This Date In Music History-January 4

Birthdays:

Michael Stipe-R.E.M.(1960)

Cait O'Riordan-The Pogues (1965)

Bernard Sumner-Joy Division (1956)

Jazz guitarist John McLaughlin (1942)


They Are Missed:

Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy died of heart failure and pneumonia in 1986 after being in a coma for eight days following a drug overdose.

The late Arthur Conley ("Sweet Soul Music") was born in 1946.

The body of 1970s teen idol Barry Cowsill was discovered in a New Orleans morgue in 2006. The Cowsills bassist, who performed on the family act's hits like "Hair," is believed to have died when Hurricane Katrina struck the city in 2005.


History:

In 1970, George Harrison recorded the second guitar solo for "Let It Be." It's the last Beatles recording session to feature Harrison, Paul McCartney and George Martin, as well as the last recording session of the Beatles as a band. (The final date that all four of The Beatles were in the studio together was August 20, 1969).

In 1954, a young truck driver named Elvis Presley paid $4 to record a ten-inch acetate demo at the Memphis Recording Service, an open-to-the-public business run by Sam Phillips. The two songs Presley recorded, "Casual Love Affair" and "I'll Never Stand in Your Way", impressed Phillips enough that he had Elvis record his first professional sides for Sun Records the following August.

The first pop music chart based on national sales was published by "Billboard" magazine in 1936.

In 1964, Bobby Vinton's "There! I've Said It Again" became the last US number one record before the so called British Invasion. Between Bill Haley's "Rock Around The Clock" in July, 1955 and Vinton's hit, only five non-American artists could manage a US chart topper.

In 1950, two years after Columbia Records introduced the 33 1/3 RPM long-playing vinyl record, RCA announced that they will also start using the same format.

Marty Robbins' cross over hit "El Paso" topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1961 and would later become the first Country song to win a Grammy Award. The disc held the record for the longest #1 song up to this date, at 5 minutes and 19 seconds in length.

Former Beatles roadie Mal Evans was shot dead by police at his Los Angeles apartment in 1976. His girlfriend called police when she found Evans upset with a rifle in his hand; he pointed the gun at the police who opened fire.

Elton John started a two week run at #1 on the US singles chart in 1975 with his version of The Beatles “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.” John Lennon played guitar on this non-LP single under the pseudonym Dr. Winston O’Boogie.

Tragedy struck The Who in 1970, when a gang of teens attacked Keith Moon's Bentley limo. His chauffeur, Neil Boland got out to try to protect the car, but left it in gear, and it started moving. Moon, who had no driver's license, jumped behind the wheel. Unfortunately, the chauffeur, who was being beaten, had fallen under the car and as Keith gunned the engine, Neil was run over and killed. Though the inquest absolved Moon of blame, Neil's family didn't, and neither did Moon himself, but he was haunted by the incident for the rest of his life.

In 1968, the University of California, Los Angeles announced that students taking music degrees would have to study the music of The Rolling Stones saying they had made such an important contribution to modern music.

The Sex Pistols shocked passengers and airline staff at Heathrow Airport in 1977, when they spat and vomited boarding a plane to Amsterdam. Makes sense to me.