1889 - A bloke by the name of Charles G. Conn received a patent today, 122 years ago, for his invention, a metal clarinet. His name, Conn, still represents one of the most popular musical instrument names, especially for clarinets. He was born in Phelps, New York, but moved with his parents to Elkhart, Indiana, in 1851. He attended the common schools and enlisted in the Union Army on May 18, 1861, serving as a private in the band of Company B, Fifteenth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry. After the war he engaged in the grocery and bakery business and, in 1877, into the manufacture of band instruments at Elkhart, Indiana. The clarinet could sound real cool, like this.
1939 - This was the day when pop star of the late 30s, Allan Jones, recorded his hit song, but there doesn't appear to be a clip of it, so we landed this one from four years later, when he sings another of his hits, What is this Thing Called Love, taken from the film, You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith.
1964 - The Honeycombs were an English beat/pop group, founded in 1963 in North London by hair dresser Martin Murray, his salon assistant, 20-year-old Honey Lantree, her young brother, John, and two of his mates, and they called themselves The Sheratons. They played dates in the West End of London, and at the Mildmay Tavern, a pub in North London. Among those in the audience on February 1964, was aspiring songwriting team Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley, who ended up writing a song for the newly-named Honeycombs. The song ended up being Have I The Right, a million seller that reached #1 today.
1965 - Bob Dylan's second electric album, Highway 61 Revisited, was released today, his sixth studio album. Having recorded one side of his previous album Bringing It All Back Home with a rock band, Highway 61 was Dylan's first album to be recorded with a rock band on every track - except for the 11 minute closing song Desolation Row, which was performed on acoustic guitar. The album is considered to be among Dylan's best and most influential effort, with songs that would become classic songs such as Like a Rolling Stone, Desolation Row, Highway 61 Revisited and Ballad of a Thin Man. Dylan is quoted as saying, about the album, "I'm not gonna be able to make a record better than that one... Highway 61 is just too good. There's a lot of stuff on there that I would listen to." The album was ranked #4 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and "Like a Rolling Stone", "Desolation Row", and "Highway 61 Revisited" were listed at #1, #185 and #364, respectively, on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
1966 - The Beach Boys released God Only Knows today, one of the most beautiful of all pop songs, and words are not enough to describe the beauty of this song, so I will let the song sing for itself.
1967 - Manager of the Beatles, Brian Epstein, was found dead in his home from an overdose of sleeping pills, this morning. Epstein also managed several other musical artists such as Gerry & The Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, and Cilla Black. The man who transformed the Beatles' image died of a drug overdose at his home in London in August 1967. The Beatles' early success has been attributed to Epstein's management and sense of style. Paul McCartney said of Epstein: "If anyone was the Fifth Beatle, it was Brian". OK, so we have here an fascinating interview from the UK Tonight Show, with Brian Epstein a year prior to his death, and preceding that, a collection of interview clips with the Beatles at the time, and in years since the death, with time to reflect.
1990 - Another plane crash took lives today when guitarist supremo, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and three members of Eric Clapton's band, were killed in a helicopter crash in Wisconsin. Our first video here is a television news announcement of the disaster, then footage of his final concert, the night before his death. According to reports, the chopper in which they were flying hit a man-made ski slope while trying to navigate through dense fog. That evening, Vaughn had played a show at Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, Wisconsin with Robert Cray & His Memphis Horns, and Eric Clapton. Vaughan was informed by a member of Clapton's crew that three seats were open on a helicopter returning to Chicago with Clapton's crew, but it turned out there was only one seat left; Vaughan requested it from his brother, who obliged. Three members of Eric Clapton's entourage were also killed. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Stevie Ray Vaughan #7 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitarist's of all time.
1992 - This is the day John Lennon's handwritten lyrics to the Beatles' A Day In The Life sold for $87,000 at an auction, so what better video to have than a version of the song, from the studio, of A Day In The Life. Sit back and watch this seldom-seen
1995 - This is the day Pearl Jam were given the seal of approval as they became Neil Young's band as he headlined the Redding Festival. This video is not that good, a total bootleg, and sound and vision not brilliant, but it gives a flash of what it was like.
1939 - This was the day when pop star of the late 30s, Allan Jones, recorded his hit song, but there doesn't appear to be a clip of it, so we landed this one from four years later, when he sings another of his hits, What is this Thing Called Love, taken from the film, You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith.
1964 - The Honeycombs were an English beat/pop group, founded in 1963 in North London by hair dresser Martin Murray, his salon assistant, 20-year-old Honey Lantree, her young brother, John, and two of his mates, and they called themselves The Sheratons. They played dates in the West End of London, and at the Mildmay Tavern, a pub in North London. Among those in the audience on February 1964, was aspiring songwriting team Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley, who ended up writing a song for the newly-named Honeycombs. The song ended up being Have I The Right, a million seller that reached #1 today.
1965 - Bob Dylan's second electric album, Highway 61 Revisited, was released today, his sixth studio album. Having recorded one side of his previous album Bringing It All Back Home with a rock band, Highway 61 was Dylan's first album to be recorded with a rock band on every track - except for the 11 minute closing song Desolation Row, which was performed on acoustic guitar. The album is considered to be among Dylan's best and most influential effort, with songs that would become classic songs such as Like a Rolling Stone, Desolation Row, Highway 61 Revisited and Ballad of a Thin Man. Dylan is quoted as saying, about the album, "I'm not gonna be able to make a record better than that one... Highway 61 is just too good. There's a lot of stuff on there that I would listen to." The album was ranked #4 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and "Like a Rolling Stone", "Desolation Row", and "Highway 61 Revisited" were listed at #1, #185 and #364, respectively, on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
1966 - The Beach Boys released God Only Knows today, one of the most beautiful of all pop songs, and words are not enough to describe the beauty of this song, so I will let the song sing for itself.
1967 - Manager of the Beatles, Brian Epstein, was found dead in his home from an overdose of sleeping pills, this morning. Epstein also managed several other musical artists such as Gerry & The Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, and Cilla Black. The man who transformed the Beatles' image died of a drug overdose at his home in London in August 1967. The Beatles' early success has been attributed to Epstein's management and sense of style. Paul McCartney said of Epstein: "If anyone was the Fifth Beatle, it was Brian". OK, so we have here an fascinating interview from the UK Tonight Show, with Brian Epstein a year prior to his death, and preceding that, a collection of interview clips with the Beatles at the time, and in years since the death, with time to reflect.
1990 - Another plane crash took lives today when guitarist supremo, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and three members of Eric Clapton's band, were killed in a helicopter crash in Wisconsin. Our first video here is a television news announcement of the disaster, then footage of his final concert, the night before his death. According to reports, the chopper in which they were flying hit a man-made ski slope while trying to navigate through dense fog. That evening, Vaughn had played a show at Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, Wisconsin with Robert Cray & His Memphis Horns, and Eric Clapton. Vaughan was informed by a member of Clapton's crew that three seats were open on a helicopter returning to Chicago with Clapton's crew, but it turned out there was only one seat left; Vaughan requested it from his brother, who obliged. Three members of Eric Clapton's entourage were also killed. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Stevie Ray Vaughan #7 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitarist's of all time.
1992 - This is the day John Lennon's handwritten lyrics to the Beatles' A Day In The Life sold for $87,000 at an auction, so what better video to have than a version of the song, from the studio, of A Day In The Life. Sit back and watch this seldom-seen
1995 - This is the day Pearl Jam were given the seal of approval as they became Neil Young's band as he headlined the Redding Festival. This video is not that good, a total bootleg, and sound and vision not brilliant, but it gives a flash of what it was like.
