From the MCRFB music calendar:
Events on this date: DECEMBER 3
1925: George Gershwin premieres his “Concerto In F,” the first jazz concerto for piano and orchestra, at New York City’s Carnegie Hall. Gershwin is also the featured soloist on flugelhorn.
1960: The Lerner and Loewe play Camelot, featuring Richard Burton and Julie Andrews, opens at the Majestic Theatre in New York City.
1961: The Beatles meet Brian Epstein for the first time, at his Liverpool record store, NEMS. Later, at six that afternoon, they meet again to discuss Brian’s management of the group.
1965: Keith Richards is electrocuted and knocked unconscious during a Rolling Stones concert in Sacramento, CA.
1966: Having been convicted of heroin and marijuana possession, Ray Charles is given a five-year suspended sentence and fined $10,000.
1966: The Monkees make their stage debut in Honolulu, HI.
1967: The Supremes guest star on “Tennessee” Ernie Ford’s TV special.
1968: Elvis Presley’s “comeback” TV special airs on NBC. Sponsored by the Singer Sewing Machine Company, the special also features a taped, semi-unplugged performance given earlier at Burbank Studios before a live audience. This was Elvis’ first appearance before a live audience since 1961.
1969: John Lennon is asked to play the title role in the rock opera Jesus Christ, Superstar, but the offer is withdrawn the next day.
1976: A 40-foot inflatable pig being photographed at Battersea Power Station outside of London for the cover of Pink Floyd’s Animals album breaks its moorings and drifts toward the east, reaching a height of 18,000 feet before coming down in Kent.
1976: Seven gunman fire shots into Bob Marley’s house in Kingston, Jamaica, where he and his band, the Wailers, are in rehearsal. Marley and his wife Rita are hit, as are an unidentified friend and Wailers manager Don Taylor. No one is seriously hurt, however, and while the assailants are never caught, Marley and his band perform as scheduled two nights later.
1977: After a record 29 weeks at #1 on Billboard‘s album chart, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours is replaced by Linda Ronstadt’s Simple Dreams LP.
1979: Before the Who concert this evening at Cincinnati Riverfront Coliseum, eleven people are trampled to death and dozens are injured in a rush for “festival” (i.e., unreserved) seating. The resulting controversy (and lawsuits) force promoters to rethink the practice.
1980: Photographer Annie Leibovitz takes the last known photos of John Lennon and Yoko Ono together at their apartment in New York’s Dakota building.
1988: Carole King and Gerry Goffin receive a Lifetime Achievement award from the US National Academy of Songwriters.
1991: Legendary DJ and promoter Alan Freed is awarded a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Birthdays: 1907: Connee Boswell. 1927: Ferlin Husky. 1928: Andy Williams. 1931: Jaye P. Morgan. 1940: John Cale (Velvet Underground). 1945: Paul Nicholas. 1948: Ozzy Osbourne (Black Sabbath). 1949: Mickey Thomas (Jefferson Starship).
Releases: 1965: The Beatles; Rubber Soul (UK). 1973: Ringo Starr; “You’re Sixteen.”
Recording: 1944: Frank Sinatra; “Old Man River.”
Certifications: 1968: The O’Kaysions’ “Girl Watcher” is certified gold by the RIAA. 1968: The Grass Roots’ “Midnight Confessions” is certified gold by the RIAA. 1968: The Crazy World of Arthur Brown’s “Fire” is certified gold by the RIAA. 1968: Aretha Franklin’s ‘Aretha Now’ LP is certified gold by the RIAA. 1968: Iron Butterfly’s ‘In-a-Gadda-da-Vida’ LP is certified gold by the RIAA. 1968: Cream’s ‘Fresh Cream’ LP is certified gold by the RIAA.
Charts: 1960: Elvis Presley’s “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” hits #1 on the charts. 1966: The New Vaudeville Band’s “Winchester Cathedral” hits #1 on the charts. 1966: Paul Revere and The Raiders’ “Good Thing” enters the pop charts. 1977: Linda Ronstadt’s ‘Simple Dreams’ album hits #1 on the LP charts.
Deaths: none
And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history, on this day . . . . D E C E M B E R 3
