2020

It’s Tuesday Bluesday in the College of Rock n’ Roll Knowledge, and we press on with some great events in our musical history.

***The Kingston Trio made musical history in 1958***

Here’s today’s classic rock lesson:

November 24, 1958: The Kingston Trio became the first group to have a #1 album. Only solo artists had achieved that prior to them.

November 24, 1961: Howlin’ Wolf arrived in London for his first European tour.

November 24, 1965: The Young Rascals begin recording Good Lovin’ which will hit #1 early the next year.

November 24, 1966: The Beatles begin recording sessions for Sargeant Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band by laying down tracks for Strawberry Fields Forever. In the end, the song doesn’t make the album, but it will appear on Magical Mystery Tour the following year.

November 24, 1972: ABC-TV’s In Concert debuts with Alice Cooper, Chuck Berry, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Poco, and The Allman Brothers Band. Don Kirschner is the producer, and he also produces The Monkees.

November 24, 1979: The Eagles spend a fourth week on top of the album charts with The Long Run.

November 24, 1980: Steely Dan releases the single Hey Nineteen, one of my all-time favorite songs.

November 24, 1985: Blues pioneer Big Joe Turner died of kidney failure at the age of 74. Turner was one of the first artists to ever play rock n’ roll when he wrote and recorded Shake, Rattle and Roll in 1954.

November 24, 1991: Freddie Mercury dies of bronchopneumonia, a complication from AIDS, at his home in London at the age of 45. He had just publicly acknowledged having the disease the day before. His friend (and nothing more), Dave Clark, of The Dave Clark Five, was with him when he died.

Born on This Day

November 24, 1939: Jim Yester, keyboardist for The Association, was born in Birmingham, Alabama.

November 24, 1941: Pete Best, drummer for The Beatles in the very early years, was born in Madras, India.

November 24, 1941: Donald “Duck” Dunn, bass guitarist for the Mar-Keys, and Booker T. & The MG’s, was born in Memphis, Tennessee.

We’ll be back in a little bit with today’s music programming!

We Kick It Off With Some Badass Guitarists, Revisit The Live Disc In The “Wildflowers” Box, and Hear From The Beach Boys Later, Monday, November 23, 2020

Happy Monday, Music Lovers! We’ve had an info-packed lesson from the College of Rock n’ Roll Knowledge today, and now we’re giving you some great programming to start your week!

Here’s today’s line-up!

11:00 a.m. Badass Guitarists, Volume 2: Various Artists

In spite of what assholes like Kanye West say about guitars being junk instruments, we here in The Mermaid Lounge revere guitarists and their talent. We’ve got a bunch: Bonnie Raitt, Eric Clapton, Duane Allman, Mike Campbell, George Harrison, Jimmy Page…and that’s just for starters. In the immortal words of Mike Campbell, “Fuck That Guy.”

3:00 p.m. Wildflowers & All The Rest: Live Wildflowers

As we add all the new Heartbreakers material to the general rotation today, we feel it’s a good time to revisit one of the discs, so we chose to focus on the live versions of the Wildflowers songs. Funny little thing about the inclusion of Walls. It was not part of the Wildflowers time frame, but they included it anyway because they thought it fit so well with the overall feeling of the album, and because it’s such a great fucking song.

7:00 p.m. In The Spotlight: The Music of The Beach Boys

We haven’t heard from these guys for a while. Speaking for myself, I never paid much attention to The Beach Boys when I was young but guys like Paul McCartney and Tom Petty had the ultimate respect, and Linda Ronstadt considers Brian Wilson a musical genius, so I started paying attention. I’m glad I did. I now love surf music in general, and I agree with Ronstadt’s assessment of Wilson.

Look, it’s Monday. Here just outside of Boston, it’s dark, gloomy and rainy. The perfect day to tune in some good music. Know what I mean?

www.tinyurl.com/Ungovernable-Radio

It’s Monday Morning Back at The College of Rock n’ Roll Knowledge: 11/23/2020

And so begins another week. Here at the Mermaid Lounge, we’re trying to accomplish the impossible: Programming a week in advance. It’s a valiant effort, but the jury is OUT. Nevertheless, we have a lot of info here for you.

***The very first juke box at the Palais Royal Hotel in San Francisco***

November 23, 1899: The first jukebox was placed at The Palais Royale Hotel in San Francisco (see photo).

November 23, 1962: The Beatles auditioned at St. James’ Church Hall in London for The BBC, which was looking for people with potential to be on TV. The Beatles failed. I wonder if the guy who made that decision kept his job.

November 23, 1963: Jimmy Gilmer & The Fireballs have the top R & B song with Sugar Shack.

November 23, 1964: /The Beatles release the single, I Feel Fine. The B-side is She’s A Woman.

The Rolling Stones are late for the radio shows Top Gear and Saturday Club, and were banned by The BBC.

November 23, 1965: The Beatles film promos for I Feel Fine, Ticket To Ride, Help!, Day Tripper and We Can Work It Out at Twickenham Studios in London. The BBC paid 1,750 pounds for the broadcast rights, and then deals were made with other broadcasters around the world.

November 23, 1967: The Who played the New Barn at The Lions Delaware County Fairgrounds in Muncie, Indiana.

November 23, 1968: Little known fact, here: After Dusty Springfield had recommended Jimmy Page to Ahmet Ertegun, head of Atlantic Records, Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant finalized their recording contract.

Steve Miller debuted on the charts after his first single, Living in The USA.

The Beatles tied the existing rock era record (held by Bobby Darin’s Mack The Knife) with a ninth week at #1 for Hey Jude.

Judy Collins’ version of Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides Now enters the Top 40, where it will peak at #8. It will also win The Best Folk Performance of the year.

November 23, 1970: George Harrison released his first solo single, My Sweet Lord, in the US.

November 23, 1972: Bob Dylan arrives in Durango, Colorado, to film the movie Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid (Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door).

November 23, 1975: Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody goes to #1 on the UK charts, where it will remain for nine weeks.

November 23, 1976: Wings kicked off a 19-date UK tour at The Royal Court in Liverpool.

November 23, 1983: Tom Evans of Badfinger committed suicide after the band decided to break up.

Born On This Day

November 23, 1939: Betty Everett, of The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss) fame, was born in Greenwood, Mississippi.

November 23, 1940: Freddie Marsden, drummer for Gerry & The Pacemakers, was born in Liverpool.

November 23, 1954: Bruce Hornsby, one of the greatest keyboardists ever, leader of Bruce Hornsby & The Range and keyboardist for The Grateful Dead, was born in Williamsburg, Virginia.

And that is it, children. Today’s lesson is over.