January 1 Music History Report

BIRTHDAYS

Joseph “Country Joe” McDonald (1942) Country Joe and the Fish lead singer/guitarist/songwriter/co-founder

Morgan Fisher (1950) Mott the Hoople keyboardist

Richard Edson (1954) Sonic Youth drummer/co-founder

Andy Gill (1956) Gang of Four guitarist/songwriter/co-founder (died 2020) age 64 – respiratory illness

Grandmaster Flash [born Joseph Saddler] (1958) Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five rapper/DJ/co-founder

Allen “Boff” Whalley (1961) Chumbawamba lead guitarist/singer/songwriter/co-founder [“Tubthumping”]

Richie Faulkner (1980) Judas Priest guitarist/songwriter [current]

DEATHS

Hiram “Hank” Williams (1953) country singer/songwriter/guitarist (born 1923) age 29 – heart failure

Townes Van Zandt (1997) folk and country singer/songwriter/guitarist (born 1944) age 52 – cardiac arrythmia

Patti Page [born Clara Fowler] (2013) singer [“Confess”/”Tennessee Waltz”] (born 1927) age 85 – heart and lung disease

Fred White (2023) Earth, Wind & Fire drummer (born 1955) age 67 – unknown causes

CHARTS

In 1966, “The Sound of Silence” by Simon & Garfunkel hits No. 1 – 2 weeks (first of three No. 1 singles)

In 2005, “Let Me Love You” by Mario hits No. 1 – 9 weeks (only No. 1 single)

NEW RELEASES

(Albums)

In 1966, King Records releases the 13th studio album from James Brown, “I Got You (I Feel Good)”; Billboard 200: 36; “I Got You (I Feel Good)”

In 1967, Track Records releases the second studio album from The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Axis: Bold as Love”; Billboard 200: 3; 2 million copies (1 million copies U.S.); Rolling Stone 500: 82; “Up From the Skies,” “Little Wing,” One Rainy Wish”

In 1971, Warner Bros. Records releases the second studio album from Black Sabbath, “Paranoid”; Billboard 200: 12; 4 million copies U.S.; Rolling Stone 500: 131; “War Pigs,” “Paranoid,” “Iron Man”

In 1974, Columbia Records releases the 15th studio album from Barbra Streisand, “The Way We Were”; Billboard 200: 1 (2 weeks); 2 million copies U.S.; “The Way We Were,” “All in Love is Fair”

(Singles)

1956, “Blue Suede Shoes,” Carl Perkins

1989, “She Drives Me Crazy,” Fine Young Cannibals

NOTEWORTHY

In 1958, singer Johnny Cash performs the first of his concerts for the inmates of San Quentin Prison in San Quentin, California. In attendance at the concert was 19-year-old inmate Merle Haggard, who was serving what would be a three-year sentence for armed robbery and grand theft.

In 1962, The Beatles audition for Decca Records at a studio in West Hampstead in London. A&R head Dick Rowe chose to sign Brian Poole & the Tremeloes (“Silence is Golden”) over The Beatles because they were based in London.

In 1985, VH-1 debuts on cable as a sister channel to MTV, aiming at a more adult contemporary audience. The first video was Marvin Gaye’s 1984 rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”