Wednesday, November 19, 2008

This Date In Music History-November 19

Birthdays:

Acclaimed folk singer Katy Moffatt was born in Fort Worth, Texas in 1950.

Born on this day in 1943, Fred Lipsius, of Blood Sweat & Tears.

They Will Be Missed:

Tom Evens of Badfinger died at the age of 36 in 1983. Like his band mate Pete Ham, Evens also hanged himself.

In 1992, songwriter Bobby Russell, who wrote many Top 40 hits including "Honey" and "Little Green Apples", died of heart disease at the age of 51 . Russell scored a hit of his own in 1971 with "Saturday Morning Confusion" which reached the Top 25 on the Country charts and the Top 30 on the Pop charts. In 1973 he composed "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia", which became a number one hit for his wife, Vicki Lawrence.

Record producer Terry Melcher, who was behind hits by the Byrds, Ry Cooder and the Beach Boys, died in 2004 (age 62) after a long battle with skin cancer. The son of actress Doris Day, he co-wrote ‘Kokomo’ for the Beach Boys, produced Mr Tambourine Man for the Byrds, as well as hits for The Mamas and the Papas.

Dave Guard (The Kingston Trio) was born today (died March 22, 1991).

History:

A 60 track album called "Beatles Anthology I" was released in the US in 1995 and sets a first-day sales record of 450,000 units.

In 1994, Nirvana entered the US album chart at #1 with 'MTV Unplugged In New York.'

Carl Perkins recorded "Blue Suede Shoes" at Sun Studios in Memphis in 1955. It became his biggest Pop hit, reaching #2 on the Billboard chart. Elvis Presley's version, which gets more air-play these days, only managed to get to #20.

In 1965, Roger Daltrey walked out on a Who performance at London's Glad Rags Ball after they experienced trouble with the P.A. In the days that follow, many think that Daltrey will be replaced by Boz Burrell, an alumnus of the Sidewinders and Feel for Soul who later went on to sing and play bass with King Crimson.

In 1968, Diana Ross exercised her diva rights by interrupting the show to ask the world to embrace racial understanding. The audience, which included members of the royal family, applauded for two minutes. She didn't change the world.

Van Morrison's 1970 album, "Moondance" was awarded a gold record in 1976. The LP contained two hits: the title track and "Into the Mystic".

In 1957, Chicago radio station WCFL was picketed by the local chapter of the Elvis Presley fan club when it refused to play Presley's records. Despite the protest, the station did not change its policy. The policy remains in effect to this day.

Gary Lewis and The Playboys recorded "This Diamond Ring" in 1964, which will climb to number one in the US the following January.

The Supremes enjoyed their eighth US number one hit in 1966 with "You Keep Me Hangin' On.”

Crosby Stills & Nash member David Crosby had a successful liver transplant operation at Dumont-UCLA in Los Angeles in 1994. Crosby's liver was deteriorated from extensive alcohol and drug abuse, as well as hepatitis-C.

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