This Day in Music History October 15: ON THIS DAY, October 15th: 1931 - The Jerome Kern musical The Cat and the Fiddle, starring Odette Myrtil, Lawrence Grossmith, Bettina Hall, and Eddie Foy, Jr., opened at New Yorks Globe Theatre for 395 performances. 1937 - The novel To Have and Have Not by Ernest Hemingway was first published. 1951 - I Love Lucy, starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz with Vivian Vance and William Frawley, began its six-season run on CBS-TV. 1953 - The play The Teahouse of the August Moon, starring John Forsythe, David Wayne, Mariko Niki, and Paul Ford, opened at New Yorks Martin Beck Theatre for 1,027 performances. 1955 - Buddy Holly, still in the Buddy & Bob duo with Bob Montgomery, opened for Elvis Presley at the Big D Jamboree held at Lubbock’s Cotton Club in Lubbock, Texas. Nashville talent scout Eddie Crandall was in audience and arranged for Holly to audition and record demos for the Decca US label. Mac Davis (like Buddy, a Lubbock native) was also in the audience. 1955 - Fats Domino recorded Im In Love Again at the Cosimo Recording Studio in New Orleans. 1955 - The Grand Ole Opry premiered on ABC-TV, with guests Les Paul & Mary Ford. The live, hour-long television version of the Opry aired once a month on Saturday nights for one year. 1956 - Little Richard recorded Good Golly Miss Molly at the Cosimo Recording Studio in New Orleans. 1957 - In Los Angeles, Alan Freeds The Biggest Show of Stars for 1957 concert tour played the Shrine Auditorium. Performers included Fats Domino, Buddy Holly and the Crickets, Chuck Berry, Paul Anka, Frankie Lymon, Clyde McPhatter, the Everly Brothers, LaVern Baker, the Drifters, Eddie Cochran, the Bobettes, Buddy Knox, Johnnie & Joe, the Spaniels, and Jimmy Bowen. 1957 - Elvis Presley released Elvis Christmas Album, his fourth long-play disc for RCA Victor and the top-selling holiday album of all time with 9 million in sales. After hearing Presleys version of White Christmas, Irving Berlin, the songs composer, called it a profane parody of his cherished yuletide standard, and instructed his staff to phone radio stations across the U.S. demanding airplay of the song be discontinued. While most stations ignored Berlins request, at least one disc jockey was fired for playing a song from the album, and most Canadian stations refused to air any part of the disc. 1958 - Jackie Wilson recorded Lonely Teardrops. Co-written by Berry Gordy, Jr., the song is ranked #308 on Rolling Stone magazines list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. 1958 - Actor (The Adventures of Superman, The Maltese Falcon, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe, Annie Get Your Gun, Million Dollar Mermaid, The Babe Ruth Story, They Died with Their Boots On, The Roaring Twenties, Sitting Bull, Walk a Crooked Mile, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Run for the Hills, Badmans Gold, The Wyoming Bandit, Canadian Pacific, Seventh Heaven, Iron Mountain Trail) John Hamilton died following a heart attack at 71. 1959 - The Untouchables, starring Robert Stack (who was a last-minute replacement for Van Johnson who backed out the weekend before filming was to begin because of a money dispute) as Eliot Ness, began a four-year run on ABC-TV. 1959 - In Nashville, Jim Reeves recorded Hell Have To Go. His backup musicians were Floyd Cramer on piano, Marvin Hughes on vibraphone, Bob Moore on bass, Buddy Harman on drums, Hank Garland on guitar, and the Anita Kerr Singers provided background vocals. The track was recorded in Music Citys famous RCA Studio B where (as your editor discovered in 1986) some tour guides enjoy telling visitors the studio is haunted by the ghost of Jim Reeves. 1960 - In Hamburg, Germany, the Beatles backed Rory Storm and the Hurricanes guitarist Wally Eymond on his recording of George Gershwins Summertime. Since Beatles drummer Pete Best was away, the band played with Storms drummer Ringo Starr in the first known recording session of John, Paul, George and Ringo together. Nine copies of the recording were pressed onto 78 RPM acetate discs, although none of them is known to have survived. Two years later, the band hired Ringo as their permanent drummer. 1960 - Loretta Lynn made her first Grand Ole Opry appearance and was so well received that she was invited back for 21 consecutive weekends. 1960…The Miracles, featuring Bill Smokey Robinson, released the single Shop Around. It became the first million-selling single for the group and the Motown Record labels. In 2006, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. 1960 - Merv Griffins weekly music series Saturday Prom debuted on NBC-TV as the network attempted to lure viewers of the recently cancelled Saturday Dick Clark Show. The opening night Prom guests were Conway Twitty and Johnny And The Hurricanes. 1961 - Elvis Presley recorded Good Luck Charm at RCA Studio B in Nashville. 1963 - The Rip Chords recorded Hey Little Cobra, featuring Doris Days son Terry Melcher on lead vocal, with harmony by Bruce Johnston, later of the Beach Boys. The two also recorded as Bruce & Terry. 1964 - Lyricist/composer (I Get A Kick Out Of You, Anything Goes, Puttin On The Ritz, Ive Got You Under My Skin, True Love, Lets Do It Lets Fall In Love, Love For Sale, My Heart Belongs To Daddy, You Do Something To Me, Night And Day, In The Still Of The Night, I Love Paris, What Is This Thing Called Love?, Youre The Top, Just One Of Those Things, Begin The Beguine, Its De-Lovely, Youd Be So Nice To Come Home To, From This Moment On, I Concentrate On You) Cole Porter died of kidney failure at age 73. 1965 - Jimi Hendrix agreed to his first recording contract, for one percent royalties and a signing bonus of one dollar. 1966 - The Four Tops started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with Reach Out And Ill Be There. The groups second US No.1 and their first No.1 in the UK. 1966 - Pink Floyd (who were paid £15 for the gig), The Move, Denny Laine, Soft Machine, Yoko Ono and a West Indian steel band all appeared at the launch for the International Times (which became the first and longest running British hippy paper), at Londons Roundhouse. Beatle Paul McCartney attended the event in Arabian dress. The flyers for the evening stated: Bring your own poison, bring flowers & gass (sic), filled balloons. Admission was 10 shillings (50p) on the door. 1966 - The Monkees recorded the Neil Diamond composition, Im A Believer. 1967 - The Lovin Spoonful sang She Is Still A Mystery on CBS-TVs The Ed Sullivan Show. 1967 - The first Sacramento Pop Festival took place which featured Spirit, Jefferson Airplane, Nutty Gritty Dirt Band, Strawberry Alarm Clock and Sunshine Company. 1972 - Lieutenant Pigeon were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with Mouldy Old Dough. Keyboard player Rob Woodward had his mum play piano on the single, making them the only mother and son act to score a UK No.1. The song was recorded in the front room of their semi-detached house. 1968 - The former New Yardbirds gave their first concert performance under their new name, Led Zeppelin at Englands Surrey University. 1968 - Stevie Wonder released the single For Once In My Life. 1970 - The (post-Diana Ross era) Supremes released the single Stoned Love. 1971 - Rick Nelson was booed off the stage when he didnt stick to an all-oldies song list at the Seventh Annual Rock n Roll Revival show at New York Citys Madison Square Garden. Audience reaction to his performance inspired Nelson to write his last Top 40 hit, Garden Party. It was later revealed that the crowd was actually booing some trouble makers who had started a fight and were being escorted out of the building. 1971 - In San Francisco, Pink Floyd started a 30-date North American tour at the Winterland Auditorium. 1973 - The U.S. Supreme Court refused to review a 1971 FCC directive that broadcasters censor from the airwaves songs with drug-oriented lyrics. 1973 - After four days of respiratory problems, Elvis Presley was admitted to Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis where Dr. George Nichopoulos discovered Elvis addiction to Demerol. 1973 - The Rolling Stones Keith Richards was found guilty of possessing and intending to distribute both marijuana and heroin in Nice, France. He received a one-year suspended sentence, was fined 5,000 francs, and forbidden to enter the country for two years. 1973 - Tomorrow, a late-night talk show hosted by newsman Tom Snyder, began its almost 8½-year run on NBC-TV in the time-slot immediately following The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. 1976 - Ike and Tina Turner ended their musical partnership. Their marriage had broken down the previous July and their divorce became final on March 29, 1978. 1977 - Paul Simon released the single, Slip Slidin Away. 1977 - Debby Boone started a 10 week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with You Light Up My Life, the longest stay at the top since Guy Mitchells Singing The Blues. A No.48 hit in the UK. 1979 - Abba played their first concert in North America when they appeared in Vancouver, Canada. 1979 - Kenny Rogers and Kim Carnes recorded Dont Fall In Love With A Dreamer at the Jack Clement Studio in Nashville. 1980 - Londons Abbey Road Studios auctioned off thousands of dollars worth of equipment, including some used on Beatles recordings. 1983 - Actor (Harrigan and Son, Some Like It Hot, Angels with Dirty Faces, Ragtime, Knute Rockne All American, Fighting Father Dunne, The Fighting 69th, The End, The Last Hurrah, Okinawa, The People Against OHara, The Fireball, Marine Raiders, Til We Meet Again, The Kid from Kokomo, San Quentin, China Clipper, Here Comes the Navy, The Front Page) Pat OBrien died after a heart attack at the age of 83. 1987 - Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead opened a series of solo shows on Broadway. 1988 - Bon Jovi started a four-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with their fourth release, New Jersey. The album produced five Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 singles, the most top ten hits to date for a hard rock album. 1988 - UB40 went to No.1 on the US singles chart with their version of the Neil Diamond song Red Red Wine, also a No.1 hit in the UK. 1995 - Paul and Linda McCartney were the guest voices on Fox-TVs The Simpsons in an episode called Lisa the Vegetarian. Maccas stipulation for appearing was that Lisas decision to become a vegetarian would be a permanent character change, to which producer David Mirkin agreed. 1996 - Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee was charged with assault for attacking a cameraman who was trying to take pictures of Lee and his wife Pamela Anderson Lee outside an L.A. club. After pleading no contest, Lee was sentenced to four months in prison. 1996 - Trumpeter (Love Rollercoaster, Fire, Skin Tight) Ralph Middlebrooks of the Ohio Players died at age 57. 1997 - Michael Jackson played the last date on the HIStory Tour at Kings Park Rugby Stadium, Durban, South Africa. During the tour, Jackson performed 82 concerts in 58 cities to over 4.5 million fans, visiting 5 continents and 35 countries. 1998 - Actor James Woods received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 1999 - Singer/songwriter (Greenfields, Marianne, Memories Are Made Of This) Terry Gilkyson of the Easy Riders died at the age of 83. 2000 - Rocker Dave Edmunds underwent a triple-bypass heart operation at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. 2000 - Longtime theater and movie critic for The New York Times, Vincent Canby died of cancer at age 76. 2000 - Dave Edmunds had a triple heart bypass operation. The 56 year-old Welsh rocker had the operation at LAs Cedars Sinai Hospital. 2000, Radiohead went to No.1 on the US album chart with Kid A, the groups fourth album became the first Radiohead release to debut at No.1 in the US. 2000 - U2 went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with Beautiful Day, the groups fourth UK No.1 single and taken from their album All That You Cant Leave Behind. 2003 - Mike Smith, the former lead singer of The Dave Clark Five suffered a fall at his home in Spain that left him paralyzed from the waist down. Smith died of pneumonia on February 28th, 2008, less than two weeks before the band was to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 2006 - The Sugababes were the most successful UK all-female act of the 21st century, according to new figures. Since their chart debut in 2000, they had scored 16 hits, beating the likes of Madonna and Britney Spears. The trio first made UK chart history in 2002 when, with ‘Freak Like Me’, made them the youngest female group to top the chart. 2007 - Britney Spears visited a Los Angeles police station to be photographed and fingerprinted ahead of her hit-and-run court case. The 25-year-old singer spent about 30 minutes at the station after a judge ordered her to submit to the procedures. Ms Spears was charged last month for allegedly crashing into a parked car while driving without a valid licence. 2007 - Drew Carey took over as host of CBS TVs The Price Is Right, replacing Bob Barker, who retired after hosting the show for more than 35 years. 2008 - Singer/actress (The Ernie Kovacs Show, The Apartment, Up in Smoke, Its a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, Lover Come Back, The Honey Pot, The Oscar, The Best Man, Love with a Proper Stranger, Under the Yum Yum Tree, Call Me Bwana) Edie Adams, who was the Muriel Cigars commercial spokesperson for 20 years, died of cancer and pneumonia at age 81. 2008 - Jon Bon Jovi became the latest musician to disapprove of the use of his songs in John McCains US presidential campaign. The Bon Jovi song, ‘Who Says You Cant Go Home’, was used during rallies held by Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Foo Fighters, Heart and Jackson Browne had all asked Mr McCain to stop using their tracks in his presidential bid. Bon Jovi, a Democrat supporter, threw a $30,000 (£17,000) per person, fund-raising dinner for Democratic candidate Barack Obama at his New Jersey home in September. 2008 - TV game show host (Dotto, Concentration, Beat The Clock) Jack Narz died after a stroke at the age of 85. 2010 - Actor (Bomba the Jungle Boy, Bomba and the Jungle Girl, African Treasure, Bomba and the Hidden City, Tarzans New York Adventure, Tarzan Triumphs, Tarzan Finds a Son, Tarzans Secret Treasure) Johnny Sheffield, the former child actor who played Boy in the Tarzan movies starring Johnny Weissmuller in the late 1930s and 40s, and who later starred in a series of jungle films as Bomba, died of a heart attack about four hours after he fell off a ladder while pruning a palm tree outside his home. He was 79 years old. 2011 - Actress Shannon Doherty married her third husband, photographer Kurt Iswarienko. 2011 - Actress (Coronation Street, Pardon the Expression, Facing the Music, Lets Be Famous, Penny Paradise) Betty Driver, who played the part of Betty Williams on the British soap opera Coronation Street for more than 40 years, died at the age of 91. 2011 - Former Hollywood agent (for Barbra Streisand, Steve McQueen, Ali McGraw, Michael Caine, Faye Dunaway, Cybill Shepherd, Dyan Cannon, Julie Harris) Sue Mengers died of pneumonia at age 79. BIRTHDAYS: 1937 - Barry McGuire, Oklahoma City, singer (Eve of Destruction) 1938 - Marvin E Marv Johnson, US gospel/R&B singer (Move 2 mountains) 1938 - Rafael Aponte-Ledee, composer 1938 - Fela Kuti, Nigerian musician (d. 1997) 1942 - Don Stevenson, Seattle Wash, rock drummer (Moby Grape) 1946 - Richard Carpenter, New Haven Ct, vocalist (Carpenters-Close to You) 1950 - Chris De Burgh, [Davidson], Argent/Irish rock vocalist (Lady in Red) 1951 - Frank Dimino, Wash DC, rock vocalist (Angel) 1953 - [Toriano] Tito Jackson, singer (Jackson 5-ABC, Never Can Say Goodbye) 1966 - Douglas Vipond, British pop drummer (Deacon Blue-Raintown) 1968 - Jyrki 69, Finnish musician The 69 Eyes 1968 - Vanessa Marcil, Actress 1970 - Eric Benét, American singer 1973 - Dax Riggs, American musician 1975 - Ginuwine, American singer 1981 - Keyshia Cole, African American R&B singer DEATHS: 1964 - Cole Porter, composer (Still of the Night), dies at 73 1965 - Carl Hoff, orchestra leader (Music Hall), dies at 60 1983 - Actor Pat OBrien died after a heart attack at the age of 83. 1993 - Ken E Jones, musician (New Amsterdam Symph Orch), dies of AIDS at 34 2000 - Theater and movie critic for The New York Times, Vincent Canby died of cancer at age 76. 2008 - Edie Adams, American singer and Broadway actress (b. 1927) 2010 - Actor Johnny Sheffield died of a heart attack about four hours after he fell off a ladder while pruning a palm tree outside his home. He was 79 years old. 2011 - Actress Betty Driver died at the age of 91. 2011 - Former Hollywood agent Sue Mengers died of pneumonia at age 79.
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 15:50:25 +0000
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