On This Day…
1960 – The Silver Beetles (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stu Sutcliffe, and Tommy Moore) played the first night of a short tour of Scotland backing singer Johnny Gentle, at Alloa Town Hall in Clackmannanshire. Three of the Silver Beetles adopted stage names: Paul McCartney became Paul Ramon, George Harrison was Carl Harrison, and Stuart Sutcliffe became Stuart de Stael.
1966 – Bob Dylan and The Band played at the ABC Theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland. Some members of the audience were unhappy with Dylan ‘going electric’, and attempted to overpower the band by playing their own harmonicas.
1968 – The Beatles armed with a bunch of new songs after their visit to India, met at George Harrison’s home in Esher, Surrey. They taped 23 new songs on George’s 4-track recorder, many of which would end up on The Beatles’ next two albums, (The White Album) and Abbey Road. The demos include: ‘Cry Baby Cry’, Revolution’, ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’, ‘Blackbird’ and ‘Child of Nature’ (a Lennon song that became ‘Jealous Guy’).
1969 – Led Zeppelin started three days of recording and mixing sessions at A&R Studios in New York City, which included the recording of ‘Heartbreaker’ and various other parts for new tracks for the group’s forthcoming second album. The band were under pressure to finish sessions for their second album so they could release it in time for the Autumn market.
1998 – The funeral of Frank Sinatra was held at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills. Mourners in attendance included, Tony Bennett, Faye Dunaway, Tony Curtis, Liza Minnelli, Kirk Douglas, Angie Dickinson, Sophia Loren, Bob Newhart, Mia Farrow and Jack Nicholson.
2003 – Soul singer James Brown was pardoned for his past crimes in the US state of South Carolina. Brown had served a two-and-a-half-year prison term after an arrest on drug and assault charges in 1988 was granted a pardon by the State Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services. Brown, who appeared before the board, sang ‘God Bless America’ after the decision.
—————————————————————————————————————————-
Various Artists | Day of the Dead
There aren’t too many fence sitters when it comes to the Grateful Dead – they’re either a cultural cornerstone or a hack jam-band for spaced out grey hairs. And it’s been a really long time (some would argue 40-plus years) since any life has truly been injected into this music. True to form this record goes on waaaay too long and while very loosely curated and produced by self-proclaimed dead-heads, The National, at 59 tracks it takes almost an entire day to listen to the entire thing. However with all the talent on this record (Courtney Barnett, Phosporescent, Bonnie Prince Billy, Cass McCombs, Jim James, Unknown Mortal Orchestra) it’s hard not to find a thing to like. If not completely rewarding, there are a few great covers here.
Car Seat Headrest | Teens of Denial
12 albums deep into their discography, Car Seat Headrest is showing no signs of a dip in production. Completely fuzzed out, this slow-burning DIY LP is mixed brilliantly and still manages to surprise – even if the listener knows exactly what to expect. This album rides the line of being completely overwhelming but still manages to be gripping and listenable.
Mutual Benefit | Skip a Sinking Stone
Ornate but remaining relatable, Jordan Lee creates a hypnotic LP in Skip a Sinking Stone that is pretty and upfront. Remaining honest and naked in his production and lyricism, this album seems almost therapeutic as Lee pulls on late-period Beirut has he creates similar patterns of minor and major keys playing off each other over a chamber-folk palate.