Greetings & Salutations From the College of Rock n’ Roll Knowledge: 1/6/2021

Here we are again hanging out in The Mermaid Lounge cramming in my musical duties before an opening shift. I hope you are soaking all this knowledge in like a sponge.

***Tom Petty (& The Heartbreakers) with his Gibson Flying V.***

Here’s your lesson for Wednesday:

January 6, 1957: Elvis Presley makes his third and final appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, where he sings seven songs, including Hound Dog, Don’t Be Cruel, and Heartbreak Hotel. Of course, they only show Elvis the Pelvis from the waist up.

January 6, 1958: Great Balls of Fire by Jerry Lee Lewis hits #2 where it will remain for four weeks before dropping down. What’s keeping it from #1? At The Hop by Danny & The Juniors. (Are you fucking kidding me?)

January 6, 1964: The Rolling Stones headlined their first UK tour, with The Ronettes as the opening act.

January 6, 1966: The Beatles’ We Can Work It Out is awarded a Gold record, two days before it begins a three-week stay at #1.

January 6, 1968: Gibson patents its signature Flying V Electric Guitar.

January 6, 1973: Carly Simon hits #1 with You’re So Vain, and people continue to obsess to this day trying to figure out for whom the song is written. Carly’s conflicting answers shed no light on this mystery.

January 6, 1975: Pink Floyd begins recording their album Wish You Were Here, after abandoning their original idea of recording an album making music using ordinary household items. Thankfully.

January 6, 1993: Rolling Stones bass player Bill Wyman leaves the group after 30 years because he didn’t see anything new coming on the horizon.

January 6, 2007: “Sneaky Pete” Kleinow, one of the finest pedal steel guitarists ever who played with The Flying Burrito Brothers, died in Petaluma, California, of complications from Alzheimers.

Born On This Day

January 6, 1937: R & B singer-songwriter Doris Troy was born Doris Elaine Higginsen in The Bronx, New York.

January 6, 1946: Syd Barrett, vocalist and guitarist for Pink Floyd, was born in Cambridge, England.

January 6, 1947: Sandy Denny was born in London. She would become the lead singer of Fairport Convention, and the only guest singer on a Led Zeppelin song, The Battle of Evermore.

January 6, 1951: Blues singer Kim Wilson of The Fabulous Thunderbirds was born in Detroit, Michigan.

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