10/17 Entertainment History

“No saint, no pope, no general, no sultan, has ever had the power that a filmmaker has; the power to talk to hundreds of millions of people for two hours in the dark.”
~Frank Capra
Director of Mr. Smith Goes To Washington

ROCK & ROLL HISTORY

1955 – Capitol Records released Tennessee Ernie Ford’s Sixteen Tons.
It was released as the B-side of You Don’t Have To Be A Baby To Cry but radio stations coast to coast began flipping the single over. It hit Billboard’s country music chart in November and held the #1 position for ten weeks, then crossed over and held the #1 position on Billboard’s pop music chart for eight weeks.

1956 – Mickey & Sylvia recorded Love Is Strange.
The song was originally recorded by Bo Diddley – who wrote it under the name of his wife Ethel Smith – but his version was not released until 2007.
Mickey & Sylvia’s version reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1960 – Dion & The Belmonts split up over what was described as “musical differences.”
Dion DiMucci said the Belmonts “wanted to get into their harmony thing and I wanted to rock and roll. The label wanted me doing standards. I got bored with it quickly.”
The sharing of money and DiMucci’s struggle with heroin addiction were also major factors.

1963 – The Beatles recorded I Want To Hold Your Hand and This Boy at EMI Studio 2 in London.
It was the first time The Beatles recorded using four-track technology instead of the two-track method they had been using.

1967 – Bob Dylan recorded The Ballad Of Frankie Lee And Judas Priest at Columbia’s Studio A in Nashville in one take.
The song – the first Dylan recording since his motorcycle accident 15 months earlier – became part of his John Wesley Harding album.

1977 – Lynyrd Skynyrd released Street Survivors.
Three days later, the band’s chartered airplane crashed in Gillsburg, MS, killing the pilot, copilot, the group’s assistant road manager and three band members; lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and backup singer Cassie Gaines.
The original pressing of the cover of Street Survivors had a photograph of the band standing in flames. Gaines’ head appeared to be surrounded by those flames. The cover was quickly changed to an alternate photo with an all-black background.

1978 – Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand recorded You Don’t Bring Me Flowers.
In 1977, Diamond had included the song on his I’m Glad You’re Here With Me Tonight album. Early in 1978, Barbra Streisand covered the song on her album Songbird.
Those solo recordings were famously spliced together by different radio stations, creating unofficial duets, the success of which led to the studio bringing the two performers together for an official duet recording.
The “official” version reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1988 – The Traveling Wilburys released Handle With Care.
The single – the first one released by the supergroup – peaked at #45 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #21 on the UK Singles Chart.

1991 – Tennessee Ernie Ford died of liver failure exactly 36 years after the release of Sixteen Tons.

2008 – Levi Stubbs (lead singer with The Four Tops) died from complications of cancer and a stroke.

MOVIE/TV HISTORY

1939 – Director Frank Capra’s Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, starring James Stewart, Jean Arthur and Claude Rains, premiered in Washington, DC.
Considered to be one of the greatest films of all time, the film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, but won only one (Best Writing/Original Story) due in part because it was up against Gone With The Wind in most of the categories.

1957 – Elvis Presley’s Jailhouse Rock premiered at Loew’s State Theatre in Memphis.
In 2004, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry but in 1957, several reviews savagely ripped the film and its star.
“Unpleasant, mediocre and tasteless drama” … Cue Magazine
“Presley is dangerously near being repulsive” … The Spectator
“His acting is amateurish and bland” … Down Beat Magazine
“A hackneyed tale with cheap human values” … The PTA

1968 – Bullitt, starring Steve McQueen, Jacqueline Bisset and Robert Vaughn premiered at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
The realstar of the movie, a 1968 Mustang Fastback featured in the film’s classic car chase scenes, was sold at Mecum Auctions for a record price of $3.4 million in 2020.

2005 – The Colbert Report premiered on The Comedy Channel. The program ran until December 18, 2014 for a total of 1,447 episodes.

2007 – Comedian Joey Bishop died at the age of 89 from multiple organ failure.
A member of Frank Sinatra’s Rat Pack, Bishop appeared in over 30 films and numerous television shows, and later hosted a late night talk show with Regis Philbin as his young sidekick on ABC.

SPORTS HISTORY

1964 – Two days after the New York Yankees had lost a memorable seven game World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals, George Steinbrenner shockingly fired manager Yankees manager Yogi Berra and replaced him with St. Louis skipper Johnny Keane in one of the most bizarre managerial changes in baseball history.

1989 – A magnitude 6.9 earthquake hit the San Francisco Bay Area, forcing the cancellation of the third game of the World Series.
More importantly, the earthquake killed 63 people and caused more than $5 billion in damages.

Compiled by Ray Lemire ©2005-2020 RayLemire.com / Streamingoldies.com. All Rights Reserved.