ON THIS DAY IN MUSIC

January 29th

1961 - Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan achieved his dream of meeting his idol Woody Guthrie when Guthrie was on weekend release from hospital where he was being treated for Huntington's Chorea. Dylan told him; ‘I was a Woody Guthrie jukebox’. Guthrie gave Dylan a card which said: ‘I ain't dead yet’.


1964 - The Beatles

The Beatles spent the day at Pathe Marconi Studios in Paris, France, The Beatles' only studio recording session for EMI held outside the UK. They recorded new vocals for ‘She Loves You’, ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ and ‘Can't Buy Me Love’, after EMI's West German branch persuaded Brian Epstein that they would be unable to sell large quantities of records in Germany unless they were recorded in the German language. A translator coached John, Paul, and George, although their familiarity with the German language from their Hamburg days made things much easier.

1967 - Jimi Hendrix and The Who

Jimi Hendrix and The Who appeared at The Saville Theatre, London, England. 20 year-old future Queen guitarist Brian May was in the audience. Support acts included The Koobas, Thoughts and the MC was Mike Quinn

1968 - The Doors

The Doors appeared at The Pussy Cat A Go Go, Las Vegas. After the show singer Jim Morrison taunts a security guard in the parking lot by pretending to smoke a joint, resulting in a fight. The police arrive who arrest Morrison and charge him with vagrancy, public drunkenness, and failure to possess sufficient identification. Is that twice in as many days then? . . . . . . . . 

Jim’s next arrest was at about midnight on January 28/29th, 1968 in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Jim was arrested at the Pussycat a’ Go Go for public drunkenness and vagrancy.  Apparently, Jim was beat up by the bouncers because he was smoking a cigarette like it was a joint.  One of the bouncers hit Jim over the head with a billyclub which caused Jim’s head to bleed.   Chaos ensued and the cops arrived and Jim was arrested.  On the ride to the station and while being booked, Jim was livid and incited the cops who threatened to beat him up after their shift ended.

1969 - Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac had their only UK No.1 single with the instrumental 'Albatross' which was composed by guitarist Peter Green. 'Albatross' is the only Fleetwood Mac composition with the distinction of having inspired a Beatles song, 'Sun King' from 1969's Abbey Road.


1972 - George Harrison

The triple album The Concert For Bangladesh went to No.1 on the UK album chart. Organised by George Harrison to raise funds for the people caught up in the war and famine from the area. The set featured; Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr, Billy Preston, Eric Clapton, Ravi Shankar and members from Badfinger. The first concert for a charity ever organised . . . . . . we miss you George 💚

1979 - Boomtown Rats

16-year-old Brenda Spencer killed two people and wounded nine others when she fired from her house across the street onto the entrance of San Diego's Grover Cleveland Elementary School. Spencer fired the shot's from a .22-caliber rifle her father had given her for Christmas. When asked why she did it, she answered 'I don't like Mondays.' The Boomtown Rats went on to write and recorded a song based on the event.


1983 - Men At Work

Australian group Men At Work went to No.1 on the British and American singles and album charts simultaneously with 'Down Under' and 'Business As Usual'. The last artist to achieve this was Rod Stewart in 1971.


1989 - Marc Almond

Marc Almond started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart' with guest vocals from Gene Pitney, (who also had a hit with the song in 1967).


1992 - Willie Dixon
American blues singer and guitarist Willie Dixon died of heart failure. He wrote the classic songs 'You Shook Me', 'I Can't Quit You Baby', 'Back Door Man', 'Hoochie Coochie Man', 'I Just Want to Make Love to You' and 'Little Red Rooster'. Dixon was a major influence on The Doors, The Rolling Stones, Cream, The Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin.

1996 - George Michael

George Michael had the UK No.1 single with 'Jesus To A Child', the singers sixth UK No.1 as a solo artist and the first single from his come-back album 'Older', (after lengthy litigation with his record company).


2001 - Eva Cassidy

A New York based data company issued a chart listing sales of posthumous albums. The idea came about after radio stations wanted to distinguish between proper recordings when the artists were alive and CD's released after they died. Mike Shalett founder of SoundScan said there was only one problem. What to call the chart. The Top 5 chart had The Doors at No.5, Eva Cassidy at 4, Jimi Hendrix at 3, Bob Marley at 2 and 2Pac at No.1.


2006 - Arctic Monkeys

Arctic Monkeys went to No.1 on the UK album chart with their debut album 'Whatever People Say I Am That's What I'm Not'. The Sheffield-based bands album became the fastest-selling debut in chart history after shifting more than 360,000 copies in its first week of release. The album's title was taken from a line from the novel Saturday Night and Sunday Morning written by Alan Sillitoe.


2009 - John Martyn

Singer-songwriter John Martyn died in hospital in Ireland at the age of 60. The folk, blues and funk artist was widely regarded as one of the most soulful and innovative singer-songwriters of his generation and had been cited as an influence by artists as varied as U2, Portishead and Eric Clapton. Martyn was plagued by substance abuse and after wrestling with cocaine and alcohol addiction lost a leg to circulatory problems as so many do and seem to have not struggled to get clean or sober for terribly long and it eventually contributed to his death. This next number I wanted to have played at my brothers funeral but it wasn't up to me and I sill play it frequently to remind me of what he meant to me. 

2009 - Kelly Clarkson

Former American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson made the largest ever leap to number one in US chart history, rising 96 places. Her single, My Life Would Suck Without You, rose from 97 to the top of the Billboard chart after selling 280,000 downloads in its first week of release. A clip from the video for the single was premiered in the commercial break of that week's episode of American Idol.


2014 - Justin Bieber

More than 100,000 people signed a petition to deport Canadian citizen Justin Bieber out of America. The campaign followed his arrest earlier this month for drunk driving and driving without a valid licence. According to US Government protocol, once a petition has over 100,000 signatures, it must be reviewed by White House staff, who will have to respond to it.

2015 - Rod McKuen

American poet, singer-songwriter, and actor Rod McKuen died aged 81. McKuen's translations and adaptations of the songs of Jacques Brel were instrumental in bringing the Belgian songwriter to prominence in the English-speaking world. McKuen's songs sold over 100 million recordings worldwide. His songs have been performed by such diverse artists as Barbra Streisand, Perry Como, Petula Clark, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Andy Williams, Dusty Springfield, Johnny Mathis and Frank Sinatra. He was the first real inclination I had that poetry could cross to pop . . . . . 

2015 - Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift was seeking to trademark phrases including "this sick beat" and "we never go out of style", in the United States. If granted, the trademark would stop others from using her lyrics on items such as t-shirts, stickers and bags. Other phrases she wants to protect included "nice to meet you, where you been" and "party like it's 1989".

2016 - David Bowie

Three weeks after his death, David Bowie lodged 12 albums in the UK top 40, equalling a record set by Elvis Presley in 1977. His last album Blackstar, spent a third week at No.1 with Best of Bowie, Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust all in the Top 10. Bowie's other albums in the top 40 include: Nothing Has Changed (5), Heroes (28), Diamond Dogs (30), Station to Station (32) and Scary Monsters (36).

BIRTHDAYS

1985 - Rag'n'Bone Man

English singer-songwriter Rag'n'Bone Man. His first hit single, ‘Human’, was released in 2016, and his debut album of the same name was released in February 2017 and peaked at number one on the UK chart. At the 2017 Brit Awards, he was named British Breakthrough Act and received the Critics' Choice Award. I LIKE him . . . . . . . 

1964 - Roddy Frame

Roddy Frame, guitarist, singer, songwriter with British group Aztec Camera, who had the 1988 UK No.3 single 'Somewhere In My Heart'. I thinkI have every official release solo album from Roddy and adore his writing, his singing and his much underestimated guitar work

I know I bang on about TV series that use really interesting music and musicians and TV has led me to Emily Barker (Wallander), Stephen Fretwell (Gavin and Stacey) and  reminded me about Roddy's work with Aztec Camera (Early Doors) This song still haunts . . . . . . . 

1962 - Marcus Verne

Marcus Verne from British group Living In A Box, who had the 1987 UK No.5 single 'Living In A Box'.

1961 - Dave Baynton-Power

Dave Baynton-Power, drummer from English rock band James who scored the 1991 UK No.2 single 'Sit Down' and the hits 'Laid' and 'Come Home'.

1953 - Louie Perez

Louie Perez, American songwriter, percussionist and guitarist with from Los Lobos (Spanish for "the Wolves"), who had the 1987 UK & US No.1 single with their cover version of 'La Bamba', which was a 1958 hit for Ritchie Valens and one of early rock and roll's best-known songs.

Here's Christmas with e Wolves . . . over at NPR . . . . superb!

1952 - Tommy Ramone

Thomas Erdelyi, (Tommy Ramone), Hungarian drummer with the Ramones who had the 1977 UK No.22 single 'Sheena Is A Punk Rocker'. Erdelyi also worked as a record producer and was an assistant engineer for the production of the Jimi Hendrix album Band of Gypsys. He died on July 11, 2014 following unsuccessful treatment for bile duct cancer.

1944 - Andrew Loog Oldham

Andrew Loog Oldham, producer, manager and the first Rolling Stones manager. Oldham launched the Immediate label in 1965 which enjoyed 24 UK Top 50 hits. Also worked with Small Faces, John Mayall, Rod Stewart, The Nice, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and the Amen Corner.

1943 - Tony Blackburn

Tony Blackburn, DJ on Radio Caroline and the first D.J. on BBC Radio 1 (The first song played was 'Flowers In The Rain by The Move'). Blackburn was crowned 'King of the jungle' in 2003 after winning on the UK TV show 'I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here' set in the Australian outback.

1933 - Sacha Distel

French singer and guitarist Sacha Distel who had the 1970 UK No.10 single 'Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head', The Good Life', 'The Good Life' et al. The quintessential good looking Frenchman and epitome of smooth Distel became a MOR self parody somehow but remained firmly in French pop culture until his death. Distel died after a long battle with deteriorating health on 22nd July 2004


with eternal thanks to On This Day In Music