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Van Morrison released his third album....."Moondance"....on January 27th 1970
Self produced on Warner Brothers Records.
I have it on vinyl ....my copy is an original pressing ...on the gold & cream colored Warners label...not the usual early 70s olive green label....
Van Morrision deliberatly wanted the songs to have a catchy and accessible sound as his previous album,Astral Weeks (1968) , though critically acclaimed, sold poorly....he knew that Warners would drop him unless sales picked up.
He moved to The Catskills in New York state and wrote a bunch of really good r & b meets pop/rock jazz songs ...a style that he would pretty much stick to for most of his carreer...
Every song on the album is great....no a bad "filler" songs....
Steppenwolf released their debut album on ABC Dunhill Records ....January 29th 1968.
A very strong debut album for the band ....originally called
"The Sparrow" ...it formed in Toronto, Canada in 1965...relocating to Los Angeles in November 1966..
Members in 1967-68 include....
John Kay....lead vocals
Rushton Moreve...bass
Goldy McJohn ...organ
Michael Monarch ....guitar
Jerry Edmonton .....drums
Jerry Edmonton's brother Dennis quit the band in the summer of 1967 ...but not before
writing their best song..."Born To Be Wild"...under the alias/fake name "Mars Bonfire".
"Born To Be Wild" is one the most iconic songs of the late 1960s...it was featured in the movie "Easy Rider".
It topped out on the Billboard Hot 100 at #2 ....#1 in Canada.
A hard rock song, it has in the lyrics the term "heavy metal thunder" ...refering to motorcycles...
but is also the first use of the term that would later be used to identify extreme version of hard rock.
"The Pusher" ...another instant classic ....written by Hoyt Axton...who also wrote another classic, "Cocaine",
covered by Eric Clapton.
Almost all the songs are very strong on this album....including ...
"Desperation" ...written by John Kay ...covered a year later by Humble Pie...an awesome cover!
"Sookie Sookie" ...written by guitar legend Steve Cropper of Booker T and the MGs..
The Velvet Underground released the album "White Light/White Heat" ....
Released on january 30th 1968....on Verve Records.
Produced by Tom Wilson....who had produced Simon & Garfunkel and Bob Dylan...
This album features a lot of noise ....they wanted the recording console faders to be pushed into the red...creating as much noise and distortion as possible...the title track accomplishes that...a deliberately very harsh sound, almost painful to listen to.
The standout song for me is "Sister Ray"....17 minutes of tortured bliss....
classic Lou Reed lyrics...."I'm still searching for my mainline....I couldn't hit it sideways".....
"Oh no you shouldn't do that...don't you know you'll stain the carpet"....
...only Lou Reed writes lyrics like that...
Ian Curtis of "Joy Division" loved the song,..there is a "live" recording of "Sister Ray" which is very good ...it is on their album "Still"....
Ian Curtis really getting into it ....at the end of the song he says jokingly "You should hear our version of "Louie Louie"....he comitted suicide only a few days later....
On January 31, 1957, Decca Records announced that Bill Haley And His Comets' "Rock Around The Clock" had sold over a million copies in the UK, mostly on 10 inch 78's.
January 30, 1969 - The Beatles' rooftop performance took place at Apple Records headquarters in London, snarling traffic as people stopped to listen. The footage later was used in the documentary film Let It Be. The Beatles, along with Billy Preston, performed Get Back, Don’t Let Me Down, I’ve Got A Feeling, One After 909 and Dig A Pony.
On February 3, 1959, American rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and "The Big Bopper" J. P. Richardson were all killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, together with pilot Roger Peterson.[The event later became known as "The Day the Music Died" after singer-songwriter Don McLean referred to it as such in his 1971 song "American Pie".
1979 - Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious died of a heroin overdose in New York City. There had been a party to celebrate Vicious' release on $50,000 (£29,412) bail pending his trial for the murder of his former girlfriend, Nancy Spungen, the previous October. Party guests, said that Vicious had taken heroin at midnight. An autopsy confirmed that Vicious died from an accumulation of fluid in the lungs that was consistent with heroin overdose. A syringe, spoon and heroin residue were discovered near the body.
1962 - The Beatles played their first professionally organised gig outside of Liverpool at The Oasis Club, Manchester. The groups set started with their version of 'Hippy Hippy Shake'.
1942 - British-American singer-songwriter Graham Nash was born, known for his light tenor voice and for his songwriting contributions as a member of The Hollies and supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash. Nash initially met both David Crosby and Stephen Stills in 1966 during a Hollies US tour. CSN's scored the hit singles 'Marrakesh Express' (which had been rejected by the Hollies), 'Our House', 'Teach Your Children'.
Other notable music news:
2004 - TV network CBS apologised for its broadcast of the American Super Bowl after Janet Jackson was left exposed when Justin Timberlake ripped her top. The pair had been performing a raunchy half-time duet when one of Jackson's breasts was exposed as Timberlake pulled at her top. CBS quickly cut away from the scene but was still flooded with calls from angry viewers about the half-time entertainment, produced by MTV. Timberlake insisted it had been an accident saying "I am sorry that anyone was offended by the wardrobe malfunction during the half-time performance of the Super Bowl."
1993 - Willie Nelson agreed to pay $9 million of the $16.7 million he owed the Internal Revenue Service. His accountants, Price Waterhouse, had not been paying Nelson's taxes for years and in addition to the unpaid taxes, Nelson's situation was worsened by the weak investments he had made during the early 1980s.
40 years ago, on this day (Februruary 4, 1983), Karen Carpenter died. At the age of 32, struggling with anorexia for years, her heart simply couldn't go on and she died from heart failure. What a voice. What a musician. And a heckuva good drum player. She and her brother, Richard, made some beautiful music together.
Hard to believe it's been 40 years. Time is fleeting by.
40 years ago, on this day (Februruary 4, 1983), Karen Carpenter died. At the age of 32, struggling with anorexia for years, her heart simply couldn't go on and she died from heart failure. What a voice. What a musician. And a heckuva good drum player. She and her brother, Richard, made some beautiful music together.
Hard to believe it's been 40 years. Time is fleeting by.
Carpenter is known to fans as "Lead Sister". This originated from a mispronunciation of "lead singer" by a Japanese journalist in 1974, and she later wore a T-shirt with the nickname during live shows.
I enjoyed watching that. Thanks for sharing it, Mr B Kind
Thank you Mars for letting us all know that it has been 40 years since Karen passed.....Time sure does fly by ..
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