February 15, 1941 - DUKE ELLINGTON and his orchestra recorded super tune, Take The A Train, for the first time, 71 years ago today. One of the greatest music forces in the past 100 years, Ellington wrote the song with long-term music composition collaborator, Billy Strayhorn, Take the A Train soon became a jazz standard, and the signature tune of the Duke Ellington Orchestra. The title refers to the relatively new A subway service that runs through New York City, going, at that time, from eastern Brooklyn up into Harlem and northern Manhattan, using an express track section in Manhattan. The song was composed two years earlier, after Ellington wrote directions for Strayhorn to get to his house via subway, directions that began, "Take the A Train". It is arguably the most famous of the many compositions to emerge from the collaboration of Ellington and Strayhorn, an American composer, pianist and arranger, best known for his successful three-decade collaboration with Ellington. The song was first recorded on January 15, 1941 as a standard transcription for radio broadcast, but the first and most famous commercial recording was made today, in 1941. Not sure of the singer in this clip…either Betty Roche or Helen Humes, I'd wildly guess.
 

1954 - BIG JOE TURNER recorded the original version of Shake, Rattle & Roll, a twelve bar blues-form rock and roll song, written in 1954 by Jesse Stone under his assumed songwriting name Charles E. Calhoun. It was first recorded by Big Joe Turner, and most successfully by Bill Haley & His Comets. The song as sung by Turner is ranked #126 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, his version recorded in New York 58 years ago today. The shouting chorus on his version consisted of Jesse Stone, and record label executives Jerry Wexler and Ahmet Ertegün, both of whom have since become principle movers and shakers in the industry of music. The song reached #1 on the US Billboard R&B chart on June 12, did not move for three weeks, and peaked at #22, almost simultaneously on the Billboard pop chart. The Turner version is good old dirty rock'n'roll, highly sexual. Perhaps its most salacious lyric, which didn't make it to the sanitised and more commercially successful white Bill Haley rendition, is: "I've been holdin' it in, way down underneath / You make me roll my eyes, baby, make me grit my teeth".  The chorus uses "shake, rattle and roll" to refer to energetic sexual intercourse, in the same way that the words "rock and roll" were first used by various rhythm and blues singers, starting with Trixie Smith's My Man Rocks Me (With One Steady Roll) in 1922. Turner's 'shout-blues' style helped him become a pivotal figure in popularizing blues, jazz, classic R&B, and rock and roll.


1961 - JACKIE WILSON was left with a stomach wound, today, after female fan, Juanita Jones, went to his New York apartment demanding to see him. Jones' gun went off as he tried to disarm her, seriously wounding the singer. Nicknamed 'Mr. Excitement', Wilson's first solo hit after leaving legendary R&B groups, Dominos, was Reet Petite (The Sweetest Girl in Town). Written by Berry Gordy and Tyran Carlo, a pseudonym of Jackie's cousin Billy Davis - and produced by Dick Jacobs - the song is one of the classics of rock and roll music. Taking the title from the Louis Jordan song Reet, Petite and Gone, this was Jackie Wilson's first recording as a solo artist. He went on to have many hit records, and due to his sexual innuendo and overt performance enegery in his stage shows, Wilson became a firm favourites with female fans. He remains today, a principle player in the merging of soul and rock'n'roll, and his voice ensuring his upper echelon status in contemporary music history. Following are his first ever solo recording and two more of his hits, Lonely Teardrops and That's Why I Love you So.




1965 - NAT KING COLE died of lung cancer, today, leaving a legacy of just too cool, smooth music and a strong agitator for racial equality. He was pro-active in his public battles with the Ku Klux Klan, and fought hard against venues that banned black musicians and black audience members…and this was only just 50 years ago, dear reader. Cole's first hit was the 1943 Straighten Up and Fly Right, and more than 20 hit records followed. Known professionally as Nat King Cole, he first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist, but owes most of the subsequent popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice. He was one of the first black Americans to host a television variety show, and has maintained worldwide popularity since his death. Here are two versions of his super hit, When I Fall In Love, plus the Hoagy Carmichael classic, Stardust.




1968 -  LITTLE WALTER, the blues amplified harmonica pioneer, died 44 years ago from injuries incurred in a fight during a break from his performance at a Chicago nightclub. Little Walter was the first harmonica player to amplify his harp, giving it a distorted echoing sound, changing the sound of blues music for many artists. He Joined Muddy Waters' band in 1948, and his revolutionary approach to harmonica playing has earned him comparisons to Charlie Parker and Jimi Hendrix, in terms of innovation and impact on succeeding generations. His virtuosity and musical innovations fundamentally altered many listeners' expectations of what was possible from the sound of blues harmonica. He was inducted to the The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008, making him the first and only artist ever to be inducted specifically for his work as a harmonica player. This is Koko Taylor featuring Little Walter, performing the song Wang Dang Doodle - then his induction into the Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Fame.



1969 - SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE started a four week run at #1 on music popularity charts today with their debut song, Everyday People. The band from San Francisco combined rock, funk, and soul, and were touring and pro-active from 1966 to 1983. No question, Sly and the Family Stone was pivotal in the development of soul, funk, and psychedelic music. Headed by singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist Sly Stone, and containing several of his family members and friends, the band was the first major American rock band to have an "integrated, multi-gender" lineup. Authority author on the history of African-American music, Joel Selvin says: "There are two types of black music: black music before Sly Stone, and black music after Sly Stone". During the early 1970s, the band switched to a grittier funk sound, which was as influential on the music industry as their earlier work.[4] The band began to fall apart during this period because of drug abuse and ego clashes. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. Here's a short medley of their two biggest hits, Everyday People and Dance To The Music.


1975 - LINDA RONSTADT topped charts all over the place 37 years ago today with the old R&B song, You're No Good, first brought to the public's attention by the classy Betty Everett in 1963. Ms. Ronstadt's version, more than a decade later, became the singer's only solo chart topper, amongst 12 other top 40 hits. Also today, Ms. Ronstadt hit the top spot with her career-defining album, Heart Like A Wheel. The original version of You're No Good would appear to be by Dee Dee Warwick for Jubilee Records in 1963 with production by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, the famous hit making song writers. The song has since been covered by music acts as diverse as Jose Feliciano, Swingin' Blue Jeans, Ike & Tina Turner, and Evis Costello. But here is the beautiful Linda Ronstadt's version.


1981 - MIKE BLOOMFIELD was found dead in his car in San Franciscotoday, from an accidental heroin overdose. He was a member of the Paul Butterfield band and Electric Flag and had played on Bob Dylan's album Highway 61 Revisited. Enigmatic, Bloomfield wrote the book for a new style of guitar playing and was a huge influence on people such as Eric Clapton. The American guitarist is ranked at number 22 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time. Here he is in all his glory doing Drinking Wine with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band; then you reborn In Chicago and Supersession with Paul Butterfield.




1986 - WHITNEY HOUSTON started a two week run at #1 on charts all over the world, today, with her classic 80s sing-a-long, How Will I Know. R.I.P Whitney.