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Wednesday, May 14, 2014

This Date in Rock Music History: May 15

1957: Chuck Berry recorded "Rock & Roll Music" at the Chess Studios in Chicago, Illinois. (Note: some websites report that he recorded the song on either May 6 or May 21, but according to the book 'Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings' by Steve Sullivan, Berry recorded the song on May 15.) 


1961:  "Runaway" by Del Shannon charted a fourth week at #1.  Ernie K-Doe was second with "Mother-In-Law" while Gene McDaniels held steady with "A Hundred Pounds Of Clay".  Linda Scott remained in the #4 position with "I've Told Every Little Star".  The rest of the Top 10:  "Daddy's Home" by Shep & the Limelites, Brenda Lee with "You Can Depend On Me", former #1 "Blue Moon" by the Marcels, Ricky Nelson jumped from 18 to 8 with "Travelin' Man", the Shirelles were back with "Mama Said" and Adam Wade with "Take Good Care Of Her".
1963:  Ray Charles won Best R&B Recording at the Grammies with "I Can't Stop Loving You".






1965:  You won't find too many more days more important to music than this one.  Rare is it that two artists of this caliber both debuted on the chart with the first singles of their careers.  It was indeed a magical time in music, in fact a Renaissance in our lifetime.  This Scottish artist would give us thought-provoking music for 10 years, enjoying 17 hits.  On this date, his first single debuted on the chart.  It was "Catch The Wind" from Donovan...












1965:  This folk rock act gave us some great songs, recording 16 hits in just six years, including one of The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era*.  After their split, many of the members went on to great success as they went their separate ways, and their influence was felt far and wide.  On this date, the Byrds debuted on the chart with their first single--"Mr. Tambourine Man".
1965:  The Rolling Stones and Chuck Berry taped performances for the television show Hollywood A Go-Go(Note:  some websites claim the show was May 16.  The Stones and Berry taped the show on May 15, and it was broadcast on May 22, according to 'TV.com'.)






  
                                        The Hermits had two of the Top 10...

1965:  Herman's Hermits remained at #1 with "Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter" for a third week.  Gary Lewis & the Playboys were stuck at 2 with "Count Me In", the Beatles held at 3 with "Ticket To Ride" and the Seekers had the #4 song--"I'll Never Find Another You".  The rest of the Top 10:  "Silhouettes" from Herman's Hermits was #5, the Beach Boys got a 21-6 jump from "Help Me Rhonda", Petula Clark had song #7 with "I Know A Place" and there were three new songs in the Top 10--"I'll Be Doggone" from Marvin Gaye, "Just Once In My Life" by the Righteous Brothers at #9 and "Wooly Bully", the classic from Sam the Sham & the Pharoahs at #10.
1967:  Paul McCartney went to the Bag O' Nails club in London, where he met Linda Eastman, who would be Linda McCartney before long.






1970:  The Carpenters released their second album Close to You.
1971:  The Cannes Film Festival in France showed two short films by John Lennon.
1971:  "Knock Three Times" from Tony Orlando & Dawn was the #1 song in the U.K.
1971:  The new release by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young--4 Way Street, took just four weeks to reach #1 on the Album chart.
1971:  The Jackson 5 achieved a third week at #1 on the R&B chart with "Never Can Say Goodbye".








1971:  Lobo hit #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart with "Me And You And A Dog Named Boo".












                                                    Neil Diamond's big hit...


1971:  Three Dog Night made it five weeks at #1 with "Joy To The World".  It was the supergroup's ninth hit and fifth Top 10 song.  The Jackson 5 were next with "Never Can Say Goodbye", Ocean followed with "Put Your Hand In The Hand" and Bread edged up with "If".  The rest of the Top 10:  Lobo moved impressively from 10-5 with "Me And You And A Dog Named Boo", the Rolling Stones were up to 6 with "Brown Sugar", Aretha Franklin's version of the Simon & Garfunkel classic, "Bridge Over Troubled Water", was #7, the Bells with "Stay Awhile", Neil Diamond was on the way down with "I Am...I Said" and Daddy Dewdrop dropped with "Chick-A-Boom".
1973:  The Pointer Sisters were off and running, making their live debut at the Troubadour in Los Angeles.
1974:  Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones released a solo album Monkey Grip.
1975:  Fleetwood Mac appeared in El Paso, Texas with a new lineup:  Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, John McVie and their two newest members--Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham.

                            "Tequila Sunrise", one of the Eagles' great early hits...


1976:  The Rolling Stones, which had debuted at #8 with their album Black and Blue one week earlier, hit #1.  Wings at the Speed of Sound from Paul McCartney & company held on to #2 with Frampton Comes Alive! by Peter Frampton third.  Led Zeppelin's Presence fell from the top after a brief stay.  The rest of the Top 10:  I Want You from Marvin Gaye, the Eagles with Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975, Fleetwood Mac's self-titled release, Eargasm from Johnnie Taylor, the Doobie Brothers were up from 15 to 9 with Takin' It to the Streets and Brass Construction found the Top 10 with their self-titled album.
1976:  Diana Ross's great song, "Love Hangover", ruled the roost on the R&B chart.







1976:  You can look far and wide--you won't find too many better summer songs than this one. The hottest new song belong to Brothers Johnson, who moved from 72 to 47 with their new release, "I'll Be Good To You".











1977:  Heart released the single "Barracuda".















                                      "The Voice" helped ensure a successful return...


1981:  The Moody Blues released their comeback album Long Distance Voyager on Decca Records.
1982:  Deniece Williams reached #1 on the R&B chart with "It's Gonna' Take A Miracle".
1982:  Newly formed Asia hit #1 on the Album chart with their self-titled project.
1982:  Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder reached #1 for the first of five weeks with "Ebony And Ivory".
1984:  Nils Lofgren took over for "Miami" Steve Van Zandt in Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band.







1993:  Janet Jackson completed one of the fastest rises to #1 in the Rock Era when "That's the Way Love Goes" went from #14 to 2 to 1 in three weeks.  
1994:  Sting and Nancy Wilson of Heart received honorary music doctorate degrees from the Berklee College of Music in Boston.
1995:  Scott Weiland of the Stone Temple Pilots was arrested for trying to buy drugs in a motel parking lot in Pasadena, California.
1995:  R.E.M. resumed their Monster tour at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California after Bill Berry recovered from an aneurysm.  (Note:  some websites claim the tour resumed in San Francisco, but the Shoreline Amphitheatre is in Mountain View, not San Francisco.  The newspaper 'The Examiner' confirms that the show was in Mountain View)










1998:  Sonny and Cher received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
2000:  Bob Dylan received Sweden's Polar Music Prize in Stockholm.


Born This Day:
1937:  Trini Lopez ("If I Had A Hammer" in 1963) was born in Dallas, Texas.







1947: Graeham Goble, singer-songwriter, guitarist, and a founding member of Little River Band and later a record producer, was born in Adelaide, Australia.










1948: Brian Eno, keyboardist and synthesizer player with Roxy Music and record producer with U2, the Talking Heads, and others, was born in Woodbridge, Suffolk, England.
1948:  Gary Thain, bassist of Uriah Heap, was born in Christchurch, New Zealand; died from drugs in London December 8, 1975.
1951:  Dennis Frederiksen, lead singer of Angel, LeRoux and later of Toto, was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan; died January 18, 2014 of liver cancer in Mound, Minnesota.
1953: Mike Oldfield, the artist behind the haunting "Tubular Bells", the theme used in the great movie The Exorcist, was born in Reading, Berkshire, England.

1970:  Prince Be (Attrell Cordes) of P.M. Dawn was born in Jersey City, New Jersey.
1982: Jessica Sutta of the Pussycat Dolls was born in Miami, Florida.

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