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Today in Rock History – June 4

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Procol Harum

1967, Procol Harum, The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Denny Laine all appeared at The Saville Theatre London, England.

1967, The Monkees wins an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, beating out Andy Griffith, Bewitched, Get Smart, and Hogan’s Heroes.

1968, Having been arrested the month before on charges of marijuana possession, Rolling Stone Brian Jones elects for trial by jury. The rest of the Rolling Stones are in the studio working on tracks for Beggars Banquet and being filmed by Jean-Luc Godard for the movie One Plus One. However, the studio catches fire while the film crew shoots the band on the roof.

1969, Seven years after his first hit, Tommy Roe was at number one on the UK singles chart with “Dizzy,” his only chart topping hit.

1969, Hundreds of people in Glenrowan, Australia signed a petition protesting against the casting of Mick Jagger in the role of the Australian folk hero, Ned Kelly.

1970, Elvis Presley began five days of recording at RCA’s studio B in Nashville, starting each day at 6pm and working until dawn.

1971, Elton John appeared at Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, Missouri.

1971, Alice Cooper performed at the Eastown Theater in Detroit, Michigan.

1971, Pink Floyd appeared at Philips Veranstal Tungshalle, Düsseldorf, Germany.

1972, Jethro Tull played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

1973, Murry Wilson, father of Beach Boys Brian, Carl, and Dennis Wilson, dies of a heart attack. His alleged physical abuse left songwriting genius Brian deaf in one ear. Murray also managed the group when it was first starting out.

1974, David Bowie kicked off his 73-date Diamond Dogs tour at the Montreal, Forum in Canada.

1974, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at the Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island.

1975, The Rolling Stones became the first rock band to receive royalties for sales of their records in Russia.

1976, Elton John appeared at The Capitol Theatre, Leeds, England.

1976, Live recordings were made at the new wave venue GBGB’s of performances from Blondie, Mink DeVille, Talking Heads, Laughing Dogs and Tuff Darts. The tracks featured on the album Live At CBGB’S New York.

1976, Yes performed at the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1976, The Sex Pistols appeared at The Lesser Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England. The now legendary night is regarded as a catalyst to the punk rock movement. In the audience was, Morrissey, Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook (soon to form Joy Division) and Mark E Smith, (The Fall). Tickets cost £1 ($1.50.)

1977, Police cancel a planned Led Zeppelin performance in Tampa Bay, Fla., after fans rioted the night before, when the band’s set was interrupted by a vicious thunderstorm.

1977, Eric Clapton played at National Stadium, Dublin, Ireland.

1977, The Grateful Dead performed at the Forum in Inglewood, California.

1977, The Jam’s debut single “In The City” made it to number 40 on the UK singles chart. They went on to score 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 1982, including four chart topping hits.

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

1978, David Bowie’s European tour plays at the  Scandanavium in Gothenberg, Sweden.

1979, Rush and Dire Straits performed at the Pinkpop Festival in Geleen, The Netherlands.

1980, Roxy Music appeared at Foret National, Brussels, Belgium.

1981, Bruce Springsteen played at Wembley Arena in London.

1983, The Police started a four week run at number one in the UK with “Every Breath You Take,” the group’s fifth and final chart topping single. It was taken from the band’s album Synchronicity. Sting won Song of the Year and The Police won Best Pop Performance for the song at the 1984 Grammy Awards.

1984, Bruce Springsteen released the album, Born In The USA, which became the best-selling album of 1985 in the United States, and Springsteen’s most successful album ever. The album produced a record-tying string of seven Top 10 singles, tying him with Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814.

1985, Elton John sued publisher Dick James Music, seeking the rights to his early songs and recordings, plus damages estimated at more than £30 million ($51 million). The singer lost a six-month court battle to recover the copyright to 169 songs however, the court ordered Dick James to hand over millions in unpaid royalties.

1986, The first of a six date Conspiracy of Hope tour was held at Cow Palace, San Francisco, California. The benefit concerts on behalf of Amnesty International were held to increase awareness of Amnesty on the 25th anniversary of its work for human rights. The shows were headlined by U2 and Sting, and also featured Bryan Adams, Peter Gabriel, Lou Reed, Joan Baez, and The Neville Brothers.

1990, American punk rock singer Stiv Bators of the Dead Boys and The Lords of the New Church died after being hit by a taxi in Paris, France. Bators had been out drinking when he was hit by a taxi while crossing the road. He was taken to a hospital, but left before seeing a doctor. He died in his sleep as the result of a concussion.

1994, Wet Wet Wet started a fifteen-week run at number one on the UK singles chart with “Love Is All Around,” from the film Four Weddings & A Funeral. The song was written by Reg Presley of The Troggs, and was a former top ten hit for his band in 1967

1997, Jeff Buckley’s body was discovered floating in the Mississippi River. Buckley had disappeared when swimming on May 29th in Wolf River Harbor, while wearing boots, all of his clothing, and singing the chorus of “Whole Lotta Love” by Led Zeppelin. A roadie in Buckley’s band, had remained on shore. After moving a radio and guitar out of reach of the wake from a passing tugboat, he looked up to see that Buckley had vanished.

2012, Herb Reed, bass singer and founder member with American doo-wop group The Platters died aged 83. The Platters scored four number one singles in the late 50’s: “The Great Pretender,” “My Prayer,” “Twilight Time,” and “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.” Reed is credited with coming up with the group’s name, inspired by disc jockeys who referred to their records as “platters.”

Born on June 4: Freddie Fender (1937);  Michelle Phillips (1944); Gordon Waller, Peter & Gordon (1945); and Jimmy McCulloch, Thunderclap Newman, Wings (1952)

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Today in Rock History – May 14

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1964, Jan & Dean start recording “Little Old Lady (From Pasadena).”

1965, The Who appeared at Civic Hall in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England.

1965, San Francisco radio station KYA hosts the Rolling Stones, the Byrds, Beau Brummels, Paul Revere & the Raiders, and the Vejtables at the Civic Auditorium.

1966, The Who played at Palais in Bury, Manchester, England.

1967, around the UK – Jimi Hendrix played at the Elizabethan Ballroom in Manchester, The Bee Gees appeared at The Beachcomber in Nottingham, and Alan Price played at the Coatham Hotel in Redcar.

1967, Pink Floyd played “Pow R Toc H” and “Astronomy Domine” live on the arts program The Look of the Week broadcast by BBC2 television. Syd Barrett and Roger Waters were interviewed by classic music critic Hans Keller. Below is video from that appearance.

1968, Cream performed at Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Columbus, Ohio.

1968, Paul McCartney and John Lennon make a guest appearance on The Tonight Show to announce the creation of Apple Corps.

1969, During a UK tour, Fairport Convention’s van crashed on the M1 motorway on the way home from a gig in Birmingham, killing the group’s 19 year-old drummer Martin Lamble and Richard Thompson’s girlfriend Jeannie Franklyn.

1969, King Crimson performed at the Revolution Club, London, while Yes appeared at the Marquee Club.

1970, The Grateful Dead played at Merramac Community College in Kirkwood, Missouri.

1971, The Allman Brothers Band played The Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1973, Led Zeppelin performed at the Municipal Auditorium, New Orleans.

1974, Another Grateful Dead show at a college venue. This time at Adams Field House at the University of Montana in Missoula.

1975, Yes appeared at the Gaumont Theatre, Southampton, England.

1976, The Rolling Stones played at Granby Halls, Leicester, England.

1976, 33 year old Keith Relf, former lead singer for The Yardbirds, was electrocuted while tuning a guitar which was not properly grounded. The accident happened in his West London home where he was found by his eight year old son, still holding the plugged-in electric guitar.

1977, The Eagles’ Hotel California enters it’s last week at number one on the US album charts.  It held the top spot for five weeks in the spring of 1977, and on two occasions earlier in the year.

1977, Talking Heads played a gig at The Rock Garden in London where Brian Eno, who was in the audience, sees them and goes on to produce the band.

1980, Black Sabbath performed at the Apollo Theatre, Glasgow, Scotland.

1983, Spandau Ballet scored their first and only UK number one album with “True.” The title track from the album spent four weeks at the top of the UK singles charts and reached the second spot in the US. Other singles from the album included “Gold” (a number two UK hit and a Top 30 hit in the US), “Lifeline,” and “Communication.”

1988, Led Zeppelin reunited for the Atlantic Records 40th anniversary party at Madison Square Garden, New York, appearing with Jason Bonham the son of John Bonham on drums. Other acts performing included Foreigner, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Genesis, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Wilson Pickett and Ben E. King.

1998, singer and actor Frank Sinatra died at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles aged 82, after suffering a heart attack. Sinatra had his first hit in 1940, working in the Swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the 1953 film From Here to Eternity. He went on to score over 25 Top 40 singles including the 1966 chart topper “Strangers In The Night.” His 1969 single “My Way,” re-entered the UK charts eight times and spent a total of 165 weeks on the UK chart.

2006, Red Hot Chili Peppers started a two-week run at number one on the UK album chart with Stadium Arcadium, the bands’ ninth studio album, also a US chart topper.

Born on this day: Bobby Darin (1936);  Jack Bruce (1943); Gene Cornish, The Young Rascals (1946);  Al Ciner, The American Breed (1947); and David Byrne (1952)

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Song Of The Day – “The Facts Of Life” by Talking Heads

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talkingheadsnakedBy 1988, Talking Heads were restless and running out of fuel. The band members were somewhat fed up with each other, and were not happy with the conventional pop direction that their previous two albums took them in.

For their final album called Naked, the group worked with producer Steve Lillywhite and decamped to France to record with the support of a host of East African, British, Irish and Caribbean musicians. Before leaving for Paris, the band worked up 40 basic improvisational rhythm tracks as a jumping off point in the studio. In Paris, the group would jam on one of the tracks each day and select the best take at the end of the day to use as the basis for a new song.

When the band returned to New York, David Byrne sang along with each track phonetically until lyrics and melodies developed, and then the rest of the band came in to overdub their parts onto the basic tracks. This improvisational method of recording was much more in line with records like Fear Of Music and Remain In Light; however, those albums have a very loose feel while Naked’s tune stack is tighter and far more structured.

Lyrically, the overall theme of Naked has to do with the survival of our planet and how the human race has placed a giant monkey on the back of the world that we can’t escape or control.  The album’s title and cover were loosely based on a Chinese proverb; “If there is no tiger in the mountains, the monkey will be king,” which is printed on the inside of the cover, and monkeys turn up numerous times in the lyrics to the songs.

The album opens with the apocalyptic James Brown funk of “Blind,” featuring the propulsive rhythm section of Chris & Tina Weymouth with Byrne ranting lyrics like “He’s hurt / He’s dying / Claimed he was a terrorist / Claimed to avert a catastrophe / Someone should’a told him / That the buck stops here / No one ever said / That he was involved with thieves / And they’re blind,” on top of it all at his most annoying best.

The hilarious first single, “(Nothing But) Flowers,” tackles the human tendency to get back to the garden. The song’s protagonist lives in a world where the modern conveniences of today like “Dairy Queens and 7-11s” are replaced with fields of grass and flowers restoring the world to its original splendor, only to find it too inconvenient without them. The song was accompanied by a terrific video and featured Kirsty MacColl on backup vocals and Johnny Marr of The Smiths on guitar. Marr’s guitar work can also be heard on the tracks “Ruby Dear,” Mommy Daddy You & I” and “Cool Water.”

Several songs on the album including “Mr. Jones,” “Ruby Dear” and “Big Daddy” have a distinct Latin influence pointing toward the direction that David Byrne would later take for his solo record Rei Momo the following year. The totally refreshing and buoyant “Totally Nude” has a fluid African guitar feel courtesy of Yves N’Djock that is in a similar vein to what Paul Simon had done several years earlier on his Graceland album, but far more danceable.

While the first half of the album features lighter, more danceable fare, the album’s second half turns very dark typified by tracks like “Mommy Daddy You And I,” “The Democratic Circus,” “Bill” and today’s Song Of The Day. “The Facts Of Life” begins with a dank, industrial sound courtesy of Jerry Harrison, and then shifts from a minor key to a major key halfway through to let some much needed light in. Monkeys once again turn up in the lyrics which talk about how we are nothing more than machines of love – “Monkey see and monkey do / Making babies, eating food  / Smelly things, pubic hair / Words of love in the air…The facts of life / The facts of life / A masterpiece / Biology…Machines of love / Machines of love.”

The huge list of guest musicians that turn up here almost sink the contributions of the rest of the group making this record sound more like a David Byrne solo album than a proper Talking Heads record, and indeed several months after its release, the group opted to call it a day.

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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Today in Rock History – January 28

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Moody-Blues-Go-Now1965, The Moody Blues were at number one on the UK singles chart with “Go Now!”

1965, The Who made their first appearance on UK TV show Ready Steady Go! To project the desired image, the hand-picked audience consisted only of teens dressed in the current “Mod” fashion.

1966, The Cavern Club in Liverpool closes, having run up debts of 10,000 pounds. The club became world famous as one of The Beatles’ earliest venues.

1967, The Four Tops appeared at The Royal Albert Hall, London. Also on the bill, The Dakotas, Madeline Bell, The Remo Four and Johnny Watson.

1968, Jim Morrison of The Doors was arrested and charged with public drunkenness after harassing a security guard at a Las Vegas adult movie theater.

1969, After the Beatles cut versions of “Get Back” and “Don”t Let Me Down” for single release, John Lennon and Yoko Ono meet Allen Klein for the first time at London’s Dorchester Hotel.

1969, Marmalade were at number one on the UK singles chart with their version of The Beatles song “Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da.”

1970, Jimi Hendrix performed at Madison Square Garden, New York.

1970, The Who played at the Theater des Westens in Berlin, Germany.

1971, Genesis appeared at St. George’s Hall, Bradford, England.

1972, Pink Floyd played at Town Hall in Leeds, England.

1972, Deep Purple performed at Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino, California.

1973, Bruce Springsteen appeared at Villanova University appearing to an audience of 25 people.

1974, Hawkwind took the stage at Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, England.

1975, Genesis performed at Civic Hall, Phoenix, Arizona.

1977, Pink Floyd’s tenth studio album Animals entered the UK charts at number two. The sleeve concept was that of Roger Waters, who lived at the time near Clapham Common, and regularly drove past Battersea Power Station. A view of the imposing, but disused former power station building was chosen for the cover image, complete with massive inflatable pig suspended between two of the towers.

1978, The Fleetwood Mac album Rumours went to number one on the album chart.  The album sold over 15 million copies worldwide and spent over 440 weeks on the album chart.

1982, AC/DC appeared at the Lakeland Civic Center, Lakeland, Florida.

1983, The first Narara Music Festival was held near Somersby, New South Wales over the Australia Day weekend, the line-up included Men At Work, The Church, The Choirboys, Cold Chisel and INXS.

1984, Frankie Goes To Hollywood started a five-week run at number one on the UK singles chart with “Relax!”

1985, The recording took place for “We Are The World,” the US equivalent of “Band Aid” at A&M Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles. Written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, the all star cast included Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, Diana Ross, Bob Dylan, (who contributed four lines to the charity single), Ray Charles, Daryl Hall, John Oates, Cyndi Lauper, Steve Perry and Bob Geldof. The session was produced by Quincy Jones.

1987, The Grateful Dead played at the Civic Center in San Francisco.

1988, Eleven years after it was released, The Sex Pistols album Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols went Gold in the US with sales over 500,000.

1994, Paul and Linda McCartney attended the premiere of Wayne’s World II in London. The couple then went on to Hard Rock Cafe, where the film star Mike Myers presented them with a check for LIPA (the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts) for £25,000 ($42,500) from the sale of Linda’s vegetarian burgers.

1998, Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher played a 20-minute solo gig at the King Head, an English pub in Santa Monica in front of 250 fans.

2000, Saxophonist and bandleader Thomas “Beans” Bowles died of prostate cancer aged 73. He played on many Motown sessions including Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On,” Martha and the Vandellas’ “Heat Wave,” and The Supremes “Baby Love.” Bowles wrote the melody on Stevie Wonder’s “Fingertips Pt. 2.”

2001, Limp Bizkit started a two-week run at number one on the UK album chart with Chocolate Starfish.

2005, English drummer and singer songwriter Jim Capaldi died of stomach cancer aged 60. He was a member of Traffic,  and had the solo 1975 UK number four single “Love Hurts.” Capaldi also worked with Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and George Harrison.

2009, Lynyrd Skynyrd keyboard player Billy Powell died at the age of 56 of a suspected heart attack in Florida. Powell called police saying he was having trouble breathing and emergency services tried to resuscitate him, but he was pronounced dead an hour later.

2015, Sly Stone was awarded $5m (£3.3m) in missed royalties by a Los Angeles court. The singer claimed his former manager, Gerald Goldstein, and lawyer, Glenn Stone, had cheated him out of earnings dating back more than 20 years. In 2011, it was reported he was homeless and living in a camper van after falling on hard times, and fighting drug addiction problems.

Born on January 28: Ronnie Scott, jazz musician London club owner (1927); Dick Taylor, The Pretty Things (1943); Robert Wyatt, Soft Machine (1945); William Nelson, Funkadelic (1951); Dave Sharpe, guitarist and singer, The Alarm (1959)

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Today in Rock History – December 1

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The Who, 1964 – from THE MARK AND COLLEEN HAYWARD COLLECTION (http://rockmusicprints.com/)

1964, The Who played the first of 22 consecutive Tuesday night gigs at The Marquee Club in London, the band were paid £50 ($80) for each gig.

1965, during a North America tour The Rolling Stones appeared at the Vancouver Auditorium, Vancouver, British Columbia.

1966, Tom Jones was atop on the singles chart with his version of “Green Green Grass Of Home.” It stayed at number one for seven weeks giving Decca records its first million selling single by a British artist.

1966, Jimi Hendrix signs a management deal with Yameta, a firm started by Who managers Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp.

1967, During a 16-date UK package tour with Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, The Move, Nice, Outer Limits, and Amen Corner, the shows took place at the Central Hall, Chatham. The Chatham Standard later reported, “Hendrix opened his act with the Beatles’ number “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” and the three-piece group made as much of an impression as a studio full of musicians. Once upon a time this sort of noise could not be reproduced outside a studio. He did several of his own numbers, including unfaultable versions of “Hey Joe” and “Purple Haze,” and The Troggs’ “Wild Thing.”

1967, The Who end their first headlining tour of the US, playing the Long Island Arena in Commack, New York. Vanilla Fudge is the supporting act.

1968, The Beatles White Album started a seven-week run at number one on the UK chart. The double set was the first on the Apple label,

1968, Janis Joplin played her last concert with Big Brother and the Holding Company, a Family Dog show in San Francisco.

1969, George Harrison and Ringo Starr turn up at London’s Royal Albert Hall to watch Delaney & Bonnie perform with Eric Clapton.

1971, Yes appeared at the Palace Theater, Waterbury, Connecticut.

1972, Pink Floyd performs at the Centre Sportif, in Ile Des Vannes, St. Ouen, Paris. The show was broadcast live by RTL Radio.

1973, The Carpenters went to number one on the singles chart with “Top Of The World,” their second US chart topper.

1974, Genesis performed at the Lyric Theater, Baltimore, Maryland.

1975, The Allman Brothers Band played at the Civic Center in Springfield, Massachusetts.

1976, The Sex Pistols appeared on ITV’s live early evening Today show, in place of Queen, who had pulled out following a trip to the dentist by Freddie Mercury. Taunted by interviewer Bill Grundy, who asked the band to say something outrageous, guitarist Steve Jones says, “You dirty bastard…you dirty fucker…what a fucking rotter!”

1977, during a North American tour Queen appeared at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

1977, Rush played at the Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec.

1978, Punk rocker Ian Dury releases his single “Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick” in the UK. He fails to chart in the US, but the epochal single sells two million copies worldwide.

1979, The Grateful Dead performed at Stanley Hall in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1980, Talking Heads, supported by U2, appeared at the Hammersmith Palais, London, England.

1981, King Crimson appeared at The Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, British Columbia.

1982, Aerosmith played at Hara Arena, Dayton, Ohio.

1982, The final month of The Who’s 1982 concert tour begins at the Biloxi Gulf Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Mississippi. “Love Ain’t For Keeping” is added to the set list for the first time since 1971.

1983, Neil Young was sued by Geffen Records because his new music for the label was “not commercial in nature and musically uncharacteristic of his previous albums.” His latest album Everybody’s Rockin’ featured a selection of rockabilly songs, both covers and original material, which ran for just 25 minutes, Young’s shortest album.

1990, Vanilla Ice started a four-week run at number one in the UK with the single “Ice Ice Baby.” The track sampled the bass intro to the Queen and David Bowie chart topping “Under Pressure.”  “Ice Ice Baby” was initially released as the B-side to the rapper’s cover of “Play That Funky Music,” and became the A-side after US DJ’s started playing it.

1997, Kenny G set a new world record when he held a note on his saxophone for 45 minutes and 47 seconds. The record was later broken by Geovanny Escalante, who held a note for 1 hour, 30 minutes and 45 seconds, using a technique that allows him to blow and breathe at the same time.

2006, An Oasis fan enjoyed “the best day of his life” when Noel Gallagher popped round to his house in Poynton, Cheshire to play an intimate gig. Lucky listener Ben Hayes won a BBC Radio 1 competition to have the star play in his front room as part of a week of gigs compered by DJ Jo Whiley. 15 people packed into his lounge for the tiny gig, with his mother on hand making cups of tea for the crew.

Born on December 1: Billy Paul (1934); Lou Rawls (1936); John Densmore, The Doors (1944); Bette Midler (1944); Eric Bloom, Blue Oyster Cult (1944); Gilbert O’ Sullivan (1946); Jaco Pastorius, Weather Report (1951); Isaiah “Ikey” Owens, keyboardist, The Mars Volta, Jack White (1974); Brad Delson, guitar, Linkin Park (1977)

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Song Of The Day – “Under Heavy Manners” by Robert Fripp with David Byrne

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robertfrippdavidbyrneAfter the demise of King Crimson in 1974, Robert Fripp spent several years laying low before entering a period of high activity from 1977-1980, resulting in some of his most interesting collaborations. Starting in 1977, Fripp joined Brian Eno in Germany to add guitar parts to David Bowie’s “Heroes.”  This was followed by Fripp’s production of albums for Daryl Hall (Sacred Songs), Peter Gabriel (his second album with the “Scratch” cover) and the eponymously titled album by The Roches, plus sessions with an amalgam of like-minded artists including Peter Hammill (of Van Der Graaf Generator), Brian Eno, Blondie (on Parallel Lines), Jerry Marrota, Phil Collins and Tony Levin. Some of these sessions resulted in tracks that made up Fripp’s first solo record, Exposure released in 1979. After the release of Exposure, Fripp also participated in sessions with Talking Heads (Remain In Light), David Bowie (Scary Monsters) and Peter Gabriel (his third album known as Melt).

God Save The Queen/Under Heavy Manners was the follow-up to Exposure, which was supposed to be the third in a trilogy of records he produced, with Sacred Songs by Daryl Hall as the first and Peter Gabriel’s second album as the second. However, RCA records refused to release the Daryl Hall record in 1977 deeming it too uncommercial (and kept it on the shelf for a full three years), so a re-think was needed.

At this point, Fripp was enmeshed in “Frippertronics” which is a tape loop technique he and Brian Eno developed putting two reel-to-reel tape decks side by side, with the tape on the recording deck capturing a sound and then as the tape passes through the playback head of the second deck, it is played back with a delay before being threaded onto the take-up reel of the second deck.

Fripp had used the technique on the albums No Pussyfooting and Evening Star with Brian Eno, on David Bowie’s Heroes, as well as on Exposure and the Hall and Gabriel records. The God Save The Queen album side (designated as “Side One”) featured pure Frippertronic recordings of just loops, while the Under Heavy Manners side (designated as “Side A”) featured what Fripp termed “Discotronics,” which augmented the pure “Frippertronics” with a dance beat.

During the recording  of Manners, Fripp was also working with Talking Heads on their album Remain In Light, so for the only track with vocals, Fripp invited David Byrne (billed as Absalm el Habib) to sing. All of the guitar tracks on the album were recorded live in 1979 while Fripp toured behind Exposure, with the bass played by Busta Jones who was also involved in the Talking Heads sessions, and drum tracks by Paul Duskin, added later in the studio.

Song Of The Day – “Company In My Back” (Live Version from Kicking Television) by Wilco

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wilcokickingLive albums. They are the most maligned recordings by critics, yet the fans just love them. You don’t believe me? Ask Peter Frampton, The Allman Brothers, Led Zeppelin, Yes, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Neil Young, Neil Diamond, Little Feat, The Who, Lou Reed, Cheap Trick and Kiss to name a few, who have made classic live albums and have benefitted from huge sales. Heck, live albums are so ingrained in our pop culture, that you can probably name each of the live albums I’m referring to above, just by the list of artists.

In the pantheon of music recordings, live albums live kind of a lowly life. For some they are seen as stop-gap product put out by artists who feel the need to keep their brand in the heads of their fans while they take the time to rejuvenate their creative juices between projects. Artists and record companies alike issue them in order to fulfill contracts. Many love live albums because they act as a souvenir and a powerful reminder of a great night out at a concert they’ve been to, or a concert they would have loved to have seen. Then there are those who love them because they provide an opportunity for us to hear a band stretch out and jam the way they never do in the studio, with warts and all. And when an artist releases a live album, they get to create their own reality, by mixing applause and audience participation wherever they want, in order to heighten the “live” experience.

Perhaps, my favorite of all live albums is “Kicking Television” by Wilco, which is why I have singled it out for today’s Song Of The Day. The album was recorded over four days at the Vic Theater in Chicago (the band’s home turf) in May of 2005, and captures the group touring behind “A Ghost Is Born”, one of their best albums. It was also the first tour and record to feature the great guitarist Nels Cline and crucial multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone in the lineup. The addition of these two members had solidified the Wilco lineup, which remains the same to this day. The shows were also filmed for a proposed DVD, but it never came to fruition. While the record focused mainly on material from “Ghost” and “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot,” it does offer a pretty good representation of what the band was about at the time. It also features some of the walls of feedback the band uses to great effect during performances. The double disc collection features 23 tracks, while the vinyl release adds an additional eight bonus tracks over the four record set.

Another one of the greatest live albums of all time is Talking Heads’ “Stop Making Sense” which captured the expanded version of the group on tour behind the album “Speaking In Tongues.” The show was captured on film from the Pantages Theater in Hollywood by Jonathan Demme in what most critics believe to be the very best concert film of all time. Having seen the tour when it came to the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in New York, I can attest to how great this version of the Heads was at the time.

Critics also generally agree that James Brown’s “Live At The Apollo” was one of the greatest live recordings of all time. The album was recorded at the Apollo Theater in Harlem in October of 1962, and was released by King Records the following year. Brown funded the recording himself when King records balked at the idea that a live record could make money for the company. While no live album could fully capture the power of the Godfather Of Soul in full action, this album does manage to capture a fair share of the excitement Brown was able to create on stage.

Some of my favorite live albums over the years include Lou Reed’s “Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal” from 1974 which also had a sequel from the same Academy Of Music show in the album “Lou Reed Live” the following year. David Bowie’s “David Live” is one the critics particularly hated. The 1974 double album captured from the Tower Theater in Philadelphia while on tour behind “Diamond Dogs,” was reissued on CD several years ago with the correct running order of the show restored, making it much better listening experience. Then there’s Grateful Dead’s “Europe ’72” from the band’s first European tour where they introduced many new songs into their repertoire that are now considered classics. Last year, Grateful Dead productions released all of the concerts from the tour into a mammoth 73 CD set.

There are literally thousands of live albums littering the musical landscape, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the following favorites of mine including Neil Young’s “Rust Never Sleeps”/”Live Rust” albums recorded on tour in 1978, Kraftwerk’s “Minimum/Maximum” recorded in 2004 (it was also one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen for its visuals), Sam Cooke’s “Live At The Harlem Square Club 1963,” Simon & Garfunkel’s “Live In Central Park” (mainly because I was there), Roy Orbison’s “A Black And White Night” (featuring Orbison backed by an all-star band that included Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt, kd lang, Jackson Browne and many others), Gram Parsons and the Fallen Angels “Live 1973” which was recorded at Ultrasonic Studios in Long Island for broadcast on WLIR FM, John Coltrane’s “Live At The Village Vanguard” from 1963, Miles Davis’ “Complete Cellar Door Recordings” from 1970, Bob Marley’s “Live” from 1976, Nirvana’s “MTV Unplugged” and Frank Zappa’s “Zappa In New York.”

OK, so I’ve covered my favorites and purposely excluded some of the classics. What are your favorite live albums and why?

Song Of The Day – “Electricity (Drugs)” by Talking Heads

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In deference to friends and family on the East Coast, I’ve postponed my Halloween posting this year in favor of some much needed “Electricity.” When it was released on their 1979 album “Fear Of Music,” the Talking Heads song “Electricity” was renamed “Drugs.” But since family and friends back east could probably use some electricity at this point, I’ve decided to revert back to the song’s original title. Now that I think of it, if you are indeed one of the millions without electricity, perhaps some drugs could help too…just sayin’. Anywho, if you are reading this perhaps you have already recovered power, and if this is the case, I would ask you to repost this essential Talking Heads song in order to spread some “Electricity,” and yes, some “Drugs” around for everyone else. That’s my last comment on Sandy…now back to Talking Heads. By 1979, Brian Eno’s influence was felt all over the Heads’ music, especially on more atmospheric songs like this one. Eno’s input was beginning to create a chasm within the band because they felt that he was monopolizing David Byrne’s attention. Whatever tension Eno’s presence created resulted in the band taking off in a far more interesting direction. This version of “Electricity” comes from the live album “The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads.”

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Elephant Talk” by King Crimson

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Well, here we are deep in the heart of Presidential debate season, and all we are getting is a bunch of “Elephant Talk.” No matter what your views are, one listen to this essential King Crimson track should put us all in agreement that it’s just “Talk…it’s only talk.” By 1981, King Crimson were coming off a seven year layoff following their 1974 swansong “Red,” with a brand new lineup featuring Robert Fripp on lead guitar, Adrian Belew, who had already toured with David Bowie and Frank Zappa and was currently working with Talking Heads on rhythm guitar, Tony Levin on Chapman Stick (bass) and Bill Bruford on drums. Not only was this a new lineup for the mighty Crimson, but with it came a new streamlined and somewhat danceable sound. Indeed, Fripp had already experimented with dance music in his instrumental group The League Of Gentlemen, and with the addition of Belew who was fresh off the road with Talking Heads, they cemented this new more approachable direction for the band. The resultant album was called “Discipline” and it is a stunner that stands mighty tall in their immense catalog. This particular lineup was one of the band’s most stable, lasting for a three years and the release of the albums “Beat” in 1982 and “Three Of A Perfect Pair” in 1984. During this period the band toured relentlessly around the world until Fripp decided to dissolve the band on the last night of the “Three Of A Perfect Pair” tour. “Talk…it’s only talk…”