Sunday, March 11, 2012

This Date in Rock Music History: March 11

1963:  The Rolling Stones recorded five tracks at IBC Recoding Studio in London with engineer Glyn Johns, who produced the session, in the hopes of landing a recording contract.  (Note:  some websites report the date of recording as January 28, but according to 'StonesSessions.com', Rolling Stones fan sites, and our best research, the songs were recorded on March 11.)
1964:  After completing the train scenes over the last several days, the Beatles continued to work on the movie A Hard Day's Night, filming "I Should Have Known Better" at Twickenham Studios in London.
1965:  Tom Jones scored the first of 16 #1 songs in the U.K. with "It's Not Unusual".
1966:  The BBC television show Ready Steady Go was devoted entirely to James Brown.
1967:  "Yesterday" by the Beatles became the most covered version in history with 446 versions since the Fab Four released it in 1965.  As of June, 2014, that number had grown to over 4,000.
1967:  It was not Planet of the Apes but Planet of the Monkees as the group once again owned the #1 album--More of the Monkees for the fifth week.  Meanwhile, their self-titled debut was at #3.  In between was Between the Buttons by the Rolling Stones.  Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass were still fourth with their former #1 S.R.O. and the "Doctor Zhivago" Soundtrack was #5 after 52 weeks of release.  The rest of the Top 10:  That's Life from Frank Sinatra, The Temptations Greatest Hits captured the #7 spot, the incredible "Sound of Music" Soundtrack was #8, Boise, Idaho's Paul Revere & the Raiders enjoyed The Spirit of '67 and the self-titled The Mamas & the Papas moved to #10.
1967:  The Supremes reached #1 on the R&B chart with "Love Is Here And Now You're Gone".





1967:  The Supremes registered their ninth career #1 and 11th Top 10 out of their last 12 releases with "Love Is Here And Now You're Gone".  The Rolling Stones rolled downhill with "Ruby Tuesday" while Johnny Rivers' great version of "Baby I Need Your Lovin'" moved to #3.  The Buckinghams were next with "Kind Of A Drag", but you couldn't blame the group for looking a bit behind them as the Beatles shot up from 36 to 5 with "Penny Lane".  The rest of the Top 10:  The Casinos with "Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye", Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels edged up with "Sock It To Me-Baby!", the Turtles were in a hurry, moving from 21 to 8 with "Happy Together", Ed Ames moved in with "My Cup Runneth Over" and the Mamas & Papas vaulted from 26 to 10 with "Dedicated To The One I Love".
1968:  Three months after his death in a plane crash, the single "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding was certified Gold.
1969:  The Jackson 5 signed with Motown Records.




1970:  Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young released the epic album Deja Vu.
1970:  The Jean Luc Godard movie One Plus One, starring the Rolling Stones, opened in theaters in the United States.  (Note:  There are several different opening dates listed on the Internet, and most are incorrect.  The film actually premiered at the London Film Festival on November 29, 1968, although some websites incorrectly report the date as November 30.  Reports of the Film Festival appeared in newspapers the next morning, but as we all know, newspapers dated November 30 contain new of events that happened November 29.  (The November 29 premiere at the London Film Festival is confirmed by Colin MacCabe, in the book 'Godard:  A Portrait of the Artist at Seventy' and by the book 'There's a Riot Going On:  Revolutionaries, Rock Stars, and the Rise and Fall of the '60s' by Peter Doggett.)  The film then premiered in theatres in Europe on May 7, 1969.  According to 'Rolling Stone', the film premiered at the Pagoda Palace Theatre in San Francisco, California on March 11, 1970.  The New York Times reported that the film, as well as the producer's version called 'Sympathy for the Devil', "opened theatrically" at the Murray Hill on April 26, 1970.)  
1970:  Crosby, Stills and Nash were named Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards.





1970:  Joe South won the Grammy for Song of the Year with "Games People Play".










1970:  The 5th Dimension won Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards with the classic "Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In".
1972:  Nilsson topped the U.K. chart with his version of the Badfinger song "Without You".












                                             "Mother Freedom" from Bread...

1972:  Neil Young's Harvest album made a nice 12-1 move to the top of the Album chart.  American Pie from Don McLean finally relinquished its spot at #1 while The Concert for Bangla Desh from George Harrison fell to #3.  The great Fragile album from Yes was next followed by Stanley, Idaho's Carole King with Music.  The rest of the Top 10:  Nilsson Schmilsson by Nilsson, Bread's Baby I'm-A-Want You, Paul Simon at #8 with his self-titled release, the debut from America moved from 37 to 9 and Phase-III by the Osmonds captured a spot in the Top 10.
1972:  For the fourth week, "Without You" by Nilsson sat on top of the Adult chart.



      
                                     Cher's solo career was off and running...

1972:  Nilsson was also the overall #1 for the fourth week with "Without You", although Neil Young's "Heart Of Gold" was charging from behind (7-2).  There were two new songs in the Top 10:  America exploded from 20 to 7 with their debut single "A Horse With No Name" and Cher found the list with "The Way Of Love".







1974:  Chicago released the album Chicago VII.











1974:  Three Dog Night released the single 'The Show Must Go On".
1978:  Kate Bush's debut single "Wuthering Heights" went to #1 in the U.K., the first of four weeks at the top.  The song was inspired by the Emily Bronte novel and would be covered by Pat Benatar on her excellent Crimes of Passion album.
1978:  The superstar collaboration of James Taylor, Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel remained at #1 of the Adult chart for the fifth week with their remake of the Hermans Hermits song "(What A) Wonderful World".



1978:  The "Saturday Night Fever" Soundtrack was the #1 album for the eighth week.
1983:  Joni Mitchell began a tour Down Under at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney, Australia.
1983:  "You Are" by Lionel Richie remained at #1 for the third week on the Adult Contemporary chart.
1983:  For the fifth straight week, "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson was the #1 R&B song.








1985:  Tears for Fears released the single "Everybody Wants To Rule The World".










1985:  Wham!  released the single "Everything She Wants" in the United States.  (Note:  some websites naively say the song was released on April 17.  "Everything She Wants" debuted on the Singles chart on March 23, 1985.  It is physically impossible for a song to be included on the Singles chart if it has not been released as a single.)







1989:  Mike + the Mechanics had the top AC song for a third week with "The Living Years".













1991:  Extreme released the single "More Than Words".  (Note:  some websites say the song was released on March 23, while others claim it was released on May 10.  "More Than Words" debuted on the Singles chart on March 23, 1991.  It is physically impossible for a song to be released by a radio station, listened to by radio stations and added to their playlists, reported by the radio stations to the trade papers, and charts printed and published by the trade papers all in the same day, and a song cannot be included on the Singles chart if it has not yet been released as a single)
1991:  Virgin Records coaxed Janet Jackson to leave A&M with a $40 million deal for three albums.










1994:  The Supremes received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
1995:  Van Halen began a tour at the Pensacola Civic Center in Pensacola, Florida.
1995:  "Candy Rain" by Soul for Real topped the R&B chart.







                                             Des'ree was in the Top 5...

1995:  Madonna once again owned the #1 song for a third week with "Take A Bow".  "Creep" by TLC remained strong at #2 with "Candy Rain" by Soul for Real and "Baby" from Brandy edging up a notch.  The rest of the Top 10:  Des'ree with "You Gotta' Be", Real McCoy remained at #6 after 29 weeks with "Another Night", the huge Boyz II Men hit "On Bended Knee", Brownstone had "If You Love Me", Sheryl Crow was back with "Strong Enough" and Hootie & the Blowfish moved to #10 with "Hold My Hand" after 23 weeks, one of the longest times of the Rock Era that a song took to reach the Top 10.






                               "When I Come Around" by Green Day...

1995:  II by Boyz II Men moved to #1 on the Album chart, taking over from the Garth Brooks compilation The Hits.  Dookie by Green Day was still strong after 55 weeks of release, the Eagles moved back up with Hell Freezes Over and CrazySexyCool by TLC moved to #5.  The rest of the Top 10:  Cracked Rear View from Hootie & the Blowfish, Balance, the new Van Halen album, was #7, Live was next with Throwing Copper, Sheryl Crow returned to the Top 10 after 52 weeks of release with Tuesday Night Music Club and the Cranberries grabbed the final spot with No Need to Argue.
1996:  The surviving members of the Beatles turned down $225 million to do a reunion tour.









1997:  Paul McCartney was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
2001:  The Dave Matthews Band had the top album with their solid effort Everyday.
2006:  The Soundtrack to "High School Musical" was the #1 album.
2008:  Madonna, John Mellencamp, the Dave Clark Five, the Ventures and Leonard Cohen all were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.





2010:  Joan Baez was honored with the Order of Letters and Arts from the government of Spain.
2015:  Jimmy Greenspoon, keyboardist with Three Dog Night, died of cancer in North Potomac, Maryland at the age of 67.

Born This Day:
1914:  Art Todd, who with wife Dotty had the Top 10 song "Chanson D'Amour (Song Of Love)" in 1958), was born in Baltimore, Maryland; died of congestive heart failure in Honolulu, Hawai'i on October 10, 2007.
1944:  Ric Rothwell, drummer of the Mindbenders ("Game Of Love" from 1965), was born in Stockport, Cheshire, England.  (Note:  some websites list Ric's birthplace as Manchester, Lancashire, England, but according to the website 'Manchester Beat', he was born in Stockport, Cheshire, England.)
1945:  Harvey Mandel, guitarist of the Rolling Stones, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and Canned Heat, was born in Detroit, Michigan.







1947: Derek John "Blue" Weaver, songwriter and keyboardist of the Bee Gees, Amen Corner, Mott the Hoople and the Stawbs, was born in Cardiff, Wales.  (Note:  some websites claim Weaver was born on March 3, but Weaver, on his official website, states that he was born on March 11.)
1947:  Mark Stein, co-founder, songwriter, arranger, lead singer and keyboardist of Vanilla Fudge, who had a hit with a version of "You Keep Me Hangin' On" from 1968, was born in Bayonne, New Jersey.
1948:  George Kooymans, guitarist of Golden Earring ("Radar Love" from 1974) was born in The Hague, Netherlands.






1950:  Bobby McFerrin ("Don't Worry, Be Happy") was born in New York City, New York.  (Note:  some websites report that McFerrin was born in Manhattan, but the books 'Blue Notes:  Profiles of Jazz Personalities' by Robert P. Vande Kappelle and 'African Americans in the Performing Arts' by Steven Otfinoski both say he was born in New York City.)
1951:  Katie Kisson (real name Katherine Farthing) of Mac & Katie Kissoon, who had the 1971 hit "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep", was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, West Indies.
1957:  Cheryl Lynn ("Got To Be Real" from 1979) was born in Los Angeles.
1961:  Mike Percy, bass guitarist of Dead or Alive
1961:  Bruce Watson, guitarist of Big Country, was born in Timmons, Ontario, Canada.
1964:  Vinnie Paul, who co-founded the group Damageplan in 2003 with his late brother, Dimebag Darrell, and also was the co-founder, drummer and producer of Pantera, was born in Abilene, Texas.  (Note:  some websites report that Paul was born in Dallas, Texas.  Although there are no credible sources for either city, our best research leads us to believe he was born in Abilene.)




1968:  Lisa Loeb ("I Do" and "Stay") was born in Bethesda, Maryland.
1969:  Rami Jaffee, keyboardist of the Wallflowers ("One Headlight") who has also worked with Pearl Jam, the Foo Fighters and Soul Asylum, was born in Los Angeles.
1979:  Benji Madden, co-founder and guitarist of Good Charlotte, and identical twin to Joel, was born in Waldorf, Maryland.
1979:  Joel Madden, co-founder and lead singer of Good Charlotte, was born in Waldorf, Maryland.
1981:  LeToya Nicole Luckett of Destiny's Child and also a solo artist, was born in Houston, Texas.

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