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Today in Rock History – June 1

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Rock History for June 1

1966, The Beatles returned Abbey Road studios to complete recording on “Yellow Submarine. ” The band, plus friends and members of the staff helped search for a “weird instrument” to create the desired sound effects.  John Lennon ended up blowing bubbles in a bucket of water.  Paul and John imitated different voices.  Roadie Mal Evans played on a bass drum strapped to his chest, marching around the studio with The Beatles following behind singing “We all live in a yellow submarine.”

1966, The Who fly into Arlanda Airport, Stockholm. Pete Townshend is interviewed for a Swedish magazine at the airport. He tells them he is currently working on a musical called “Summer City”.

1967, The Beatles release Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Sgt. Pepper became the first Beatles album to be issued simultaneously around the world. It was also the first Beatles album where the track listings were exactly the same for the UK and US versions. The band’s eighth LP, it debuted in the UK at number one, where it stayed for 22 consecutive weeks. The album sold 250,000 copies during the first seven days.

1967, David Bowie released his self titled debut studio album. Two singles were released from the album, “Rubber Band” and “The Laughing Gnome.”

1967, Tommy James & the Shondells performed at the Sports Arena in Toledo, Ohio.

1968, Simon and Garfunkel went to number one on the singles chart with “Mrs Robinson.” The song was featured in the Dustin Hoffman and Ann Bancroft film The Graduate. A cover version by the Lemonheads was a hit in 1992.

1968, Cream appeared at the Edmonton Gardens in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

1968, Pink Floyd played three shows in the Netherlands on this date. First a 2 o’clock in the afternoon show at Lijn 3 in Amsterdam, as a replacement for Captain Beefheart, who cancelled. Secondly at 8 PM, the band played at ‘t Smurf, De Engh, Bussum. Lastly, a late show at Eurobeurs, Apeldoorn. The band arrived so tardy, that they played past their allotted time. When the promoter turned on the house lights to make the band quit playing and start the “disco,” an argument started between Roger Waters and the promoter. It got so heated that the local police had to be called in to break it up.

1969, Neil Young & Crazy Horse appeared at La Cave in Cleveland, Ohio

1969, The Who performed at Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri.

1969, The Plastic Ono Band recorded “Give Peace A Chance” during a “bed-in” at the Hotel La Reine in Montreal, Canada. Producer Phil Spector, poet Allan Ginsberg and writer Timothy Leary all sang on the song.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at Athens State Teachers College, Athens, Georgia.

1971, Chicago appeared at the London’s Royal Albert Hall, London.

1971, Harry Nilsson begins recording his album Nilsson Schmilsson in London.

1971, Joni Mitchell releases her album Blue.

1971, The two-room shack in Tupelo, Mississippi, where Elvis Presley was born on January 8, 1935 was opened to the public as a tourist attraction.

Pink Floyd at Abbey Road studios

1972, Pink Floyd were working at Abbey Road studios, London on Dark Side Of The Moon.

1973, Former Soft Machine drummer Robert Wyatt broke his spine after attempting to leave a party by climbing down a drainpipe and falling three stories. It left Wyatt permanently crippled and confined to a wheelchair.

1973, Paul Simon releases There Goes Rhymin’ Simon.

1974, UK weekly music paper The NME published its 100 Great Albums: at number three: The Beach Boys Pet Sounds; number two: Bob Dylan Blonde On Blonde; and The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper was voted to the top spot.

1974, John Cale, Brian Eno, Kevin Ayers, and Nico perform the concert commemorated in the live LP June 1, 1974.

1974, Linda Ronstadt begins recording “Heart Like a Wheel” in Los Angeles. Her last project for Capitol Records. Some of the studio musicians and singers included, Andrew Gold, Glen Frey, Emmylou Harris, Don Henley, Russ Kunkel, Maria Muldaur, Timothy B. Schmdt, and J.D. Souther.

1975, The Rolling Stones kicked off their biggest ever US tour at Assembly Center at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. The tour would take in 45 shows in 26 cities. Guitarist Ron Wood joined The Stones on tour for the first time, replacing Mick Taylor.

1975, Aerosmith played at Roberts Municipal Stadium, Evansville, Indiana.

1976, Yes performed at Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee.

1977, Bob Marley and The Wailers played the first of four nights at the Rainbow Theatre in London. There were six nights booked at the Rainbow, but the last two shows were cancelled due to a serious toe injury Marley received, in a friendly football game with French journalists, just before the tour’s start in Paris. Subsequently, the tour’s second leg in the United States was postponed and then cancelled.

1977, Emerson, Lake & Palmer played at Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan.

1978, U2 appeared at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin, Ireland.

1978, David Bowie performed at the Falkoner Theater, Copenhagen, Denmark.

1980, Rush played at the Gaumont Theatre, Southampton, England.

1981, The first issue of the Heavy Metal magazine Kerrang! was published as a special pull-out by UK weekly music paper Sounds. AC/DC appeared on the front cover, and there were features on Motorhead, Girlschool and Saxon.

1984, David Gilmour appeared at Constitution Hall, Washington D.C.

1985, Prince & The Revolution started a three-week run at number one on the US album chart with Around The World In A Day.

1986, ZZ Top performed at the Providence Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island.

1991, American soul singer David Ruffin died of a drug overdose. After taking a large amount of cocaine Ruffin passed out, a friend drove him to a hospital in Philadelphia, where he later died. He was one of the lead singers of The Temptations (1964–68) during the group’s “Classic Five” period as it was later known. He was the lead voice on such famous songs as “My Girl” and “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg”.

2006, The 1994 debut album by Oasis, Definitely Maybe, was voted the greatest album of all time in a survey to mark 50 years of the Official UK Albums Chart. The Beatles came in second and third place with Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Revolver, OK Computer by Radiohead was fourth and (What’s the Story) Morning Glory by Oasis was voted fifth.

2013, Modern Vampires of the City by Vampire Weekend went to number one on the US album charts. Their second album Contra’ also debuted at the top spot in 2010, making this the first time an independent rock band had entered at number one with two consecutive releases. Modern Vampires of the City also shattered the previous record for first week vinyl sales, moving nearly 10,000 units.

Born on June 1: Pat Boone (1934); James William McCarty, Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels, Buddy Miles, Cactus,  Bob Seger (1945) Ron Wood, Jeff Beck Group, The Faces, The Rolling Stones (1947); Tom Robinson, singer-songwriter (1950); Graham Russell, Air Supply (1950); Alan Wilder, keyboards, vocals, Depeche Mode (1959); Simon Gallup, The Cure (1960); Mike Joyce, drums, The Smiths (1963); Alanis Morissette (1974)

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Today in Rock History – February 19

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beatles-studio-19651965, Working at Abbey Road studios in London, The Beatles recorded the rhythm track “You’re Going To Lose That Girl” in two takes. On his new song, John Lennon sang, and accompanied himself on acoustic guitar, backed by Paul and George.  The band lip-synched to the recording for the movie Help!  The final album mix was made four days later.

1965, The Who learn by letter that J.E. Grant has given them the go-ahead to appear on the BBC Light Programme after they pass their audition of the 12th with four votes out of seven. The same day is more good news as “I Can’t Explain” makes its first appearance on a British chart, popping up at #45 in Record Mirror.

1966, Lou Christie went to number one on the US singles chart with “Lightnin’ Strikes.”

1966, The Who performed at Memorial Hall in Norwich, England.

1966, Bob Dylan appeared at Ottawa Auditorium in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

1967, Jimi Hendrix performed at Brady’s Club in London.

1967, Janis Joplin and Jefferson Airplane performed at the Fillmore in San Francisco.

1969, Yes appeared at the Marquee Club, London.

1970, Neil Young played an acoustic show at KQED-TV Studios, San Francisco.  Back in the day, KQED was responsible for spotting the best new music via their live sessions. The song selection was from the Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere era. The setlist reportedly was:  Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Everybody’s Alone, Dance Dance Dance, On The Way Home, Wonderin #1, Wonderin #2, Instrumental Noodling (including – Out On The Weekend I – Don’t Want To Talk About It – Helpless – Country Girl – Do I Have To Come Right Out And Say It,) Sugar Mountain.

1971, REO Speedwagon  and Mountain played Robertson Memorial Fieldhouse at Bradley University, in Peoria, Illinois.

1972, Harry Nilsson started a four week run at number one on the US singles chart with his version of the Badfinger song “Without You.” It won a Grammy in 1973 for Best Male Pop Vocal.

1972, Led Zeppelin appeared at the Memorial Drive, Adelaide in Australia. A local paper who reviewed the show printed: Singer Robin Plant (sic) overcame an “Australian bug” in his throat and broke into his own in “Black Dog” and “Stairway To The Stars” (sic.)

1973, The Grateful Dead performed at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois.

1974,  At the first American Music Awards, Al Green’s Livin’ for You wins the Favorite Album, Soul/R&B award. The hosts were Roger Miller, Helen Reddy, and Smokey Robinson.

1974, KISS make their television debut on Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert.

1974, Black Sabbath appeared at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1976, Former lead singer with Tower Of Power, Rich Stevens was arrested in connection with the drug related murders of three men in San Jose, California. Stevens was found guilty of the charges in November 1976.

1976, Cat Stevens performed at Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan.

1977, Leo Sayer had his only number one single with the Albert Hammond and Carole Bayer Sager song “When I Need You.”

manfred-mann-blinded1977, Manfred Mann’s Earth Band scored a number one single in the with their version of the Bruce Springsteen song “Blinded By The Light.” The track was the first single from Bruce Springsteen’s 1973 debut album Greetings from Asbury Park N.J. The Earth Band’s version features several changed lyrics. The most prominent change is in the chorus, where Springsteen’s “cut loose like a deuce” is replaced with “revved up like a deuce.” Springsteen himself has said that it was not until Manfred Mann rewrote the song to be about a “feminine hygiene product” that it became popular.

1977, ZZ Top played at Chicago Stadium in  Chicago.

1979, Frank Zappa performed at the Hammersmith Odeon, London.

1982, Ozzy Osbourne was arrested in San Antonio, Texas for urinating on the Alamo. Osbourne was wearing a dress at the time of his arrest, (due to his wife Sharon hiding all his clothes so he couldn’t go outside). Osbourne who apparently thought he was relieving himself on a pile of rubble was banned from ever playing in San Antonio, Texas again, (a ban which was lifted in 1992).

1982, Alice Cooper appeared at The Apollo, Glasgow, Scotland.

1992, During their Use Your Illusion Tour, Guns n’ Roses played the first of three nights at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. The 55,000-seat baseball stadium (The Big Egg) is the largest concert hall in Japan.

1994, Mariah Carey had her first UK number one with her version of the Peter Ham – Tom Evans song “Without You.” This was 22 years after Harry Nilsson made it a US chart topper. Carey’s version was released on January 24, 1994, just over a week after Nilsson had died following a heart attack. the tragic connection with this song is that both Ham and Evans committed suicide, Ham in 1975, and Evans in 1983, after an ongoing battle to receive royalties from the song.

1995, Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee married Baywatch actress Pamela Anderson on a Cancun beach, Mexico, the bride wore a white bikini. Anderson and Lee who married only four days after meeting, had videotaped their sexual activities while on vacation. The tape was later stolen and released on the Internet. After suing the video company who released the tape, the Lees entered into a confidential settlement agreement. The couple divorced in 1998.

1996, Winners at this year’s Brit Awards included Paul Weller who won British Male Solo Artist, British Female Solo Artist went to Annie Lennox, Oasis won British Group, Best Album for (What’s The Story) Morning Glory and Best British Video for “Wonderwall.” British Breakthrough Act went to Supergrass, International Group was Bon Jovi, International Breakthrough Act went to Alanis Morissette and David Bowie was awarded Outstanding Contribution to music. Pulp singer Jarvis Cocker was arrested after a stage invasion during Michael Jackson’s appearance, (who won Artist of a Generation). Cocker was accused of attacking children who were performing with Jackson. All charges against Cocker were later dropped.

2014, David Bowie was named best British male at the Brit Awards in London, although he was not there in person to collect his award. Arctic Monkeys won both best group and best album for the third time – the first act to achieve that milestone. Ellie Goulding won best British female, while pop act One Direction were honored for their global success for the second year running. Bowie’s prize came at the expense of four much younger hopefuls – Jake Bugg, Tom Odell, John Newman and Mercury Prize winner James Blake.

Born on this day: Smokey Robinson (1940); Lou Christie (1943); Paul Dean, Canadian guitarist, Loverboy, Streetheart (1946); Tony Iommi, Black Sabbath (1948); Mark Andes, Spirit (1948); Andy Powell, Wishbone Ash (1950); Francis Buchholz,  bass, Scorpions, Michael Schenker Group (1954); Peter Holsapple, American singer-songwriter, a guitars, The dB’s (1956); Dave Wakeling, The English Beat (1957); Hans Holzl, aka Falco (1957); Henry Samuel, aka Seal, singer (1963); Jon Fishman, American drummer, Phish (1965); Daniel Adair, drums,  3 Doors Down (1975);

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Song Of The Day – “Daddy’s Song” by Harry Nilsson

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Nilsson is one of my favorites songwriters, right up there with Lennon & McCartney, Bob Dylan, Bacharach & David, Jagger & Richards, Stevie Wonder, Elvis Costello, et. al. This song was originally from Nilsson’s second album, “Ariel Ballet” from 1968. But a funny thing happened on the way to the pressing plants. Without Nilsson’s knowledge, RCA pulled the song off of the album after the initial pressing shipped because The Monkees paid them $35,000 to have exclusive rights to the song for their recording that was sung by Davey Jones in the Monkees’ film “Head.” Most fans didn’t get to hear the track until a remixed and rerecorded version was released on Nilsson’s 1971 album “Aerial Pandemonium Ballet” which was probably the first “remix” album ever released. The original recording was restored to the lineup of the album in the late 1990s when RCA released it on CD. Losing the song was indeed a bummer for fans, but it couldn’t hurt an album that also sported such soon-to-be classics as Nilsson’s cover of Fred Neil’s “Everybody’s Talkin'” (from the film Midnight Cowboy) and songs like “One” (later a top-five hit by Three Dog Night) and “Good Old Desk.” The Beatles were huge fans of Nilsson with John Lennon once proclaiming Nilsson to be his favorite songwriter. During the recording of the “White Album,” the Beatles shared some of their recordings with Nilsson, and Nilsson reciprocated by sharing an acetate of this album with them.

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Coconut” by Fred Schneider

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You may not recognize him by his name, but just one listen to the song and you’ll instantly recognize the singer as the lead voice of The B-52’s. The song, of course, was written and originally recorded by Harry Nilsson back in 1971 on his “Nilsson Schmilsson” album and quickly became a hit. It is now considered, with good reason, to be a rock classic. This version comes from an exceptional 1995 tribute compilation called “For The Love Of Harry: Everybody Sings Nilsson” featuring covers of Nilsson’s best songs by such artists as Randy Newman (“Remember”), Aimee Mann( “One”), Ringo Starr with Stevie Nicks (“Lay Down Your Arms”), the vocal dream team of Gerry Beckley (of America)/Robert Lamm (of Chicago)/Carl Wilson (Beach Boys) (“Without Her”), Brian Wilson (“This Could Be the Night”), Adrian Belew (“Me And My Arrow”), Ron Sexsmith (“Good Old Desk”) and a whole host of others filling out this essential 21 track collection. The fully annotated CD has long gone out of print, but you can still purchase a download of this collection on Amazon. And better yet, while you’re there, purchase some of Nilsson’s own albums as well!

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #49– Nilsson: “Everybody’s Talkin’” b/w “I Guess The Lord Must Be In New York City” – RCA Gold Standard 45 447-0838 (S5/T5)

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Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #49– Nilsson: “Everybody’s Talkin’” b/w “I Guess The Lord Must Be In New York City” – RCA Gold Standard 45 447-0838 (S5/T5)

“The Jukebox Series” focuses on the 80 records that 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.

Harry Nilsson was a puzzlement. He was a brilliant songwriter who wrote some of the greatest pops songs of the 1960s. Songs like “One” (Three Dog Night), “Cuddly Toy” (The Monkees) and “Without Her” (Glen Campbell) came pouring from his pen providing many artists with some of their biggest hits. Yet the hits he scored on the charts were primarily written by others. Go figure…

Today’s jukebox classic is one of Nilsson’s biggest hits; some would say it is his signature song. And it is one that Nilsson (the songwriter) did not write. “Everybody’s Talkin’” was written and originally recorded by singer/songwriter Fred Neil. Neil was a big deal of the Greenwich Village folk music scene in New York City of the early 1960s.

Neil’s version was the last song written and recorded for his essential eponymously titled album which was released by Capitol Records in 1967. Neil was itching to get back to Florida and the ocean but needed one more song for his debut album. The song was hastily written as an afterthought at the urging of his producer, and recorded in one take. The album also included Neil’s song “The Dolphins” (covered most famously by Jefferson Airplane) and several years after recording the song, Neil fulfilled the promise of the lyrics to both songs and gave up the music business entirely in favor of living near the ocean in Florida and working with dolphins until the end of his life in 2001.

Nilsson recorded the song at the behest of his producer Rick Jarrard for his second album Aerial Ballet in 1968. The Beatles’ press officer Derek Taylor was a big fan of Nilsson’s 1967 debut album Pandemonium Shadow Show, and famously ordered a case load of the album and gave them out to all of his friends including The Beatles who also became huge fans and good friends with Nilsson.

Taylor suggested Nilsson to film director John Schlesinger who was actively looking for a theme song to his current movie Midnight Cowboy. Schlesinger had been using Nilsson’s recording of “Everybody’s Talkin’” as a place holder in the film until the right song came along. Nilsson suggested that he use “I Guess The Lord Must Be In New York City,” a song he wrote from his 1969 Harry album for use in the film. Schlesinger had grown so used to hearing the song matched with the corresponding scene that he decided to keep “Everybody’s Talkin’” in the film. At the same time, Bob Dylan also pitched a newly-penned song that he specifically composed for the film called “Lay Lady Lay,” however his submission came too late for its inclusion. Ultimately, Dylan’s recording of “Lay Lady Lay” became one of his biggest hits climbing all the way to #7 on the singles charts in 1969.

After its appearance in the movie, Nilsson’s version climbed to the #6 position of the singles charts in 1969 and sold over a million copies. It also won Nilsson a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Vocal Performance, Male in 1970. After the song became a hit for Nilsson, Capitol Records rereleased Fred Neil’s self-titled 1967 album under the name Everybody’s Talkin’ and released his version as a single.

The song has been covered numerous times by artists including Tom Jones, The Beach Boys, The Ventures, Tony Bennett, Matthew Sweet, Neil diamond, Arlo Guthrie, Percy Faith, The Four Tops, Iggy Pop, Engelbert Humperdinck, Stevie Wonder, Van Morrison, The Kingston Trio, Liza Minnelli, Chet Atkins, Louis Armstrong, Jimmy Buffett, Willie Nelson, Bill Withers, Linda Eder, Dwight Yoakam and many others. Nilsson’s version of the song is also heard in the films Forrest Gump, Borat and The Hangover III.