January 11th

 

Musical birthdays today include former Yes keyboardist Tony Kaye (78), ex-Dire Straits drummer Terry Williams (76), jazz guitarist Lee Ritenour (72), Americana singer-songwriter Robert Earl Keen (68), former Bangle Vicki Peterson (66), deathrock singer Eva O (63), No Doubt guitarist Tom Dumont (56), Chemical Brother Tom Rowlands (53), Bus Station Loonies lead singer Chris Willsher (53), Aquabats lead singer Christian 'The MC Bat Commander' Jacobs (51), Kasabian lead singer Tom Meighan (42), singer-songwriter Newton Faulkner (39), and pop singer Cody Simpson (27).

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Laurens Hammond, inventor of the organ that bears his name, born on this date in 1895... for composer Maurice Duruflé, born in 1902... for blues harmonica virtuoso Slim Harpo and cabaret singer Don Cherry, both born in 1924... for former Willie Nelson sideman Jody Payne, who would have been 88 today... for Clarence Clemons, who would have been 82... for Naomi Judd, who would have been 78... for Francis Scott Key, author of the Star Spangled Banner, who died on this date in 1843... for former T Rex drummer Mickey Finn, who died in 2003... and for songwriter and Bread guitarist Jimmy Griffin, who left us in 2005. 

Also on January 11th: German composer Paul Hindemith becomes a US citizen (1946)... The release date for the Elvis Presley single 'Jailhouse Rock' is put back a week after the Decca Records pressing plant in the UK is unable to meet the advance orders of 250,000 copies (1958)... Howlin' Wolf's eponymous second album is released (1962)...The Beatles record their first British national TV appearance, on 'Thank Your Lucky Stars'. They lip-synch to their new single 'Please Please Me' which is released on this day (1963)... Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash becomes the first country album to go to № 1 on the Billboard album chart. The № 1 single is 'Louie Louie' by The Kingsmen  (1964)...Bob Dylan makes a surprise appearance at The Playhouse on MacDougall Street, performing some of the material that will appear on the album Bringing It All Back Home... The Righteous Brothers arrive in Britain for a promotional visit. They are slated to appear on three TV shows, 'Ready Steady Go!',  'Scene At 6.30',and 'Discs A Go-Go' (1965)... The Jimi Hendrix Experience record 'Purple Haze' at London's De Lane Lea Studios (1967)... Janis Joplin's final album Pearl is released posthumously (1971)... DJ Alan Freeman of BBC Radio 1 broadcasts a Pink Floyd show recorded at the Empire Pool, Wembley the previous 16th of November. The band played four nights at Wembley on their Dark Side Of The Moon tour, and tapes from these shows have been remixed... Led Zeppelin play their first concert in 18 months, appearing at the Ahoy, Rotterdam, Holland, in one of two warm-up shows for their forthcoming North American tour. The set list included the as yet unheard songs 'Sick Again', 'The Rain Song', 'Kashmir', 'No Quarter' and 'Trampled Under Foot' (1975)... Frankie Goes to Hollywood kick off what will prove to be their final UK tour with a show at the G-Mex in Manchester (1987)... On the same day that their album Nevermind goes to № 1 on the US charts, Nirvana appear on Saturday Night Live, performing 'Smells like Teen Spirit' and 'Territorial Pissings' (1992)... Pete Townshend issues a public statement denying that he is a paedophile after his name is linked with a police Internet porn inquiry. But The Who guitarist admits studying child pornography for research into a campaign against it (2003)... Ringo Starr helps launch the celebrations for Liverpool's year as European Capital of Culture. He is joined by acrobats who dangle on wires from cranes as the opening party kicks off a year-long programme of more than 350 events. Organisers hope the Capital of Culture tag will attract an extra two million visitors to Liverpool and £100 million into the local economy (2008).