November 23rd

 

Musical birthdays today include Manhattan Transfer vocalist Alan Paul (75), Brotherhood of Man vocalist Sandra Stevens (75), French singer-songwriter Francis Cabrel (71), Bruce Hornsby (70), popular tenor Russell Watson (57), Lamb of God drummer Chris Adler (50), The Kills lead singer Alison Mosshart (45), and Miley Cyrus (32). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for songwriter & film score composer Johnny Mandel, born in 1925... for bluesman R.L. Burnside, born in 1926... for jazz singer Gloria Lynne, born in 1931... for composer Krzysztof Penderecki, born in 1933... for soul singer Betty Everett, who would have been 85... for choral composer Thomas Tallis, who died on this date in 1585... for Judee Sill, who died of a drug overdose today in 1979 at the age of 35... for country legend Roy Acuff, who died in 1992... for Junior Walker, who passed away today in 1995... and for jazz singer Anita O'Day, who left us in 2006. 

Also on November 23: The first jukebox goes into operation at the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco (1889)... Enrico Caruso makes his American debut at the Metropolitan Opera House in NYC in Rigoletto (1903)... Gale by Ethel Leginska is premiered by the Chicago City Opera Company. It is the first performance of an opera in the United States composed and conducted by a woman (1935)... Robert Johnson has his first recording session, in a room in the Gunter Hotel in San Antonio TX with Don Law producing (1936)... A Toledo, OH sheet metal worker named Louis Balint is arrested after punching Elvis Presley at a local hotel. Balint claims that his wife's obsession with the singer caused his marriage to break up. He is fined $19.60 but ends up being jailed because he is unable to pay the amount (1956)... The Beatles travel to St. James' Church Hall, London, for a ten-minute audition with BBC Television. The opportunity came about when Beatles fan David Smith of Preston, Lancashire wrote to the BBC asking for the group to be featured on BBC Television. Assuming that Smith was The Beatles' manager, the BBC wrote back to him, offering the band an audition. Smith brought his letter to NEMS Enterprises, and Clive Epstein [Brian's brother] arranged for audition to take place. Four days later, Brian Epstein receives a polite letter of rejection (1962)... Cat Stevens releases Tea for the Tillerman (1970)... One hit wonder Billy Swan starts a two week run at № 1 on the US singles chart with 'I Can Help'... On the album chart, the Rolling Stones go to the top with It's Only Rock 'N Roll, their final outing with guitarist Mick Taylor (1974)... Queen launch a nine-week run at № 1 on the UK singles chart with 'Bohemian Rhapsody.' The promotional clip that accompanied the song is often acknowledged as the first modern rock video and only cost £5,000 to produce (1975)... Ten hours after being released on bail following his arrest in Florida, Jerry Lee Lewis is in handcuffs again after brandishing a derringer outside Elvis Presley's Graceland's home in Memphis, demanding to see the King. When police arrive they find Lewis sitting in a car with the loaded pistol resting on his knee (1976)... Keith Richard's girlfriend Anita Pallenberg is cleared by a court of shooting a man found dead at her home. 17-year-old Scott Cantrell shot himself in the head with a gun owned by Richard while in Pallenberg's bed, at the South Salem, NY house shared by her and the Stones guitarist. Cantrell had been employed as a part-time groundskeeper at the estate and was involved in a sexual relationship with Pallenberg (1979)... During a 104-date world tour, Paul McCartney plays the first of five nights at the L.A. Forum, his first stateside appearances since the Wings over America campaign of 1976 (1989)... Michael Jackson is at № 1 on both sides of the Atlantic with the single 'Black or White', featuring Slash on guitar (1991)... Otis Redding's widow files a lawsuit against the author of a biography written in 2001 about the R&B legend, claiming the book was filled with untruths. The lawsuit, filed in Atlanta's Fulton County, seeks $15 million in damages and claims that the book proffers unsubstantiated rumours about the singer's drug use and extramarital affairs, causing 'harm to the plaintiff'. It also cites a story alleging that Otis' manager had plotted with the Mafia to kill his client by causing his plane to crash in order to claim $1 million in life insurance (2002)... Geffen Records releases Guns N' Roses sixth, and to date last, studio album, Chinese Democracy. 8 years in production, with costs running over $13 million, it is the most expensive rock album ever made.