1958 - CBS records announced the invention of stereophonic records. Although the new format would be playable on ordinary record players, when used on the new stereo players, a richer, fuller sound was heard.
1973 - Rolling Stone magazine reported that after becoming a disciple of Sri Chinmoy, Carlos Santana had changed his name to 'Devadip', which means 'the lamp of the light of the Supreme'.
1979 - Eric Clapton marries George Harrison's ex-wife Pattie, the subject of the song "Layla." Harrison attends the wedding and remains friends with Clapton. The wedding reception is held in Clapton's garden and Harrison brings along Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.
McCartney, Harrison and Starr drunkenly jam together on Clapton's outdoor stage - the same venue where Harrison wrote "Here Comes The Sun." The event becomes an impromptu - though musically questionable - partial reunion of the Beatles as they play songs including "Get Back" and "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." Other musicians to join the performance at various points include Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Bill Wyman, and Elton John.
1979 - Ian Hunter releases You're Never Alone With a Schizophrenic. Joined by members of the E-Street Band, Blue Oyster Cult, Ellen Foley and John Cale, it's one of Hunter's best. Two of the finest tracks are "Cleveland Rocks," an affectionate, Mott the Hoople-styled tribute to an unsung rock & roll city that later became the theme for The Drew Carey Show, and "Ships," a heartrending ballad built on a spooky and ethereal keyboard-driven melody that was later covered with great success by Barry Manilow.
Hunter says that the title had been spotted on a toilet wall by co-producer Mick Ronson which he had planned for one of his solo albums. Hunter loved the title so much that he offered Ronson co-writing credit on the first single "Just Another Night" in exchange for the use of the title for the album.
1984 - Run-D.M.C. released their debut self-titled album. Prior to this, rap felt like a block party -- the beats were funky and elastic, all about the groove. Run-D.M.C. hit hard. The production is tough and minimal, built on relentless drum machines and Jam Master Jay's furious scratching, mixing in a guitar riff or a keyboard hit on occasion. It is brutal urban music, and Run and D.M.C.'s forceful, muscular rhymes match the music.
It features the singles “It’s Like That,” “Hard Times,” and “Rock Box.” “Rock Box” was the first rap video played on MTV.
2015 - Country singer Willie Nelson announced that he and his family were hard at work on a new brand of marijuana called Willie's Reserve. How would you have liked to be a part of the "sampling" process? (Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images)
Birthdays:
Phil Chess (Chess Records) was born today in 1921. When he formed Chess Records in 1950 with his brother, Leonard, he could never have predicted the label’s historic role in the story of blues and rock’n’roll. Launching the careers of blues greats Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters, and recording innumerable musical stars including Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, John Lee Hooker and Etta James, Chess became a byword for authenticity in blues, as well as for R&B and early rock’n’roll. The music released on Chess would also prove to be a major inspiration in the formation of the Rolling Stones and for other blues-crazed British musicians including Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Fleetwood Mac.
Sarah Lois Vaughan was born on this day in 1924. Possessor of one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century, Sarah Vaughan ranked with Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday in the very top echelon of female jazz singers. She often gave the impression that with her wide range, perfectly controlled vibrato, and wide expressive abilities, she could do anything she wanted with her voice.
Junior Parker was born today in 1932. Blues singer and harmonica player Junior Parker. He wrote ‘Mystery Train’, which was covered by Elvis Presley. He also worked with B.B. King and Howlin’ Wolf. Al Green dedicated his song "Take Me to the River" to Parker, whom he described in the song's spoken introduction as "a cousin of mine who's gone on, and we'd kinda like to carry on in his name"
Genesis keyboardist Tony Banks is 74. While he may not have had the name recognition as contemporaries like Keith Emerson or Rick Wakeman, Banks is one of the more undeservedly underrated keyboard players in progressive rock. His playing was responsible for a large portion of the Genesis sound.
R.I.P.:
2000 - Singer, songwriter, poet and actor, Ian Dury died. Dury cut a striking figure -- he remained handicapped from a childhood bout with polio, yet stalked the stage with dynamic charisma, spitting out music hall numbers and rockers in his thick Cockney accent.
Driven by a warped sense of humor and a pulsating beat, singles with his band The Blockheads, like "Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick," "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll," and "Reasons to Be Cheerful, Pt. 3" became Top Ten hits in the U.K.
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, The Guardian, Song Facts and Wikipedia.
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