1960 - Only the Lonely (Know the Way I Feel) is a 1960 song written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson, which became a world wide hit, reaching # 2 on American charts 51 years ago today, then similar upper echelon chart positions around the world. Orbison's version was his first major hit, and his singing style, together with the format of the song, brought a new style of pop writing, described at the time as being like an operatic rock ballad, it was a sound unheard of at the time, described by the New York Times as expressing "a clenched, driven urgency". By all accounts, Only the Lonely is seen as a seminal event in the evolution of rock'n'oll. In 1999, it was honoured with a Grammy Hall of Fame Award, and in 2004, Rolling Stone ranked it 232 on their list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Rocklore has it that the song was first offered to the Everly Brothers, then to Elvis Presley, and when they rejected it, Orbison recorded his version.
1962 - The Elvis Presley film Kid Galahad premiered today, and although the critics buried this and other Presley movies, the fact is they became bankable staples, most earning a fortune, always gaining him fans, and most featured at least one good song. Enjoy this one, dear reader. Three years later on the same day, Dylan did electric at the Newport Jazz Festival. For more details and videos of the Newport Jazz Festival, Presley or Dylan's folk-to-rock moment, just go to our search engine. On this same day in 1966, the Rolling Stones performed their final US concert with Brian Jones, the original soul behind the original Rolling Stones - his contribution to rock and roll’s greatest gang was immutable - from the way they dressed to the way they sounded. He came up with the band’s name, served as their first manager and gave them their direction. We take a *MUSICBACKTRACK* look back at the Stones in the recording studio when they were recording Let’s Spend The Night Together, in 1967. A group effort saw Richards play piano and bass while Jones provided the ethereal organ sounds that fill out this soulful Stones hit. It was one of the tracks that defined the second phase of the band and one of Jones’ final significant contributions. This is extremely rare footage of the Stones in the studio - Jones for the final time. No available footage of the final gig in San Fran - hope this footage is OK with you.
1967 - In a full page advertisement, The Beatles and other U.K. rock groups urged the British government to legalize marijuana. Their comments were made in a London Times advertisement, today, and signed by all four of the Beatles; two years later, in 1969, Neil Young made his first appearance with Crosby, Stills, Nash. Sorry, dear reader, just could not find the first appearance despite searching for hours. So...here are CSNY live at Big Sur, California, September 14, 1969...only a few months later, so still the new boy, and this is the new boy who wrote this song.
1970 - One of the great songs for the past four decades, Chicago's 25 or 6 to 4, was released today; a near-perfect riff, a brass section stanza to die for, and one of the great guitar solos. This is the band recording it at the famous studio, the Caribou Ranch, in Colorado. The band was original named Chicago Transit Authority, but shortened it to Chicago.
1975 - It was 36 years ago that the musical, A Chorus Line debuted on Broadway. A Chorus Line is a musical about Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line, the music composed by Marvin Hamlisch. Set on the bare stage of a Broadway theatre during an audition for a musical, the show provides a glimpse into the personalities of the performers and the choreographer as they describe the events that have shaped their lives and their decisions to become dancers. Directed and choreographed by Michael Bennett, A Chorus Line had unprecedented box office action, and was a critical hit, receiving 12 Tony Award nominations and winning nine of them, in addition to the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It ran for 6,137 performances, and became the longest-running production in Broadway history up to that time. It remains the longest running Broadway musical originally produced in the United States, and the fourth longest-running Broadway show ever. The show has enjoyed many successful productions worldwide and was revived on Broadway in 2006.
The show closed in 1990 after 6,137 performances.
1970 - This was the day The Carpenters started a four week run at #1 on the US singles chart with the song, (They Long To Be) Close To You'. The first of three worldwide #1s, and another 17 top 40 hits. The song was written in 1963 by two of the world's most prolific and successful song writing partnerships, Hal David and Burt Bacharach. It was first offered to Herb Alpert, but he rejected it, saying he didn't feel comfortable singing the line: 'so they sprinkled moon dust in your hair'.
1971 - T Rex, the group led by Marc Bolan, was at #1 exactly 40 years ago, today, with the song, Get It On, the group's second UK #1 hit record. For more information on Marc Bolan and T. Rex, you can go to our archive search engine. Look closely, and you'll see Elton John on piano. Miming.
1981- The duo of Air Supply went to #1 on the US singles chart today, with The One That I Love, the group's only US #1. They were the first Australian band to top the US singles chart at that time.
1984 - One of music's true greats, was Willie Mae ‘Big Mama’ Thornton, who died at the age of 58, today in Los Angeles, of heart and liver complications. She had a #1 R&B hit in 1953 with Hound Dog, later covered by Elvis Presley. She also wrote and recorded Ball 'n' Chain, which Janis Joplin recorded. This is the stomping Big Mama Thornton.
1980 - AC/DC released Back In Black today, 31 years ago, the band's first album with Brian Johnson as lead singer, the replacement for the late Bon Scott. The album was dedicated to Scott. Producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, who had previously worked with AC/DC on Highway to Hell, produced the album. The recordings were made at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas, and Electric Lady Studios in New York, where the album was also mixed. Back In black has sold an estimated 49 million copies worldwide to date, making it the second highest selling album of all time, and the highest selling rock'n'roll album, and that is what AC/DC is a rock'n'roll band, not a heavy metal band. I know there are heaps of videos around of this song, but let's go to Koseinen Kin Hall in Tokyo, Japan, at the very start of 1981, barely a year following Scott's death, for a bona fide, cool bananas bootleg of the song, sound quality not real good, but the overall vibe is hard to beat. And didn't we all have lots more hair back then.
1995 - Another of the true greats, Nina Simone fired a gun at a pair of noisy teenagers playing next door to her home in southern France today and she was put on 18 months' probation and ordered to seek psychological counselling. Any excuse to put up Nina, one of my very favourites of all time. Just listen to this live version of her classic is a turn-on - you'd bow down and do as she commanded, wouldn't you? The totally delicious Nine Simone kicking ass.
1962 - The Elvis Presley film Kid Galahad premiered today, and although the critics buried this and other Presley movies, the fact is they became bankable staples, most earning a fortune, always gaining him fans, and most featured at least one good song. Enjoy this one, dear reader. Three years later on the same day, Dylan did electric at the Newport Jazz Festival. For more details and videos of the Newport Jazz Festival, Presley or Dylan's folk-to-rock moment, just go to our search engine. On this same day in 1966, the Rolling Stones performed their final US concert with Brian Jones, the original soul behind the original Rolling Stones - his contribution to rock and roll’s greatest gang was immutable - from the way they dressed to the way they sounded. He came up with the band’s name, served as their first manager and gave them their direction. We take a *MUSICBACKTRACK* look back at the Stones in the recording studio when they were recording Let’s Spend The Night Together, in 1967. A group effort saw Richards play piano and bass while Jones provided the ethereal organ sounds that fill out this soulful Stones hit. It was one of the tracks that defined the second phase of the band and one of Jones’ final significant contributions. This is extremely rare footage of the Stones in the studio - Jones for the final time. No available footage of the final gig in San Fran - hope this footage is OK with you.
1967 - In a full page advertisement, The Beatles and other U.K. rock groups urged the British government to legalize marijuana. Their comments were made in a London Times advertisement, today, and signed by all four of the Beatles; two years later, in 1969, Neil Young made his first appearance with Crosby, Stills, Nash. Sorry, dear reader, just could not find the first appearance despite searching for hours. So...here are CSNY live at Big Sur, California, September 14, 1969...only a few months later, so still the new boy, and this is the new boy who wrote this song.
1970 - One of the great songs for the past four decades, Chicago's 25 or 6 to 4, was released today; a near-perfect riff, a brass section stanza to die for, and one of the great guitar solos. This is the band recording it at the famous studio, the Caribou Ranch, in Colorado. The band was original named Chicago Transit Authority, but shortened it to Chicago.
1975 - It was 36 years ago that the musical, A Chorus Line debuted on Broadway. A Chorus Line is a musical about Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line, the music composed by Marvin Hamlisch. Set on the bare stage of a Broadway theatre during an audition for a musical, the show provides a glimpse into the personalities of the performers and the choreographer as they describe the events that have shaped their lives and their decisions to become dancers. Directed and choreographed by Michael Bennett, A Chorus Line had unprecedented box office action, and was a critical hit, receiving 12 Tony Award nominations and winning nine of them, in addition to the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It ran for 6,137 performances, and became the longest-running production in Broadway history up to that time. It remains the longest running Broadway musical originally produced in the United States, and the fourth longest-running Broadway show ever. The show has enjoyed many successful productions worldwide and was revived on Broadway in 2006.
The show closed in 1990 after 6,137 performances.
1970 - This was the day The Carpenters started a four week run at #1 on the US singles chart with the song, (They Long To Be) Close To You'. The first of three worldwide #1s, and another 17 top 40 hits. The song was written in 1963 by two of the world's most prolific and successful song writing partnerships, Hal David and Burt Bacharach. It was first offered to Herb Alpert, but he rejected it, saying he didn't feel comfortable singing the line: 'so they sprinkled moon dust in your hair'.
1971 - T Rex, the group led by Marc Bolan, was at #1 exactly 40 years ago, today, with the song, Get It On, the group's second UK #1 hit record. For more information on Marc Bolan and T. Rex, you can go to our archive search engine. Look closely, and you'll see Elton John on piano. Miming.
1981- The duo of Air Supply went to #1 on the US singles chart today, with The One That I Love, the group's only US #1. They were the first Australian band to top the US singles chart at that time.
1984 - One of music's true greats, was Willie Mae ‘Big Mama’ Thornton, who died at the age of 58, today in Los Angeles, of heart and liver complications. She had a #1 R&B hit in 1953 with Hound Dog, later covered by Elvis Presley. She also wrote and recorded Ball 'n' Chain, which Janis Joplin recorded. This is the stomping Big Mama Thornton.
1980 - AC/DC released Back In Black today, 31 years ago, the band's first album with Brian Johnson as lead singer, the replacement for the late Bon Scott. The album was dedicated to Scott. Producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, who had previously worked with AC/DC on Highway to Hell, produced the album. The recordings were made at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas, and Electric Lady Studios in New York, where the album was also mixed. Back In black has sold an estimated 49 million copies worldwide to date, making it the second highest selling album of all time, and the highest selling rock'n'roll album, and that is what AC/DC is a rock'n'roll band, not a heavy metal band. I know there are heaps of videos around of this song, but let's go to Koseinen Kin Hall in Tokyo, Japan, at the very start of 1981, barely a year following Scott's death, for a bona fide, cool bananas bootleg of the song, sound quality not real good, but the overall vibe is hard to beat. And didn't we all have lots more hair back then.
1995 - Another of the true greats, Nina Simone fired a gun at a pair of noisy teenagers playing next door to her home in southern France today and she was put on 18 months' probation and ordered to seek psychological counselling. Any excuse to put up Nina, one of my very favourites of all time. Just listen to this live version of her classic is a turn-on - you'd bow down and do as she commanded, wouldn't you? The totally delicious Nine Simone kicking ass.
