This Date in Rock Music History: January 4

1936:  Billboard magazine debuted the first music chart that based results on national sales.

1950  RCA Victor Records announced that they would begin manufacturing long-playing records.
1954:  Elvis Presley recorded "Casual Love" and "I'll Never Stand In Your Way" in his second recording session in Memphis, Tennessee.  Studio manager Sam Phillips heard the session and asked Elvis to leave his phone number.  
1957:  Elvis Presley went in for a pre-induction medical checkup at Kennedy Veterans Hospital, prior to being called up from the United States Army.

1957:  Heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis introduced Solomon Burke on The Steve Allen Show.

1960:  Marty Robbins moved to #1 with "El Paso".  

1961:  Jörgen Ingmann released "Apache", one of The Top 100 Instrumentals of the Rock Era*.












1963:  Eydie Gorme released the single "Blame It On The Bossa Nova".
1963:  Bob Dylan spent his second day shooting the television play Madhouse in Castle Street.
1964:  Bobby Vinton had the top Easy Listening song with "There!  I've Said It Again".
1964:  Bobby Vinton rolled to the #1 song with "There!  I've Said It Again".  The Kingsmen peaked at 2 with "Louie Louie" while the Singing Nun fell from her perch with "Dominique".

1965:  Gary Lewis & the Playboys released their first career single "This Diamond Ring".

1965:  Leo Fender sold the Fender Guitar Company to CBS for $13 million.

1967:  The Doors released their debut album.

1969:  Glen Campbell rode on top of the Adult chart for the fourth week with "Wichita Lineman".

                  It was indeed a "Soulful Strut"...

1969:  Marvin Gaye made it four weeks at #1 with "I Heard It Through The Grapevine", holding off Stevie Wonder's "For Once In My Life", which peaked at #2.  Diana Ross & the Supremes & the Temptations moved from 7-3 with "I'm Gonna' Make You Love Me" while Young-Holt Unlimited surged from 16 to 4 with "Soulful Strut", one of The Top 100 Instrumentals of the Rock Era* and Glen Campbell was at #5 with "Wichita Lineman".  The rest of the Top 10:  "Cloud Nine" from the Temptations, Diana Ross & the Supremes' former #1 "Love Child", the Classics IV were at position #8 with "Stormy", Johnnie Taylor and "Who's Making Love" while B.J. Thomas jumped into the Top 10 with "Hooked On A Feeling".

1970:  George Harrison recorded the second guitar solo and Paul McCartney, Harrison and Ringo Starr re-recorded vocals for "Let It Be", the final recording session for the Beatles.  John Lennon was not present at this session--the final time all four were in the studio together was August 20, 1969.   

1973:  Lamar Williams joined the Allman Brothers, replacing the late Berry Oakley.

              Joni Mitchell's double live album...

1975:  Elton John remained at #1 for the sixth week on the Album chart with his Greatest Hits album.  War Child by Jethro Tull was #2 again, followed by Neil Diamond's Serenade and Fire from the Ohio Players.  Joni Mitchell's new live release, Miles of Aisles, moved from 13-5.  The rest of the Top 10:  John Denver with Back Home Again, Verities & Balderdash by Harry Chapin, Free and Easy from Helen Reddy at #8, Ringo Starr had one of his biggest career albums with Goodnight Vienna and BTO moved back into the Top 10 with Not Fragile.

1975:  Elton John took his remake of "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" to #1 while Barry White edged up with "You're The First, The Last, My Everything".  Carl Douglas was at #3 with "Kung Fu Fighting", Paul McCartney & Wings were at #4 with "Junior's Farm"/"Sally G" and Neil Sedaka reached #5 with "Laughter In The Rain".  The rest of the Top 10:  Helen Reddy's former #1 "Angie Baby", Ringo Starr with "Only You", Stevie Wonder moved up with "Boogie On Reggae Woman", the Carpenters registered their 12th Top 10 hit out of 16 releases with "Please Mr. Postman" and newcomer Barry Manilow reached the Top 10 for the first time with "Mandy".

1976:  Mal Evans, former roadie and bodyguard of the Beatles, was shot to death at this apartment in Los Angeles by the L.A.P.D. after he allegedly pointed a loaded rifle at officers.

1979:  The Star Club in Hamburg, Germany, the famous spot where the Beatles performed often in the early years, reopened its doors.

1986:  Phil Lynott, bassist and singer of Thin Lizzy, died in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England at the age of 35 from kidney, liver and heart failure due to blood poisoning and multiple abscesses caused by drug abuse.  Hey, but it felt good at the time...Lame.

1986:  "Say You, Say Me" by Lionel Richie was #1 again on the Adult Contemporary chart for a fifth week.

1986:  Lionel Richie remained in the #1 slot for the third week on the Popular chart with "Say You, Say Me".

1988:  Belinda Carlisle released the single "I Get Weak".

1992:  The album Stars by Simply Red returned to #1 in the U.K.

1992:  Shanice continued to set the pace on the R&B chart for a third week with "I Love Your Smile".

1992:  Richard Marx continued to have the #1 Adult Contemporary song for the third week with "Keep Coming Back".

                    Color Me Badd with their huge hit...

1992:  Michael Jackson continued to own the top song with "Black Or White", #1 for a fourth week.  Boyz II Men remained second with "It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday".  Color Me Badd were still at 3 with "All 4 Love", Mariah Carey moved up with "Can't Let Go" and PM Dawn fell with "Set Adrift On Memory Bliss".

                     "Seduces Me" from Celine...

1997:  No Doubt had the top album for a third week with Tragic Kingdom.  Falling Into You by Celine Dion was second.

1991:  In today's edition of Dangerous Inmates Run Rap Music, Vanilla Ice spent the night in jail after ripping out some of his wife's hair.  Loser.

2004:  Ray Davies, lead singer of the Kinks, wasn't as fortunate as McLean.  Davies was shot in the leg while running after two men who stole his girlfriend's purse in New Orleans, Louisiana.  Davies was taken to the Medical Center but his injuries were not serious.  (Note:  several websites report the shooting as being on January 5.  News reports appeared on the 5th, describing the event, which took place on January 4, according to 'CNN', 'Rolling Stone', and the newspaper 'The Guardian'.)

2005:  Ashlee Simpson was booed offstage during her performance at the Orange Bowl. 

2006:  The body of Barry Cowsill was identified with dental records by Dr. Louis Cataldie, head of the Louisiana state hurricane morgue in Carville.  Cowsill's body was discovered December 28 on the Cartres Street Wharf but was not identified until Cataldie made his announcement.  The 51-year-old former bassist of the Cowsills ("Hair") is believed to have died as a result of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. 

2006:  Jamie Foxx had the #1 album with Unpredictable.

2008:  Britney Spears was carried out of her home on a stretcher and taken into police custody after officials were called in a dispute involving her three children.  Spears was ordered to hand her children to her ex-husband Kevin Federline.

2011:  Gerry Rafferty, leader of Stealer's Wheel ("Stuck In The Middle With You") and a solo star ("Baker Street" and others) died at the age of 63 after a long illness at his daughter's home in Stroud, Gloucestershire, England of liver failure.   

2016:  Robert Stigwood, entertainment mogul, producer, and manager of the Bee Gees and Cream, who staged theatre (Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita), produced movies (Saturday Night Fever and Grease) and music (the Bee Gees, Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton, Player and Yvonne Elliman), died in London at age 81.

Born This Day:

1946:  Arthur Conley ("Sweet Soul Music") was born in McIntosh County, Georgia; died after a long battle with intestinal cancer on November 17, 2003 in Ruurlo, the Netherlands.  (Note:  prominent music sites like 'Rolling Stone' and 'Allmusic.com', as well as 'The Los Angeles Times' and 'The Independent' all claim that Conley was born in Atlanta, Georgia and some websites list his place of birth as Hinesfield, Georgia.  But according to the book 'Encyclopedia of Pop Music Aliases' by Bob Leszczak, the well-respected 'National Public Radio', and the newspapers 'The New York Times' and 'The Guardian, Conley was born in McIntosh County, near Atlanata.  Several places list his birthplace as McIntosh, Georgia--there is no such city; the correct name is McIntosh County)

1956:  Bernard Sumner (real name Bernard Dicken), founding member, singer and guitarist of New Order, and also a member of Joy Division, was born in Manchester, England.  (Note: some websites claim he was born in Salford, but the newspaper 'The Independent" and the magazines 'Billboard' and 'GQ' state that Bernard was born in Manchester.)

1958:  Marcel King, lead vocalist of Sweet Sensation ("Sad Sweet Dreamer" from 1974), was born in Manchester, England; died of a cerebral hemorrhage October 5, 1995.

1960:  Michael Stipe, songwriter and lead singer of R.E.M., was born in Decatur, Georgia.

1965:  David Glasper, lead singer of Breathe ("Hands To Heaven"), was born in Cardigan, Mid Wales, England.

1967:  Benjamin Darvill, multi-instrumentalist of the Crash Test Dummies ("Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" from 1993), now a solo artist going by the name of Son of Dave, was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.