1964 - The Rolling Stones released their debut self-titled EP which included "You Better Move On", "Poison Ivy", "Bye Bye Johnny" and "Money". The songs are covers with their unique style added. Not their best by a long shot, but it gives you a feel for what they are soon to become.
1966 - NBC bought The Monkees series, placing it on their 1966 fall schedule. The series centered on the adventures of The Monkees, a struggling rock band from Los Angeles, and introduced a number of innovative new-wave film techniques to television.
1967 - 40-year-old David Mason recorded the piccolo trumpet solo for The Beatle's "Penny Lane" at Abbey Road Studios in London. He was paid $42 for his performance. In August 1987, the trumpet he used was sold at a Sotheby's auction for $10,846.
1996 - David Bowie Tom Donahue, The Jefferson Airplane, Gladys Knight And The Pips, Little Willie John, Pink Floyd, Pete Seeger, The Shirelles and The Velvet Underground were all inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
2016 - David Bowie's final album, "Blackstar", debuted at the top of the chart, giving the late music legend his first ever #1 album. Bowie died on January 10th, two days after "Blackstar" was released.
Unbeknownst to all but his inner circle, Bowie wrote and recorded Blackstar after receiving word that he had liver cancer, so the album was certainly shaped through the prism of this diagnosis. A close listen reveals how the album is littered with references to dying -- indeed, it concludes with a note of acceptance in "I Can't Give Everything Away" -- but Bowie's remarkable achievement with Blackstar is how it's an album about mortality that is utterly alive, even playful.
Birthdays:
Eartha Kitt was born today in 1927. Eartha Kitt epitomized the idea of the sex-kitten chanteuse, rising to fame with a nightclub act ,but she also projected the image of an exotic international sophisticate, especially since she sang in several different languages. She was also one of the actresses to play Catwoman on the '60s Batman series.
Cassius Clay was born on this day in 1942. Later changing his name to Muhammad Ali, he becomes a champion boxer and one of the world's most famous athletes. His clever, boastful raps during interviews and other public appearances influence hip-hop, and he becomes an icon of the genre. He is also one of the first athletes to make music: his cover of "Stand By Me" is a minor hit in 1964.
The Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor is 74. There's no denying the great string of classic albums the Rolling Stones issued during the late ‘60s and early ‘70s -- from Let It Bleed to Exile on Main St. But while Jagger and Richards received the lion's share of credit for these aforementioned albums, it was the guitar work, and uncredited songwriting contributions, of Mick Taylor that helped make these albums so special.
Legend has it that Taylor was in the audience of a John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers concert which then guitarist Eric Clapton failed to show up at. Taylor offered to sub and left quite an impression on Mayall. But before the two could talk about possibly continuing to work together, the shy Taylor had already left the club without leaving behind any contact info. he eventually joined the band in 1968.
Steve Earle is 68. One of the most celebrated singer/songwriters of his generation. His populist lyrical stance, literate yet down to earth, finds room for the personal and the political, writing about the stuff of everyday lives as well as the forces that shape and define their existence.
Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles is 64. A formative moment in Hoffs' life as a Berkeley student, she attended both the final Sex Pistols show at Winterland Ballroom, and a Patti Smith concert. Seeing those shows changed the trajectory of her career from a dancer to musician.
Jeremiah Fraites of The Lumineers is 37. Referred to by band mate Wesley Schultz as "Jersey Ringo", he's the co-founder and drummer of the Lumineers. Born in New Jersey, Fraites was drawn to music from a very young age. His fondness for piano led him first to Beethoven, and later, Guns N' Roses and Pink Floyd. Schultz and Fraites relocated to Denver and formed the Lumineers. A multi-instrumentalist, in 2021, Fraites made a surprisingly subtle solo debut with Piano Piano, a collection of tranquil piano instrumentals that occasionally veers into the avant-garde and quasi-classical wilderness. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
On This Day In Music History was sourced from This Day in Music, Song Facts, Allmusic, The Bret Saunders Podcast, Classic Bands, and Wikipedia.