1969 -The Beatles released Abbey Road. In many ways, Abbey Road stands apart from the rest of the Beatles' catalog, an album that gains considerable strength from its lush, enveloping production -- a recording so luxuriant, it glosses over aesthetic differences between the group's main three songwriters and ties together a series of disconnected unfinished songs into a complete suite.
Abbey Road contains a handful of the most enduring Beatles songs, each adding a new emotional maturity to their catalog. As good as these individual moments are, what makes Abbey Road transcendent is how the album is so much greater than the sum of its parts. While a single song or segment can be dazzling, having a succession of marvelous, occasionally intertwined moments is not only a marvel but indeed a summation of everything that made the Beatles great.
"And in the end/the love you take/is equal to the love you make"
BTW, the album cover, showing the band crossing the street just outside the recording studio, will become one of the most imitated in recording history. Photo credit should read CARL DE SOUZA/AFP via Getty Images)
1974 - John Lennon releases Walls and Bridges. Walls and Bridges was recorded during John Lennon's infamous "lost weekend," as he exiled himself in California during a separation from Yoko Ono. Lennon's personal life was scattered, so it isn't surprising that Walls and Bridges is a mess itself, containing equal amounts of brilliance and nonsense. Falling between the two extremes was the bouncy Elton John duet "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night," which was Lennon's first solo number one hit.
1975 - The Rocky Horror Picture Show opens in Westwood, California. Featuring a young Meat Loaf along with Tim Curry and Susan Sarandon, the movie tanks but later becomes a cult classic, with audience members shouting back at the screen and bringing toast, toilet paper, and other assorted items to enhance the viewing experience.
Hot patootie, bless my soul! I really love that rock n roll
Oh no, not Meatloaf again!
"Damnit Janet"
1976 - Boulder's, Firefall saw their song "You Are The Woman" enter the Billboard chart on its way to #9. They would place five more songs in the Top 40, including "Just Remember I Love You" (#11 in 1977) and "Strange Way" (#11 in 1978).
1979 - U2 made their recorded debut with Three, a three-song EP featuring the songs “Out of Control,” “Stories for Boys,” and “Boy/Girl.” Upon its release, all 1,000 copies of the 12-inch vinyl sold out instantly, making the EP the fastest-selling 12-inch record ever in Ireland.
Birthdays:
Bryan Ferry is 78. While fronting Roxy Music in the 1970s and early '80s, Bryan Ferry devised a blueprint for art rock and as a solo performer, he brilliantly updated the parameters of the pop songbook. Although Ferry's solo career has included several excellent self-penned tracks, he's best-known for his adventurous interpretations of songs from the rock and pop canon. Combining a studied, wry, lounge-singer persona with a genuine passion for everything from Motown and Bob Dylan to the Great American Songbook of the 1920s and '30s, Ferry's performances add a post-modern gloss to pop standards.
Tracey Thorn of Everything But The Girl is 61.
R.I.P.:
2003 - Robert Palmer died, he was 54. One of the great underappreciated singers of the rock era, Robert Palmer sang with such ease that it disguised both his vocal skill and his adventurous tastes. Deeply rooted in soul, he pivoted to a variety of sounds throughout his career, often operating at the vanguard of fashion or perhaps right on the edge of the mainstream.
2021 - George Frayne, best known by his alias, Commander Cody of Commander Cody And His Planet Lost Airmen, died at the age of 77. The band enjoyed a Billboard #9 hit in 1972 with "Hot Rod Lincoln"
On This Day In Music History was sourced from This Day in Music, Allmusic, Classic Bands, Song Facts, and Wikipedia.
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