1972 - Neil Young releases the album Harvest. It sits at the foundation of Neil Young's legacy, a blockbuster that turned the singer/songwriter into a superstar in his own right. Much of the music does indeed fulfill the rural promise of its title, either by relying upon the studio polish of Nashville cats or the ragged ramble of Young's jerry-rigged California barn. These are complementary approaches, with the raw immediacy of "Are You Ready for the Country," "Alabama," and "Words".
Included the hit, Heart of Gold. In the liner notes to his 1977 Decade compilation, he writes, "'Heart Of Gold' put me in the middle of the road. Traveling there soon became a bore, so I headed for the ditch. A rougher ride, but I saw more interesting people there."
1980 - Blondie released "Call Me", the main theme song of the 1980 film "American Gigolo". Disco producer Giorgio Moroder wrote this with Blondie's Debbie Harry, but had originally wanted Stevie Nicks to provide vocals on the track but she declined the offer. It reached No. 1 in the U.S. for six consecutive weeks.
1985 - The Eagles' Glenn Frey makes his acting debut in an episode of NBC's Miami Vice that is based on his song "Smuggler's Blues."
1989 - The Replacements released their sixth album, Don’t Tell a Soul. It was maligned at the time, as a once-great indie band’s unfortunate slide into the depths of major-label malaise. And for good reason, the production of the album diluted and smoothed out the edges that made their music compelling in the first place.
That's not to say it's horrible album, but domesticating the 'Mats was never going to work. Best to skip straight to Dead Man’s Pop — Rhino’s deluxe Don’t Tell a Soul reboot. Rough and relaxed...It turns a decent album a very good one by taking away period production and letting the songs and guitars speak for themselves. Highlights: I'll Be You, Talent Show, Achin' to Be, and Rock 'n' Roll Ghost. (Photo by Katie Stratton/Getty Images for Coachella)
1994 - Green Day released their third studio album and major-label debut, Dookie. This is where they took their stew of influences, The Clash, The Jam, The Beatles and went from basement trio to mainstream rockers. The songs here fly by nervously in barrages of buzzing guitars and half-sung, half-sneered vocals coupled with precise arrangements. Highlights: Longview, Basket Case, and When I Come Around. They'll play the album in it's entirety when they headline Coors Field September 7th.
2007 - Forced to do a press conference to promote his upcoming Super Bowl halftime show, Prince answers the first question with a guitar lick, then turns the event into a concert. Prince!
2008 - US space agency Nasa announced that 'Across the Universe' by The Beatles was to become the first song ever to be beamed directly into space. The track would be transmitted through the Deep Space Network - a network of antennas - on the 40th anniversary of the song being recorded, being aimed at the North Star, Polaris, 431 light-years from Earth. In a message to NASA, Paul McCartney said the project was an "amazing" feat ."Well done, Nasa," he added. "Send my love to the aliens. All the best, Paul."
2013 - The documentary Sound City is released in theaters. Directed by Dave Grohl, it tells the story of Sound City Studios, where his group Nirvana made their Nevermind album. Tom Petty, Rick Springfield, Stevie Nicks and a host of other stars appear in the film to share their memories of recording there. So many terrific records were laid down there. It's well worth the watch.
Birthdays:
Don Everly, guitarist/singer with The Everly Brothers, was born on this day in 1937. As half of the Everly Brothers, Don Everly was one of the most important performers in rock & roll's formative era, and among the greatest close harmony duos in the history of American music. Those close harmonies became the gold standard for vocals in pop music, inspiring acts as diverse as the Beatles, the Eagles, Simon & Garfunkel, and Bruce Springsteen.
Rick James was born today in 1948. In the late 1970s, when the fortunes of Motown Records seemed to be flagging, Rick James came along and rescued the company, providing funky hits that updated the label's style and saw it through into the mid-'80s. His 1981 album Street Songs in a classic. Loud and proud in-your-face funk featuring "Super Freak," "Give It to Me Baby," and "Ghetto Life." While it's a bit flawed, too much commentary and not enough music, give the documentary, Bitchin: The Sound and Fury of Rick James, a watch.
Mike Campbell, guitarist with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, is 74. ne of the great guitarists of the classic rock era, Mike Campbell served as Tom Petty's lieutenant for the better part of their careers, sticking with him alone or with the Heartbreakers. Campbell occasionally worked apart from Petty -- notably, he gave Don Henley the music for his 1984 hit "The Boys of Summer" -- but he was there even when Petty went solo or when he reunited Mudcrutch, the country-rock group the pair played in prior to the Heartbreakers. The guitarist also launched a band called the Dirty Knobs during some downtime with the Heartbreakers around 2000, and after Petty's unexpected death in 2017, he made that band his primary concern
Sonny Landreth is 73. His playing is distinctive and unlike anything else in the electric blues canon. Landreth's style derives from many root sounds, including Cajun music, zydeco, Delta blues, swamp pop, and R&B, as well as rockabilly. He uses his fingers on the fretboard and slide simultaneously, making him sound like several guitarists playing at once.
Reggae singer Dennis Brown was born on this day in 1957. He recorded more than 75 albums and Bob Marley cited Brown as his favorite singer, dubbing him "The Crown Prince of Reggae", and Brown would prove influential on future generations of reggae singers.
Exene Cervenka is 68. Best known as the singer for X, one of the leaders of the late-'70s/early-'80s California punk explosion, Exene Cervenka has also issued solo albums, launched several side bands, and penned books.
With X, the group led the Hollywood punk movement, but there was much more to their sound than the average punk band -- as country, rockabilly, and Exene's poetic lyrics set them apart from the pack.
Jason Isbell is 45. After six years with the Southern rock outfit the Drive-By Truckers, singer and guitarist Jason Isbell left the group in 2007 to pursue a solo career, becoming one of the most successful and respected figures in the alt-country and singer/songwriter communities. While full of Southern grit, Isbell's songs also show off an introspective side and a gift for nuanced storytelling.
Harry Styles is 30. Pop superstar, songwriter, actor, and social advocate Harry Styles transitioned from boy band fame to massive solo success. As a member of the boy band One Direction, he topped the charts in the early 2010s. Branching out on his own in 2016, his solo material took a more rock-influenced approach -- reflecting the influence of childhood favorites Queen, Elton John, and the Beatles
R.I.P:
2012 - Don Cornelius, the host of "Soul Train" from 1971 until 1993, who helped break down racial barriers and broaden the reach of Black culture, died. He was 75.
In its heyday, it was a formative experience every Saturday morning for young people of all backgrounds and afforded some of the most important soul and R&B acts their first national television exposure. It was also a platform for white rock musicians like Elton John and David Bowie to reach black audiences. I watched it every weekend.
He signed off each show by intoning “Love, peace and soul.”
2020 - Andy Gill, the founding member and guitarist of British post-punk band Gang Of Four, died aged 64. Gill's scratchy, staccato riffs provided the band with their signature sound, and influenced the likes of Nirvana, Fugazi and Franz Ferdinand. He also produced albums for artists such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Stranglers, Michael Hutchence and Killing Joke.
On this Day In Music History was sourced, copied, pasted, and occasionally woven together with my own crude prose from This Day in Music, Song Facts, Rolling Stone, Allmusic, New York Times, and Wikipedia.
KBCO