On This Day..
1952 After Atlantic Records bought Ray Charles’ contract from Swingtime, Charles recorded his first session for Atlantic, cutting four songs. Over the next seven years, he would record such classics as “Mess Around,” “I Got a Woman,” “Hallelujah, I Love Her So” and “What’d I Say.”
1968 The Beatles performed ‘Hey Jude’ on the UK television show ‘Frost On Sunday’ in front of an invited audience. The song was the first single from The Beatles’ record label Apple Records and at over seven minutes in length, ‘Hey Jude’ was, at the time, the longest single ever to top the British charts. It also spent nine weeks as No.1 in the United States—the longest run at the top of the American charts for a Beatles’ single.
1974 Joni Mitchell, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and The Beach Boys all appeared at the New York ‘Summersault ’74’ at Roosevelt Raceway in Westbury. The video is from a different stop in Joni Mitchell’s tour, but is required viewing.
1984 Stevie Wonder had his first UK No.1 with “I Just Called To Say I Love You”. Taken from the film ‘The Woman In Red’, it was 18 years after Wonder’s chart debut in 1966. The song stayed at No.1 for six weeks.
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Brand New Music
The National | Sleep Well Beast
With any album by The National there’s a certain amount of expectations – and with Sleep Well Beast they hit every beat with a decisive precision to song craft that they haven’t really achieved since Boxer. Turning flawlessly from harsh, to sweet, to uplifting, to angry, Sleep Well Beast remains quiet but despite the title is never actually very restful. A great album from top to bottom that reveals more about itself with each listen.
Alvvays | Antisocialites
It’s really, really, really, really hard to follow up a great debut album. The ditch on the side of the indie music highway is rotting with the corpses of terrible sophomore records. But following up a debut that became a classic? Alvvays has completed this nearly herculean task with ease and made it look easy. Shimmering guitars and synths soar brightly throughout this record while the songwriting and lyricism maintains the same high levels reached with their debut. It’s hard not to imagine, when in the middle of this record, how great their next record will be.
Mount Kimbie | Love What Survives
You could be disappointed that with their third LP Mount Kimbie have moved even farther away from dance music, or you might find that they’re again moving forward with their own blend of woozy pop music combined with very solid vocal collaborations.
