August 8th

 

Musical birthdays today include Connie Stevens [of 'Sixteen Reasons' fame] (83), Statler Brothers vocalist Phil Balsley (80), former Stax-Volt house drummer Willie Hall (71), session drummer Anton Fig (69), Flock of Seagulls drummer Ali Score (69), Madness guitarist and songwriter Chris Foreman (65), 10,000 Maniacs keyboardist Dennis Drew (63), U2 guitarist The Edge [né Dave Evans] (60), Poison drummer Ricki Rockett [né Richard ream] (60), rapper Kool Mo Dee [né Mohandas Dewese] (59), Fun Lovin' Criminals frontman Huey Morgan (52), ex-Creed lead singer Scott Stapp (48), East 17 lead singer Brian Harvey (47), former 'N Sync co-lead singer JC Chasez (46), cellist Richard Harwood (41), and The Bravery bassist Mike Hindert (41.

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for jazzman Benny Carter, born on this date in 1907... for country legend Webb Pierce, born in 1921...for country singer Mel Tillis, who would have been 89... for soul singer Joe Tex, who would have been 86... for Dave Clark Five saxophonist Denis Payton, who would have been 78... for Pentangle guitarist John Renbourn, who would have been 77... for Cannonball Adderley, who died on this date in 1975... for French-Canadian chansonnier Félix Leclerc, who passed away in 1988... and for operatic mezzo-soprano Regina Resnik, who died in 2013... and for Glen Campbell, who left us two years ago today at the age of 81.

Also on August 8th: 16-year-old Bryan Hyland goes to № 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with 'Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini' (1960)... The Searchers have the first of their three UK № 1s with 'Sweets for My Sweet' (1963)... Bob Dylan releases the album Another Side of Bob Dylan. On the same day, he joins Joan Baez in her performance at the annual Forest Hills Music Festival. Among their duets is the first known public performance of Dylan's 'Mama You Been on My Mind'. NY Times critic Robert Shelton, hitherto one of the singer's strongest supporters, writes a harsh review of the performance that will estrange him from the Dylan camp for months (1964)... The Beatles' Revolver is released in the US, beginning a 77 week stay  in the album charts, peaking at № 1 (1966)... The photo session for the cover of the Beatles' album Abbey Road takes place outside the EMI recording studios of the same name in near northwest London. Photographer Iain McMillan, perched atop a stepladder in the middle of the road,  takes six shots of the Fab Four walking across the zebra crossing while a policeman holds up traffic. The band then go back inside and finished the overdubs on 'The End', 'I Want You (She's So Heavy)' and 'Oh! Darling' (1969)... The headstone paid for by Janis Joplin for her idol Bessie Smith is installed in a brief ceremony at the blues legend's grave in Mount Lawn Cemetery in Philadelphia, PA with Joplin present (1970)... MTV broadcasts its first live concert in stereo, an REO Speedwagon gig in Denver, CO (1981)... David Crosby of CSN&Y is released after serving 3 years on drug and weapons possession charges. His conviction will be overturned by a Texas appeals court in 1987 (1986)... U2 top the US singles charts with 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking for' (1987)... A band called On a Friday plays its first public show at the Jericho Tavern in Oxford, England. The group, who during a drinking session following the gig decide to change their name to Radiohead, originally got together at Abingdon School, an all-boys' public school, and always held rehearsals on Friday afternoon in the music room (1991)... The Rolling Stones play their first concert in Russia in front of some 70,000 fans at Moscow's Ismailovsky Park, in spite of a driving rain (1998)... The UK's biggest chain of undertakers, Co-Op Funeral Services, report that bereaved families much prefer pop songs to hymns at funerals. Among the most popular choices are Bette Midler's Wind beneath My Wings and My Heart Will Go on by Celine Dion. They also report some unexpected choices, including 'Another One Bites the Dust' and 'Wake Me up before You Go-Go' (2002).