This Date In Music History - August 15

Birthdays:

Johnny Thunder ("Loop De Loop") is 69

Songwriter Jimmy Webb ("Up-Up And Away", "By The Time I Get To Phoenix", "MacArthur Park" and many, many more) turns 63

Pete York - Spencer Davis Group (1942)

Tommy Aldridge - Whitesnake (1950)

Matt Johnson - The The (1961)

Marshall Schofield - The Fall (1962)

Angela Rae - Wild Horses (1966)

MCA (Adam Yauch) - Beastie Boys (1967)

Mike Graham - Boyzone (1972)

Simon Dawbarn - 911 (1974)

Paul Robert Nester Thomson - Franz Ferdinand (1976)

David Welsh - The Fray (1984)

Joe Jonas - Jonas Brothers (1989)


They Are Missed:

Singer Thomas Wayne was killed in a car crash in 1971 (age 29). Had the 1959 #5 single "Tragedy."

Norman Petty (produced Buddy Holly, Buddy Knox and the Fireballs and recorded with his own trio) died of leukemia in 1984.

In 1992, Jamaican singer-song writer Jackie Edwards died. Edwards worked as a singer, songwriter for Island Records. He wrote both "Keep On Running" and "Somebody Help Me," that became #1 singles for The Spencer Davis Group, as well as releasing his own albums.

Born on this day in 1933, Bobby Helms, American country music singer best known for his 1957 hit, "Jingle Bell Rock." Died of emphysema at his home in Martinsville, Indiana on June 19, 1997). He was 63.

The late Jackie Brenston ("Rocket 88") was born in 1930.

The late Bill Pinkney of the original Drifters ("Honey Love") was born in 1925 (died July 4, 2007).

Bobby Byrd (August 15, 1934 – September 12, 2007) was an African American funk/soul/R&B/gospel musician, songwriter and record producer who played with James Brown and The Famous Flames. He was born in Toccoa, Georgia.

In 2008, US record producer Jerry Wexler, who influenced the careers of singers including Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles and Bob Dylan, died at his home in Sarasota, Florida (age 91). Wexler produced the Aretha Franklin hit "Respect," the Wilson Pickett song, "In the Midnight Hour" and helped Bob Dylan win his first Grammy award by producing the 1979 album, 'Slow Train Coming.' He also coined the term ‘rhythm and blues’ while writing for Billboard magazine in the late 1940s.


History:

"The Wizard of Oz" premiered in Hollywood, CA in 1939. Judy Garland became famous for the movie's song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."



Elvis Presley started a five week run at #1 on the US singles chart in 1960 with "It's Now Or Never," (also #1 in the UK). The song which was based on the Italian song, "O Sole Mio," gave Presley his first post-army #1 hit.

At Liverpool’s Cavern Club in 1962, Pete Best played his last show with The Beatles. Of course, he's unaware he’s about to be dumped.

Crooner Dean Martin went to #1 on the US singles chart in 1964 with "Everybody Loves Somebody."

In 1965, the Beatles set a new world record for the largest attendance at a pop concert when they played in front of 55,600 fans at Shea Stadium in New York City. Sharing the bill with The Beatles; Brenda Holloway, The King Curtis Band, The Young Rascals and Sounds Incorporated. The Beatles were paid $160,000 for the show, the set list: ‘Twist and Shout’, ‘She's a Woman’, ‘I Feel Fine’, ‘Dizzy Miss Lizzie’, ‘Ticket to Ride’, ‘Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby’, ‘Can't Buy Me Love’, ‘Baby's In Black’, ‘Act Naturally’, ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’, ‘A Hard Day's Night’, ‘Help!’, and ‘I'm Down’. Two of the Rolling Stones were among the audience, Mick Jagger and Keith Richard and later that evening; Bob Dylan visited The Beatles at their hotel.

During a US tour in 1966, the Beatles appeared at the D.C. Stadium in Washington DC to over 32,000 fans. Tickets cost $3. Five members of the Ku Klux Klan, led by the Imperial Wizard of Maryland, picketed the concert.

Bobby Darin recorded his immortal cut "If I Were A Carpenter" in 1966.



During a North American tour in 1969, Led Zeppelin appeared at the Hemisfair Arena in San Antonio. Jethro Tull and Sweet Smoke were also on the bill. During the show Zeppelin received abuse from locals due to the length of their hair.

In 1969, the Woodstock Festival was held on Max Yasgur's 600 acre farm in Bethel outside New York. Attended by over 400,000 people, the free event featured, Jimi Hendrix, Joe Cocker, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Santana, The Who, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Band, Canned Heat, Joan Baez, Santana, Melanie, Ten Years After, Sly and the Family Stone, Johnny Winter, Jefferson Airplane, Ravi Shanker, Country Joe and the Fish, Blood Sweat and Tears, Arlo Guthrie, and Joe Cocker. During the three days there were three deaths, two births and four miscarriages. Joni Mitchell was booked to appear but had to pull out due to being booked for a TV show, wrote the song "Woodstock."



The futuristic satire film 'Americathon' featuring Meat Loaf, premiered in Los Angeles in 1979. The soundtrack included songs by The Beach Boys, Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello.

George Harrison's autobiography, "I, Me, Mine" was originally published in 1980.

Diana Ross and Lionel Richie started a nine week run at #1 on the US singles chart in 1981 with "Endless Love." The song was the title from a film starring Brooke Shields.

In 1987, on the tenth anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley, thousands of people marched past his grave in Memphis, TN.

In 1991, Paul Simon played a free concert in New York's Central Park before an audience of three quarters of a million people.

Boyz II Men started a 13 week run at #1 on the US singles chart in 1992 with "End Of The Road," the group's first #1 single. Taken from the Eddie Murphy film 'Boomerang,' it broke the 36-year-old record held by Elvis for the longest run at #1 on the top of the charts.

In 1997, Tony Nicole Tony Records filed suit against Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS for alleged intentional interference with KISS drummer Peter Criss' contract with the label. The suit maintained that Simmons and Stanley convinced Criss to break his contract with the label.

The Donnas signed with Lookout! Records in 1997.

In 2002, a memorial to John Lennon was unveiled in the remote Scottish village of Durness where Lennon had spent his holidays from age seven to fifteen. The lyrics from "In My Life" had been inscribed on three stones.



In 2005, United National Insurance Company sued Limp Bizkit to avoid paying court costs the group accrued defending itself from wrongful-death claims. A 16-year-old fan was crushed during the 2001 Big Day Out festival in Sydney, Australia. The case against the group was dismissed. The insurance company says it doesn't have to cover the band's legal fees because frontman Fred Durst had incited the crowd during the performance.

A deluxe version of Lou Reed's ‘76 album "Coney Island Baby" was issued in 2006 (celebrating the 30th anniversary of the disc's release). The package contained a number of rarities and never-before-released tracks, including rehearsal recordings featuring Reed's one-time Velvet Underground bandmate Doug Yule. On the other side of the artistic coin, there’s an expanded version of Grand Funk Railroad's "Greatest Hits" album containing previously unreleased material. A trio of concert performances, a vintage TV appearance and a ‘73 promotional film are on the DVD.

Deana Martin's album "Memories Are Made of This" was released in 2006. The album featured her versions of many of her father's hits and other hits by Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr..

Sixteen solo John Lennon albums were made available to download on iTunes for the first time in 2007. A deal was approved by the late Beatle's widow Yoko Ono following a lengthy legal battle between the band's label Apple Corps and Apple Inc, which owned Tunes.

In 2009, U2's first UK gig on their current tour broke the attendance record for a Wembley Stadium concert. Over 88,000 people attended the show.

Fabolous was at #1 on the US album chart in 2009 with ‘Loso's Way,' the rappers fifth studio album.

2009 - It’s the Bethel Woods Music Festival in Bethel, NY (makes sense). The event commemorates the 40th anniversary of Woodstock, which took place at the same site. Several musicians who performed at the ’69 festival return. The bill includes Jefferson Starship, Mountain, The Band's Levon Helm, Big Brother & The Holding Co., Country Joe McDonald, Canned Heat and Ten Years After. Mountain's Leslie West gets married onstage after the group's performance. "You can get married in Paris, but I think getting married onstage at Woodstock would be really special," says West prior to the ceremony.