January 4, 1969 - LED Zeppelin played the first of four nights at the Whisky-Au-Go-Go, Los Angeles, tonight, during the band's first North American tour. Support group was the Alice Cooper band. For your entertainment, dear reader, here's a live performance on Danish TV, of Zeppelin, in 1969, with the classic How Many Many More Times. Following that, also from 1969, an early version of Dazed and Confused. Classic, classic Zep.
1935 - BERT Ambrose and his Orchestra recorded the evergreen song, Hors d'oeuvres, and speaking of, how about this short clip from The Proposal where the song is used as background music. Following that is a brilliant piece from Ambrose and his orchestra performing In The Jailhouse Now, from those days of speakeasy. Known professionally as Ambrose, Bert Ambrose, was an English bandleader and violinist who first came to fame in the USA before returning to London and a long engagement at the Embassy Club. Here we have the great Ambrose, with Danny Polo on clarinet and Max Bacon drums from the movie Millionaire Go Around in 1938. Following that a nice old clip of Evelyn Dall with Ambrose, from the movie Millionaire Merry Go Round.
1936 - THE first pop music chart based on national sales was published by Billboard magazine today, with the first Music Popularity Chart was calculated in July 1940. In 1950, on the same day, RCA Victor announced it would manufacture long-playing (LP) records. Up until this time, only '45 records had been manufactured, and the first long-player was Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, performed by the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra under Leopold Stokowski. Four years later, in 1954, Elvis Presley recorded Casual Love and I'll Never Stand in Your Way. If you're an Elvis fan you'll love these rare photos of Elvis, and even if you are not a fan they are amazing even from an historic point of view. The big question is - Why weren't these two songs released? Written by Fred Rose and Walter Heath, this song was recorded by Elvis today in 1954, along with Casual Love Affair during his second visit to Memphis Recording Service on a 10-inch acetate for $4. It was at this time that Elvis first met Sam Phillips. This song is available on A Touch of Platinum, Platinum-A Life in Music, and Master & Session Sun Recording Sessions. I do not know if Casual Love Affair has ever been released as a single.
1957 - BOXER Joe Louis appeared on The Steve Allen Show, tonight, to introduce soul singer Solomon Burke. He's referred to as a pioneer of soul music in the early 1960s and was a big influence on Mick Jagger. His first hit was a song called Just Out Of Reach, which went to number seven on the R&B charts in 1961. Other hits followed including Cry To Me, f You Need Me, Got To Get You Off My Mind and Tonight's The Night. This is his signature song, performed live on London's Top Of The Pops in 2003.
1962 - GENE McDaniels recorded his hit song Point of No Return, today. I loved this song when I was 15 years old. Most of McDaniel's top 40 hits came during an 18 month period, starting in April of 1961 with A Hundred Pounds Of Clay, also a brilliant song. His record producer was Snuff Garrett who produced many of Bobby Vee's hits, and later on hits for Sonny & Cher and The Monkees. Gene McDaniels and guitarist Kent Allyn perform this hit from 1961 at a 2010 Arts In Reach Filmworks program for teenage girls. This is Mcdaniels acoustic and singing live, aged 75, his hit song, 100 Pounds of Clay.
1965 - LEO Fender made history today, when he sold his iconic Fender Guitar Company to CBS for $13 million, and 45 years later it is now more iconic than ever before. Here's a mini blogdoc on Fender and his impact on rock'n'roll music.
1969 - FILMING began at Twickenham studios in England today, of The Beatles rehearsing for the Let It Be album. The project ran into several problems, including the fact that George Harrison walked out on the group on January 10th. Almost two years later to the day, Harrison became the first Beatles to have a #1 album, the classic All Things Must Pass, which started a seven week run at #1 on the US album chart, becoming an album chart topper around the world.
1971 - PERFORMANCE the movie starring Mick Jagger, debuted in London, tonight, and following is an amazing interview with Jagger on London television, 1971, around the time of Performance. Following that is an an intriguing scene from Performance...without a single doubt, one of the most adventurous, dark, sexy and enticing movies of all time - it's a rap! Memo from Turner. The movie was directed by Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg, and starred
James Fox, Mick Jagger, Anita Pallenberg, and Michele Breton.
1976 - MAL Evans was a long time friend of the Beatles, and this was the day he was shot and killed by police one week before he was to take his tell-all book about the Beatles to the publishers. The suitcase he had with him containing Beatles material was 'lost' during the investigation. He was in his rented duplex at 8122 W. 4th Street in Los Angeles when the officers mistakenly believed that the air pistol Evans was holding was a rifle. Before his death Evans was working on a book of memoirs called Living The Beatles' Legend, which he was supposed to deliver to publishers Grosset and Dunlap on 12 January 1976. On the night of Evans' death he was so despondent that Fran Hughes phoned his collaborator on his book, John Hoernie, and asked him to visit them. Hoernie saw Evans "really doped-up and groggy", and Evans told Hoernie to make sure that he finished Living The Beatles' Legend. Evans was cremated on 7, January 1976 in Los Angeles, his ashes sent by post back to England, but bizarrely were strangely misplaced and lost in the postal system. A suitcase that Evans was carrying at the time of his death, which was supposed to contain unreleased recordings, photos and other memorabilia, was lost by the police during the investigation. This segment of film is taken from the unseen Beatles documentary, Beatles 1962 - 1970, and it shows some fantastic interview footage, together with live performances, including personal archive footage from Mal Evans.
1999 - CHEF went to #1 on the British singles charts today, with Chocolate Salty Balls (PS I Love You). Chef appeared in the cult TV series South Park, the voice was that of Isaac Hayes, who had a worldwide hit 41 years ago with Shaft. Here are both videos.
1935 - BERT Ambrose and his Orchestra recorded the evergreen song, Hors d'oeuvres, and speaking of, how about this short clip from The Proposal where the song is used as background music. Following that is a brilliant piece from Ambrose and his orchestra performing In The Jailhouse Now, from those days of speakeasy. Known professionally as Ambrose, Bert Ambrose, was an English bandleader and violinist who first came to fame in the USA before returning to London and a long engagement at the Embassy Club. Here we have the great Ambrose, with Danny Polo on clarinet and Max Bacon drums from the movie Millionaire Go Around in 1938. Following that a nice old clip of Evelyn Dall with Ambrose, from the movie Millionaire Merry Go Round.
1936 - THE first pop music chart based on national sales was published by Billboard magazine today, with the first Music Popularity Chart was calculated in July 1940. In 1950, on the same day, RCA Victor announced it would manufacture long-playing (LP) records. Up until this time, only '45 records had been manufactured, and the first long-player was Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, performed by the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra under Leopold Stokowski. Four years later, in 1954, Elvis Presley recorded Casual Love and I'll Never Stand in Your Way. If you're an Elvis fan you'll love these rare photos of Elvis, and even if you are not a fan they are amazing even from an historic point of view. The big question is - Why weren't these two songs released? Written by Fred Rose and Walter Heath, this song was recorded by Elvis today in 1954, along with Casual Love Affair during his second visit to Memphis Recording Service on a 10-inch acetate for $4. It was at this time that Elvis first met Sam Phillips. This song is available on A Touch of Platinum, Platinum-A Life in Music, and Master & Session Sun Recording Sessions. I do not know if Casual Love Affair has ever been released as a single.
1957 - BOXER Joe Louis appeared on The Steve Allen Show, tonight, to introduce soul singer Solomon Burke. He's referred to as a pioneer of soul music in the early 1960s and was a big influence on Mick Jagger. His first hit was a song called Just Out Of Reach, which went to number seven on the R&B charts in 1961. Other hits followed including Cry To Me, f You Need Me, Got To Get You Off My Mind and Tonight's The Night. This is his signature song, performed live on London's Top Of The Pops in 2003.
1962 - GENE McDaniels recorded his hit song Point of No Return, today. I loved this song when I was 15 years old. Most of McDaniel's top 40 hits came during an 18 month period, starting in April of 1961 with A Hundred Pounds Of Clay, also a brilliant song. His record producer was Snuff Garrett who produced many of Bobby Vee's hits, and later on hits for Sonny & Cher and The Monkees. Gene McDaniels and guitarist Kent Allyn perform this hit from 1961 at a 2010 Arts In Reach Filmworks program for teenage girls. This is Mcdaniels acoustic and singing live, aged 75, his hit song, 100 Pounds of Clay.
1965 - LEO Fender made history today, when he sold his iconic Fender Guitar Company to CBS for $13 million, and 45 years later it is now more iconic than ever before. Here's a mini blogdoc on Fender and his impact on rock'n'roll music.
1969 - FILMING began at Twickenham studios in England today, of The Beatles rehearsing for the Let It Be album. The project ran into several problems, including the fact that George Harrison walked out on the group on January 10th. Almost two years later to the day, Harrison became the first Beatles to have a #1 album, the classic All Things Must Pass, which started a seven week run at #1 on the US album chart, becoming an album chart topper around the world.
1971 - PERFORMANCE the movie starring Mick Jagger, debuted in London, tonight, and following is an amazing interview with Jagger on London television, 1971, around the time of Performance. Following that is an an intriguing scene from Performance...without a single doubt, one of the most adventurous, dark, sexy and enticing movies of all time - it's a rap! Memo from Turner. The movie was directed by Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg, and starred
James Fox, Mick Jagger, Anita Pallenberg, and Michele Breton.
1976 - MAL Evans was a long time friend of the Beatles, and this was the day he was shot and killed by police one week before he was to take his tell-all book about the Beatles to the publishers. The suitcase he had with him containing Beatles material was 'lost' during the investigation. He was in his rented duplex at 8122 W. 4th Street in Los Angeles when the officers mistakenly believed that the air pistol Evans was holding was a rifle. Before his death Evans was working on a book of memoirs called Living The Beatles' Legend, which he was supposed to deliver to publishers Grosset and Dunlap on 12 January 1976. On the night of Evans' death he was so despondent that Fran Hughes phoned his collaborator on his book, John Hoernie, and asked him to visit them. Hoernie saw Evans "really doped-up and groggy", and Evans told Hoernie to make sure that he finished Living The Beatles' Legend. Evans was cremated on 7, January 1976 in Los Angeles, his ashes sent by post back to England, but bizarrely were strangely misplaced and lost in the postal system. A suitcase that Evans was carrying at the time of his death, which was supposed to contain unreleased recordings, photos and other memorabilia, was lost by the police during the investigation. This segment of film is taken from the unseen Beatles documentary, Beatles 1962 - 1970, and it shows some fantastic interview footage, together with live performances, including personal archive footage from Mal Evans.
1999 - CHEF went to #1 on the British singles charts today, with Chocolate Salty Balls (PS I Love You). Chef appeared in the cult TV series South Park, the voice was that of Isaac Hayes, who had a worldwide hit 41 years ago with Shaft. Here are both videos.
