November 9th

 

Musical birthdays today include The Pretty Things lead singer Phil May (77), Singer-songwriter Benny Mardones (75), Blue Öyster Cult bassist Joe Bouchard (73), operatic bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff (62), hip-hop pioneer 
Roxanne Shanté (52), Partyline lead singer Allison Wolfe (52), former Sleater-Kinney singer & guitarist Corin Tucker (49), and rapper Hodgy Beats [né Gerrard Long] (31). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for photographer Robert Frank, director of 'Cocksucker Blues', the classic documentary of the Rolling Stones' 1972 US tour, born on this day in 1924... for Peter, Paul & Mary vocalist Mary Travers, who would have been 84 today... for Creedence Clearwater Revival rhythm guitarist Tom Fogerty, who would have been 80... for South African singer Miriam Makeba [the first African woman to win a Grammy], who passed away in 2008... and for Delfonics vocalist Major Harris, who left us in 2012.

Also on November 9: The Everly Brothers make their first studio recordings, cutting four tracks in 22 minutes at Nashville's Old Tulane Hotel studios (1955)... Elvis Presley's 'Hound Dog' exceeds three million copies sold in the USA, becoming only the third single to do so. Bing Crosby's 'White Christmas' & 'Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer' by Gene Autry were the other two (1958)... Brian Epstein sees the Beatles playing live for the first time during a lunchtime session at The Cavern Club (1961)... John Lennon meets Yoko Ono for the first time when he visits her art exhibition 'Unfinished Paintings and Objects' at the Indica Gallery in London (1966)... The first issue of Rolling Stone Magazine is published in San Francisco. It features a photo of John Lennon on the cover, dressed in army fatigues while acting in his recent film How I Won the War. The issue also includes a free roach clip (1967)...  Led Zeppelin play their first ever London show when they appear at The Roundhouse, Chalk Farm on the same bill as John Lee Hooker, The Deviants, John James and the Tyres. Robert Plant, who married his girlfriend Maureen in London earlier in the day, holds the reception at the gig (1968)...  Bachman Turner Overdrive top the US singles chart with 'You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet', the group's only № 1 (1974)... Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers release their eponymous debut (1976)... The IRS seizes all of Willie Nelson's bank accounts and real estate holdings in connection with a $16 million tax debt (1990)... The Dave Matthews Band release their first album, Remember Two Things, on the Bama Rags label (1993)...  It is announced that Madonna's latest movie Swept Away will not be released in the UK because it was such a box office flop in the US. The Washington Post said the film was 'as awful as you've heard and as bad as you've imagined' (2003).