Rock & Roll History – January 25
Music is forever; music should grow and mature with you, following you right on up until you die. ~Paul Simon
1931 – The late Stig Anderson (manager, producer and co-songwriter for ABBA – ‘Waterloo’, ‘Mamma Mia’, ‘Dancing Queen’, ‘S.O.S.’, ‘Fernando’) was born.
1938 – The late Etta James (‘At Last’, ‘Tell Mama’) was born.
1960 – Sam Cooke recorded ‘Chain Gang’ at RCA Studio A in New York City.
Rock Factoid: The song was inspired after a chance meeting with an actual chain-gang of prisoners on a highway, seen while Sam was on tour. According to legend, Cooke and his brother Charles felt sorry for the men and gave them several cartons of cigarettes.
1965 – Roger Miller released ‘King Of The Road’ / ‘Atta Boy Girl’. The crossover record hit #1 on the Billboard Country chart and #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, It also hit #1 on the UK Singles Chart.
1971 – Helen Reddy released ‘I Don’t Know How To Love Him’ / ‘I Believe In Music’.
Rock Factoid: Capitol Records executive Artie Mogull heard the potential for a smash hit in I Don’t Know How to Love Him on the Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack and pitched the song to Linda Ronstadt, then on the Capitol roster. After Ronstadt advised Mogull that “she hated the song,” Mogull invited the then-unknown Reddy to record it as part of a one-off single deal with Capitol. Reddy herself did not care for the song, either, but agreed to cut the song if she was also allowed to record the Mac Davis composition, I Believe in Music.
1976 – Chris Kenner (wrote and recorded the original versions of ‘I Like It Like That’ (later covered by the Dave Clark Five) and ‘Land Of 1000 Dances’ (later by Cannibal & The Headhunters) died from a heart attack in at the age of 46.
1985 – Phil Collins released the ‘No Jacket Required’ album.
Rock Factoid: The album, which sold over 25 million copies, contained four Top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart; Sussudio (#1), One More Night (#1), Don’t Lose My Number (#4), and Take Me Home (#7).
1986 – Albert Grossman, manager of The Band, Peter, Paul & Mary, Janis Joplin, and most famously, Bob Dylan, died of a heart attack at the age of 59.
Rock Factoid: The contracts between Dylan and Grossman were officially dissolved on July 17, 1970, prompted by Dylan’s earlier realization that Grossman had taken 50% of his song publishing rights in a hastily signed contract. Long after Grossman’s death, Dylan remained bitter: “He was kind of like a Colonel Tom Parker figure… all immaculately dressed, every time you see him. You could smell him coming.”
1987 – Aerosmith released ‘Angel’ / ‘Girl Keeps Coming Apart’.
Rock Factoid: It was the third single – following ‘Dude (Looks Like A Lady)’ and ‘Rag Doll’ – off their ‘Permanent Vacation’ album.
Rock Factoid #2: Angel, which peaked at #3, remains Aerosmith’s second highest charting single, second only to the #1 hit, I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing.
2003 – Billy Joel totaled his Mercedes-Benz after hitting a tree in Sag Harbor, Long Island. It was the second of three times Joel was involved in car accidents. Great piano player, lousy driver.
2005 – Ray Peterson (‘The Wonder Of You’, ‘Corrina, Corinna’, ‘Tell Laura I Love Her’) died of cancer at the age of 65.
2012 – Dick Kniss (spent more than 40 years playing upright bass for Peter, Paul and Mary, and also played with John Denver – he co-wrote ‘Sunshine on My Shoulders’) passed away from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He was 74.
Compiled by Ray Lemire ©2016 RayLemire.com. All Rights Reserved.