1933- James Brown was born. "Soul Brother Number One," "The Godfather of Soul," "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business," "Mr. Dynamite" -- those are mighty titles, but no one can question that James Brown earned them more than any other performer. Other singers were more popular, others were equally skilled, but few other musicians were so influential over the course of popular music. And no other musician put on a more exciting, exhilarating stage show: Brown's performances were marvels of athletic stamina and split-second timing. Through the gospel-impassioned fury of his vocals and the complex polyrhythms of his beats, Brown was a crucial midwife in not just one, but two revolutions in American music; he was one of the figures most responsible for turning R&B into soul and he was, most would agree, the one figure most responsible for transforming soul music into funk. Fittingly, his music became even more influential as it aged, since his voice and rhythms were sampled on innumerable hip-hop recordings, and critics belatedly hailed his innovations as among the most important in all of rock or R&B.
1968 - Not to be outdone by The Beatles, The Beach Boys began an 18-date tour with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi as the opening act. The plan backfired as half the dates had to be canceled due to lack of interest.
1986 - The Silver Dollar City Tennessee amusement park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee was reopened as "Dollywood" after Dolly Parton took an ownership stake.
1968 - The Jimi Hendrix Experience recorded 'Voodoo Chile.' It was featured on the 'Electric Ladyland' double album "Voodoo Chile" evolved from "Catfish Blues", a song that Hendrix performed regularly during 1967 and early 1968. "Catfish Blues" was a homage to Muddy Waters, made up of a medley of verses based on Waters' songs, including "Rollin' Stone", "Still a Fool", and "Rollin' and Tumblin'". Music critic Charles Shaar Murray describes "Voodoo Chile" as "virtually a chronological guided tour of blues styles" ranging from early Delta blues, through the electric blues of Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker, to the more sophisticated style of B.B. King, and the "cosmic blurt" of John Coltrane.
1971 - Led Zeppelin play their song "Four Sticks" for the first and only time in concert during a show in Denmark.
1986 - Robert Palmer went to No.1 with 'Addicted To Love.' Palmer originally recorded the song as a duet with Chaka Khan but due to contractual problems her voice was removed.
Birthdays:
Bing Crosby was born today in 1903.
American folk singer and social activist, Pete Seeger was born on this day in 1919.
Four Seasons frontman Frankie Valli is 87.
Christopher Cross is 70.
Josh Tillman is 40. He was the drummer for Fleet Foxes before going solo as Father John Misty. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for FYF)
On This Day In Music Music History is sourced from This Day in Music, Allmusic, Song Facts and Wikipedia.