1963 - Reviewing The Beatles' concert the night before in Cheltenham, England, the British paper Daily Mirror uses the headline "Beatlemania!", effectively inserting the phrase into the popular consciousness for the first time. Fitting that this is the day a new Beatles song arrives...
1967 - Cream released their second studio album Disraeli Gears which became the group's American breakthrough. While the blues still courses through the album, the band embraces psychedelia. While "Strange Brew" is built upon a riff lifted from Albert King -- but it's filtered into saturated colors, as it is on "Sunshine of Your Love," or it's slowed down and blurred out, as it is on the ominous murk of "Tales of Brave Ulysses." Yes, its psychedelic trappings tie it forever to 1967, but the imagination of the arrangements, the strength of the compositions, and especially the force of the musicianship make this album transcend its time as well.
1969 - Creedence Clearwater Revival released Willy and the Poor Boys, the third studio album the band released that year. The album features the songs "Down on the Corner," which the album title references, as well as the protest song, "Fortunate Son." The album was the last of three studio albums the band released that year, arriving just three months after Green River. Solid work ethic!
1978 - The Police release their debut album, Outlandos d'Amour. The working title, "Police Brutality," is changed to make is sound more romantic. The title loosely translates as "Outlaws of Love" but the term "Outlandos" is actually a mix of the words for "Outlaws" and "Commandos."
It's a set of strong, adrenaline-charged rock, albeit with a reggae tinge. Sting arrives as an ace songwriter, as evidenced by all-time classics like the good-girl-gone-bad tale of "Roxanne," and a pair of brokenhearted reggae-rock ditties, "Can't Stand Losing You" and "So Lonely." one of the finest debuts to come out of the '70s punk/new wave movement.
1979 - The Who's musical film Quadrophenia, featuring a small part played by Sting, opens in US theaters.
1987 - George Harrison releases Cloud Nine, a commercial comeback that includes the #1 hit "Got My Mind Set On You." It's the last album he puts out in his lifetime.
1992 - Neil Young released his 19th studio album, Harvest Moon. It's the best-selling and most critically acclaimed album that he’d put out in years. Many of the backing musicians also appeared on Young’s 1972 album Harvest. Harvest Moon manages to be sentimental without being sappy, wistful without being nostalgic. The lovely "Unknown Legend," "From Hank to Hendrix," and the beautiful "Harvest Moon" are among Young's best songs. A beautiful album that proudly displays scars, heartaches, and love.
1995 - Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders guest starred on the Friends episode "The One with the Baby on the Bus." She sang "Angel of the Morning" and learned "Smelly Cat" from Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow). R.I.P. Matthew Perry...
2018 - The Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, starring Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury, opens in theaters. It wins four Oscars, including Best Actor for Malek.
Birthdays:
Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake and Palmer was born today in 1944. Throughout his career with the Nice, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and as a solo artist, Keith Emerson proved himself perhaps the greatest, most technically accomplished keyboardist in rock history. For all his reputation as an innovator and master of classically influenced rock, Emerson began his career playing R&B with The Nice. After the Nice's dissolution, Emerson fleshed out his musical ideas to their fullest with Emerson, Lake & Palmer, which debuted in 1970 and had a series of highly successful albums throughout the decade.
kd lang is 62. Lang was first drawn to music while she was in college, when she became acquainted with Patsy Cline while preparing to star in a collegiate theatrical production based on the vocalist's life. Soon, lang immersed herself in Cline's life and music and decided that she would pursue a career as a professional singer.
R.I.P.:
1966 - Country blues musician Mississippi John Hurt dies of a heart attack at age 74. A guitarist with an extraordinarily lyrical and refined fingerpicking style, he also sang with a warmth unique in the field of blues, and the gospel influence in his music gave it a depth and reflective quality.
On This Day In Music History was sourced from This Day in Music, Allmusic, Song Facts and Wikipedia.
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