1939 - This was the day when the right wing conservative so-called Daughters of the American Revolution banned Afro-American Marian Anderson from performing at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. Ms. Anderson was a contralto singer, and one of the most celebrated singers of the twentieth century. Music critic Alan Blyth said, "Her voice was a rich, vibrant contralto of intrinsic beauty. She also became an important figure in the struggle for black artists to overcome racial prejudice in the United States during the mid twentieth century. The race-driven refusal from Daughters of the American Revolution placed Ms. Anderson into the spotlight of the international community. With the aid of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, Anderson performed a critically acclaimed open-air concert on Easter Sunday, in 1939, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., to a crowd of more than 75,000 people and a radio audience in the millions. She continued to break barriers for black artists in the United States, becoming the first black person, American or otherwise, to perform at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City on January 7, 1955. Her performance as Ulrica in Giuseppe Verdi's Un ballo in maschera at the Met was the only time she sang an opera role on stage. For more videos and details, go to our search section. These videos will give you and idea of just how majestic and powerfully graceful was the voice of Marian Anderson.
1940 - James "Jimmy" Dorsey was a prominent American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter, composer, and big band leader during the forties. He was nick-named JD, and was a composer of several jazz and pop standards, including I'm Glad There is You (In This World of Ordinary People) and It's the Dreamer in Me. On this day in 1940, Jimmy and his orchestra recorded Six Lessons from Madame La Zonga, but we coldn't find it, so howabout another of his hits, Man That's Groovy with the gorgeous and cute Helen O'Connell taking up the lead vocals.
1964 - The Supremes had more hit records than most, in fact 33 of their singles reached the Billboard Top 40 in the United States, 23 reaching either the US or UK Top 10. Twelve of their hits reached number one position around the world, and 12 of their albums reached the Top 10 in either the US or UK, with five of them going to number-one.This was the day they recorded their first ever #1 record, Where Did Our Love Go.
1966 - This was the day Percy Sledge recorded the classic song When a Man Loves a Woman, in 1966 at Norala Sound Studio in Sheffield, Alabama. It made number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B singles charts and was listed 54th in the List of Rolling Stone magazine's 500 greatest songs of all time. Although the song is credited to Calvin Lewis and Andrew Wright, who played bass and keyboards with Sledge, it was, in fact, written by Percy Sledge himself. In a strange fact of history, for some reason, Sledge gave the song to the pair. Before the recording session, the song had no title or lyrics. The session proceeded with the expectation that Sledge would produce them for the vocal takes but when it came time to record the vocals, Sledge improvised the lyrics with minimal pre-planning, using the melody as a guide for rhythm and phrasing. The performance was so convincing that others working on the session assumed Sledge had the lyrics written down.
1967 - This is the first ever father and daughter song to hit the top of the charts all over the world, and while it appears there is no version of Frank and his beautiful daughter singing the song in video form, here's a version we found of Nancy doing it with her brother, Frank Sinatra Junior. The original was recorded 44 years ago today.
1972 - It's 1972, and Isaac Hayes won an Oscar for the Best Music and most Original Song for the song Shaft. Hayes was an American songwriter, musician, singer, and occasional actor, and one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the mid-1960s. Hayes, Porter, Bill Withers, the Sherman Brothers, Steve Cropper, and John Fogerty were all inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005 in recognition of writing scores of notable songs for themselves, the duo Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, and others. The hit song Soul Man"written by Hayes and Porter, and first performed by Sam & Dave"has been recognized as one of the most influential songs of the past 50 years by the Grammy Hall of Fame. This song was also honored by The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, by Rolling Stone magazine, and by the RIAA as the Songs of the Century. During the late 1960s, Hayes also became a recording musician, and recorded several successful soul albums including Hot Buttered Soul and Black Moses. In addition to his work in popular music, Hayes worked as composer of musical scores for motion pictures. This is Shaft.
1973 - Neil Young's docu-autobiography, Journey through the Past, premiered at the U.S. Film Festival in Dallas, and here he is, a long time ago, singing this song, I think from the doco, and in a live London TV show.
1975 - Wasted and beginning on the slow decline that eventually forced the band into rehab, this is one of rock'n'roll's greatest bands, with one of the most amazing frontman of rock, singing alongside his sidekick - one of the most influential rock guitar players on the planet. Aerosmith released this song, Toys in the Attic, 36 years ago.
1990 - Originally the lead singer for pseudo punk band Generation X, Billy Idol released the single Cradle of Love today, making it almost 20 years old. Idol's successful solo career was aided and abetted by a series of stylish music videos, making him one of the first MTV stars. In 1983, in an effort to introduce Idol to American audiences not yet as familiar with him as those in England, Idol's label, Chrysalis Records, released Dancing with Myself in the US in conjunction with a music video (directed by Tobe Hooper, produced by Jeffrey Abelson, and conceptualised by Keith Williams) that played in heavy rotation on MTV for six months. That video sparked a new era of feature film directors trying their hand at music videos. Along with White Wedding then Dancing with Myself and Eyes Without a Face promo videos helped make Idol a household name in America. Billy Idol continues to tour with guitarist Steve Stevens and has a worldwide fan base.
1999 - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers were regular musical guests on New York City's legendary TV show, Saturday Night Live. The band was formed in 1976 by Tom Petty and his mates, Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench, Ron Blair and Stan Lynch. Petty and the Heartbreakers are known for hit singles such as American Girl, Breakdown, The Waiting, Learning to Fly, Refugee and Mary Jane's Last Dance. The Heartbreakers still tour regularly and continue to record albums. Petty has fought against his record company in 1979 over transference to another label and again in 1981 over the price of his record, which was (at that time) considered expensive. He is also outspoken on the current state of the music industry and modern radio stations. On his 2002 album, The Last DJ, Petty sang about that and other issues and talked about them on the bonus DVD that came with the limited edition album.
2000 - It is only 11 years today since Sony Music Entertainment realised it was a whole new ball game with music, and reluctantly announced plans to make its first commercial digital downloads available to U.S. consumers. Sony said it would offer about 50 hit songs from Lauryn Hill, Pearl Jam, Michael Jackson, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and others. Seems weird, right? Especially when you realise that this is the day, just four years ago when iTunes Music Store announced they had sold two billion songs sold on the Internet.
