Today: Marvin Gaye released What’s Going On (album) in 1971 (read more)“What’s Going On is not only Marvin Gaye’s masterpiece, it’s the most important and passionate record to come out of soul music, delivered by one of its finest voices, a man finally free to speak his mind and so move from R&B sex symbol to true recording artist.” |
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| Bob Dylan recorded “Mississippi” @ Sony Studios, NYC, May 21, 2001 – 4 takes.. take 4 selected for “Love & Theft“. (date according to C. Heylin – Still On The Road: The Songs of Bob Dylan: Vol. 2)Bob Dylan (Guitar, piano & vocal), Charlie Sexton (guitar), Larry Campbell (guitar, mandolin, violin & banjo), Augie Meyers (keyboards & accordion), Tony Garnier (bass), David Kemper (drums & percussion). |  |
| “Maybellene” (May 21, 1955 at Universal Recording Studios in Chicago,Illinois) is a song recorded by Chuck Berry, adapted from the traditional fiddle tune “Ida Red” that tells the story of a hot rod race and a broken romance. It was released in July 1955 as a single on Chess Records of Chicago, Illinois. It was Berry’s first single release and his first hit. “Maybellene” is considered one of the pioneering rock and roll singles: Rolling Stone magazine wrote, “Rock & roll guitar starts here.” The record is an early instance of the complete rock and roll package: youthful subject matter, small guitar-driven combo, clear diction, and an atmosphere of unrelenting excitement. |  |
| Albert Bernard Grossman (May 21, 1926 – January 25, 1986) was an American entrepreneur and manager in the American folk music scene and rock and roll. He was most famous as the manager of Bob Dylan between 1962 and 1970. |  |
Spotify Playlist – May 21 |
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Category Archives: Music Calendar
May 20 in music history
Happy 70th birthday Joe Cocker (read more)God, I’m just a fat bald guy, 60 years old, singing the blues, you know? |
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Let It Be is a 1970 documentary film about The Beatles rehearsing and recording songs for the album Let It Be in January 1969. The film features an unannounced rooftop concert by the group, their last performance in public. Released just after the album, it was the final original Beatles release. |
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| Cher (born Cherilyn Sarkisian, May 20, 1946) is an American singer and actress with a career spanning five decades. Recognized for having brought the sense of female autonomy andself-actualization into the entertainment industry, she is known for her distinctive contralto singing voice and for having worked in various areas of entertainment, as well as for continuously reinventing both her music andimage which has led to her being called the Goddess of Pop.
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In the City (released 20 May, 1977) is the debut studio album of British mod revival/punk rock band The Jam. It was released in 1977 by Polydor Records and featured the hit single and title track “In the City”. |
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Spotify Playlist – May 20 |
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May 19 in music history
Happy birthday Pete Townshend (read more)“If you don’t want anyone to know anything about you, don’t write anything.” “Rock ‘n’ Roll might not solve your problems, but it does let you dance all over them” |
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| Paul S. Williams (May 19, 1948 – March 27, 2013), born in Boston, Massachusetts, was an American music journalist and writer. Williams created the first national US magazine of rock music criticism Crawdaddy! in January 1966 on the campus of Swarthmore College ..He is also the author of more than 25 books, of which the best-known are Outlaw Blues, Das Energi, and Bob Dylan: Performing Artist, the acclaimed three-part series. Williams is a leading authority on the works of musicians Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, and Neil Young, and science fiction writers Philip K. Dick (serving as the executor of his literary estate) and Theodore Sturgeon. |
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| Mickey Newbury (May 19, 1940 – September 29, 2002) was an American songwriter, a critically acclaimed recording artist, and a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. For a time, he was one of the most influential creative minds in Nashville and it’s arguable that he was the first real “outlaw” of the outlaw country movement of the 1970s. Ralph Emery referred to him as the first “hippie-cowboy” and along with Johnny Cash and Roger Miller, he was one of the first to rebel against the conventions of the Nashville music society. After being disappointed by the production methods used by Felton Jarvis on his debut album, Newbury got himself released from his contract with RCA and signed the first offer he received to comply with his condition that he could either produce his own albums or choose the producer. |  |
| Joey Ramone (May 19, 1951 – April 15, 2001) was an American musician, vocalist and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the punk rock band the Ramones. Joey Ramone’s image, voice and tenure as front man of the Ramones made him a countercultural icon. |  |
| Bob Dylan: Ballad of a Thin Man @ Glasgow, (probably) 19 May 1966 (Video) |  |
Spotify Playlist – May 19 |
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May 18 in music history
Today: The late Big Joe Turner was born in 1911 – 103 years ago (read More)Big Joe Turner (born Joseph Vernon Turner Jr., May 18, 1911 – November 24, 1985) was an American “blues shouter” (a blues-music singer capable of singing unamplified with a band) from Kansas City, Missouri. According to the songwriter Doc Pomus, “Rock and roll would have never happened without him.” Although he had his greatest fame during the 1950s with his rock and roll recordings, particularly “Shake, Rattle and Roll”, Turner’s career as a performer endured from the 1920s into the 1980s. Turner was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. |
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| George Strait is 62 Happy Birthday!. George Harvey Strait (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, actor, and music producer. Strait is referred to as the “King of Country,” and critics call Strait a living legend. He is known for his unique style of western swing music, bar-room ballads, honky-tonk style, and fresh yet traditional Country music. George Strait holds the world record for more number-one hit singles than any other artist in the history of music on any chart or in any genre, having recorded 59 number-one hit singles as of 2012. |
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| Lodger is the thirteenth studio album by David Bowie, released May 18 in 1979.
The last of the ‘Berlin Trilogy‘ recorded in collaboration with Brian Eno, it was produced in Switzerland and New York City, and was more accessible than its immediate predecessors Lowand “Heroes”, having no instrumentals and being somewhat lighter and more pop-oriented. It was still an experimental record in many ways and was not, by Bowie’s standards, a major commercial success. Indifferently received by critics on its initial release, it is now widely considered, along with Diamond Dogs, to be one of Bowie’s most underrated albums |
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| Warren Zevon is an album by Warren Zevon. This album was recorded in 1975 and released May 18 in 1976.
A remastered version of the album with special bonus tracks was released in 2008 by Rhino Records.I am suspicious of singer-songwriters who draw attention to phrases like “hasten down the wind,” and I would suggest a moratorium on songs about the James Brothers that don’t also rhyme “pollution” and “solution.” But I like the way Zevon resists pigeonholes like “country-rock” while avoiding both the banal and the mystagogical, and I like quatrains like: “And if California slides into the ocean/Like the mystics and statistics say it will/I predict this motel will be standing/Until I pay my bill.” |
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| Ian Kevin Curtis (15 July 1956 – 18 May 1980) was an English musician, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the post-punk band Joy Division.Joy Division released their debut album,
Unknown Pleasures, in 1979 and recorded their follow-up, Closer, in 1980. Curtis, who suffered from epilepsy and depression, committed suicide on 18 May 1980, on the eve of Joy Division’s first North American tour, resulting in the band’s dissolution and the subsequent formation of New Order. |
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| Richard Christopher “Rick” Wakeman (born 18 May 1949)
English keyboard player and composer best known for being the former keyboardist in the progressive rock band Yes. He is also known for his solo albums, contributing to the BBC comedy series Grumpy Old Menand for Rick’s Place, his former radio show on Planet Rock that aired until December 2010. |
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May 16 in music history
| Bob Dylan: Blonde On Blonde (released May 16, 1966) (read more)The closest I ever got to the sound I hear in my mind was on individual bands in the Blonde on Blonde album. It’s that thin, that wild mercury sound. It’s metallic and bright gold, with whatever that conjures up. That’s my particular sound. ~Bob Dylan (to Ron Rosenbaum – Nov 1977) |
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| Bob Dylan & The Hawks: Gaumont Theatre, Sheffield, England 16 May 1966 (read more) |  |
| Beach Boys: Pet Sounds (May 16, 1966) (read more)[Pet Sounds] blew me out of the water. I love the album so much. I’ve just bought my kids each a copy of it for their education in life…I figure no one is educated musically ’til they’ve heard that album…it may be going overboard to say it’s the classic of the century…but to me, it certainly is a total, classic record that is unbeatable in many ways…I’ve often played Pet Sounds and cried. I played it to John [Lennon] so much that it would be difficult for him to escape the influence. ~Paul McCartney (recalling his first impressions of Pet Sounds) |
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| The Who released “Live At Leeds” May 16, 1970 (read more) Rolling Stone [Magazine] hailed it as the best ever live album, and they may still be right… ~Chris Jones (BBC – 2007) |
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| Jean “Django” Reinhardt; 23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953) was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer. Reinhardt is often regarded as one of the greatest guitar players of all time and is the first important European jazz musician who made major contributions to the development of the idiom. Using only the index and middle fingers of his left hand on his solos (his third and fourth fingers were paralyzed after an injury in a fire), Reinhardt invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique (sometimes called ‘hot’ jazz guitar) that has since become a living musical tradition within French gypsy culture. With violinist Stéphane Grappelli, he co-founded the Quintette du Hot Club de France, described by critic Thom Jurek as “one of the most original bands in the history of recorded jazz.” Reinhardt’s most popular compositions have become jazz standards, including “Minor Swing”, “Daphne”, “Belleville”, “Djangology”, “Swing ’42″, and “Nuages”. |  |
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