1957 - Buddy Holly and the Crickets auditioned for Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts but were rejected 54 years ago today, after failing the audition. Strange how things happen; six months later, Holly and his band performed on the Arthur Murray Dance Party, and it was all beer and skittles from then on. It was unusual at this time, in the late fifties, to see a rock'n'roll band like the Crickets performing on this middle-of-the-road-type TV show. This video includes the complete introduction by Kathryn Murray, and she definitely gives a feeling of how unusual it was in 1957. Two years later, Holly was dead, killed in a plane crash. He remains one of the most powerful and influential creative forces in rock'n'roll music, influencing and inspiring people like Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones, Don McClean, the Beatles' John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Some critics believe Holly was the archetypal white rock'n'roller. This is a bona fide piece of video and rock'n'roll history.
1957 - It's 54 years ago today that the Everly Brothers made their debut on Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. The two brothers were country-influenced rock and roll performers, known for steel-string guitar playing and close harmony singing. The Everly Brothers are the most successful U.S. rock and roll duo in rock'n'roll history, their greatest period between 1957 and 1964. Like Buddy Holly, they were a massive influence on many music acts, including The Beatles, especially their harmony style, unorthodox at the time.
1965 - Liza Minnelli opened in the production of Flora the Red Menace, May 11. Couldn't find a video of this event, dear reader, but howzabout this little gem with Liza introduced by her mother Judy Garland just a few months beforehand, at the end of 1964 at the London Palladium. Pretty amazing seeing this legendary performer sharing the stage with her up-and-coming daughter, who would later be a superstar and legend in her own right. Liza Minnelli was not quite 20, and not yet a Broadway success, and she looks it, too; the coltish, appealingly gawky girl is still pretty raw (at one point after a costume change she yanks off her earrings just before launching into a song), and Garland seems alternately proud of and bemused by her. The video is pretty raw, too, a rough black-and-white affair that can best be described as serviceable in quality.
1965 - The Byrds made their second TV appearance today back in '65, with Mr. Tambourine Man on NBC's Hullabaloo. Couldn't locate their debut, which was, in fact, three days earlier. On the actual recording of this Dylan song, the Byrds featured the great Leon Russell playing piano. The vocals here are LIVE, while the music is the pre-recorded backing track.
1970 - The triple album Woodstock soundtrack was released 41 years ago today, and regardless of anything else, this following song about the festival itself, for me, musically transports the spirit and the emotion of what the festival was, and what it meant to a generation. No question, Woodstock helped define a generation. This is the beautifully talented Joni Mitchell, who wrote the song about the festival, and following Joni there is the Crosby, Stills and Nash version of the song, with footage from the festival. Show me another performer who reaches into your soul like Joni reaches with this astonishing rendition.
1972 - This was the day John Lennon went mainstream USA when he appeared on the Dick Cavett TV show and said that the FBI had tapped his phone. These are two segments from that evening's show, and it puts a different light on Lennon almost 40 years down the track.
1974 - Steely Dan's Rikki, Don't Lose That Number was released, today, and to celebrate, first up, we go to this date and the Old Grey Whistle Test and You're Reeling In The Years, followed by a fast forward to Ricki, not the original band, but certainly the man who wrote the song, Donald Fegan...and maybe Walter Becker? Can anybody out there tell me?
1995 - We go back 16 years in time, to the very day, when Jimmy Vaughn, Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Buddy Guy and Robert Cray reunited for a tribute to guitar great Stevie Ray Vaughn. All five had played with Vaughan at his last show on August 26, 1990, before he was killed in a helicopter crash. First up Stevie's final concert and his ironic statement about playing the song for the last time...after that, the greatest blues jam you will ever see...R.I.P Stevie Ray.
1957 - It's 54 years ago today that the Everly Brothers made their debut on Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. The two brothers were country-influenced rock and roll performers, known for steel-string guitar playing and close harmony singing. The Everly Brothers are the most successful U.S. rock and roll duo in rock'n'roll history, their greatest period between 1957 and 1964. Like Buddy Holly, they were a massive influence on many music acts, including The Beatles, especially their harmony style, unorthodox at the time.
1965 - Liza Minnelli opened in the production of Flora the Red Menace, May 11. Couldn't find a video of this event, dear reader, but howzabout this little gem with Liza introduced by her mother Judy Garland just a few months beforehand, at the end of 1964 at the London Palladium. Pretty amazing seeing this legendary performer sharing the stage with her up-and-coming daughter, who would later be a superstar and legend in her own right. Liza Minnelli was not quite 20, and not yet a Broadway success, and she looks it, too; the coltish, appealingly gawky girl is still pretty raw (at one point after a costume change she yanks off her earrings just before launching into a song), and Garland seems alternately proud of and bemused by her. The video is pretty raw, too, a rough black-and-white affair that can best be described as serviceable in quality.
1965 - The Byrds made their second TV appearance today back in '65, with Mr. Tambourine Man on NBC's Hullabaloo. Couldn't locate their debut, which was, in fact, three days earlier. On the actual recording of this Dylan song, the Byrds featured the great Leon Russell playing piano. The vocals here are LIVE, while the music is the pre-recorded backing track.
1970 - The triple album Woodstock soundtrack was released 41 years ago today, and regardless of anything else, this following song about the festival itself, for me, musically transports the spirit and the emotion of what the festival was, and what it meant to a generation. No question, Woodstock helped define a generation. This is the beautifully talented Joni Mitchell, who wrote the song about the festival, and following Joni there is the Crosby, Stills and Nash version of the song, with footage from the festival. Show me another performer who reaches into your soul like Joni reaches with this astonishing rendition.
1972 - This was the day John Lennon went mainstream USA when he appeared on the Dick Cavett TV show and said that the FBI had tapped his phone. These are two segments from that evening's show, and it puts a different light on Lennon almost 40 years down the track.
1974 - Steely Dan's Rikki, Don't Lose That Number was released, today, and to celebrate, first up, we go to this date and the Old Grey Whistle Test and You're Reeling In The Years, followed by a fast forward to Ricki, not the original band, but certainly the man who wrote the song, Donald Fegan...and maybe Walter Becker? Can anybody out there tell me?
1995 - We go back 16 years in time, to the very day, when Jimmy Vaughn, Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Buddy Guy and Robert Cray reunited for a tribute to guitar great Stevie Ray Vaughn. All five had played with Vaughan at his last show on August 26, 1990, before he was killed in a helicopter crash. First up Stevie's final concert and his ironic statement about playing the song for the last time...after that, the greatest blues jam you will ever see...R.I.P Stevie Ray.
