Category: Flashbacks

FLASHBACK POP MUSIC HISTORY: DECEMBER 8

From the MCRFB music calendar:

Events on this date: DECEMBER 8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1960: Teen idol Fabian visits Elvis Presley at his Graceland mansion in Memphis. Elvis rips his pants demonstrating his new passion, karate, and Fabian lends him his pair.

1962: Legendary DJ and promoter Alan Freed appears at his payola trial in New York City and testifies to receiving money from labels to play their records on the air. He is found guilty, fined $300, and given six months probation, but the irreparable damage to his career has been done.

Frank Sinatra, Jr. addresses the press after his kidnapping ordeal in 1963 (Click on image for larger view)

1963: Frank Sinatra, Jr. is kidnapped in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, and freed three days later after his famous father pays the $240,000 ransom. The three men responsible are eventually caught and incarcerated.

1969: In a Toronto, Canada courtroom, Jimi Hendrix testifies in his trial for possession of hashish and heroin. Claiming to have “outgrown” drugs, the guitarist gives a very detailed history of his drug use. After eight hours, the jury returns a verdict of not guilty.

1975: The benefit concert “A Night of the Hurricane” is held at Madison Square Garden. The last date on Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue tour, the show features many non-musical celebrities and raises over $100,000 for the release of wrongly imprisoned boxer “Hurricane” Carter and his alleged accomplice. Carter himself calls the stage from jail.

1976: The Carpenters’ Very First Special, featuring guest star John Denver, airs on ABC.

1980: At 11:07 PM EST, former Beatle John Lennon is murdered in New York by a deranged fan just outside the Dakota Hotel, New York City. Lennon was shot in his chest, back and left arm and was pronounced dead thirty minutes later. Earlier that day, the killer had met Lennon outside the Dakota and had him sign a copy of his latest album, Double Fantasy.

Outside his residence at the Dakota, John Lennon signs an autograph on Mark David Chapman’s copy of Double Fantasy, photographed here, just hours before the killer returns later that evening and shoots him dead

 

1995: Four months after the death of founding member Jerry Garcia, the Grateful Dead officially announce their breakup.

1998: The FBI opens its 1,300 page file on Frank Sinatra to the public.

2003: Ozzy Osbourne suffers several fractures in his upper body in an ATV accident.

 

Birthdays: 1921: Johnny Otis. 1925: Sammy Davis, Jr., Jimmy Smith. 1939: Jerry Butler (The Impressions). 1942: Bobby Elliott (The Hollies). 1943: Jim Morrison (The Doors). 1946: Graham Knight (Marmalade). 1947: Gregg Allman (The Allman Brothers Band).

Releases: 1961: The Beach Boys; “Surfin,'” (LP). 1967: The Beatles; Magical Mystery Tour (UK; EP). 1967: Traffic; Mr. Fantasy (LP).

Recording: 1941: Ray Eberle and The Modernaires with The Glenn Miller Orchestra; “Moonlight Cocktail.” 1960: Henry Mancini, “Moon River.” 1966: The Beatles; “Strawberry Fields Forever,” “When I’m Sixty-Four.” 1969: The Beatles, “Octopus’s Garden.”

Charts: 1954: The Drifters; “White Christmas” enters the R&B charts. 1956: Guy Mitchell; “Singing the Blues” hits No. 1 on the charts. 1979: Styx; “Babe” hits No. 1 on the charts.

Deaths: 1980: John Lennon. 1981: Big Walter Horton. 1982: Marty Robbins. 1991: Buck Clayton.

John Lennon was shot to death on this date, December 8, 1980

 

 

 

 

 

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   8

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FLASHBACK POP MUSIC HISTORY: DECEMBER 6

From the MCRFB music calendar:

Events on this date: DECEMBER 6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1948: The CBS television show Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts debuts.

1957: Elvis visits radio station WDIA in Memphis and meets two of his idols, Little Junior Parker and Bobby Bland.

“14 Fantastic song hits!”(Click on image for larger view)

1964: The Gerry and the Pacemakers movie “Ferry Cross The Mersey” debuts at the New Victoria Cinema in London.

1968: President Richard Nixon sends out 66,000 signed letters to potential administrative office holders, including Elvis Presley.
1969: Cab Calloway stars in NBC’s “Hallmark Hall of Fame” presentation of The Littlest Angel.

1969: The infamous rock concert known as Altamont, featuring Jefferson Airplane, Santana, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, and the Rolling Stones, takes place at the speedway of the same name in Altamont, CA.

Headliners the Rolling Stones, who organized the show as a free “thank you” concert, hire Hell’s Angels instead of cops for security, resulting in the deaths of four people in the crowd of 300,000 (including Meredith Hunter, stabbed to death by the Angels).

1970: The Rolling Stones tour documentary Gimme Shelter, featuring footage of the infamous Altamont concert, opens in New York City.

1980: John Lennon mixes Yoko Ono’s “Walking On Thin Ice.” It is the last time he would be in a studio.

Ringo Starr, named endorser for Sun Country wine cooler in 1986 (Click on image for larger view)

1986: Ringo becomes the first Beatle to use his name in an advertisement, for Sun Country wine cooler.

1993: At a video shoot for Travis Tritt’s remake of the Eagles’ “Take It Easy,” the Eagles themselves reunite and decide to reform for new songs and a tour.

1995: Michael Jackson collapses in a New York theater during a rehearsal for an upcoming TV special and is hospitalized.

 

Birthdays: 1920: Dave Brubeck. 1939: Steve Alaimo. 1941: Helen Cornelius. 1942: Len Barry. 1944: Jonathan King.

Releases: 1957: The Diamonds, “The Stroll.” 1963: The Beatles, The First Christmas Record. 1965: The Beatles, “We Can Work It Out” b/w “Day Tripper.” 1965: The Beatles, Rubber Soul (US). 1965: Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, “Going to a Go-Go.”

Recording: 1944: The Count Basie Orchestra, “Red Bank Boogie.” 1965: The Rolling Stones: “19th Nervous Breakdown,” “Mother’s Little Helper.” 1966: The Beatles, “When I’m Sixty-Four.”

Certifications: 1968: The Beatles (aka ‘The White Album’) is certified gold by the RIAA. 1973: Steve Miller’s ‘The Joker’ album is certified gold by the RIAA.

Charts: 1952: The Mills Brothers’ “The Glow-Worm” hits No. 1 on the charts. 1969: Steam’s “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” hits No. 1 on the charts. 1975: Paul Simon’s ‘Still Crazy After All These Years’ hits No. 1 on the LP charts. 1975: Tyrone Davis’ “Turning Point” enters the R&B charts.

Deaths: 1949: Huddie “Leadbelly” Ledbetter. 1988: Roy Orbison.

 

 

 

 

 

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   6

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DAVE BRUBECK DEAD AT 91

 

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Jazz composer and pianist Dave Brubeck, whose pioneering style in pieces such as “Take Five” caught listeners’ ears with exotic, challenging rhythms, has died. He was 91.

Brubeck died Wednesday morning at Norwalk Hospital of heart failure after being stricken while on his way to a cardiology appointment with his son Darius, said his manager Russell Gloyd. Brubeck would have turned 92 on Thursday.

More About Dave Brubeck

 

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FLASHBACK POP MUSIC HISTORY: DECEMBER 5

From the MCRFB music calendar:

Events on this date: DECEMBER 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1936: Bing Crosby takes over as host of the Kraft Music Hall radio show.

1955: The BMI Annual Awards in New York City score big for R&B, with rhythm and blues songs winning a record eleven awards.

Alan Freed’s Rock! Rock! Rock! theater poster circa 1956 (Click on image for larger view)

1956: The Alan Freed movie Rock! Rock! Rock!, starring Chuck Berry, The Flamingos, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, Lavern Baker, and Johnny Burnette premieres in New York City.

1960: Billboard reports that five “answer records” to Elvis Presley’s “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” have been released — four versions of “Yes, I’m Lonesome Tonight” and one “Oh, How I Miss You Tonight.”

1967: The Beatles throw a party to celebrate the opening of the Apple Boutique.

1968: Graham Nash quits the Hollies and within three days forms the “supergroup” Crosby, Stills and Nash.

1968: The Rolling Stones hold a “Beggar’s Banquet” at Elizabeth Rooms, London, to promote their release of the new album with the same name. The “banquet” ends with a pie fight.

 

1976: Elvis Presley falls onstage at a show in Las Vegas and sprains his ankle.

Yoko and John, photographed in November 1980 by Allan Tannebaum, the month before his death (Click on image for larger view)

1980: John Lennon gives what would be his last interview, with Rolling Stone‘s Jonathan Cott.

2002: Elton John guest stars on NBC’s Will and Grace.

2003: Original Elvis Presley guitarist Scotty Moore undergoes surgery to repair a subdural hematoma.

 

Birthdays: 1899: Sonny Boy Williamson (II). 1922: Don Robertson.
1935: Little Richard. 1936: Chad Mitchell (The Chad Mitchell Trio). 1938: J. J. Cale. 1943: Mike Smith (The Dave Clark Five). 1946: Andy Kim. 1947: Jim Messina (formerly of Buffalo Springfield; Poco; Loggins and Messina).

Releases: None

Recording: None

Certifications: 1975: The ‘Fleetwood Mac’ LP is certified gold by the RIAA. 1975:  Earth, Wind and Fire’s ‘Gratitude’ LP is certified gold by the RIAA.

Charts: 1964: Lorne Greene’s “Ringo” hits #1 on the charts. 1964: The Zombies’ “She’s Not There” enters the pop charts. 1964: The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me” enters the pop charts.

Deaths (Updated): December 5, 2012: Today, legendary  jazz great Dave Brubeck. (See our MCRFB news brief, posted 12/05/12: ‘Dave Brubeck Dead at 91′).

 

 

 

 

 

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   5

 

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