January 15, 1967 - DONOVAN appeared at The Royal Albert Hall, London, tonight, with Paul McCartney and George Harrison both attending the show. Scottish-born Donovan emerged from the British folk scene, developing his own eclectic and distinctive style, blending folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music. Donovan first came to fame in the United Kingdom in early 1965 with a series of live performances on the pop TV series, Ready Steady Go!, and his popularity then spread to the US and other countries. After signing with the British label Pye Records in 1965, he recorded a handful of singles and two albums in the folk music vein. Donovan soon began a long and successful collaboration with leading independent record producer Mickie Most, scoring a string of hits in the UK, the US, Australia and other countries. His successful records in the 1960s included the hits Catch the Wind and Colours in 1965, while Sunshine Superman and Hurdy Gurdy Man also became hit records.
1958 - THE EVERLY BROTHERS made their debut on TV on The Perry Como Show, today and we have that first video here. The second video here is for two songs sung on the Alma Coogan TV Show, in London, two years later. For your pleasure, we give you those three songs, All I Have To Do Is Dream, Bird Dog, and 'Til I Kissed Ya .
1961 - MOTOWN Records signed the most successful girl group of all time, The Supremes, today, and six years later, on the same day, Roy Orbison was seen as an actor in the movie, The Fastest Gun Alive, when it had its premiere in New York City. Orbison played a major role in the film, alongside Sheb Wooley, and sang the title song. Here's the promo trailer. Classic, classic promo from 51 years ago.
1967 - THE ROLLING STONES compromised their art in the USA tonight, when they performed on TV's Ed Sullivan Show. They were asked by producers of the show to change the lyrics of their hit song, Let's Spend the Night Together to Let's Spend Some TIME Together. So the Stones disappointingly obliged. Mick half-heartedly rolls his eyes as they sang it, but they changed the lyrics, nevertheless. Here's a general promo montage for the Sullivan show, with a few songs from the Stones and other entertainers.
1972 - DON McCLEAN'S American Pie started a four week run at # in the US, today, then world charts during the next few months. The American singer-songwriter is most famous for his 1971 album American Pie, which contained the aforementioned same-titled song, and another classic, Vincent. McLean recorded his first album, Tapestry, in 1969 in Berkeley, California during the student riots, but it was unanimously rejected by 34 labels, the album attracting good reviews but little notice outside the folk community, and certainly no worthwhile sales. McLean's major break came when he recorded his second album, American Pie, with the promotion of his new major record label. The album spawned two #1 hits, turning McCalean into an international star, thus renewing interest in his debut album, which charted more than two years after its initial release. After his success, McClean wrote And I Love You, a song that was covered by Elvis, Helen Reddy, Shirley Bassey, and Perry Como. But it was his hit song, the sprawling, impressionistic ballad, American Pie, which was inspired partly by the deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J. P. Richardson (The Big Bopper) in a plane crash on 3 February 1959, that made McClean a superstar. The song popularized the expression 'The Day the Music Died'.
1991 - SEAN LENNON'S remake of his father's Give Peace A Chance was released today, coinciding with the United Nations' midnight deadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait. The lyrics were updated to reflect concerns of the 1990's, and featured many stars of the global music industry.
1994 - HARRY NILSON died in his sleep of heart failure, tonight, after spending the previous day in the recording studio. He wrote and recorded Everybody's Talkin' from the film, Midnight Cowboy, and wrote hits for Three Dog Night and The Monkees. He also had the worldwide #1 hit, Without You, a Badfinger song. When John Lennon and Paul McCartney held a press conference in 1968 to announce the formation of Apple Corps, John was asked to name his favourite American artist, and he replied, "Nilsson". Paul was then asked to name his favourite American group, and he, replied, "Nilsson".
1998 - Junior Wells died today, after being diagnosed with cancer six months earlier. During November of that year, '97, Wells suffered a heart attack while undergoing treatment, hence sending him into a coma. He died in Chicago, after succumbing to lymphoma on January 15, 1998, and was interred in the Oak Woods Cemetery, Chicago. Junior Wells worked with Muddy Waters, Van Morrison, Carlos Santana, Bonnie Raitt and The Rolling Stones, but the blues harmonica player, vocalist and recording artist remains best known for his performances and recordings with guitar extraordinare, Buddy Guy. Two clips follow, the first from Germany in 1966, at the American Folk Blues Festival. The guitarist is Otis Rush.
1998 - JAMES BROWN was admitted to a hospital for treatment for an addiction to painkillers, today, at the age of 64. He was released on January 21, 1998. James Brown is, without doubt, one of the true legends of contemporary soul, funk, rock'n'roll music, and this is he in full flight. Amen.
1958 - THE EVERLY BROTHERS made their debut on TV on The Perry Como Show, today and we have that first video here. The second video here is for two songs sung on the Alma Coogan TV Show, in London, two years later. For your pleasure, we give you those three songs, All I Have To Do Is Dream, Bird Dog, and 'Til I Kissed Ya .
1961 - MOTOWN Records signed the most successful girl group of all time, The Supremes, today, and six years later, on the same day, Roy Orbison was seen as an actor in the movie, The Fastest Gun Alive, when it had its premiere in New York City. Orbison played a major role in the film, alongside Sheb Wooley, and sang the title song. Here's the promo trailer. Classic, classic promo from 51 years ago.
1967 - THE ROLLING STONES compromised their art in the USA tonight, when they performed on TV's Ed Sullivan Show. They were asked by producers of the show to change the lyrics of their hit song, Let's Spend the Night Together to Let's Spend Some TIME Together. So the Stones disappointingly obliged. Mick half-heartedly rolls his eyes as they sang it, but they changed the lyrics, nevertheless. Here's a general promo montage for the Sullivan show, with a few songs from the Stones and other entertainers.
1972 - DON McCLEAN'S American Pie started a four week run at # in the US, today, then world charts during the next few months. The American singer-songwriter is most famous for his 1971 album American Pie, which contained the aforementioned same-titled song, and another classic, Vincent. McLean recorded his first album, Tapestry, in 1969 in Berkeley, California during the student riots, but it was unanimously rejected by 34 labels, the album attracting good reviews but little notice outside the folk community, and certainly no worthwhile sales. McLean's major break came when he recorded his second album, American Pie, with the promotion of his new major record label. The album spawned two #1 hits, turning McCalean into an international star, thus renewing interest in his debut album, which charted more than two years after its initial release. After his success, McClean wrote And I Love You, a song that was covered by Elvis, Helen Reddy, Shirley Bassey, and Perry Como. But it was his hit song, the sprawling, impressionistic ballad, American Pie, which was inspired partly by the deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J. P. Richardson (The Big Bopper) in a plane crash on 3 February 1959, that made McClean a superstar. The song popularized the expression 'The Day the Music Died'.
1991 - SEAN LENNON'S remake of his father's Give Peace A Chance was released today, coinciding with the United Nations' midnight deadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait. The lyrics were updated to reflect concerns of the 1990's, and featured many stars of the global music industry.
1994 - HARRY NILSON died in his sleep of heart failure, tonight, after spending the previous day in the recording studio. He wrote and recorded Everybody's Talkin' from the film, Midnight Cowboy, and wrote hits for Three Dog Night and The Monkees. He also had the worldwide #1 hit, Without You, a Badfinger song. When John Lennon and Paul McCartney held a press conference in 1968 to announce the formation of Apple Corps, John was asked to name his favourite American artist, and he replied, "Nilsson". Paul was then asked to name his favourite American group, and he, replied, "Nilsson".
1998 - Junior Wells died today, after being diagnosed with cancer six months earlier. During November of that year, '97, Wells suffered a heart attack while undergoing treatment, hence sending him into a coma. He died in Chicago, after succumbing to lymphoma on January 15, 1998, and was interred in the Oak Woods Cemetery, Chicago. Junior Wells worked with Muddy Waters, Van Morrison, Carlos Santana, Bonnie Raitt and The Rolling Stones, but the blues harmonica player, vocalist and recording artist remains best known for his performances and recordings with guitar extraordinare, Buddy Guy. Two clips follow, the first from Germany in 1966, at the American Folk Blues Festival. The guitarist is Otis Rush.
1998 - JAMES BROWN was admitted to a hospital for treatment for an addiction to painkillers, today, at the age of 64. He was released on January 21, 1998. James Brown is, without doubt, one of the true legends of contemporary soul, funk, rock'n'roll music, and this is he in full flight. Amen.
