1847 - According to folklore, the Stephen Foster song, Oh, Susannah, was sung in public for the first time, 164 years ago today. Song writer Foster sold his rights to the song for a bottle of whiskey, or $100, depending on which part of the legend you listen. Some musicologists have called Foster 'father of American music'. He certainly was the pre-eminent popular songwriter in the USA during the 19th century. His songs have since gone universal, and remain popular today, songs such as Oh! Susanna, Camptown Races, Old Folks at Home (Swanee River), Beautiful Dreamer, and many more, most of which you'd be familiar. like most Americans at that time, Stephen Foster came from immigrant stock, in his case of Scots, Irish and English descent, but born in Lawrenceville, which is now part of the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was youngest of 10 children in a middle-class family that would eventually become nearly destitute after his father became an alcoholic. Many of Foster's songs were of the blackface minstrel show tradition popular at the time. Foster sought, in his own words, to "build up taste among refined people by making words suitable to their taste, instead of the trashy and really offensive words which belong to some songs of that order." There was no real publishing business as such in those days, so he was breaking grounds and a pioneer trying to make a living from the craft. he soon realised the limited scope of him receiving financial rewards from writing songs. He consequently saw very little of the profits generated by his sheet music. Multiple publishers often printed their own competing editions of Foster's tunes, not paying Foster a single cent. For Oh, Susanna, he received $100, and you'll never hear a better version of the song, than this one from James Taylor and Johnny Cash circa 1971.
1850 - They called her the 'singing nightingale', and this is the day Jenny Lind gave her American debut performance, at New York's prestigious Castle Garden Theatre. Actor Virginia Bruce plays the role of the Swedish songstress in the 1934 movie, The Mighty Barnum, about the great American entrepreneur, P.T.Barnum, and from the movie here she is singing one of her most popular songs, Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms (a literal translation).
1945 - They nicknamed him the Texas Troubadour, and this is the day country music singer singer Ernest Tubb recorded the two songs,It Just Doesn't Matter Now, and Love Turns to Hate. One of the pioneers of country music, Tubb is a member of the Country music Hall of Fame. Tubb's biggest hit was Walking The Floor Over You, recorded in 1941, and was at the forefront of the rise of honky tonk style of country music.f
1963 - In a downtown Los Angeles record store today, there was the first-time appearance of an album consisting of what were said to be songs from Bob Dylan. It is said this was the very firriest bootleg album, some of the songs from Dylan's and The Band's legendary Basement Tapes sessions, recorded in the cellar of The Band's upstate New York home, while others were supposedly taped in Minneapolis on December 22, 1961. The recording was never authorised by Dylan or his record company, but it was later dubbed as 'Great White Wonder'. The bootleg album morphed into various forms through the year, but in the meantime, let's revisit Bob Dylan's earliest days in New York City and the recording sessions that first made him famous on The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964.
1964 - Artists owning their own publishing was toyed with by the Beatles way back in 1964, when George Harrison realised he'd need his own publishing company, separate from that of Paul and John's, so he formed his own song publishing company, Harrissongs. Three years later, on the same day, All You Need Is Love by the Beatles was certified as a million seller, helped no doubt, by its world premiere, which you can see right her - just go to our archive search engine. Same day, same year, same group, and The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour bus began cruising the English countryside. Go to our archive for references to this tour, and you might even find a special video clip. We fast forward just eight years to 1975, same day, Aerosmith's self-titled debut album was certified gold. Check out this jaw-dropping version of their first hit, recorded in recent times, with an orchestra. One of rock's best, is Aerosmith. Go to our archive search engine for everything Aerosmith.
1977 - Five months before Christmas, David Bowie and Bing Crosby recorded a duet version of tha standard transitional Chrissie song, The Little Drummer Boy. The song appeared on Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas LP for that year, and was recorded here for a Xmas-styled TV special. Brilliant clip...how amazingly humble and warm is Bing Crosby, a superstar from the era prior to Bowie's era?
1984 - Bruce Springsteen broke the attendance record at Philadelphia's Spectrum tonight, when 16,800 fans attended the first of six sold-out shows. Hard to believe this is 27 years ago, hard to believe how good Springsteen really was, how devoted his fans, and what a brilliant showman he truly has been. Check out this amazing clip, the audience deserves a grammy award for their singing, and check out Bruce's mom singing the chorus of this song. What infectious fun.
1987 - The great Jamaican reggae musician, Peter Tosh, was shot and killed by break-in thieves, at his home, today. Such a stupid way for anyone to go, and just not fair. His father and mother were too young to care for him properly, so he was raised by his aunt, and began to sing and learn guitar at an early age, inspired by American radio stations. he had a notable career in The Wailers, and credible solo career. This is one of his best known songs.
1990 - George Michael was well into his solo career when he released this song 21 years ago today, Listen Without Prejudice, his second album as a solo performer, and arguably his best ever. One thing's for sure, this following song is one of his very best, a modern pop classic for sure. Do you remember this song? Beautiful. And, yes, that's Aerosmith Stephen Tyler's daughter.
1995 - It's now 16 years since Janet Jackson made history with her beautiful soft funk eclectic song, Runaway, when it became the first single by a woman to make its debut in the top 10 of Billboard's Hot 100. Instead of a video of the song, howzabout a short mini-doco on how they did all those special effects in the vid. Worth a look.
1996 - This is the watermark day, when Michael Hutchence of INXS pled guilty to hitting a photographer and was fined $600. Worse than the so-called crime and fine, was the fact that the photo in question, taken by the photo-hound, was of Hutchence and Bob Geldof's estranged wife outside a hotel where they had spent the night, Hutchence lunging at the photographer. The incident became a symbol for British media to begin their cruel onslaught of Yates and Hutchence. less than a year later he was dead. Less than two years later she was dead. Hutchence had begin work on a solo album, and following his death in 1997, Black Grape producer Danny Saber and ex-Gang of Four guitarist Andy Gill completed the album. U2 singer, and Hutchence's friend, Bono recorded lyrics which were added to the track Slide Away. The solo album from Hutchence is one of the great forgotten albums. Hopefully it will be discovered sometime soon. This is a beautiful track, haunting in hindsight, featuring Bono. The clip it a dead-seat bootleg, brilliantly created by some anonymous fans.
1850 - They called her the 'singing nightingale', and this is the day Jenny Lind gave her American debut performance, at New York's prestigious Castle Garden Theatre. Actor Virginia Bruce plays the role of the Swedish songstress in the 1934 movie, The Mighty Barnum, about the great American entrepreneur, P.T.Barnum, and from the movie here she is singing one of her most popular songs, Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms (a literal translation).
1945 - They nicknamed him the Texas Troubadour, and this is the day country music singer singer Ernest Tubb recorded the two songs,It Just Doesn't Matter Now, and Love Turns to Hate. One of the pioneers of country music, Tubb is a member of the Country music Hall of Fame. Tubb's biggest hit was Walking The Floor Over You, recorded in 1941, and was at the forefront of the rise of honky tonk style of country music.f
1963 - In a downtown Los Angeles record store today, there was the first-time appearance of an album consisting of what were said to be songs from Bob Dylan. It is said this was the very firriest bootleg album, some of the songs from Dylan's and The Band's legendary Basement Tapes sessions, recorded in the cellar of The Band's upstate New York home, while others were supposedly taped in Minneapolis on December 22, 1961. The recording was never authorised by Dylan or his record company, but it was later dubbed as 'Great White Wonder'. The bootleg album morphed into various forms through the year, but in the meantime, let's revisit Bob Dylan's earliest days in New York City and the recording sessions that first made him famous on The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964.
1964 - Artists owning their own publishing was toyed with by the Beatles way back in 1964, when George Harrison realised he'd need his own publishing company, separate from that of Paul and John's, so he formed his own song publishing company, Harrissongs. Three years later, on the same day, All You Need Is Love by the Beatles was certified as a million seller, helped no doubt, by its world premiere, which you can see right her - just go to our archive search engine. Same day, same year, same group, and The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour bus began cruising the English countryside. Go to our archive for references to this tour, and you might even find a special video clip. We fast forward just eight years to 1975, same day, Aerosmith's self-titled debut album was certified gold. Check out this jaw-dropping version of their first hit, recorded in recent times, with an orchestra. One of rock's best, is Aerosmith. Go to our archive search engine for everything Aerosmith.
1977 - Five months before Christmas, David Bowie and Bing Crosby recorded a duet version of tha standard transitional Chrissie song, The Little Drummer Boy. The song appeared on Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas LP for that year, and was recorded here for a Xmas-styled TV special. Brilliant clip...how amazingly humble and warm is Bing Crosby, a superstar from the era prior to Bowie's era?
1984 - Bruce Springsteen broke the attendance record at Philadelphia's Spectrum tonight, when 16,800 fans attended the first of six sold-out shows. Hard to believe this is 27 years ago, hard to believe how good Springsteen really was, how devoted his fans, and what a brilliant showman he truly has been. Check out this amazing clip, the audience deserves a grammy award for their singing, and check out Bruce's mom singing the chorus of this song. What infectious fun.
1987 - The great Jamaican reggae musician, Peter Tosh, was shot and killed by break-in thieves, at his home, today. Such a stupid way for anyone to go, and just not fair. His father and mother were too young to care for him properly, so he was raised by his aunt, and began to sing and learn guitar at an early age, inspired by American radio stations. he had a notable career in The Wailers, and credible solo career. This is one of his best known songs.
1990 - George Michael was well into his solo career when he released this song 21 years ago today, Listen Without Prejudice, his second album as a solo performer, and arguably his best ever. One thing's for sure, this following song is one of his very best, a modern pop classic for sure. Do you remember this song? Beautiful. And, yes, that's Aerosmith Stephen Tyler's daughter.
1995 - It's now 16 years since Janet Jackson made history with her beautiful soft funk eclectic song, Runaway, when it became the first single by a woman to make its debut in the top 10 of Billboard's Hot 100. Instead of a video of the song, howzabout a short mini-doco on how they did all those special effects in the vid. Worth a look.
1996 - This is the watermark day, when Michael Hutchence of INXS pled guilty to hitting a photographer and was fined $600. Worse than the so-called crime and fine, was the fact that the photo in question, taken by the photo-hound, was of Hutchence and Bob Geldof's estranged wife outside a hotel where they had spent the night, Hutchence lunging at the photographer. The incident became a symbol for British media to begin their cruel onslaught of Yates and Hutchence. less than a year later he was dead. Less than two years later she was dead. Hutchence had begin work on a solo album, and following his death in 1997, Black Grape producer Danny Saber and ex-Gang of Four guitarist Andy Gill completed the album. U2 singer, and Hutchence's friend, Bono recorded lyrics which were added to the track Slide Away. The solo album from Hutchence is one of the great forgotten albums. Hopefully it will be discovered sometime soon. This is a beautiful track, haunting in hindsight, featuring Bono. The clip it a dead-seat bootleg, brilliantly created by some anonymous fans.
