On This Day In Music   5th December

1899 Sonny Boy Williamson (Aleck Ford) nickname Rice Miller.Born in Glendora, Michigan. US blues singer/harmonica player/songwriter. . Van Morrison, The Who, The Animals, Yardbirds and Moody Blues all covered his songs. He died on 25th May 1965 an apparent heart attack suffered in his sleep the night before aged 52.
1922 Don Robertson born in Beijing, China . American songwriter and pianist, mostly in the country and popular music genres. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972. As a performer, he hit the US Top 10 with “The Happy Whistler” in 1956 (Peaking at 6th). The track reached #8 in the UK Singles Chart the same year.He composed or co-composed with Hal Blair (né Harold Keller Brown; 1915–2001), many hits for other musicians, including Elvis Presley who recorded over a dozen of Robertson’s songs, five of which appeared in Presley’s numerous films. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold discHe died March 16, 2015 aged 92.
1932 Richard Penniman (Little Richard) born in Macon, Georgia. US Rock’n’Roll Singer/Songwriter/Pianist. 1956 US No. 6 & 1957 UK No.3 single ‘Long Tall Sally’, plus over 10 other US & UK Top 40 singles).
1936 JJ Cale (Jean Jacques Cale) born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. US Guitarist/Singer/Songwriter, (1972 US No. 22 single ‘Crazy Mama’, 1982 UK No.36 album ‘Grasshopper’). Many songs written by Cale have been recorded by other acts, including “After Midnight” and “Cocaine” by Eric Clapton; “Call Me the Breeze” by Lynyrd Skynyrd, John Mayer, Johnny Cash, and Bobby Bare; “Clyde” by Waylon Jennings and Dr. Hook; “I Got The Same Old Blues” by Captain Beefheart, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Freddie King, and Bryan Ferry; and “Magnolia” by Poco, Beck, Lucinda Williams, Iron and Wine, José Feliciano, Ben Bridwell, and John Mayer with Eric Clapton. Cale died at the age of 74 in La Jolla, California, on July 26, 2013, after suffering a heart attack. His wife Christine Lakeland survived him.
1938 Chad Mitchell (of the Chad Mitchell Trio) is born in Portland, Oregon.
1942 Steve Rappaport – Singer, of the Ran-Dells (Martian Hop)
1944 Lucas Sideras, born in Athens, Greece. Greek Drummer with Aphrodite’s Child.
1945 Flight 19 disappears over the Bermuda Triangle, inspiring a song “Flight 19” by B.A. Robertson.
1946 Jose Carreras born in Spain. Spanish Operatic Tenor. His duet with Sarah Brightman – Amigos Para Siempre (Fried For Life) spent six weeks at No.1 on the Australian charts in 1992. His album Friends For Life also made no.1.
1947 Jim Messina born in California. American musician, songwriter, singer, guitarist, recording engineer and record producer. He was a member of the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield, a founding member of the country rock pioneer Poco, and half of the soft rock duo Loggins and Messina with Kenny Loggins.
1946 Andy Kim (Andrew Joachim) born in Montreal, Canada. Canadian Singer/Songwriter, (1974 US No.1 & UK No.2 single ‘Rock Me Gently’)
1948 Denise Drydale(Denice Drysdale) born in Glenhuntly, Melbourne. Australian TV Presenter & Singer. In 1974 she had a No.1 duet with Ernie Sigley. A revival of Hey Paula.
1953 Jonathan Lewis born in White Plains, New York. Keyboards/Trombone player with Atlantic Starr.
1960 Les Nemes born in Croydon, England. Bass Player with Haircut 100, (1982 UK No.3 & US No. 37 single ‘Love Plus One’)
1960 Jack Russell (Great White vocalist) is born in Montebello, California.
1960 Elvis Presley started a ten- week run at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘G.I. Blues’. His fifth US No.1 album.
1961 Ray Charles was arrested in an Indianapolis hotel and charged with possession of drugs.
1964 Lorne Greene star of the NBC TV show ‘Bonanza’ was at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Ringo’, making him the second Canadian to have a US No.1 single, a No.22 hit in the UK.
1964 “Mountain Of Love” by Johnny Rivers peaked at #9 on the US singles chart.
1964 “Time Is On My Side” by The Rolling Stones peaked at #6 on the US singles chart.
1965 Johnny Rzeznik born in Bufalo, New York. US singer and guitarist with Goo Goo Dolls who had the 2002 US No.3 album ‘Gutterflower’. In 2007, Rzeznik was a judge on the Fox network’s The Next Great American Band.
1965 The Beach Boys’ Beach Boys Concertalbum hits #1 in the U.S.A. For the first of 4 weeks, claiming the top spot for the rest of December.
1967 The last night of a package tour arrived at ‘Green’s Playhouse, Glasgow, featuring Pink Floyd, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Move and Amen Corner.
1968 “Wedding Bell Blues” single by Fifth Dimension was certified Gold by the RIAA
1968 Glen Graham (drummer for Blind Melon) is born in Columbus, Mississippi.
1968 The Rolling Stones hold a “Beggar’s Banquet” at Elizabeth Rooms, London, to promote their release of the new album with the same name. The “banquet” ends with a pie fight.
1969 The Rolling Stones release Let It Bleed in the UK.
1970 Amazing Grace’ by Judy Collins entered the UK singles chart for the first of eight times, it spent a total of 67 weeks on the chart never making the No.1 position.
1970 “Gypsy Woman” by Brian Hyland peaked at #3 on the US singles chart.
1970 “No Matter What” by Badfinger peaked at #8 on the US singles chart.
1970 “Share The Land” by Guess Who peaked at #10 on the US singles chart.
1971 Craig Gill born in in Salford, England. Drummer with Inspiral Carpets. English alternative rock band, formed in 1983 in Oldham, Greater Manchester. (1990 UK No.14 single ‘This Is How It Feels’). He died 20 November 2016)
1974 “Melodies Of Love” album by Bobby Vinton was certified Gold by the RIAA
1974 “My Melody Of Love” single by Bobby Vinton was certified Gold by the RIAA
1975 “Breakaway” album by Art Garfunkel was certified Gold by the RIAA. Including ‘I Only Have Eyes For You’.
1975 “Seals & Crofts’ Greatest Hits” album by Seals & Crofts was certified Gold by the RIAA
1975 Fleetwood Mac’s tenth album goes gold and is on its way to platinum. This is the first album by the regrouped band, including founders Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, veteran Christine McVie and newcomers Stevie Nicks, and Lindsey Buckingham. The album contains the tunes “Rhiannon,” “Say You Love Me” “Landslide’ and “Over My Head.”
1975 Music weekly NME reviewed the Sex Pistols debut single ‘Anarchy In The UK’ saying ‘Johnny Rotten sings flat, the song is laughably naive, and the overall feeling is of a third- rate Who imitation’.
1976 Earth, Wind and Fire’s Gratitude album is certified Gold.
1978 “Totally Hot” album by Olivia Newton-John was certified Platinum by the RIAA. Including ‘Little More Love’, ‘Deeper Than The Night’ & ‘Please Don’t Keep Me Waiting’.
1979 “Pop Muzik” single by M was certified Gold by the RIAA
1979 The Buggles went to No.1 in the Australian Singles Chart with ‘Vidoeo Killed The Radio Star’, it stayed at No.1 for 6weeks.
1980 “Angel” Zainam Higgins born in Birmingham, England. Backing Vocalist with Cleopatra, (1998 UK No.3 single ‘Cleopatra’s Theme’).
1980 Christian Smith Pancorvo, drummer, Serafin. Previously a member of Razorlight with Johnny Borrell.
1980 “Jessie” single by Carly Simon was certified Gold by the RIAA
1981 Julio Iglesias was at No.1 in the UK singles chart with ‘Begin The Beguine.’ A Cole Porter song from 1935 with Spanish lyrics it was the singers only UK chart topper.
1981 “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” by The Police peaked at #3 on the US singles chart.
1981 “Oh No” by Commodores peaked at #4 on the US singles chart. It wasn’t a song about Mr. Bill.
1982 Keri Lynn Hilson, American R&B singer and songwriter, part of a collective of writers and producers known as The Clutch.
1987 “Avalon” album by Roxy Music was certified Gold. Also including ‘More Than This’.
1987 Belinda Carlisle went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Heaven Is A Place On Earth’, the ex Go-Go’s first solo No.1, also a No.1 hit in the UK.
1987 The Jesus And Mary Chain were banned from appearing on a US music TV show after complaints of blasphemy when the groups name was flashed across the screen. The CBS show asked the band to be called JANC but the group didn’t agree.
1987 “The One I Love” by R.E.M. peaked at #9 on the US singles chart.
1987 “We’ll Be Together” by Sting peaked at #7 on the US singles chart.
1988 Fat Larry James, drummer and leader of Fat Larrys Band died of a heart attack aged 38. (1982 UK No.2 single ‘Zoom’).
1989 “Runaway Horses” album by Belinda Carlisle was certified Gold by the RIAA. Also including ‘La Luna’, ‘Runaway Horses’, ‘Summer Rain’ & ‘Leave A Light On’.
1990 “From A Distance” single by Bette Midler was certified Gold by the RIAA
1990 “Suicide Blond” single by INXS was certified Gold by the RIAA
1990 “Tom’s Diner” single by D.N.A. Featuring Suzanne Vega was certified Gold by the RIAA
1992 Whitney Houston started a 10- week run at No.1 in the UK singles chart with ‘I Will Always Love You’ as featured in the film ‘Bodyguard’.
1993 Co-founder of Gin Blossoms Doug Hopkins died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds age 32. The guitarist and songwriter was in a detox unit of Phoenix’s St. Luke’s Hospital, Phoenix, Arizona when he snuck out and bought a .38 caliber pistol. The next day Hopkins committed suicide.
1994 Sheryl Crow went to No.1 in the Australian Singles Chart with ‘All I Wanna Do’. It was only at No.1 for one week.
1998 R Kelly started a six week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘I’m Your Angel’, featuring Celine Dion. A No.3 hit in the UK.
2001 David Crosby and Don Henley headline a benefit concert that raises $300,000 for children of the victims of the 9/11 attacks.
2004 Band Aid 20 started a four week at No.1 on the UK singles chart with a new version of ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’’ The third time the song had reached No.1. The new version featured, Joss Stone, Busted, Chris Martin, Bono, Justin Hawkins, Dizzee Rascal, Tom Chaplin, Ms Dynamite, Beverly Knight, Will Young, Jamelia, Fran Healy, Sugababes, Dido and Robbie Williams.
2004 U2 started a two week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb’, the bands ninth UK No.1 album. The band also went to No.1 on the US album chart giving them their sixth US No.1 album.
2006 Beatles lyrics handwritten by Sir Paul McCartney to an early version of Maxwell’s Silver Hammer sold for $192,000 (£97,000) at an auction in New York. A guitar owned by Jimi Hendrix fetched $168,000 (£85,000), a notebook containing lyrics written by Bob Marley, sold for $72,000 (£36,445) and a poem penned by Doors frontman Jim Morrison made $49,000 (£25,500) at the Christie’s sale
2007 Robbie Williams apologised to Nigel Martin-Smith the ex-manager of Take That and agreed to pay undisclosed damages over an allegation he made about him in a song. In the lyrics of ‘The 90s’ Williams had suggested that Nigel Martin-Smith had stolen funds from the band.
2009 In an interview with the UK daily newspaper The Guardian, George Michael said he had cut back on his cannabis intake and now only smoked ‘seven or eight’ spliffs per day instead of the 25 he used to smoke.
2009 Phish played the final show of their 2009 Fall Tour at the John Paul Jones Arena at the University of Virginia. At the beginning of a first set an erratic fan proceeded to run on stage fully naked. He ran up and hugged guitarist Trey Anastasio and kissed him on the cheek. He made three laps around the stage before finally being chased down by security.
2011 After spending 45 weeks at the top end of the UK charts, singer Adele’s second album ‘21’ become the biggest selling LP in Britain this century, surpassing the late Amy Winehouse’s 2006 LP ‘Back to Black’.
2013 Spotify responded to critics by revealing how much acts can expect to earn from the music streaming site. The company said it paid an average of $0.007 per play, according to figures on its new website Spotify Artists, aimed specifically at musicians. Explaining its business model, Spotify said it had paid more than $1bn (£612m) in royalties since its 2008 launch. Earlier this year Radiohead singer Thom Yorke pulled material from the site in protest at how much it pays artists.
2016 A statue of David Bowie was set to go up in the town where he first performed as Ziggy Stardust following the success of a crowdfunding campaign. More than 650 people pledged sums totalling more than the £100,000 goal, 19 hours before the deadline. The statue would be put up in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, where Bowie unveiled his Ziggy character.