School is never out here in The Mermaid Lounge. We are here every day giving you all the news that’s fit to print. Of course, you know we post early for Wednesdays as retail slavery starts early.
Here’s today’s lesson:
December 2, 1957: Sam Cooke proves third time’s a charm when You Send Me becomes his first hit on the Billboard Pop chart.
December 2, 1962: The Beatles are the opening act for a gentleman named Frank Ifield. However, contrary to his calm crooning style, the Fab Four were pounding out blistering rock n’ roll, prompting some in the crowd to tell them to “turn it down.”
December 2, 1963: Roy Orbison released the single “Pretty Paper.”
Also on this day, the Beatles performed This Boy, All My Loving, and I Want To Hold Your Hand for the UK’s Morecambe & Wise Show.
December 2, 1967: Gladys Knight & The Pips hit #1 on the R & B chart with a remake of Marvin Gaye’s I Heard It Through The Grapevine.
Also on this day, Donovan had one of the hottest songs on the charts with Wear Your Love Like Heaven.
December 2, 1968: The Bee Gees released the song I Started A Joke. They made some fine fucking music before turning disco. After that? Nah.
December 2, 1969: George Harrison joined Delaney & Bonnie on stage at Colston Hall in Bristol, England.
Also on December 2, The Rolling Stones stop by Muscle Shoals Recording Studios in Alabama on their way to their ill-fated Altamont show on December 6. There, they record Wild Horses, You Gotta Move, and Brown Sugar over a three-day session.
December 2, 1971: Taj Mahal plays for death row inmates at North Carolina’s Wilmington State Penetentiary.
December 2, 1972: The Temptations’ version of Papa Was a Rolling Stone gives them their fourth US #1 song.
Steely Dan made The Billboard 200 for the first time with their debut album, Can’t Buy A Thrill. The album’s name is taken from a line in the Bob Dylan song, It Takes A Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry.
And Cat Stevens’ album, Catch Bull At Four, continued at #1 for a third week. This would also be Cat’s most commercially successful album.
Born On This Day
December 2, 1941: Tom McGuinness, bass guitarist with Manfred Mann, was born in Wimbledon, London, England.
December 2, 1942: Ted Bluechel, drummer for The Association, was born in San Pedro, California.
And that’s it for today from The College of Rock n’ Roll Knowledge!
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