1963 - This is the day, just a couple of years short of half a century ago, that the Rolling Stones' first record, Come On, was released. Couldn't find this video anywhere, dear reader, so have posted this little gem from around the same era. What do you think? For lots more vintage Stones videos and info, go to our archive search engine.
1966 - Roy Orbison's first wife Claudette was killed in a motorcycle accident, today, a tragic event that can radically change anybody's life, and in the case of anyone creative, be inspirational to one's art. This was the case with singer, song writer Orbison, and the following was one of the songs Orbison wrote about his wife, Claudette. He first wrote it for the Everly Brothers in 1958. Following that vid is another song inspired by Orbison's wife, Oh Pretty Woman. The lyrics tell the story of a man who sees a pretty woman walking by. He yearns for her and wonders if, as beautiful as she is, she might be lonely like he. At the last minute, she turns back and joins him. The title was inspired by Orbison's wife Claudette when she interrupted a conversation to announce she was going out; when Orbison asked if she was okay for cash, his co-writer Bill Dees interjected, "A pretty woman never needs any money."
1969 - Johnny Cash proved himself to be more than a capable television host when his show debuted his own network show on CBS-TV. He featured many stars of the day, and introducing many of the new wave artists of the time, to a national audience, meshing his country roots with with his 'good act/song sensisbility'. On this occasion Linda Ronstadt appears but has a little difficulty with the song because of the key it's in - clearly Cash's singing key. However, it doesn't really matter-she gets through it PLUS her mini-skirt is kind of bewitching...;>)))...what do you think?
1969 - What is a supergroup and when did they start? Well, in the big band era there were many supergroups, but in the rock era, too, there have been many - most of whom form for one-off events. But one of the first rock-era supergroups was Blind Faith, which made its British debut today with a free concert at London's Hyde Park. Hyped as the first ever super-group - although some would say that title belongs to Cream - this brilliant band was as super as it gets. Blind Faith was an English blues-rock band that consisted of Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Steve Winwood and Ric Grech. The band released their only album, Blind Faith, in August 1969. They were stylistically similar to the bands in which Winwood, Baker, and Clapton had most recently participated - Traffic and Cream. Here are three videos; the first of the band at the Hyde Park free concert, the second two, promos for the resulting album.
1972 - Grease was not yet the word when the original musical opened on Broadway almost 40 years ago today. It had been playing off-Broadway for about 4 months, but garnered so much attention and thus demand for the show to go mainstream, and it did as a live musical. When Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta were chosen to play lead roles in the movie version of the stage show, Grease very soon became the word all over the globe. Thanks to songs like this, which Newton-John and Tavolta performed in an infectious manner.
1976 - The roots of Beatles' music lay in the rock'n'roll music genre which evolved into mainstream during the fifties. Because of this, Capitol Records today released the Beatles record collection entitled Rock 'N' Roll Music. Anyone who still doesn't believe that the Beatles' roots were in rock'n'roll check out this album. The LP is a compilation album that predominantly consists of previously released Beatles tracks considered by many to be quintessential rock and roll music. The album was released on 7 June 1976, on Capitol Records (catalogue number SKBO 11537) in the United States and on Parlophone (PCSP 719) 10 June 1976 in the United Kingdom, and, at the time, some in the media speculated that the album was released to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the first meeting between John Lennon and Paul McCartney. If that was indeed the intention, EMI miscalculated, as the two actually first met in July 1957. The title, Rock 'n' Roll Music, presumably comes from the song of the same title by Chuck Berry, The Beatles' version of which is included on side two of the album. The album is primarily made up of cover versions of songs written by significant rock and roll composers of the fifties, including Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Larry Williams, although some notable Lennon-McCartney originals, such as Drive My Car, Revolution, Back in the U.S.S.R. and Get Back are included on the album. No question they were a rock'n'roll band, and could write great r'n'r songs. Rock 'n' Roll Music was the first Beatles album to include I'm Down, which had previously only been available as the B-side of the Help! single. So, first up their version of Rock'n'Roll music, and then one of my fave Beatles songs, I'm Down, live at Shea Stadium in, I think, 1966. This is full-tilt Beatles-style rock'n'roll, and if you watch George and John (on piano), you'll grin at the obvious enthusiastic fun they're having. Effortlessly cool.
1979 - Poor Chuck Berry, incessantly hounded by the authorities, incessantly misbehaving. This was the day Chuck Berry was charged with 3 counts of tax evasion - but on the same day, he performed at the White House at the request of U.S. President Carter. What exactly was thew American government thinking? This video comes from the same date, after he'd met with Carter, with a killer performance on the Tonight Show, hosted by a very young looking David Letterman.
1990 - It's now 21 years since The Black Crowes played their debut UK gig at the Marquee in London, where many of the greats had preceded them during the previous three decades. In the same style as The Faces and The Stones, the Crowes, at their peak, were a credible rock'n'roll band, as you can see with this video, live on TV, from around the same period.
