. Bowie soldiers through with a well-received performance in spite of suffering from the flu (1972)... Devo release their debut album Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo (1978)... Tina Turner is honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (1986)... Billy Joel is at № 1 on the US album charts with River of Dreams. According to the singer, he chose the title because most of the songs in the collection came to him in his sleep. Then-wife Christie Brinkley painted the cover, later voted worst album cover of the year by the readers of Rolling Stone (1993)... Isaac Hayes, co-author of the Sam & Dave classic 'Soul Man', writes a letter of protest to Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole, demanding that the Senator stop using his song, which supporters had changed to 'I'm a Dole Man' (1996)... Noel Gallagher quits Oasis, saying that he can no longer work with his brother Liam (2009). 

August 27th

Musical birthdays today include Alabama founding member Jeff Cook (77), Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson (73), original Sex Pistols bassist Glen Matlock (70), Yolanda Adams (65), No Doubt bassist Tony Kanal (56), Bloodhound Gang guitarist Jimmy Pop (54) and Arcade Fire violinist Sarah Neufeld (47). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for jazz great Lester 'Pres' Young, born on this day in 1909... for Cajun singer Jimmy C. Newman, born in 1927... for Alice Coltrane, who would have been 89... for Daryl Dragon, who would have been 84... for Beatles discoverer and manager Brian Epstein, who died on this date in 1967 at age 32... for Stevie Ray Vaughn, who was killed in a helicopter crash today in 1990 at the age of 45... and for pioneering British rocker Vince Taylor, who left us today in 1991. 

Also on August 27: The 9-year-old Metropolitan Opera House in NYC is gutted by fire. The 1892-93 season will be cancelled while the structure is rebuilt along its original lines (1892)... The final 'Louisiana Hayride' show is broadcast. What started as a radio program and later became a TV show made its debut in 1948, and was transmitted live from Shreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium, helping to launch the careers of numerous legends in country and early rock and roll (1960)... On the last day of a 5-day break during their current American tour, the Beatles visit a Byrds recording session in L.A., then in the evening meet Elvis for the first time, at his mansion in Beverly Hills. The encounter is an awkward one, leading John Lennon to conclude that the King's personality is "unmagnetic". Asked what it was like meeting Elvis, Lennon replies "It was like meeting Engelbert Humperdinck" (1965)... The Beach Boys' 'God Only Knows' peaks at № 2 on the UK singles chart. In addition to being one of the first pop hits to use 'God' in its title, producer Brian Wilson used many unorthodox instruments, including the French horns used in the song's introduction. Paul McCartney later calls the tune 'the greatest pop song ever written' (1966)... In response to pressure from the British media, Bob Dylan agrees to a press conference at a hotel on the Isle of Wight in anticipation of his appearance at the festival three days hence. At one point, Dylan claims that his 1966 stage act "...was all for publicity. I don't do that kind of thing anymore". After the Q&A, which Dylan cuts short by standing up and announcing "I think I've answered enough questions", there is a brief photo session on the seafront before the singer is whisked back to his rehearsals with the Band (1969)... Louis Armstrong's ex-wife Lil, a pianist and bandleader in her own right, dies of a heart attack on stage whist performing 'St. Louis Blues' during a tribute concert in Chicago to her former husband (1971)... At Townhouse Studios in London, Bob Dylan finishes recording the soundtrack to 'Hearts of Fire', the upcoming film in which he plays his first dramatic role since Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1986)...  Pearl Jam release their debut album Ten (1991)... Singer-songwriter Janis Ian marries her partner Patricia Snyder in Toronto. It is the second marriage for both (2003). 

August 26th

Musical birthdays today include former Hawkwind sax & winds player Nik Turner (86), Velvet Underground drummer Maureen Tucker (82), Valerie Simpson (80), film & TV score composer Mark  Snow (80), Branford Marsalis (66), Garbage lead singer Shirley Manson (60), The Donnas guitarist Allison Robertson (47), and rapper Big K.R.I.T. [né< Justin Scott] (40). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for jazz vibraphonist Peter Appleyard, born on this day in 1929... for original Deep Purple drummer Chris Curtis, who would have been 87...for Leon Redbone, who would have been 77... for English composer Ralph Vaughn Williams, who died on this date in 1958.... for operatic soprano Lotte Lehmann, who died in 1976... for Lee Hays of The Weavers, who passed away in 1981... and for Laura Branigan, who left us today in 2004 at the age of 47. 

Also on August 26: With the composer himself conducting, Mendelssohn's oratorio Elijah is performed for the first time at the Birmingham Festival in England (1846)... At the Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack, NJ [but with Bob Thiele in the producer's chair], the John Coltrane 'Classic Quartet' have their final session. The tracks will be shelved temporarily, but will be released after Coltrane's death as the album Sun Ship (1965)... The Beatles hold a press conference with the Maharishi Mashesh Yogi at University College in Bangor, north Wales. The Fab Four announce that they have become disciples of the guru and that they renounce the use of drugs. Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull, who have arrived to take part in the Maharishi's 'Spiritual Regeneration Movement', are also present (1967)... Bob Dylan and his wife Sara fly from New York to Heathrow Airport. Their ultimate destination is the second annual Isle of Wight festival, where the singer will arrive in the early hours of the next day to begin rehearsals with the Band (1969)... Glen Campbell has the № 1 song in America with 'Rhinestone Cowboy' (1975)... Uriah Heep, Thin Lizzy, Golden Earring, Aerosmith, The Doobie Brothers, Hawkwind and Graham Parker are among those scheduled to appear as the Reading Festival gets underway in Berks. A ticket for the full three days costs £7.95 (1977)... The Japanese prison camp drama 'Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence' starring David Bowie and Japanese pop star Ryuichi Sakamoto, goes on general release in US cinemas (1983)... The Cure release the album The Head in the Door (1985)... Sonny Bono, who once said that he never voted until he was 53, announces that he is running for mayor of Palm Springs, CA. He will carry the election in 1988, and go on to win a seat in Congress in 1996 (1987)... Boyzone kick off an Indian and southeast Asian tour, the first of its kind by western act, in Bangalore (1997)... Rolling Stone Magazine names Jimi Hendrix the greatest guitarist in rock history (2003)... A plaque was unveiled by former Quarrymen John Duff Lowe and Colin Hantonat at the site where the band that was to become the Beatles made their first recordings. John, Paul and George recorded a version of Buddy Holly's That'll Be the Day and  Lennon-Harrison song called 'In Spite of All the Danger' at Liverpool's Percy Studio in 1958... A post office on the same street as the Los Angeles studio where Ray Charles recorded many of his classic sides is renamed after the R&B legend. A federal bill is signed by president George W. Bush to effect the name change (2005).

 

August 25th

 

Musical birthdays today include Gene Simmons (77), Judas Priest lead singer Rob Halford (75), former Yes & Asia keyboardist Geoff Downes (74), Elvis Costello (72), Billy Ray Cyrus (65), Def Leppard guitarist Viv Campbell (64), Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy (59), Belle & Sebastian lead singer Stuart Murdoch (58), country singer Jo Dee Messina (56) and Amy Macdonald (39). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Leonard Bernstein, born on this day in 1918... for jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter, born in 1933... for former Siouxie and the Banshees and PiL guitarist John McGeoch, who would have been 70... for Mia Zapata of The Gits, who would have been 60... for jazz legend Stan Kenton, who died on this date in 1979... for film score composer and longtime Neil Young sideman Jack Nitzsche, who left us today in 2000... and for Aaliyah, who was killed in a plane crash today in 2001 at the age of 22. 

Also on August 25: Little Eva, babysitter to the songwriting team of Gerry Goffin and Carole King, takes the couple's tune The Loco-motion to № 1 on the US charts (1962)... Two female Beatles fans hire a helicopter to fly them over the house in Beverly Hills that the group are renting. They jump from a height of approximately 50 feet and land unhurt in the swimming pool (1965)... The Beatles depart for Bangor in North Wales by train for a bank holiday weekend of study and meditation with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi...  The № 1 song in the US today: Bobbie Gentry's 'Ode to Billy Joe'. The song will stay in the top spot for the next month... In Honolulu, Brian Wilson plays live with the Beach Boys for the first time in two years, as the group promote the recently released Heroes and Villains album (1967)... A party to celebrate the grand opening of Electric Ladyland Studios is held in NYC... Elton John makes his live debut in America as he opens a 17-date tour with a show at the Troubador in Los Angeles. Also making their live debut, in the UK, are Emerson, Lake and Palmer, who are performing in Plymouth (1970)... At the Las Vegas Hilton, Bobby Darin gives his final live performance (1973)... Bruce Springsteen releases Born to Run (1975)... R.E.M. appear at the Scorpio in Charlotte, NC. The gig is billed as 'Charlotte's first gay new wave disco and costume party.' Admission is $3, with all funds raised to go to local lesbian and gay charities (1981)... Snoop Doggy Dogg is released on $1 million bail after being accused of involvement in the murder of a member of the By Yerself Gang in L.A. He will be acquitted of the charges in 1996 (1993)... Jimmy Page and Robert Plant record their MTV Unplugged set in London... Jimmy Buffett crashes his Grumman G-44 Wigeon seaplane on takeoff from Martha's Vineyard, MA. He swims away from the wreckage uninjured... An escaped mental patient attempts to set fire to the stage on which Michael Jackson is performing in Helsinki, Finland. The man splashes gasoline on the stage from a jerry can, but is subdued by security before he can light it... The marriage of Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley is dissolved (1994)... Bob Dylan reveals on his weekly radio show that he is speaking to a number of car companies about becoming the voice for their satellite navigation systems. The 68-year-old singer says he thinks that drivers might enjoy hearing his distinctive voice say such things as "Take a left at the next street... No,  right... You know what? Just go straight" (2009). 

August 24th

 

Musical birthdays today include Quicksilver Messenger Service founding member David Freiberg (88), former Bob Dylan backup singer Ronee Blakely (81), Average White Band saxophonist Malcom Duncan (81), Jean-Michel Jarre (78), Madness bassist Mark Bedford (65), former Anthrax lead singer John Bush (63), Phantom Planet lead guitarist Darren Robinson (48), and King Krule (32).

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for bluesman and songwriter Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup, born on this day in 1905... for Quicksilver messenger Service co-founder John Cippolino, who would have been 83... for saxophonist and Dizzy Gillespie sideman Don Byas, who died on this date in 1972... and for big band leader and pop singer Louis Prima, who left us today in 1978. 

Also on August 24: At the Royal Albert Hall, Elgar's March № 4 in D ~ better known to generations of US high school and college graduates as 'Pomp and Circumstance' ~ is performed for the first time (1904)...  Stevie Wonder becomes the first artist since the inception of the Billboard charts to have the № 1 single ['Fingertips part 2', also the first live recording to reach the ranking] and album [Little Stevie Wonder, the 12-Year-Old Genius] in the same week (1963)... The Doors go into Sunset Sound Recording Studios in Los Angeles to begin recording their debut album (1966)... The film based on Arlo Guthrie's song 'Alice's Restaurant' and co-starring the singer goes into general release in US cinemas (1969)... Queen begin recording Bohemian Rhapsody at a studio in south Wales. The sessions will continue for 10 to 12 hours a day for 3 weeks as Freddie Mercury pursues the sound that he wants. There are 180 vocal overdubs in the finished version of the song (1975)... One week after being named an honorary police chief in his hometown of Luckenbach, Texas, Waylon Jennings is arrested for cocaine possession (1977)... Mark David Chapman is sentenced to 20 years to life (1981)... R.E.M.'s debut EP Chronic Town is released by IRS Records (1982)... Jerry Lee Lewis' fifth wife [0f 77 days], 25-year-old Shawn Stevens, is found dead  of a Methadone overdose at the couple's Mississippi home (1983)... Folkways Records releases A Vision Shared, an album-length tribute to Woody Guthrie (1988)... The Who perform Tommy at the Universal Amphitheatre in L.A. with the help of Steve Winwood, Phil Collins, Elton John, Patti LaBelle and Billy Idol (1989)... Oasis lead singer Liam Gallagher fails to turn up for the recording of the band's MTV Unplugged session at the Royal Albert Hall. The band go on with Liam's brother Noel taking over the vocals. In fact, Liam is sitting in the audience in disguise for the entire show (1996)... Christina Aguilera releases her self-title debut album (1999)... The Los Angeles county coroner rules Michael Jackson's death a homicide, caused by a mix of drugs intended to treat insomnia. Proceedings begin to indict the singer's personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray (2009). 

August 23rd

 

Musical birthdays today include South African jazz singer Letta Mbulu (84), Rick Springfield (77), Survivor frontman Jimi Jamison (75), Bucks Fizz singer Bobby G (73), ex-Orange Juice frontman Edwin Collins (67), Stone Temple Pilots guitarist Dean DeLeo (64), Happy Mondays lead singer Shaun Ryder (63), jazz pianist Brad Mehldau (56), folk singer Eliza Carthy (51), Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas (48) and Lianne La Havas (37). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for singer-songwriter and activist Malvina Reynolds, born on this day in 1900... for song & dance man Gene Kelly, born in 1912... for jazz pianist & film score composer [best remembered for the soundtrack to Godard's 'Breathless'] Martial Solal, born in 1927... for satirist Mark Russell, born in 1932... for Keith Moon, who would have been 80 today... and for jazz trumpeter and bandleader Maynard Ferguson, who left us today in 2006. 

Also on August 23: President Harry Truman's daughter Margaret, an aspiring classical singer, presents her first concert before a crowd of 15,000 at the Hollywood Bowl. Reviews are generally negative, prompting a famously scathing letter from dad to Paul Hume, music critic for the Washington Post. Hume will keep the letter framed in his office for the rest of his career (1947)... John Lennon marries Cynthia Powell at the Mount Pleasant registry office in Liverpool. He then plays  gig with the Beatles that night at the Riverpark Ballroom (1962)... The Rolling Stones make their first of 20 appearances on the pop music show Ready, Steady, Go!... 'She Loves You' enters the British singles charts at no. 1 (1963)... In Jerusalem, Stravinsky's oratorio Abraham and Isaac is performed for the first time. Dedicated to the people of Israel, the Israel Festival Orchestra play under the baton of Robert Kraft (1964)... The Beatles play Shea Stadium for the last time, with some 11,000 seats unsold... At home, the group are atop the British singles charts again with the double A-side Yellow Submarine/Eleanor Rigby. According to Paul, he came up with the name of the latter song after working with actress Eleanor Bron in the film Help!, and from frequent patronage of a wine & spirits shop in Bristol called Rigby & Evens Ltd. (1966)...  In the course of a wild 21st birthday party during the Who's current US tour, Keith Moon drives a Lincoln Continental limousine into the swimming pool of the Holiday Inn in Flint, Michigan... Joni Mitchell plays live in the UK for the first time when she opens for folk rockers The Piccadilly Line at the Marquee Club in London (1967)... Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis marries high school sweetheart Deborah Woodruff ~ they are 19 and 18, respectively (1975)... The Heatwave Festival takes place in Toronto, Talking Heads, the B-52s, the Pretenders and Elvis Costello are among those on the bill. Tickets cost $30, and with only 50,000 attending, the event loses over $1 million... David Bowie goes to № 1 on the UK singles chart with 'Ashes to Ashes'. The release of the song was also accompanied by a video costing some £250,000 [a record at the time], but which will be seen only sporadically until the launch of MTV the following year (1980)... Bob Dylan's childhood home at 2425 7th Avenue East in Hibbing, MN is sold to an anonymous buyer (1990)... 'The Bigger They Come', a previously unreleased track by Peter Frampton and Steve Marriott, is heard for the first time on the soundtrack of the Don Johnson vehicle 'Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man' at the film's Los Angeles premiere (1991)... Queen become the first western rock group to receive official approval in Iran since the Khomeini revolution in 1979. Freddy Mercury was of Iranian ancestry, and bootleg CDs and tapes had been available for years (2004). 

August 22nd

 

Musical birthdays today include Ron Dante, lead singer of The Archies (81), former Grateful Dead vocalist Donna Godchaux (79), Beach Boys founding member David Marks (78), Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid (68), Bangles drummer Debbi Peterson (65), Tori Amos (63), Gary 'GZA' Grice (59), The Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn (55), Backstreet Boy Howie Dorough (53) and Simple Plan lead guitarist Jeff Stinco (48). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer Claude Debussy, born on this day in 1862... for John Lee Hooker, born in 1917... for avant-garde composer Karlheinz Stockhausen, born in 1927... for Chuck Brown, the Godfather of Go-go, and rock 'n' roll pioneer Dale Hawkins, both of whom would have been 88... for Alice in Chains lead singer Layne Staley, who would have been 58... for announcer Al Dvorin, who coined the phrase 'Elvis has left the building' [At a Las Vegas gig in the early '70s, Colonel Tom Parker asked him to inform the audience that Elvis would not be doing an encore ~ Dvorin took the stage and announced "Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has left the building ~ thank you and goodnight"], and who passed away on this date in 2004... for The Knack drummer Bruce Gary, who died today in 2006... and for Jerry Lieber and Nick Ashford, two great songwriters who both left us today in 2012.

Also on August 22: Handel begins work on The Messiah. Working in the white heat of inspiration [many musical biographers and historians today believe that the composer was bipolar], he will finish the oratorio in three weeks (1741)... Elvis Presley begins work on his first film, Love Me Tender (1956)... The first television appearance of the Beatles is recorded by Manchester-based Granada TV, who film a lunchtime session at the Cavern Club [the episode will be broadcast on the 17th of October] (1962)... Billy J Kramer & the Dakotas are at no. 1 on the UK charts with 'Bad to Me', which John Lennon wrote while on holiday in Spain with Brian Epstein. It is the first Lennon-McCartney composition to be a hit for an act other than the Beatles themselves (1963)... The Supremes go to № 1 on the Billboard chart with 'Where Did Our Love Go?' The Holland-Dozier-Holland team originally offered the song to The Marvelettes, who rejected it as 'childish' (1964)... Jimi Hendrix is part of another curious lineup as he appears on the BBC's Simon Dee Show following Kiki Dee and Cat Stevens (1967)... Ringo storms out of the White Album sessions, saying that he can't take the bickering and tension in the group anymore and announcing that he's quitting. The news of the drummer's departure is kept secret, and he will rejoin the group on the 3rd of September. In the meantime, the remaining Beatles record 'Back in the USSR' with John on bass and Paul on drums (1968)... The Beatles meet at John's Tittenhurst Park estate for what will be their final photo session together. Two of photographer Ethan Russell's shots will form the front and back of the US compilation album Hey Jude. Yoko Ono and a heavily pregnant Linda McCartney [she will give birth to daughter Mary 6 days later] also appear in some of the pictures... Ornette Coleman's drummer Don Blackwell teams up with Don Cherry for the first time, as the two begin the sessions that will produce the album Mu (1969)... Creedence Clearwater Revival start a 9-week run at the top of the US album charts with Cosmo's Factory. The name of the album came from the Berkeley, CA warehouse where the band rehearsed ~ drummer Doug Clifford, nicknamed Cosmo, had begun calling the space 'the Factory' owing to John Fogerty's insistence on long daily practices (1970)... Sid Vicious makes his last live stage appearance, at London's Electric Ballroom with Rat Scabies of the Damned, former Sex Pistol Glen Matlock and Nancy Spungen. In the audience are Elvis Costello, Debbie Harry and Joan Jett, among others (1978)... In through the Out Door, Led Zeppelin's final album with all 4 original members, is released. 'Fool in the Rain' is issued simultaneously as the first single from the album (1979)... Levon Helm discovers the perils of playing the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ, when Bruce Springsteen spontaneously jumps on stage after the opening riff of 'Up on Cripple Creek' and commandeers lead vocals (1987)... Sting and longtime girlfriend Trudie Styler are married. The band at the reception is The Troggs, who will be joined by the former Policemen themselves for two numbers (1992)... At a Lilith Fair stop in Toronto, Prince appears during Sheryl Crow's set to jam on 'Every Day Is a Winding Road' (1999)... The Times of London publishes an open letter from Pink to Prince William urging the future monarch to stop hunting on behalf of furry animals everywhere (2003).