January 4th

 Musical birthdays today include operatic soprano Grace Bumbry (86), John McLaughlin (81), ex-Henry Cow drummer Chris Cutler (76), avant garde banjoist Eugene Chadbourne (69), former Talk Talk lead singer Mark Hollis (68), Wilco guitarist Nels Cline (67), Bernard Sumner (67), Patty Loveless (66), Michael Stipe (63), Cocteau Twins co-founder Robin Guthrie (61), Rammstein lead singer Till Lindemann (61), Portishead lead singer Beth Gibbons (58), former Pogues bassist Cait O'Riordan (58), country singer Deanna Carter (57), and Spanish pop singer María Isabel (28). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for jazz guitarist & singer Slim Gaillard, born on this day in 1916... for folk & gospel singer-guitarist Precious Bryant, who would have been 81 today... for soul singer Arthur Conley, who would have been 77... for Thin Lizzy founder & frontman Phil Lynott, who died today in 1985 at the age of 36... for bandleader Les Brown, who passed away in 2001... and for Gerry Rafferty, who left us today in 2011. 

Also on January 4th: Das Reingold, the first opera in Wagner's Ring Cycle, has its American premiere at the Met in NYC (1889)... Billboard Magazine introduces the first pop music chart that ranks records on the basis of national sales; jazz violinist Joe Venuti has the first official US № 1 ever with 'Stop, Look and Listen' (1936)... RCA announce that they will begin producing 33 1/3 RPM records, following the example of Columbia, who first introduced the LP in 1948 (1950)... Elvis Presley has his pre-induction medical check up at Kennedy Veterans Hospital in Memphis, a preliminary to his call up from the US Army (1957)... The Fender Guitar Co. is bought by CBS for $13 million (1965)... The Doors release their eponymous debut album (1967)... The UCLA music department announces that all composition majors will henceforth have to study the songs of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones (1968)... The Beatles (minus John) re-record vocals and a new guitar solo on Paul's song 'Let It Be' at Studio Two, Abbey Road. This session will be the last studio appearance for The Beatles in any configuration. [The final date that all four Beatles were in the studio together was August 20, 1969] (1970)... Yes release the album Fragile (1972)... Bruce Springsteen plays the first of a three night run at Joe's Place in Cambridge, MA, with Peter Johnson & the Manic Depressives as the opening act. On the tickets is printed the proviso 'Because of the energy crisis all our outside lights except for one will be shut off' (1974)... Elton John has the № 1 single in America with his cover of 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds', John Lennon guesting on guitar (1975)... The Sex Pistols create yet another incident, spitting and vomiting whilst boarding a flight to Amsterdam at Heathrow Airport (1977)... Paul Simon becomes a father for the second time when wife Edie Brickell gives birth to their son Adrian (1993)... Madame Tussaud's waxworks in London reveals that Oasis singer Liam Gallagher came third in their poll to determine the 'Most Hated Characters' list of exhibits, behind Hitler and Slobodan Milosevic (2001)... Britney Spears has her surprise marriage annulled less than 55 hours after tying the knot at the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas with childhood friend Jason Alexander. The couple married on a Saturday morning after a night out in Las Vegas; her lawyers immediately filed for an annulment, however, saying Spears 'lacked understanding of her actions to the extent that she was incapable of agreeing to the marriage' (2004)... The house where Johnny Cash lived for 35 years is bought by Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees. The rustic house near Nashville went on the market in June 2005 with an asking price of $2.9 million. Gibb says he plans to preserve the house to honour the Cash memory. Unfortunately Gibb's ownership of the house will be short-lived ~ in April 2007, the house burns to the ground. Gibb is having the house renovated when a flammable spray sealer causes fire to break out during construction (2006)