1953 - Hank Williams' 'Your Cheatin' Heart was at No.1 on the Billboard country chart. The story goes that Williams was prompted to write the song when thinking about his first wife, Audrey Williams, while driving around with his second, Billie Jean Jones who she is supposed to have written down the lyrics for him whilst sat in the passenger seat. The song was record during his last ever recording sessions, on September 23, 1952 and had been released the following year, shortly after he died.
1956 - The Godfather of Soul and the hardest-working man in show business, James Brown, had his first chart entry on the R&B chart with "Please, Please, Please."
This was the song where James Brown would do his cape bit, where after exhausting himself on stage, a functionary on his revue named Danny Ray would place a cape on his shoulders and start to guide him offstage. Brown would summon the strength to continue, throw off the cape, and keep performing. It always brought the house down.
1961 - Bob Dylan made his New York City stage debut at Gerde's Folk City, a small Greenwich Village club, opening for John Lee Hooker. During the set, he debuted a tune that would come to be one of his trademark songs: "Blowin' In The Wind."
1970 - Fleetwood Mac founding member Peter Green announced he was leaving the group to devote himself to "what God would have me do."
While touring Europe in late March 1970, Green took LSD at a party at a commune in Munich, an incident cited by Fleetwood Mac manager Clifford Davis as the crucial point in his mental decline.
After a few member changes, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined the band for their most successful lineup in 1974.
1994 - Oasis released "Supersonic," which was the band's first single to chart in the United States. The lyrics are more or less nonsense - especially interesting the lines, "I know a girl called Elsa, she's into Alka-Seltzer" - the band loves to tell that those are related to a huge female dog called Elsa, that spent her days underneath the mixing-desk, constantly farting. (Photo credit should read JOERG KOCH/DDP/AFP via Getty Images)
2014 - Nirvana was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, alongside KISS and Beatles manager Brian Epstein. REM's Michael Stipe inducted the group, saying, "Nirvana tapped into a voice that was yearning to be heard. Nirvana were kicking against the mainstream. They spoke truth and a lot of people listened."
Birthdays:
Stuart Adamson, the late co-founder, lead singer, and guitarist of Big Country, was born today in 1958. First coming to prominence with the punk-art rock quartet Skids.
Perfectly echoing their highland roots, they flaunted a unique bagpipe-like sound using the E-Bow, a hand-held electronic device for guitars that allows the player to mimic strings, horns, and woodwinds.
Doug Hopkins, cofounder and original guitarist of Gin Blossoms, was born today in 1961. His struggles with depression and alcohol came to a head during the recording of of the band's first LP. The label gave them an ultimatum, fire Hopkins or get dropped.
As Gin Blossoms experienced their first flush of success, Hopkins entered a downward spiral that culminated in his suicide on December 5, 1993.
Joss Stone is 36. Armed with a powerful voice and a compatible sound based in vintage soul, Joss Stone hit the mainstream as a teenager and has enjoyed an enduring career of unpredictable twists and turns. She's sang of albums with Jeff Beck, Tower Of Power, and Ringo Starr. she was also a member of Super heavy with Mick Jagger, Dave Stewart (Eurythmics), and Damien Marley.
On this Day In Music History was sourced from This Day in Music, Allmusic, Song Facts and Wikipedia.
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