1926 - Louis Armstrong introduces scat singing when he records "Heebie Jeebies." As Armstrong tells it, he improvised his vocals when his lyric sheet fell off the stand.
1932- Johnny Cash is born. Considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Although he is remembered as a country icon, his songs spanned other genres including rock and roll and rockabilly and blues, folk, and gospel. This crossover appeal won Cash the rare honor of induction in the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. During the last stage of his career, Cash covered songs by several late 20th-century rock artists, most notably 'Hurt' by Nine Inch Nails.
1955 - For the first time since the 45 RPM format was introduced in 1949, Billboard reported that 45 RPM singles were outselling the earlier standard, 78s.
1965 - Guitarist Jimmy Page released a solo single called "She Just Satisfies." Page played all the instruments on it except for the drums, and produced the track, as well as singing lead vocals.
1967 - Where it begins...After buying a ranch in Mississippi, Elvis Presley spends a lot of time on horses and gets saddlesores. He is referred to Dr. George Nichopoulos, who becomes his personal doctor and supplies his prescription drugs.
1977 - Blues guitarist Bukka White died of cancer at age 67 in Memphis, Tennessee. His signature song is "Shake 'Em On Down", which became a hit while he was serving time in prison. The Led Zeppelin song "Hats Off to (Roy) Harper", on the band's 1970 album Led Zeppelin III, was based in large part on White's "Shake 'Em on Down". "Custard Pie", a song on their 1975 album Physical Graffiti, also references "Shake 'Em on Down." Bob Dylan recorded White's "Fixin' to Die Blues" on his 1961 debut.
1980 - After seeing U2 play at Dublin's National Boxing Stadium in front of 2,400 people, Rob Partridge and Bill Stewart from Island Records offered the band a recording contract. Shortly before U2’s first album, Boy, was to be released, McGuinness received a letter from the A&R department at Warner Bros. Records, the company that distributed their label, Island, in the U.S. “I had sent Warner Bros. a demo tape several months earlier, before we had been signed by Island,” McGuinness explains, “and they returned it to me with a curt letter saying they weren’t interested in us.” So he quickly fired back a response. “I thought they might like to know that they were releasing our album in a few weeks.” Touché! (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
1983 - Michael Jackson's Thriller went to No. 1 on the U.S. album chart. It went on to become one of the most successful album of all time with sales exceeding 50 million copies. Along with Prince's Purple Rain, Thriller led the way in helping to break down racial barriers among music fans in the 1980s, transcending genres of R&B, soul and pop.
1987 - The first five The Beatles albums, Please Please Me, With the Beatles, A Hard Day's Night, Beatles for Sale and Help! were released on Compact disc.
2002 - Norah Jones releases her debut album Come Away With Me, a jazz-inflected set that wins the Album of the Year Grammy and sells over 10 million copies in America. Jones is the daughter of the renown Indian musician Ravi Shankar.
Birthdays:
Fats Domino was born today in 1928.
Bob Hite of Canned Heat was born today in 1943.
1945 - Rocker Mitch Ryder is born William S. Levise Jr in Hamtramck, Michigan.
1943 - Paul Cotton (guitarist for Poco, Colorado Music Hall Of Famers) is born Norman Paul Cotton in Fort Rucker, Alabama.
Jonathan Cain, keyboardist for Journey, is 71.
Michael Bolton is 68.
Producer Max Martin is 50.
Tim Commerford of Rage Against the Machine is 53.
Corinne Bailey Rae is 42.
Nate Ruess of Fun. is 39.
On This Day In Music History are gathered from This Day in Music, Paul Shaffer's Day in Rock, Song Facts, Rolling Stone, and Wikipedia.