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Today in Rock History – July 7

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Alpha TV Studio – Birmingham UK July 1963 – Philip Townsend

1963, The Rolling Stones made their UK TV debut when they appeared on Thank Your Lucky Stars. Also seen on the show were Mickie Most, The Cadets, Helen Shapiro and Gordon Mills. The Stones made a total of 13 appearances on the show between 1963 and 1966

1965, The Who played at a gala opening of The Manor House club in London.

1966, The Kinks were at number one on the singles chart with “Sunny Afternoon,” the group’s third and last chart topper.

1966, The Who played at the Locarno Ballroom in London, England.

1967, The Monkees begin a nationwide tour, with Jimi Hendrix supporting.

1967, Dusty Springfield begins a three-week residency at New York’s Copacabana nightclub.

1968, The Yardbirds played their last gig before splitting up when they appeared in Luton, England.

1969, Arlo Guthrie and Joni Mitchell appeared in Edwardsville, Illinois.

1969, George Harrison recorded his new song “Here Comes the Sun” with just two other Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr at Abbey Road in London. John Lennon was absent, recovering from a car crash in Scotland.

1970, The Who headline at the Tanglewood Music Amphitheater in Lenox, Massachusetts with Jethro Tull and It’s a Beautiful Day opening. It is one of The Who’s very best performances and is projected on a 15′ X 21′ television screen on the lawn outside the venue. The show is videotaped and intended for use on a Fillmore at Tanglewood television special that never airs. “Heaven and Hell”, “I Can’t Explain” and “Water” are later released on the first video edition of 30 Years Of Maximum R&B and the surviving section of the concert on YouTube in 2014.

1971, The Allman Brothers Band played at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

1971, Yes appeared at the Orlando Sports Stadium, also known as the Eddie Graham Sports Complex, an indoor venue which opened in 1967, and closed in 1995.

1971, 26-year-old pop star Bjorn Ulvaeus and 21-year-old Agnetha Faltskog married in Verum, Sweden. 3000 fans arrived and in the chaos a police horse stepped on the brides foot, causing her a slight injury.

1972, Chicago performed at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis, Indiana.

1973, Led Zeppelin appeared at Chicago Stadium, Chicago.

1973, Hawkwind played at the Sports Centre, Bletchley, England.

1973, Billy Preston started a two week run at number one on the singles chart with “Will It Go Round In Circles,” his first of two chart toppers.

1974, David Bowie performed at the Scope in Norfolk, Virginia.

1975, Paul McCartney & Wings release “Live and Let Die.”

1975, Keith Moon has “Happy Birthday Ringo” written in the sky above Los Angeles in honor of his fellow drummer’s 35th birthday. He then sends the bill to Ringo.

1976, Neil Young appeared at the Providence Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island.

1978, The Grateful Dead played the first of four nights at the Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado.

The Boomtown Rats
The Boomtown Rats

1979, The Boomtown Rats made a personal appearance at the opening of the new Virgin Megastore in London.

1980, Led Zeppelin played their last-ever concert when they appeared in West Berlin at the end of a European tour. They finished the show with a 17-minute version of “Whole Lotta Love.”

1980, The Who perform at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.

1984, Bruce Springsteen went to number one on the US album chart with Born In The USA. The album went on to spend a total of 139 weeks on the US chart. Its also one of three albums (Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814) to produce seven Top-ten US singles.

1984, Prince started a five week run at number one on the US singles chart with “When Doves Cry,” his first US chart topper, which went on to sell over two million copies. It reached the fourth spot in the UK.

1989, It was announced that for the first time compact discs were out selling vinyl albums.

2001, Stereophonics, David Gray, The Dandy Warhols, The Proclaimers, Paul Weller, Texas, Coldplay, Beck, Toploader, Ash, Starsailor, Nelly Furtado, James, and Muse all appeared at  T In The Park festival, Scotland, weekend tickets, £64 ($109.)

2006, Pink Floyd co-founder Syd Barrett died from complications arising from diabetes aged 60. The official cause of death was listed as pancreatic cancer.  He joined Pink Floyd in 1965, and crafted most of the material from their first album, but only contributed one song for the second offering.  Barrett’s behavior became increasingly erratic and unpredictable, partly as a consequence of his reported heavy use of psychedelic drugs, most prominently LSD. By April 1968, he was kicked out of the band. Barrett released two solo albums before going into self-imposed seclusion lasting more than thirty years, with his mental deterioration blamed on drugs.

2007, The Live Earth concerts took place around the world with The Police closing the days events in New Jersey. The concerts were organized by former US Vice-President Al Gore, as part of his campaign to “heal the planet.” Rock stars from around the world performed to hundreds of thousands of fans to highlight climate change. Concerts were held in Washington, Rio de Janeiro, Johannesburg, London, Hamburg, Tokyo, Shanghai and Sydney. Madonna brought London’s Live Earth concert to a close, playing a song she had written for the event. Other major acts who appeared included; Snow Patrol, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Genesis, The Beastie Boys, James Blunt, The Foo Fighters, Duran Duran, UB40, Snoop Dogg, Enrique Iglesias, Crowded House & Joss Stone.

2009, Michael Jackson’s family and fans said farewell to the pop superstar at an emotional memorial service. The singer’s coffin was placed in front of the stage during the public event at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, after an earlier private funeral.

2010, Paul McCartney joined Ringo Starr onstage at a concert at New York’s Radio City Music Hall to help celebrate the former Beatle drummer’s 70th birthday.  Ringo’s All-Starr Band were joined by Yoko Ono, Joe Walsh, Angus Young and Steven Van Zandt, as Paul belted out “Birthday” and Ringo delivered “With A Little Help From My Friends.”

Born on July 7: Mary Ford, American singer (1928); Joe Zawinul, pianist, Miles Davis band, Weather Report (1932); Ringo Starr (1940);  Peter Banks, Yes, Flash (1947); Rob Townsend, drummer, Family (1947); Lynval Golding, guitar, The Specials (1952); Mark White, bass, The Spin Doctors (1962)

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Today in Rock History – June 6

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1965, Herman’s Hermits play The Ed Sullivan Show.

1965, The Rolling Stones released the single “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” on the Decca label in the US. The song also featured on the American version of the Rolling Stones’ fourth studio album, Out of Our Heads, released that July.

1965, The Who played at St. Joseph’s Hall in London.

1966, Roy Orbison’s first wife, Claudette, was killed when a truck pulled out of a side road and collided with the motorbike that she and her husband were riding on in Gallatin, Texas, she was 25.

1966, The Who head from Sweden to Denmark, flying into Copenhagen. That night Keith Moon and John Entwistle go drinking at the Carousel Club and sit in for a set with The Tremeloes.

1968, Screaming Lord Sutch appeared at the Freehold Hullabaloo in Freehold, New Jersey. Sutch was touring the East Coast in a old custom-painted Rolls Royce hearse. The support band was The Castiles, with Bruce Springsteen on vocals).

1969, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Soul Survivors appeared at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tennessee.

1969, Rod Stewart signs as a solo artist to Mercury Records.

1970, Christie were at number one on the singles chart with “Yellow River,” the group’s only chart topper. Written by Jeff Christie for the Tremeloes who turned it down, so he recorded it himself.

1970, Felix Cavaliere & The Rascals played at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland.

1970, Syd Barrett played his first gig since leaving Pink Floyd at the Extraveganza ’70, at London’s Olympia. He was joined on stage by Floyd guitarist David Gilmour.

1970, This is the third of a four night residency for the Grateful Dead at San Francisco’s Fillmore West.

1970, The Doors appeared at the Pacific Coliseum, Vancouver, British Columbia.

1971, John Lennon and Yoko Ono jammed live on stage with Frank Zappa at The Filmore East in New York. Some of these recordings were released in 1972, on John Lennon’s third post-Beatles album, Some Time in New York City.

1971, This date was the last broadcast of The Ed Sullivan Show. Ed’s final musical guests are Gladys Knight & the Pips.

1972, David Bowie releases his album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars.

1973, King Crimson played at Ellis Auditorium, Memphis, Tennessee.

1974, Billy Swan records his chart topping song “I Can Help.”

1975, Pink Floyd fly to America for a tour. It would end in disaster when an addled Roger Waters spits on the audience. The event would serve as the inspiration for writing The Wall in an attempt to exorcise his demons.

1975, The Rolling Stones appeared at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri.

1976, Genesis performed at the Hammersmith Odeon in London.

1977, Queen appeared at Earls Court in London, England.

1977, Students at UCLA are shocked when Stevie Wonder appears as a guest lecturer, talking about his experiences with Motown and then performing music by way of illustration.

1978, Bob Dylan performed at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles.

1979, Def Leppard played at Crookes Workingman’s Club in Sheffield. The gig was reviewed in UK music paper Sounds and led to a recording contract with Phonogram Records.

1981, Van Halen appeared at the Seattle Center Coliseum, Seattle, Washington.

1982, Tom Petty, Crosby Stills & Nash, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Stevie Nicks and Jackson Browne all appeared at The Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California to a crowd of 85,000 fans at the six hour Peace Sunday, We Have A Dream antinuclear concert. Dylan was joined onstage with Joan Baez and duetted with her on “Blowin’ In The Wind” and “With God On Our Side.” The show was partly broadcast on ABC TV’s Entertainment Tonight program on the same day.

1984, Blue Oyster Cult performed at the Agora Ballroom,  a “cavernous” former bowling alley in an industrial area in Hartford, Connecticut.

1986, A&R man Dick Rowe died of diabetes. Rowe became famous for not signing The Beatles to Decca records and made the classic quote “Nobody cares about guitar group’s anymore.” He did however sign The Rolling Stones to Decca.

2003, Keyboard player with The Animals Dave Rowberry died aged 62. He replaced Alan Price who left in 1965. The Animals had the 1964 UK and US number one single “House Of The Rising Sun.”

2006, Billy Preston died of kidney failure. The Grammy-winning keyboard player collaborated with some of the greatest names in the music industry, including the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Nat King Cole, Little Richard, Ray Charles, George Harrison, Elton John, Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan.

Born on June 6: Levi Stubbs, The Four Tops (1936); Gary “US” Bonds (1939); Clarence White, The Byrds (1944); and Steve Vai, guitarist, Frank Zappa, David Lee Roth, Whitesnake (1960)

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Today in Rock History – May 24

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1966, Captain Beefheart appeared at the Whisky a Go Go. West Hollywood, California. Supported by Buffalo Springfield and The Doors.

1967, Jimi Hendrix played at Gröna Lund in Copenhagen, Denmark.

1968, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band appeared at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan.

1968, Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull are arrested on charges of marijuana possession. The same day the Stones release “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” generally seen as a comeback record following the flop of Their Satanic Majesties Request. It goes to number three in the US, and the top spot in the UK.  Richards has stated that he and Jagger wrote the lyrics while staying at Richards’ country house, where they were awoken one morning by the sound of gardener Jack Dyer walking past the window. When Jagger asked what the noise was, Richards responded, “Oh, that’s Jack – that’s jumpin’ Jack.” The rest of the lyrics evolved from there.

1968, Pink Floyd appeared at The Punchbowl Hotel, Lapworth, England.

1969, Led Zeppelin performed at the Kinetic Playground in Chicago.

1969, Bob Dylan’s album Nashville Skyline peaked at number three in the US charts. The singer’s ninth album, it also scored Dylan his fourth UK chart topper. The album featured “Lay Lady Lay,” which became one of Dylan’s biggest pop hits, reaching the seventh position in the US, his biggest single in three years.

1969, The Beatles started a five week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Get Back,” the group’s 17th chart topper.  The song was credited to “The Beatles with Billy Preston,”  the Beatles’ only single that credited another artist.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band performed at the Shady Grove Music Fair, Gaithersburg, Maryland.

1970, Peter Green played his last gig with Fleetwood Mac when they appeared at the Bath Festival, Somerset, England.

1971, Bob Dylan’s 30th birthday is commemorated with a Peanuts cartoon commenting on the event. Dylan himself spends the day visiting the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.

1973, David Bowie played at the Odeon Theatre (Lewisham), in London.

1972, Grateful Dead Europe ’72 tour plays at the Lyceum in London, England.

1974, American composer, pianist, and bandleader Duke Ellington, died of lung cancer and pneumonia aged 75. He worked with Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday.  He was awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1966. In 2009 the United States Mint launched a new coin featuring Duke Ellington on the reverse side of the coin.

1974, David Bowie released his eighth studio album Diamond Dogs. Thematically, it was a marriage of the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, and Bowie’s own glam-tinged vision of a post-apocalyptic world. Bowie had wanted to make a theatrical production of Orwell’s book and began writing material after completing sessions for his 1973 album Pin Ups, but the author’s estate denied the rights. The cover art features Bowie as a striking half-man, half-dog grotesque painted by Belgian artist Guy Peellaert. It was controversial as the full painting clearly showed the hybrid’s genitalia

1975, Earth Wind and Fire went to number one on the singles chart with”Shining Star,” the group’s first and only chart topper.

1976, AC/DC performed at The Nashville, London.

1978, Neil Young appeared at The Boarding House in San Francisco.

1979, Yes played at Selland Arena, Fresno, California.

1980, Genesis fans turning up at the Roxy Club box office in Los Angeles to buy tickets for a forthcoming gig were surprised to find the band members Phil Collins, Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford selling the tickets themselves.

1981, Van Halen played at Wings Stadium, Kalamazoo, Michigan.

1991, Founding member of The Byrds, Gene Clark, died of a heart attack aged 49. He penned group’s hits “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better” and “Eight Miles High.” He was also a member of McGuinn, Clark and Hillman.

1991, Guns n’ Roses played the first show on their 192-date Use Your Illusion world Tour at Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, Wisconsin.

2003, Paul McCartney made his first ever live performance in Russia when he appeared in-front of 20,000 fans in Red Square

2007, Amy Winehouse, Madonna and Arctic Monkeys were among the winners at the Ivor Novello Awards. Winehouse won best contemporary song for her hit “Rehab,” while Madonna collected the international hit of the year for “Sorry.” Sheffield-based band Arctic Monkeys collected the best album award for Whatever People Say I Am That’s What I’m Not.

2010, Paul Gray, the bassist with US metal band Slipknot, was found dead in a hotel in Des Moines, Iowa. The body of the 38-year-old musician was found by an employee at the hotel in a suburb of the city. Police said foul play was not suspected, but an autopsy would be carried out. The nine members of Slipknot wore masks in public and referred to other bandmates by numbers; Gray was number two.

Born on May 24: Bob Dylan (1941); Derek Quinn, Freddie and the Dreamers (1942); Patti Labelle, singer (1944); Steve Upton, Wishbone Ash (1946); Albert Bouchard, drums, Blue Oyster Cult (1947); Guy Fletcher, English keyboard player, guitarist, producer, Dire Straits, The Notting Hillbillies (1960); Dwight Errington Myers, aka Heavy D, rapper (1967); Rich Robinson, The Black Crowes (1969); Alessandro Cortini, keyboards, Nine Inch Nails (1976)

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Song Of The Day – “Hot Stuff” by The Rolling Stones

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rollingstonesblackblueToday’s Song Of The Day comes from the Rolling Stones’ 1976 album Black And Blue. Next to Goats Head Soup, the album stands as one of the most maligned Rolling Stones releases of the 1970s. That assessment is totally unfair since the album actually is one of the most varied and forward looking records in their catalog, featuring two superb ballads, two terse rockers and several songs that add reggae, soul, funk and disco into the mix.

Many of the record’s songs stemmed from studio jams that were recorded while trying out new guitarists to replace Mick Taylor, and guitarists Wayne Perkins and Harvey Mandel turn up on half of the tracks. The record is also Ron Wood’s first album as a member of the Stones and his guitar is heard on the other half of the tracks. (Steve Marriott and Peter Frampton also auditioned for the band; however they do not appear on the record at all.) It is also Billy Preston’s most visible album as a Stones sideman and his vocals and piano playing turn up on most of the tracks, especially on “Melody” which carries the credit “inspiration from Billy Preston.”

The marketing campaign leading up to Black And Blue’s release included a controversial billboard on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood depicting model Anita Russell black and blued and tied up with the caption “I’m Black And Blue from the Rolling Stones — and I love it!” The billboard attracted protests from Women Against Violence Against Women, and was ultimately taken down. The billboard’s central image was also the focal point of the album’s print campaign, and it turned up in magazines and newspapers all over the world.

Today’s Song Of The Day, “Hot Stuff” was the second single from the album and one of the band’s first forays into funk and disco. The track features lyrically effervescent soloing courtesy of Harvey Mandel, and the tail end of the track features some of Jagger’s greatest vocals ever. (In the video, Wood is seen playing Mandel’s solo.)

The album also includes two of the band’s most sturdy ballads, the super melodic top-ten “Fool To Cry” featuring wonderful falsetto vocals by Jagger, and “Memory Motel” which features dueling vocals by both Jagger and Richards. Both songs received deserved radio airplay, and are the only two songs on the record that were formally written and less the result of studio jams.

Richards gets his reggae on with a cover of Eric Donaldson’s 1971 classic “Cherry Oh Baby,” and the two rockers “Hand Of Fate” and the album’s closer “Crazy Mama” stand head and shoulders tall with some of the group’s very best.

Elsewhere, the band tries their hand at gnarly funk on “Hey Negrita” (which is credited with inspiration from Ron Wood) and some very loose pseudo lounge jazz on “Melody.”  Both songs show their jam-based roots more than the others on the record.

After its release, the album spent four weeks at #1 in U.S., and the single “Fool To Cry” reached the top ten on the charts. While certainly a transitional effort, the album paved the way for the band’s 1978 mega comeback record, Some Girls and its chart-topping single “Miss You.”

Today in Rock History – May 8

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1965, Shooting of the promotional film for Bob Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues” took place at the side of the Savoy Hotel in London. Actors in the background were Allen Ginsberg and Bob Neuwirth. The cards that Dylan held up to the camera were painted by Alan Price and Joan Baez.

1966, Pink Floyd appeared at the Marquee Club in London.

1967, Gerry And The Pacemakers announced they were splitting up, recognizing they could no longer keep pace with the rapidly changing UK rock scene.

1969, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr signed a business management contract with Allen Klein and his company ABKCO, but Paul McCartney refused to sign, continuing to let the Eastmans represent his interests.

1970, The Who performed at the University of Kent in Canterbury, Kent, England. The opening act was Genesis.

1970, The Doors appeared at Cobo Hall in Detroit, Michigan.

1970, The Beatles twelfth and final album, Let It Be was released, (it was recorded before Abbey Road and originally to be called Get Back). The album came in a deluxe-boxed edition with a Get Back book.

1972, Billy Preston is the first rock artist to headline at New York’s Radio City Music Hall.

1974, UK keyboard player Graham Bond committed suicide after throwing himself under a London tube train at Finsbury Park station, aged 36. It took police two days to identify his body which was crushed beyond all recognition. Briefly a member of Blues Incorporated, a group led by Alexis Korner, before forming the Graham Bond Quartet, with a lineup of Bond on vocals and organ, Ginger Baker on drums and Jack Bruce on bass.

1975, Rush played at Lewis University, Lockport, Illinois.

1976, Abba scored their third No.1 single with “Fernando,” the song went on to become ABBA’s biggest selling single, with sales over 10 million.

1976, BBC Radio 1 DJ Johnny Walker announced he was quitting the station after being told he must pretend to like The Bay City Rollers.

1976, Former lead singer of the Lovin Spoonful John Sebastian went to No.1 on the singles chart with ‘Welcome Back’, taken from the TV show Welcome Back Kotter.

1976, In Houston, Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson duet on “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.” Backstage, Nelson is given a subpoena to appear before a grand jury investigating drug trafficking.

1977, The Grateful Dead played one of their most celebrated shows – Barton Hall at Cornell University in Cornell, New York, a very popular show among Grateful Dead tape collectors.

1978, David Bowie appeared at Madison Square Garden, New York.

1979, Yes performed at the Seattle Center Coliseum, Seattle, Washington.

1980, Black Sabbath played at the Hammersmith Odeon, London.

1982, Neil Bogart died of cancer at the age of 39. Bogart was the founder of Casablanca Records, with Peter Guber, home of Donna Summer, The Village People, Kiss, T.Rex and Joan Jett.

1982, Paul McCartney scored his fifth UK No.1 album with Tug Of War. The album featured the duet with Stevie Wonder “Ebony & Ivory,” which was inspired by McCartney hearing comedian Spike Milligan say “black notes, white notes, and you need to play the two to make harmony, folks!”

1984, Roger Waters released his first solo album The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking. The concept album, as originally envisioned by Waters in 1977, rotated around a man’s thoughts during a midlife crisis, and featured guest musicians Eric Clapton on guitar, David Sanborn on saxophone and Michael Kamen on piano.

1993, Aerosmith entered the US album chart at No.1 with Get A Grip, a No.2 hit in the UK. The album went on to sell over 20 million copies worldwide as well as winning the band two Grammy awards.

2005, Bruce Springsteen was at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Devils and Dust’ his 13th No.1 studio album.

Born on this day: Robert Johnson (1911); Ricky Nelson (1940); Paul Samwell-Smith, The Yardbirds (1943); Rick Derringer (1947); Chris Franz, Talking Heads and Philip Bailey, Earth Wind & Fire (1951); Alex Van Halen (1955); Joe Bonamassa, guitarist extraordinaire (1977)

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Today in Rock History – January 31

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1964, Sales figures show that the Beatles’ “She Loves You” has sold 1.3 million copies in England, while “I Want to Hold Your Hand” has sold 1.5 million.

1967, The Beatles spent a second day at Knole Park, Sevenoaks, Kent, England to complete filming for the ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ promotional video. The film was shot in color, for the benefit of the US market, since UK television was still broadcasting only in black and white. Taking time out from filming John Lennon bought a 1843 poster from an antiques shop in Surrey which provided him with most the lyrics for The Beatles song “Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite.”

1968, The Who performed at Town Hall in Wellington, New Zealand.

1969, Organist and singer Billy Preston signs with Apple.

1969, Led Zeppelin played the first of two nights at The Fillmore East, New York City during the band’s first North American tour. Porter’s Popular Preachers opened the night, then Led Zeppelin took the stage. It is alleged that Zeppelin’s show was so powerful and got such an enthusiastic audience that headliners Iron Butterfly refused to follow them.

1970, The Grateful Dead played at The Warehouse in New Orleans. That venue opened the night before.  The band’s arrest that weekend for drug possession was chronicled in their song, “Truckin.”

1970, American blues musician Slim Harpo died of a heart attack while recording in London aged 46. Had the 1966 US number 16 single ‘Baby Scratch My Back’. The Rolling Stones, Pretty Things, Yardbirds and Them all covered his songs.

1970, The Jackson Five went to number one on the singles chart with ‘I Want You Back’. The song was originally written for Gladys Knight & The Pips and was the first of four chart toppers for the group.

1971, Genesis appeared at City Hall, Newcastle, England.

1972, Yes played at Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England.

1974, Bob Dylan performed at Madison Square Garden, New York.

1975, Led Zeppelin played at Olympia Stadium, Detroit.

1976, Abba knocked Queen from the number one position on the UK singles chart with “Mamma Mia.” Queen’s single “Bohemian Rhapsody” had enjoyed a nine week run at the top of the charts.

1976, The Ohio Players are Number one on the US charts with “Love Rollercoaster.”

1977, Aerosmith headlined at the famous Budokan in Tokyo.

talking-heads-oldgreywhistletest1978, Talking Heads made their UK TV debut on the The Old Grey Whistle Test.

1978, Greg Herbert, saxophone player with Blood Sweat & Tears died of an accidental drug overdose in Amsterdam, Holland aged 30. Blood, Sweat & Tears won a Grammy Award in 1969 for Album of the Year.

1980, Bob Dylan appeared at the Orpheum Theater in Memphis, Tennessee.

1981, Blondie went to No.1 on the US singles hart with “The Tide Is High,” the group’s third US No.1, also a No.1 in the UK.

1984, Blue Oyster Cult played at Hall Polyvalent, Schifflange, Luxembourg.

1987, Paul Simon went back to number one on the UK album chart with Graceland, the album stayed on the chart for a total 101 weeks. Graceland later won the 1987 Grammy Award for Album of the Year, while the title song won the 1988 Grammy Award for Record of the Year.

2009, Dewey Martin, drummer with The Dillards and Buffalo Springfield, died aged 68. The Canadian musician had worked with The Monkees as well.

Born on January 31: Terry Kath, Chicago (1946) Harry Wayne Casey, KC and the Sunshine Band and Phil Manzanera, Roxy Music (1951); Johnny Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten 1956); Lloyd Cole (1961); Jeff Hanneman, guitarist, Slayer (1964); and Justin Timberlake (1981)

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Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #84 – Billy Preston: “Will It Go Round In Circle” b/w “Blackbird”– A&M-1411

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Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #84 – Billy Preston: “Will It Go Round In Circle” b/w “Blackbird”– A&M-1411

Welcome back my friends, to the series that never ends…

“The Jukebox Series” focused on the 80 records that currently inhabit my 1963 Seeburg LPC1 jukebox. I’ve had my jukebox (or as I like to call it “the prehistoric iPod”) for a little over twelve years and in that time I’d like to think that I’ve perfected the mix of 45s within. Over the years, records have come and gone out of the ranks of the juke, but they were all at one time juke-worthy. I’ve decided to expand “The Jukebox Series” to include many of the “juke-worthy” records that are no longer currently in the mix, but at one time inhabited a coveted slot.

He truly was the fifth Beatle…he was also a Rolling Stone, and Billy Preston also did numerous sessions with a stellar cast of characters that included Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, The Beach Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Little Richard, Sly & The Family Stone, Peter Frampton, Joe Cocker, Eric Clapton, Johnny Cash, Neil Diamond and dozens of others. He also co-wrote Joe Cocker’s smash hit “You Are So Beautiful” and sent his own hits like “Space Race,” “Outa-Space,” “Nothing From Nothing,” “With You I’m Born Again” (with Syreeta Wright) and today’s jukebox classic, “Will It Go Round In Circles” up the charts.

The list of albums he’s appeared on reads like a history of classic rock ‘n’ roll including The Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers, Exile On Main Street, Goats Head Soup, It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll, Love You Live, Black And Blue and Tattoo You,  The Beatles’ Let It Be and Abbey Road, George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass, The Concert For Bangla Desh, Dark Horse, Extra Texture, Thirty-Three & 1/3 and Gone Troppo, and Ringo Starr’s Ringo and Goodnight Vienna. He was, indeed the Forrest Gump of keyboards to the biggest bands in the land. And if that’s not enough, he was also the first musical guest on Saturday Night Live, he inspired Miles Davis who named a song after him on his Get Up With It album, and he also coined the phrase “If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with” for Stephen Stills.

Preston first came into The Beatles’ circle back in 1962 when he was a sixteen year old touring member of Little Richard’s band. But it wasn’t until 1969 when George Harrison walked out on the Let It Be sessions, and returned with Preston in tow in an effort to get the other three fabs to be on their best behavior during the acrimonious sessions that led to their last two albums as a group. At one point, John Lennon suggested that they add Preston as the fifth member of the band to which McCartney quipped that four Beatles were bad enough. (The Beatles – A/B Road: The Complete Get back Sessions, January 24th via Wikipedia)

“George Harrison, a friend of Preston, had quit, walked out of the studio and gone to a Ray Charles concert in London, where Preston was playing organ. Harrison brought Preston back to the studio, where his keen musicianship and gregarious personality temporarily calmed the tension.” (Harrington, Richard (June 8, 2006). “‘Fifth Beatle’ Billy Preston Made the Greats Even Greater”. Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-10-02 via Wikipedia)

Preston was signed to The Beatles’ Apple Records label where he launched his solo career in 1969 with the gospel single “That’s The Way God Planned It” and the album of the same name that were both produced by George Harrison. After a second Apple LP release went nowhere, Preston signed with A&M Records where he found his greatest solo success.

Today’s jukebox classic was one of two chart-topping singles Billy Preston recorded (“Nothing From Nothing” was the other). The song was written by Bruce Fisher, who was working in the mail room of NBC-TV and Billy Preston. Inspiration for the song came after Preston walked into the writing session and told Fisher “I got a song that ain’t got no melody.” The song was originally released on his 1972 solo album Music Is My Life that featured the musicianship of The Brothers Johnson (George Johnson on guitar and Louis Johnson on bass), and a horn section that included Tom Scott and Jim Horn. The flip of today’s single finds Preston paying tribute to his former band, with his gospel-flavored cover of the Beatles’ classic “Blackbird.”

During his later years, Preston served time in prison for tax evasion and suffered from kidney disease and high blood pressure. He died in June of 2006 after several months in a coma of malignant hypertension which caused his kidneys to shut down and respiratory failure.

Billy Preston: “Will It Go Round In Circles”

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Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #84 – Billy Preston: “Will It Go Round In Circles” b/w “Blackbird”– A&M-1411

He truly was the fifth Beatle…he was also a Rolling Stone, and Billy Preston also did numerous sessions with a stellar cast of characters that included Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, The Beach Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Little Richard, Sly & The Family Stone, Peter Frampton, Joe Cocker, Eric Clapton, Johnny Cash, Neil Diamond and dozens of others. He also co-wrote Joe Cocker’s smash hit “You Are So Beautiful” and sent hits like “Space Race,” “Outa-Space,” “Nothing From Nothing,” “With You I’m Born Again” (with Syreeta Wright) and today’s jukebox classic, “Will It Go Round In Circles” up the charts.

The list of albums he’s appeared on reads like a history of classic rock ‘n’ roll including The Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers, Exile On Main Street, Goats Head Soup, It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll, Love You Live, Black And Blue and Tattoo You, The Beatles’ Let It Be and Abbey Road, George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass, The Concert For Bangla Desh, Dark Horse, Extra Texture, Thirty-Three & 1/3 and Gone Troppo, and Ringo Starr’s Ringo and Goodnight Vienna. He was, indeed the Forrest Gump of keyboards to the biggest bands in the land. And if that’s not enough, he was also the first musical guest on Saturday Night Live, he inspired Miles Davis who named a song after him on his Get Up With It album, and he also coined the phrase “If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with” for Stephen Stills.

Preston first came into The Beatles’ circle back in 1962 when he was a sixteen year old touring member of Little Richard’s band. But it wasn’t until 1969 when George Harrison walked out on the Let It Be sessions, and returned with Preston in tow in an effort to get the other three fabs to be on their best behavior during the acrimonious sessions that led to their last two albums as a group. At one point, John Lennon suggested that they add Preston as the fifth member of the band to which McCartney quipped that four Beatles were bad enough. (The Beatles – A/B Road: The Complete Get back Sessions, January 24th via Wikipedia)

“George Harrison, a friend of Preston, had quit, walked out of the studio and gone to a Ray Charles concert in London, where Preston was playing organ. Harrison brought Preston back to the studio, where his keen musicianship and gregarious personality temporarily calmed the tension.” (Harrington, Richard (June 8, 2006). “‘Fifth Beatle’ Billy Preston Made the Greats Even Greater”. Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-10-02 via Wikipedia)

Preston was signed to The Beatles’ Apple Records label where he launched his solo career in 1969 with the gospel single “That’s The Way God Planned It” and the album of the same name that were both produced by George Harrison. After a second Apple LP release went nowhere, Preston signed with A&M Records where he found his greatest solo success.

Today’s jukebox classic was one of two chart-topping singles Billy Preston recorded (“Nothing From Nothing” was the other). The song was written by Bruce Fisher, who was working in the mail room of NBC-TV. Inspiration for the song came after Preston walked into the writing session and told Fisher “I got a song that ain’t got no melody.” The song was originally released on his 1972 solo album Music Is My Life that featured the musicianship of The Brothers Johnson (George Johnson on guitar and Louis Johnson on bass), and a horn section that included Tom Scott and Jim Horn. The flip of today’s single is Preston’s gospel-flavored cover of the Beatles’ classic “Blackbird.”

During his later years, Preston served time in prison for tax evasion and suffered from kidney disease and high blood pressure. He died in June of 2006 after several months in a coma of malignant hypertension which caused his kidneys to shut down and respiratory failure.

Welcome back my friends, to the series that never ends…

“The Jukebox Series” focused on the 80 records that currently inhabit my 1963 Seeburg LPC1 jukebox. I’ve had my jukebox (or as I like to call it “the prehistoric iPod”) for a little over fourteen years and in that time I’d like to think that I’ve perfected the mix of 45s within. Over the years, records have come and gone out of the ranks of the juke, but they were all at one time juke-worthy. I’ve decided to expand “The Jukebox Series” to include many of the “juke-worthy” records that are no longer currently in the mix, but at one time inhabited a coveted slot.