ON THIS DAY IN MUSIC HISTORY: 9.28
1972 - The Temptations release "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone." The single is cut to 6:58 because there's not enough vinyl on a 45 to handle the 11:46 album version. The Temptations version was a No.1 hit and won three Grammy Awards in 1973.
1976 - Stevie Wonder released Songs in the Key of Life, an ambitious double LP with a four-song bonus EP. It's his longest, most ambitious collection of songs, just as the title promised -- touched on nearly every issue under the sun, and did it all with ambitious (even for him), wide-ranging arrangements and some of the best performances of Wonder's career. He had talent to spare during the mid-'70s, and instead of letting the reserve trickle out during the rest of the decade, he let it all go with one massive burst. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images for The Cosmopolitan)
1991 - Trumpeter, bandleader and composer Miles Davis died. From his beginnings in the circle of modern jazz, he came to intuit new worlds of sound and challenge. While the vast majority of musicians – jazz, rock, R&B, otherwise – find the experimental charge and imperviousness of youth eventually running down, Miles forever forged ahead. In doing so, Miles became the standard bearer for successive generations of musicians, shaped the course of modern improvisational music more than a half-dozen times.
2009 - Lucy Vodden, the childhood pal of John Lennon's son Julian, passed away at the age of 46 after battling lupus. She was the inspiration for The Beatles' track, "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," written mostly by John after Julian showed his father a nursery-school drawing he made and called "Lucy - in the sky with diamonds," depicting his classmate. So it wasn't about LSD...
Birthdays:
Television host Ed Sullivan was born today in 1901. He passed away in 1974. Sullivan presided over many “firsts” on American television. Among the individuals or groups who made their first television appearances on the show, or who were relatively unknown until they appeared, include Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, The Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley and, of course, The Beatles. One of the most important contributions Ed Sullivan will be remembered for is how he bucked the system and embraced African-American performers giving them their first television breaks.
Ben E. King was born today in 1938. Best known for the hit, "Stand By Me".
Moon Zappa daughter of Frank Zappa is 55. With her dad, had the 1982 hit, "Valley Girl".
St. Vincent is 40. Born Annie Clark, she began her music career as a member of the Polyphonic Spree. In 2012, she released Love This Giant, an album made in collaboration with David Byrne. She won a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album with Daddy’s Home in 2022.
On this Day In Music History was sourced from This Day in Music, Ed Sullivan.com, Song Facts, Miles Davis.com and Wikipedia.