1968 - Bobby Goldsboro started a five-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Honey." A love-it-or-hate-it song, it tells the story of a man whose wife dies and is reminded of her every time he looks at the tree she planted. Stephen Sanchez samples a section of it in his new song "Evangeline".
1971 - The Rolling Stones released Brown Sugar, the first record on their label Rolling Stones Records, which introduced the iconic licking-tongue-and-lips logo.
"Brown Sugar" is a stew of controversial topics: Slavery, rape and interracial sex are just a partial list.
Jagger admitted in 1995 that his lyrics may have gone a bit far. "God knows what I’m on about on that song. It’s such a mishmash. All the nasty subjects in one go. […] I never would write that song now. I would probably censor myself. I’d think, 'Oh God, I can’t. I’ve got to stop. I can’t just write raw like that.'"
1973 - The Wailers, led by Bob Marley, release their fifth studio album, Catch a Fire. Although Bob Marley may have been the main voice, every member of the Wailers made valuable contributions and they were never more united in their vision and sound. All the songs were originals, and the instrumentation was minimalistic in order to bring out the passionate, often politically charged lyrics. Catch a Fire is one of the finest reggae albums ever and is essential for any music collection.
1973 - David Bowie released his sixth studio album Aladdin Sane, the name of the album is a pun on 'A Lad Insane"' Bowie abandons his futuristic obsessions to concentrate on the detached cool of New York and London hipsters with compressed rockers mixed with jazzy, dissonant sprawls which manage to be both campy and avant-garde.
2005 - Johnnie Johnson, a Rock 'n' Roll pioneer who teamed with Chuck Berry on "Roll Over Beethoven" and "No Particular Place to Go", died of natural causes at the age of 80. For 28 years legendary piano player Johnnie Johnson worked as a sideman to one of rock & roll's most prominent performers, Chuck Berry. Johnson's rhythmic piano playing was a key element in all of Berry's hit singles, a good number of which Johnson arranged. Johnson is widely regarded to be the inspiration for one of Berry's biggest hits, "Johnny B. Goode."
Birthdays:
Al Green is 77. The preeminent R&B singer of the 1970s, Al Green specialized in smooth soul that found common ground between the carnal and spiritual. A distinctive songwriter, penning or co-writing such classics "Tired of Being Alone," "Let's Stay Together," "I'm Still in Love with You," "Call Me (Come Back Home)," and "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)," songs that defined the sultry soul of their era. (Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)
Lowell George was born on this day in 1945. Once a member of Frank Zappa's Mothers Of Invention, formed Little Feat in 1969. Though they had all the trappings of a Southern-fried blues band, Little Feat were hardly conventional. Led by Lowell George, they were a wildly eclectic band, bringing together strains of blues, R&B, country, and rock & roll.
Max Weinberg, the drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, is 72. Longtime drummer with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band and the band leader on Late Night With Conan O'Brien.
Original Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Hillel Slovak was born today in 1962. During the Red Hot Chili Peppers' early years, guitarist Hillel Slovak was the band's heart and soul. In an age when most rock guitarists were transfixed by showing off with over-the-top solos, Slovak was one of the few six-stringers to embrace funk -- focusing more on feel than technique. He recorded two albums with the band, Freaky Styley and The Uplift Mofo Party Plan. He died from a heroin overdose in 1988.
On This Day In Music History was sourced from This Day in Music, Ultimate Classic Rock, Allmusic, Classic Bands, Song Facts and Wikipedia.