1961 - Motown Records achieves their first number one record when The Marvelettes' "Please Mr. Postman" reaches the top. The song, which included 22 year old Marvin Gaye on drums, would stay on the Hot 100 for twenty-three weeks. The Beatles and The Carpenters both had hits with covers of the song.
1968 - Filming began for The Rolling Stones’ "Rock & Roll Circus." As well as clowns and acrobats, John Lennon and his fiancee Yoko Ono performed as part of a supergroup called The Dirty Mac, along with Eric Clapton, Mitch Mitchell and Keith Richards. Others on the bill included The Who (they were terrific), Jethro Tull, Taj Mahal, and Marianne Faithfull. It was originally meant to be aired on the BBC, but the Rolling Stones withheld it because they were unhappy with their performance. The film was eventually released in 1996.
1970 - John Lennon releases his debut solo album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. Inspired by his primal scream therapy with Dr. Arthur Janov, Lennon created a harrowing set of unflinchingly personal songs, laying out all of his fears and angers for everyone to hear. It was a revolutionary record -- never before had a record been so explicitly introspective, and very few records made absolutely no concession to the audience's expectations, daring the listeners to meet all the artist's demands.
Which isn't to say that the record is unlistenable. Lennon's songs range from tough rock & rollers to piano-based ballads and spare folk songs, and his melodies remain strong and memorable, which actually intensifies the pain and rage of the songs. Few albums are ever as harrowing, difficult, and rewarding
2016 - Bob Dylan said it was "truly beyond words" to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature. In a speech read on his behalf at the ceremony in Sweden, he said he thought his odds of winning were as likely as him "standing on the moon". Patti Smith performed "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" at the ceremony. But the singer had to apologize during her rendition after nerves got the better of her and she forgot the lyrics. (Photo by FRANK MICELOTTA/AFP via Getty Images)
Happy Birthday:
Big Mama Thornton was born today in 1926. Big Mama Thornton was a vibrant rhythm & blues shouter whose trademark growl and equally powerful clean shout were a major influence on generations of R&B and rock artists to come. She was the first to record Leiber and Stoller's "Hound Dog", in 1952, selling almost two million copies. It later became a hit for Elvis. She also wrote and recorded the original version of "Ball 'n' Chain", covered by Janis Joplin with Big Brother and the Holding Company. . She has said, "My singing comes from my experience... My own experience. I never had no one teach me nothin'. I can't read music, but I know what I'm singing! I don't sing like nobody but myself."
R.I.P.:
1964 - One-time Gospel singer and highly popular and influential R&B/pop singer Sam Cooke died under sordid and mysterious circumstances. He was shot dead at the Hacienda Motel in Los Angeles, by Bertha Franklin, manager of the motel, where Cooke was staying. Franklin told police that she shot and killed Cooke in self-defence because he had attacked her. Police found Cooke's body in Franklin's apartment-office, clad only in a sports jacket and shoes. The case is still shrouded in doubt and mystery, and was never investigated the way the murder of a star of his stature would be today.
2012 - Ravi Shankar died. He was one of the best-known proponents of the sitar and influenced many other musicians throughout the world. George Harrison, who was first introduced to Shankar's music by Roger McGuinn and David Crosby, became influenced by Shankar's music and went on to help popularize Shankar.
On This Day In Music History sourced from This Day in Music, Allmusic Classic Bands,, Song Facts and Wikipedia.
KBCO