1952 - Cleveland stakes a claim on rock history when the Moondog Coronation Ball is held at the Cleveland Arena. Organized by the WJW DJ Alan Freed ("Moondog" on the air), it is widely considered the first rock concert. It may also be one of the shortest, as it is shut down after one song.
Over 25,000 people turn up for the show, but Paul Williams and his Hucklebuckers are not even able to make it through one song before the Cleveland Police Department, supported by firefighters bearing fire hoses, bring the show to a halt.
1969 - Simon & Garfunkel release "The Boxer". In his 1984 Playboy interview, Paul Simon revealed that he wrote this song when critics were writing harsh things about his music - he was "the boxer."
As for the chorus, in a 1990 interview with SongTalk magazine, Simon said: "I thought that 'lie la lie was a failure of songwriting. I didn't have any words! Every time I sing that part, I'm a little embarrassed."
1983 - U2 release "Sunday Bloody Sunday". Written about the time when British troops killed 13 Irish citizens at a 1972 civil rights protest in Derry, Northern Ireland.
"This is not a rebel song." Bono starts the tradition of introducing the song this way when U2 performed it here at Red Rocks in 1983.
1976 - The French actress Claudine Longet, ex-wife of Andy Williams, shoots her live-in lover, the famed skier Spider Sabich, at his home in Aspen. The shooting is ruled an accident, and Longet is sentenced to 30 days in jail for criminal negligence. Her case inspires the Rolling Stones song "Claudine."
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote the song for inclusion on their 1978 Some Girls album, but legal difficulties prevented it's inclusion. It was eventually included on the bonus disc of the 2011 Some Girls reissue. Said Richards to Spinner: "I wished, and I think all of us did at the time, that that should have been on the original album, but there was some legal difficulties and stuff. But otherwise, she was a perfect 'Some Girl.'"
1989 - Bonnie Raitt released her 10th studio album, Nick of Time. Producer Don Was used Raitt's classic early-'70s records as a blueprint, choosing to update the sound with a smooth production and a batch of excellent contemporary songs. In this context, Raitt flourishes; she never rocks too hard, but there is grit to her singing and playing. And while she only has two original songs here, Nick of Time plays like autobiography, which is a testament to the power of the songs. It was a great comeback album that made for a great story, but the record never would have been a blockbuster success if it wasn't for the music, which is among the finest Raitt ever made.
(Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images for NARAS)
2004 - Ozzy Osbourne was named the nation's favorite ambassador to welcome aliens to planet earth. In a poll conducted among Yahoo readers following the discovery of water on planet Mars, Ozzy was chosen to represent the Earth to welcome aliens to our planet.
A spokesman for Yahoo! News said: Ozzy is a great choice but I'm not sure what the Martians would make of his individual approach to the English language.'
Birthdays:
Delta blues singer and guitarist Son House was born today in 1902. A contemporary of Charley Patton and Robert Johnson who cut epochal recordings in the 1930s and '40s and went on to an impressive career revival after he was rediscovered in the 1960s. House's best work is among the most emotionally vivid of the country blues, with the slash and sharp strum of his guitar a powerful match for the moaning wail of his voice in his songs of love, faith, and lives gone wrong. Lynyrd Skynyrd name checked him on "Swamp Music."
Otis Spann was born today in 1930. A core member of Muddy Waters' legendary bands of the 1950s and '60s, pianist, vocalist, and composer Otis Spann is widely considered the standard bearer for postwar blues pianists. Spann played on most of Waters' classic Chess sides between 1953 and 1969, the driving engine on numerous Waters' jukebox and radio hits including "Got My Mojo Working" and "Mannish Boy."
Solomon Burke was born today in 1940. He was an important pioneer of early soul. On his 1960s singles for Atlantic, he brought a country influence into R&B, with emotional phrasing and intricately constructed, melodic ballads and midtempo songs. An important influence upon the Rolling Stones, who covered Burke's "Cry to Me" and "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" on their early albums.
Viv Stanshall was born on this day in 1943. Singer-songwriter, musician, author, poet and wit, Vivian was a founding member of Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band. Their song Death Cab For Cutie inspired that band's name.
David Lindley was born today in 1944. One of the most distinctive and talented instrumentalists of his time, David Lindley was best known as a first-call sideman, working his magic on nearly any instrument with strings for Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, Warren Zevon, and dozens of other major artists. He also provided the falsetto vocal on Browne's hit cover of "Stay," from 1977's Running on Empty. Lindley also had an noteworthy solo career, recording a handful of albums with his band El Rayo-X, who whipped up a greasy mix of rock, reggae, and world music.
Eddie Money was born today in 1949. Initially, Eddie Mahoney was going to follow in his father's footsteps and become a Brooklyn cop. He attended the New York Police Academy during the early '70s, but at night he sang in rock & roll bands under the name Eddie Money. Arriving in the late '70s at the height of album rock's popularity, he had a knack for catchy, blue-collar rock & roll, which he delivered with a radio-friendly finesse.
Roger Hodgson is 74. Best known for his stint fronting art pop hitmakers Supertramp. They had an international hit in 1977 with "Give a Little Bit" from the album Even in the Quietest Moments..., recorded at Caribou Ranch near Nederland. The band reached their commercial peak with 1979's chart-topping Breakfast in America, which yielded the smashes "Take the Long Way Home," "The Logical Song," and "Goodbye, Stranger" on its way to selling 20 million copies.
R.I.P.:
1991 - Leo Fender died at the age of 81. Along with Les Paul and Adolph Rickenbacker, Leo Fender was one of the key names in the development of the electric guitar in the middle of the twentieth century. The Telecaster, Stratocaster, Jazzmaster's and Jaguar's are some of the best known in the world.
On This Day in Music History was sourced, copied, pasted, curated, edited, and occasionally woven together with my own crude prose, from This Day in Music, Music This Day, Allmusic, Song Facts and Wikipedia.
KBCO