1941 - Seventy years to the very day, crooner Frank Sinatra joined Tommy Dorsey's Orchestra in recording a song called This Love of Mine, one of the very few songs written by Sinatra. One suspects this was written with about Ava Gardner, with whom he was enchanted at this time. Only a guess, mind. I have been hunting down this video for 18 months - and finally.
1955 - Billboard magazine reported that The Ballad of Davy Crocket was the most popular song in the U.S today, sung originally by Bill Hayes from Days Of Our Lives, and speaking of which, here he is, on set, with the song. Are you old enough to remember this song? Who'd have thunk it?
1957 - The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) was established, and is now known for organizing the Grammy Awards. Just six years later, same day, and during a UK tour supporting Roy Orbison - tonight at the Gaumont Cinema in Worcester - there was a little known quartet from Liverpool called the Beatles. Three years later, same day, The Rolling Stones single Paint It Black" hit #1 in the U.K, while across the pond in USA, same day, 1966, Herb Alpert And The Tijuana Brass went to #1 on the US album chart with What Now My Love. This set a new American record, with four albums in the US Top Ten; the other three Herb Alpert albums in the charts were; South of the Border, Going Places and Whipped Cream and Other Delights. But for now, a rarely viewed video of that #1 hit.
1966 - In the same year and on the same day once again, Ike & Tina Turner released River Deep, Mountain, High, #33 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time according to Rolling Stone magazine. Pretty amazing for a song that only reached #88 when it was first released. Written by Phil Spector, Jeff Barry, and Ellie Greenwich, River Deep - Mountain High was among the first recordings that Ike & Tina Turner did for Phil Spector's Philles Records. Spector was well aware of Ike Turner's controlling attitude in the studio, and as a result drew up an unusual contract...funny considering Spector's legendary control freak personality, viz - the River Deep, Mountain High album and single would be credited to Ike & Tina Turner, but Ike would be paid $20,000 to stay away from the studio, and only Tina Turner's vocals would be used on record. Considered by Spector to be his best work, the single was successful in Europe, peaking at #3 in the United Kingdom, though it flopped on its original release in the United States. Spector claimed to be pleased with the response from the critics and his peers, but he soon withdrew from the music industry for two years, and it would appear it may well have been the beginning of his personal decline. The track was recorded using Spector's iconic "Wall of Sound" production technique, and cost a then-unheard of $22,000, requiring 21 session musicians, and 21 background vocalists. After Eric Burdon covered the song in 1968, it was re-released a year later, and has since become one of Tina Turner's signature songs. Other notable versions came from The Saints and the Easybeats. OK dear reader, check out this piece of history.
1966 - It was a very big year, 1966, the year, too, that Percy Sledge started a two week run at #1 on the US singles chart with When A Man Loves A Woman...and it's first day as the most popular song was today, May 28. For a video and other details about this song, go to our archive search engine.
1969 - Rolling Stone Mick Jagger and his girlfriend Marianne Faithfull were arrested in their London home, on marijuana possession charges. Marianne Faithfull remains an award winning singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned over four decades. Her early work in pop and rock music in the 1960s was overshadowed by her struggle with drug abuse in the 1970s, and her need to find herself. During the first two thirds of that decade, and with very little notice, she produced only two studio albums. After a long commercial absence, she returned late in 1979 with her landmark album, Broken English. Faithfull's subsequent solo work, often critically acclaimed, has at times been overshadowed by her personal history. We all know that from 1966 to 1970, she had a highly-publicised romantic relationship with Rolling Stones' lead singer, Mick Jagger, and I can only imagine what that must have been like for her self-esteem. Several of the group's best-known songs were inspired by Faithfull, including Sympathy for the Devil and Wild Horses. She wrote Sister Morphine which features on their Sticky Fingers album. Like many acts before them - and including peers such as Led Zeppelin - The Stones ripped off many songs, and put their own names as writers, including this one, Sister Morphine. The song was originally released by Faithfull as a single in 1969, with Jagger on acoustic guitar, Charlie Watts on drums, Ry Cooder on slide guitar, and Jack Nitzsche, the producer, on piano. Only 500 copies of went out. The Stones' version was recorded in May and June 1969, but never released as a single. It features Jagger on vocals, Ry Cooder on bottleneck guitar, Keith Richards on acoustic guitar, and Jack Nitzsche on piano. The Stones still have not acknowledged Faithfull wrote the song, although her name appeared on the credits of the 1994 remastered release of Sticky Fingers. No vids exist that I can find of Faithfull doing this from back then, but how about this knockout live version from just two years ago, in Paris. This is a bootleg, thank you to youtuber zerockerparis.
1973 - Small Faces and subsequent Faces founder, the late Ronnie Lane, left the band he originally formed, so he could pursue his own solo career. Nicknamed "Plonk", Lane co-founded the Small Faces in 1965, with one of the greatest rock singers of all time, Steve Marriot, with whom Lane Lane began writing hit songs consistently, including classics such as Itchycoo Park and All or Nothing. At least a dozen successful songs credit Lane. The band disbanded in 1969 when Marriott left the group. Lane then formed The Faces with McLagan, Jones, Ronnie Wood and Rod Stewart (both ex-The Jeff Beck Group), in 1969. He shared primary songwriting duties in Faces with Rod Stewart, composing, or co-composing, many of their best-loved songs and taking a central role during the recording of their fourth and final album, Ooh La La, as Rod Stewart focused on his own solo career. Unhappy with poor reviews of the album and Stewart's lack of commitment, Lane quit the band, 38 years ago to the day. He collaborated with other musicians, leading his own bands as well as pursuing a solo career while remaining close to his former band mates. In the late 1970s he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and, despite charity projects and financial support from friends, former bandmates and fans, Lane, died at 51, after suffering from the disease for 21 years. The Faces and Small Faces - their predecessor -, along with Kinks were amongst the best of the British rock'n'roll bands. Here are a couple of tunes to convince you, dear reader. Ronnie Lane, without question, one of the unsung rock'n'roll greats.
1976 - The sad tale of the Allman Brothers Band continued today, as they discontinued today, after teetering on the brink for many years. Indeed, despite two deaths, excessive alcohol consumption and drug addiction, the band managed to limp along until 1976, when Gregg Allman was arrested on federal drug charges, and, according to Wiki, agreed to testify against a friend and tour manager and bodyguard for the band, John "Scooter" Herring. Band members Leavell, Johanson, and Williams formed Sea Level, while Dickie Betts, who had been been becoming band leader, worked on his solo career. All four swore that they would never work with Allman again.
1983 - She's a show biz girl, and has spent her life in show business, singing, acting, hosting and song writing, and she is Irene Cara. This is the day the academy award winner hit the charts big time, with a six-week run at #1. Cara won an Academy Award in 1984 in the category of Best Original Song for co-writing Flashdance, What a Feeling. She is also known for her recording of the song Fame, and she starred in the 1980 movie of the same name. Would you believe it's almost 30 years since this piece of music promo film hit our TV screens. And those leotards. What a feeling!
1955 - Billboard magazine reported that The Ballad of Davy Crocket was the most popular song in the U.S today, sung originally by Bill Hayes from Days Of Our Lives, and speaking of which, here he is, on set, with the song. Are you old enough to remember this song? Who'd have thunk it?
1957 - The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) was established, and is now known for organizing the Grammy Awards. Just six years later, same day, and during a UK tour supporting Roy Orbison - tonight at the Gaumont Cinema in Worcester - there was a little known quartet from Liverpool called the Beatles. Three years later, same day, The Rolling Stones single Paint It Black" hit #1 in the U.K, while across the pond in USA, same day, 1966, Herb Alpert And The Tijuana Brass went to #1 on the US album chart with What Now My Love. This set a new American record, with four albums in the US Top Ten; the other three Herb Alpert albums in the charts were; South of the Border, Going Places and Whipped Cream and Other Delights. But for now, a rarely viewed video of that #1 hit.
1966 - In the same year and on the same day once again, Ike & Tina Turner released River Deep, Mountain, High, #33 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time according to Rolling Stone magazine. Pretty amazing for a song that only reached #88 when it was first released. Written by Phil Spector, Jeff Barry, and Ellie Greenwich, River Deep - Mountain High was among the first recordings that Ike & Tina Turner did for Phil Spector's Philles Records. Spector was well aware of Ike Turner's controlling attitude in the studio, and as a result drew up an unusual contract...funny considering Spector's legendary control freak personality, viz - the River Deep, Mountain High album and single would be credited to Ike & Tina Turner, but Ike would be paid $20,000 to stay away from the studio, and only Tina Turner's vocals would be used on record. Considered by Spector to be his best work, the single was successful in Europe, peaking at #3 in the United Kingdom, though it flopped on its original release in the United States. Spector claimed to be pleased with the response from the critics and his peers, but he soon withdrew from the music industry for two years, and it would appear it may well have been the beginning of his personal decline. The track was recorded using Spector's iconic "Wall of Sound" production technique, and cost a then-unheard of $22,000, requiring 21 session musicians, and 21 background vocalists. After Eric Burdon covered the song in 1968, it was re-released a year later, and has since become one of Tina Turner's signature songs. Other notable versions came from The Saints and the Easybeats. OK dear reader, check out this piece of history.
1966 - It was a very big year, 1966, the year, too, that Percy Sledge started a two week run at #1 on the US singles chart with When A Man Loves A Woman...and it's first day as the most popular song was today, May 28. For a video and other details about this song, go to our archive search engine.
1969 - Rolling Stone Mick Jagger and his girlfriend Marianne Faithfull were arrested in their London home, on marijuana possession charges. Marianne Faithfull remains an award winning singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned over four decades. Her early work in pop and rock music in the 1960s was overshadowed by her struggle with drug abuse in the 1970s, and her need to find herself. During the first two thirds of that decade, and with very little notice, she produced only two studio albums. After a long commercial absence, she returned late in 1979 with her landmark album, Broken English. Faithfull's subsequent solo work, often critically acclaimed, has at times been overshadowed by her personal history. We all know that from 1966 to 1970, she had a highly-publicised romantic relationship with Rolling Stones' lead singer, Mick Jagger, and I can only imagine what that must have been like for her self-esteem. Several of the group's best-known songs were inspired by Faithfull, including Sympathy for the Devil and Wild Horses. She wrote Sister Morphine which features on their Sticky Fingers album. Like many acts before them - and including peers such as Led Zeppelin - The Stones ripped off many songs, and put their own names as writers, including this one, Sister Morphine. The song was originally released by Faithfull as a single in 1969, with Jagger on acoustic guitar, Charlie Watts on drums, Ry Cooder on slide guitar, and Jack Nitzsche, the producer, on piano. Only 500 copies of went out. The Stones' version was recorded in May and June 1969, but never released as a single. It features Jagger on vocals, Ry Cooder on bottleneck guitar, Keith Richards on acoustic guitar, and Jack Nitzsche on piano. The Stones still have not acknowledged Faithfull wrote the song, although her name appeared on the credits of the 1994 remastered release of Sticky Fingers. No vids exist that I can find of Faithfull doing this from back then, but how about this knockout live version from just two years ago, in Paris. This is a bootleg, thank you to youtuber zerockerparis.
1973 - Small Faces and subsequent Faces founder, the late Ronnie Lane, left the band he originally formed, so he could pursue his own solo career. Nicknamed "Plonk", Lane co-founded the Small Faces in 1965, with one of the greatest rock singers of all time, Steve Marriot, with whom Lane Lane began writing hit songs consistently, including classics such as Itchycoo Park and All or Nothing. At least a dozen successful songs credit Lane. The band disbanded in 1969 when Marriott left the group. Lane then formed The Faces with McLagan, Jones, Ronnie Wood and Rod Stewart (both ex-The Jeff Beck Group), in 1969. He shared primary songwriting duties in Faces with Rod Stewart, composing, or co-composing, many of their best-loved songs and taking a central role during the recording of their fourth and final album, Ooh La La, as Rod Stewart focused on his own solo career. Unhappy with poor reviews of the album and Stewart's lack of commitment, Lane quit the band, 38 years ago to the day. He collaborated with other musicians, leading his own bands as well as pursuing a solo career while remaining close to his former band mates. In the late 1970s he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and, despite charity projects and financial support from friends, former bandmates and fans, Lane, died at 51, after suffering from the disease for 21 years. The Faces and Small Faces - their predecessor -, along with Kinks were amongst the best of the British rock'n'roll bands. Here are a couple of tunes to convince you, dear reader. Ronnie Lane, without question, one of the unsung rock'n'roll greats.
1976 - The sad tale of the Allman Brothers Band continued today, as they discontinued today, after teetering on the brink for many years. Indeed, despite two deaths, excessive alcohol consumption and drug addiction, the band managed to limp along until 1976, when Gregg Allman was arrested on federal drug charges, and, according to Wiki, agreed to testify against a friend and tour manager and bodyguard for the band, John "Scooter" Herring. Band members Leavell, Johanson, and Williams formed Sea Level, while Dickie Betts, who had been been becoming band leader, worked on his solo career. All four swore that they would never work with Allman again.
1983 - She's a show biz girl, and has spent her life in show business, singing, acting, hosting and song writing, and she is Irene Cara. This is the day the academy award winner hit the charts big time, with a six-week run at #1. Cara won an Academy Award in 1984 in the category of Best Original Song for co-writing Flashdance, What a Feeling. She is also known for her recording of the song Fame, and she starred in the 1980 movie of the same name. Would you believe it's almost 30 years since this piece of music promo film hit our TV screens. And those leotards. What a feeling!
