ON THIS DAY IN MUSIC

1971 - Stevie Wonder

On his twenty-first birthday Stevie Wonder received all his childhood earnings. Despite having earned $30 million so far, he received only $1 million.

1988 - Eddi Reader

Scottish band Fairground Attraction were at No.1 on the UK singles with 'Perfect'. The group featured Eddi Reader who had previously worked as a backing singer with the Eurythmics and Sandie Shaw. 'Perfect' won the award for Best Single at the 1989 BRIT Awards.

2011 - Bob Dylan

'Like A Rolling Stone' was voted as Bob Dylan's best-ever song by Rolling Stone Magazine, who had asked the opinions of a panel of writers, academics and musicians to compile a poll to mark Dylan's 70th birthday on 24th May. 'Like A Rolling Stone', was described by U2's Bono as 'a black eye of a pop song', while Mick Jagger praised the simplicity of 'Desolation Row'. Keith Richards argued that the original 1963 solo version of 'Girl From The North Country', ranked 30th, was superior to Dylan's 1969 duet of the same song with Johnny Cash.

2012 - Booker T and the MG's

Donald Dunn, bassist with Booker T and the MG's died in his sleep after playing a show at the Blue Note night club in Tokyo the night before. He had been in the country as part of an ongoing tour with Steve Cropper and Eddie Floyd. Booker T and the MG's scored the 1962 US No.3 single 'Green Onions', and the 1969 UK No.4 single 'Time Is Tight'.

DIRE STRAITS

Never bought this and in fact I think I stopped following them after the first album which meant a great deal to me but their stratospheric rise halted my interest somehow and their inveterate trying to please, seemed less authentic somehow to these ears. This song and this album retrospectively I really liked and would have bought at the time but . . . . . .  

there are some astonishing live version of this song around (Google it and find them)

this clip and text from Johnny Harris over at Behind The Grooves as ever, chuck him a few quid!?

On this day in music history: May 13, 1985 - “Brothers In Arms”, the fifth studio album by Dire Straits is released. Produced by Mark Knopfler and Neil Dorfsman, it is recorded at AIR Studios in Montserrat and London and The Power Station in New York City from November 1984 - March 1985. Coming almost three years after their previous release “Love Over Gold”, Dire Straits guitarist and leader Mark Knopfler take the band in another musical direction, away from the quieter and laid back vibe of the previous album. Cutting the basic tracks at AIR Studios on the Caribbean island of Montserrat, Knopfler and engineer/co-founder Neil Dorfsman are unhappy with the original drum tracks played by Terry Williams. Deciding that they need to be redone, a few different players are suggested, including Andy Newmark and Peter Erskine. They decide on former Weather Report drummer Omar Hakim. Hakim arrives in Montserrat a short time later, re-recording the drum tracks on all ten songs in just two and a half days. Combining bluesy and folk influenced songs with modern, high tech production, the end result is the most successful album of Dire Straits career. “Brothers” is one of the first major albums to be recorded on digital recording equipment (on a Sony DASH 3324 tape machine), with it being more geared toward the then increasingly more popular compact disc format. With the CD version clocking in at over fifty five minutes, the vinyl LP version (edited down to forty seven minutes and forty four seconds) includes edited down versions of several songs in order to maintain high sound quality in that format. It spins off five singles including “Money For Nothing” (#1 Pop), “Walk Of Life” (#7 Pop), and “So Far Away” (#19 Pop). It also makes history as the first album to sell over one million copies on CD in the US. The album wins two Grammy Awards including Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal in 1986. It wins a third Grammy in 2006 for the 5.1 surround SACD reissue for Best Surround Sound Album. Long revered for its excellent sound quality and engineering, “Brothers” is a favorite of audiophile music fans. It has most recently been remastered and reissued by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, in 2013 as a limited edition hybrid SACD, and in 2015 as a 180 gram double vinyl LP set mastered at 45 RPM. “Brothers In Arms” spends nine weeks at number one on the Billboard Top 200, and is certified 9x Platinum in the US by the RIAA. 

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