Tag Archives: May 30

May 30 in Music History

Today: Bob Dylan released Down In The Groove 26 years ago (read more)

Down in the Groove is the twenty-fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on May 30, 1988 by Columbia Records.

A highly collaborative effort, it was Dylan’s second consecutive album to receive almost unanimous negative reviews. Released during a period when his recording career was experiencing a slump, sales were disappointing, reaching only #61 in the US and #32 in the UK.

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 Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the “King of Swing”.
In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America. His January 16, 1938 concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City is described by critic Bruce Eder as “the single most important jazz or popular music concert in history: jazz’s ‘coming out’ party to the world of ‘respectable’ music.”
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 Nicholas Bowen “Topper” Headon (born 30 May 1955), known as “Topper” due to his resemblance to Mickey the Monkey from the Topper comic, is a British rock and roll drummer, best known for his membership in the punk rock band The Clash. He is commonly recognised as the most inspirational and technically inventive punk rock drummer of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Writing for Allmusic Greg Pato stated that record producer Sandy Pearlman dubbed Headon as “The Human Drum Machine”, due to his impeccable timing and drumming skills.  Topper headon
 Living in the Material World (released 30 May 1973 (US)) is the fourth studio album by English musician George Harrison, released in 1973 on Apple Records. As the follow-up to 1970’s critically acclaimed All Things Must Pass and his pioneering charity project, the Concert for Bangladesh, it was among the most highly anticipated releases of that year. The album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America two days after release, on its way to becoming Harrison’s second number 1 album in the United States, and produced the international hit “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)”. It also topped albums charts in Canada and Australia, and reached number 2 in Britain.  LITMW_album_cover_(clean)
 Mermaid Avenue Vol. II (released 30 May 2000) is a album of previously unheard lyrics written by American folk singer Woody Guthrie, put to music written and performed by British singer Billy Bragg and American band Wilco. It continues the project originally conceived by Guthrie’s daughter, Nora Guthrie which resulted in the release of Mermaid Avenue in 1998. Both volumes were collected in a 2012 box set along with volume three as Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions.  Mermaid2

Spotify Playlist – May 30