Good Morning, Students! It’s Sunday here in the College of Rock n’ Roll Knowledge, and we’ve got a great day lined up. But first, your lesson.
Here’s all the news that’s fit to print:
December 20, 1956: Elvis Presley was making musical chart history with ten songs on Billboard’s Top 100.
December 20, 1958: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison appear as The Quarrymen at the wedding reception of George’s older brother, Harry.
December 20, 1965: Wicked Wilson Pickett records the fucking great song, 634-5789, with Booker T & The MG’s. Booker was missing on that day, but his keyboards were handled nicely for him by none other than Isaac Hayes.
Also on this day in 1965, The Beach Boys released the single Barbara Ann.
December 20, 1966: The Big O, Otis Redding, played the Fillmore West in San Francisco.
December 20, 1967: Vocalist and master flute player Ian Anderson and bassist Glenn Cornick leave The John Evans Blues Band to form Jethro Tull, naming the band after an inventor of farm implements. John Evans would later join Tull himself as the keyboardist.
December 20, 1969: The Beatles’ masterpiece, Abbey Road, remained at the top of the charts for an eighth week on this day.
December 20, 1971: The album from George Harrison’s Concert For Bangladesh (the very first musical event of its kind in history) was released. It would win the Grammy Award for Best Album.
December 20, 1972: The O’Jays recorded the great song Love Train.
December 20, 1975: Joe Walsh officially replaced Bernie Leadon in The Eagles, moving them into a harder rock frame. He had previously been with The James Gang, a great band, by the way. However, on this day, my love affair with The Eagles ended, as much as I love Joe Walsh. I continued to listen, and their catalogue is in our rotation, but I prefer their earlier feel.
December 20, 1980: Twelve days after being shot dead by a fucking psychopath who just wanted his time in the spotlight, John Lennon had his first #1 solo hit with Just Like Starting Over.
Born On This Day
December 20, 1939: R & B singer Kim Weston was born in Detroit, Michigan.
December 20, 1944: Bobby Columby, drummer for Blood, Sweat & Tears, was born in New York.
December 20, 1947: Little Stevie Wright, lead singer of The Easybeats (Friday On My Mind) was born in Leeds, England. He would, however, be raised in Australia. During their six-year career, The Easybeats had 15 Top 10 hits in Australia, no slight feat regardless of where you were raised. The Easybeats are in our daily standard rotation.
December 20, 1948: Alan Parsons of The Alan Parson’s Project (Games People Play, I Wouldn’t Want To Be Like You), was born in London. He began his musical career as an engineer at Abbey Road Studios, working on Abbey Road and Let It Be for The Beatles, Dark Side of The Moon for Pink Floyd, and Wild Life by Paul McCartney & Wings (their actual first album as a band). The Alan Parsons Project is in our daily standard rotation.
And that is it from The College for this morning. Our line-up will be posted soon!
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