Monday, June 2, 2008

This Date In Music History- June 2

Birthdays:

Johnny Carter of the Flamingos was born in 1934.

Bangles bassist Michael Steele was born today in 1954.

Jimmy Jones ("Handy Man") turns 71.

Sammy Turner ("Lavender-Blue") is 76.

Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones ("Tumblin' Dice") turns a young 67.

Marvin Hamlisch ("The Entertainer")is 64.

Otis Williams of the Charms ("Ivory Tower")is 72.

History:

Barry Sadler joined the U.S. Air Force (he's later a Green Beret in the U.S. Army) in 1958.

In 1988, claiming her husband was designated by the President as "the official ambassador of soul", James Brown's wife tried to get her traffic tickets dismissed under diplomatic immunity (she loses).

David Bowie released his first (self-titled) album in 1967.

In 2003, following a dispute over songwriting credits with John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono, Paul McCartney agrees to let "Lennon-McCartney" be. McCartney outraged many Beatles fans by demanding "Yesterday" and other McCartney songs be credited to "McCartney-Lennon." And Yoko Ono gets blamed for the breakup.

52 year old Rolling Stones bass guitarist Bill Wyman, married 19 year old Mandy Smith in a secret ceremony in the eastern English town of Bury St. Edmonds in 1989. Wyman's son and the bride's sister were the only guests. The couple divorced two years later after Wyman said they had spent only five days together as man and wife. Wyman agreed to an $800,000 divorce settlement.

The No. 1 single in America in 1973 was Paul McCartney & Wings with "My Love," a song he wrote for wife Linda.

The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was released in the U.S. in 1967. It was released on June first in Britain. The album took over 700 hours to record under the direction of producer George Martin. A then state-of-the-art four track recorder was used to build each song layer by layer. The cost of recording was $75,000.

The Rolling Stones played their first American show at a Lynn, Mass., high school football stadium in 1964. They also make their American TV debut on The Les Crane Show the same year. An Associated Press reporter notes, "They are dirtier and streakier and more disheveled than the Beatles and in some places, they are more popular than the Beatles."

Congratulations to Elvis Presley, who graduated from L.C. Humes High School in Memphis today in 1953.

Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham settles an argument with promoter Bill Graham at a San Francisco gig by emptying a bucket of water over him in 1973.

Ray Charles' "I Can't Stop Loving You" sat on top of the Billboard Pop chart in 1962, making believers out those who told him he would lose his fan base if he recorded Country and Western songs. The album it came from sold over a million copies, becoming the first gold record for ABC-Paramount.

Dion and The Belmonts reunited for a concert at Madison Square Garden in New York in 1972. The performance was recorded and released as a live album the following year. They had parted company a dozen years earlier after which Dion had a successful solo career, while The Belmonts managed to chart only a couple of times.

Peter and Gordon reach Number One in the U.S. with "World Without Love" in 1964, a song written by Paul McCartney, but never recorded by the Beatles.

Bobby Darin played the Copacabana in New York for the first time in 1960.

1978- On TV's Midnight Special, host Crystal Gayle welcomed Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers.
Bruce Springsteen's album, "Darkness On The Edge of Town" was released in 1978.

It's in G-minor dude. 1,683 guitarists set a world record by simultaneously playing Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water" at a baseball park in Kansas City, KS in 2007. But this record only stands for three weeks before it's shattered by 1,800 guitarists in Leinfelden-Echterdingen, Germany. The previous mark was set in '94 when 1,323 musicians played the riff in Vancouver, BC.

2000 - The RIAA certified Garth Brooks' "Double Live" at the 13 million level. This matched the highest-certified live album record held by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band's "Live 1975-1985."