2020

Good Morning, Music Trivia Buffs! We’re getting a jump on the day because it’s an “opening” shift this morning on Truck Day. Here’s everything you need to know to impress your friends.

***Tom Petty said of Bo Diddley: “Remember, Elvis is King, but Diddley is Daddy.”***

Here’s today’s lesson:

December 30, 1957: Sam Cooke’s You Send Me finished the year as the #1 R & B song where it spent the previous six weeks.

December 30, 1961: This year it was the Marvelettes finishing up a seventh week at #1 on the R & B chart with Please Mr. Postman.

December 30, 1962: The Chiffons released the single He’s So Fine.

December 30, 1965: The Who, The Hollies, The Kinks, Gerry & The Pacemakers, Manfred Mann, and Georgie Fame performed on the popular TV show, Shindig.

December 30, 1967: The Beatles were still tearing up the charts. Their new album release, Magical Mystery Tour, climed from #157 to #4 in one week.

As if that wasn’t enough, The Beatles also had their 51st hit, their 25th Top 10 song in four years, and 15th #1 with the song Hello Goodbye.

December 30, 1968: The Turtles released the single You Showed Me.

December 30, 1969: Santana released the single Evil Ways.

December 30, 1972: Seventh Sojurn by the Moody Blues remained at the #1 position on the Album chart for a fourth week.

Also on this day, Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina cracked the Top 10 with Your Mama Don’t Dance.

December 30, 1974: Bob Dylan recorded Tangled Up in Blue (a personal all-time favorite), Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts, and If You See Her, Say Hello.

December 30, 1979: Emerson, Lake & Palmer announced their break up.

Born On This Day

December 30, 1928: R & B and Rock n’ Roll icon Bo Diddley (vocalist, guitarist, songwriter) was born Ellas Otha Bates (add McDaniels at the end from his adoptive family) in McComb, Mississippi. He grew up on the South Side of Chicago where he and his friends sang on street corners. Rumor has it that his nickname, Bo Diddley came from the diddley bow, a one-stringed African guitar popular in the Mississippi Delta region.

December 30, 1931: Country singer Skeeter Davis was born Mary Frances Penick in Dry Ridge, Kentucky. She is actually best known for her crossover hit, The End Of The World.

December 30, 1934: Del Shannon (Runaway) was born Charles Weedon Westover in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

December 30, 1937: Bluegrass, folk, and country multi-instrumentalist and singer John Hartford was born in New York City.

December 30, 1937: Folk singer-songwriter Paul Stookey (Peter, Paul & Mary) was born in Baltimore, Maryland.

December 30, 1939: R & B singer Kim Weston was born Agatha Nathalia Weston in Detroit, Michigan. She would sign with Motown in 1961.

December 30, 1939: Felix Pappalardi, bassist and vocalist for Mountain, was born in The Bronx, New York.

December 30, 1940: Punk rock queen Patti Smith was born in Chicago.

And that, my friends, is it from the College of Rock n’ Roll Knowledge!

By The Way, Did I Mention Our Recent General Rotation Upgrade? I Think Not.

I’m pretty sure I did not mention this, but we did do a recent music upgrade. In several cases, we added to artist libraries, but in a few cases, we added brand new artists.

***Truffle. A new old local New England band. We’ve added some. We’ll be adding more.***

Here’s the rundown:

Brand New Additions

Truffle, Peter & Gordon (it has been a long time coming), Hot Tuna, Jim Croce, and B. J. Thomas

Expanded Libraries

Buddy Guy, LaVern Baker, Chicago, Jackie Wilson, Wendy Waldman, Linda Ronstadt (Winter Light and We Ran), Joan Baez, The Neville Brothers, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Roy Orbison, The Highwaymen, Tim Hardin, Jackie DeShannon, The Grateful Dead (live shows literally weekly), and Guy Clark

This was a first pass. We have more to add and will be doing so soon. I have a couple more days off coming up this week and will be working on this. Feverishly, I might add. Because The Music Mermaid is bitching that her download bucket is full.

It’s Tuesday Bluesday! We’ve Got Hot Tuna Live at Sweetwater Music Hall, Later It’s Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck & Joe Cocker Singing The Blues, and Our Album of The Week, December 29, 2020

Yes, it’s another Tuesday Bluesday in The Mermaid Lounge and we have a full day of blues programming all lined up and ready to go. You’ll be enjoying it while I try to cope with the general purchasing public.

***Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen of Hot Tuna.***

Here’s today’s Tuesday Bluesday line-up:

11:00 a.m. Hot Tuna Live at Sweetwater Music Hall, Mill Valley, CA, January 27 & 28, 1992 NEW!

Here we have two veterans of The Jefferson Airplane now singing the blues in Hot Tuna. On this night, they are joined by Bob Weir of The Grateful Dead on guitar and vocals, the very bluesy Maria Muldaur on vocals and tamborine and Pete Sears on piano and accordion. By the way, after this performance, Pete Sears would stay with Hot Tuna until 2000.

3:00 p.m. Album of The Week: Moondance by Van Morrison

The second airing of our album of the week is up at 3:00 p.m. today.

7:00 p.m. Eric Clapton with Friends Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, and Joe Cocker

Eric Clapton gets together with friends Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Joe Cocker to round out our Tuesday Bluesday programming.

If you like da blues, this would be a good day to tune us in. We don’t cost a damned penny. We don’t ask for your personal information or for you to “subscribe” to our station. All you need to do is click the link below.