1969 - John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band released the live album Live Peace in Toronto 1969 which was recorded at the Toronto Rock 'n Roll Revival concert on September 13th.
Thrown together literally on the wing (they rehearsed only on the flight from England), the ad-hoc band consisting of Lennon, Yoko Ono, Eric Clapton on guitar, Klaus Voorman on bass, and Alan White on drums hit the stage to the surprise and delight of the thousands who packed Varsity Stadium. "We're just going to do numbers we know, you know, because we've never played together before," confesses Lennon.
The repertoire was a piece of cake for a quartet of seasoned rockers -- blues-based oldies ("Blue Suede Shoes," "Money," "Dizzy Miss Lizzie") and basic then-recent Lennon numbers ("Yer Blues," "Cold Turkey," "Give Peace a Chance") -- and they lay it down in a dignified, noisy, glorified garage band manner.
1974 - After being in the group for five and a half years, Mick Taylor announced his departure from The Rolling Stones. Taylor was a part of their great run that included, Let It Bleed, Get Yer Ya Ya's Out, Sticky Fingers, and Exile on Main St. He would eventually be replaced by...
1976 - The Rolling Stones began work on what would become their Black & Blue album. It marked the departure of guitarist Mick Taylor, who'd replaced the late Brian Jones five years previously. Several excellent guitarists auditioned and actually wound up being heard on the album, including Harvey Mandel, Wayne Perkins and Ronnie Wood; Ronnie would eventually get the gig on a permanent basis.
1980 - The Clash release Sandinista!. The Clash sounded like they could do anything on London Calling. For its triple-album follow-up, Sandinista!, they tried to do everything, adding dub, rap, gospel, and even children's choruses to the punk, reggae, R&B, and roots rock they already were playing. Is it a mess or a messy masterpiece? Depends on the listener.
Amid all the dub experiments, backward tracks, unfinished songs, and instrumentals, there are a number of classic Clash songs that rank among the band's best, including "Police on My Back," ( a cover of The Equals original, a band that featured Eddy Grant, later of "Electric Avenue" fame) "The Call Up," "Somebody Got Murdered," "Charlie Don't Surf," "Hitsville U.K.," and "Lightning Strikes (Not Once but Twice)". As the cliché says, there's a great single album within these three records, and those songs make Sandinista! worthwhile. (Photo credit should read STR/AFP via Getty Images)
Birthdays:
Frank Sinatra was born today in 1915. Frank Sinatra was arguably the most important musical figure of the 20th century, his only real rivals for the title being Elvis Presley and the Beatles. In a professional career lasting 60 years, he demonstrated a remarkable ability to maintain his appeal and pursue his musical goals despite countervailing trends. He came to the fore during the swing era of the 1930s and '40s, helped to define the "sing era" of the '40s and '50s, and continued to attract listeners during the rock era that began in the mid-'50s. He scored his first number one hit in 1940 and was still making million-selling recordings in 1994.
Dickey Betts, guitarist for The Allman Brothers Band, is 80. Recognized as one of the greatest rock guitar players of all time, with one of rock’s finest guitar partnerships with Duane Allman, introducing melodic twin guitar harmony which "rewrote the rules for how two rock guitarists can work together".
Rob Tyner, singer from the MC5, was born on this day in 1944. Alongside their Detroit-area brethren the Stooges, MC5 essentially laid the foundations for the emergence of punk; deafeningly loud and uncompromisingly intense, the group's politics were ultimately as crucial as their music, their revolutionary sloganeering and anti-establishment outrage crystallizing the counterculture movement at its most volatile and threatening.
Denny Dias, guitarist, best known for being a founding member of Steely Dan, is 77. Dias placed an ad in The Village Voice in the summer of 1970 that read: "Looking for keyboardist and bassist. Must have jazz chops! Assholes need not apply". Donald Fagen and Walter Becker responded to the advertisement.
R,I,P,:
2007 - Ike Turner died of a cocaine overdose in San Marcos, California, at age 76. Ike Turner is certainly one of the most dehumanized figures in rock history. Mention his name and the first association that comes to most anyone's mind is "abusive husband," not "soul star" or "rock & roll pioneer." A lot of his negative persona seems to be well deserved. So no defense here. Repugnant.
But...Turner helped lay the groundwork for rock & roll; he was a distinctive guitarist with a biting, nasty tone, and was one of the first to make the whammy bar an integral part of his sound. As a bandleader, his disciplinarian approach -- when it wasn't manifesting itself in darker fashion, that is -- resulted in undeniably tight, well-drilled ensembles and some of the most exhilarating live shows the R&B world ever saw -- of course centered around the infinitely talented Tina Turner.
Credited by many music historians with making the first rock 'n' roll record, "Rocket 88", in 1951.
Ian Stewart died at the age of 47. Lovingly referred to as the sixth stone, pianist Ian Stewart was actually a founding member of the original group, pre-dating both Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman as members.
After manager Andrew Loog Oldham took over the reigns of the Stones' career he deemed Stewart unfit for the group because the straight-laced Stewart didn't "have the right look." Thankfully for the rest of the band Stu agreed to stay on as their road manager and sometime piano player.
The gifted keyboardist also lent his hand to projects outside The Stones such as the London Howlin' Wolf sessions, Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti (Boogie With Stu) Led Zeppelin IV (Rock and Roll) and Pete Townshend's Rough Mix album.
On This Day In Music History was sourced from This Day in Music, Allmusic, Song Facts and Wikipedia.
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