Today in Music History for Sept. 17:
In 1923, Hank Williams, country music's most influential performer, was born in Mount Olive, Ala. He couldn't read or write music, but among his compositions are many classics of popular song -- "Cold, Cold Heart," "Jambalaya," "Your Cheatin' Heart" and "Hey, Good Lookin'." Soon after winning an amateur contest in Montgomery, Ala., in 1937, Williams formed his band, "The Drifting Cowboys." But his climb to fame did not begin until 1946 when he signed with the Acuff-Rose music publishing company. Wesley Rose of the firm got Williams a recording contract with MGM, and his records began appearing on the country charts almost immediately. Williams's "Lovesick Blues" was the top country record of 1949. That year, he joined the Grand Ole Opry, receiving an unprecedented six encores in his debut performance. But Williams' perpetual drunkenness led to his being fired from the Opry in August, 1952. Four months later, on Jan. 1, 1953, Williams died of heart failure in the back seat of his Cadillac while being driven to a concert in Canton, Ohio.
In 1931, the first 33 1/3 rpm long-playing record was demonstrated by RCA Victor at the Savoy Plaza Hotel in New York. But the first attempt to market LP records was not a success. For one thing, the records could only be played on a special RCA radio-phonograph costing anywhere from $250 to $995. As well, many of the early LPs were poor quality copies of existing 78 rpm records. And the new long-playing discs were pressed on a flexible material that did not stand up to repeated plays. RCA's experiment soon petered out, and the LP would not resurface until 1948 when Columbia Records began to manufacture them.
In 1952, Frank Sinatra left Columbia Records after nine years and more than 400 recordings. Sinatra didn't see eye-to-eye with Mitch Miller, Columbia's head of A&R. Sinatra would soon sign with Capitol, and would record that label's first LP in 1953.
In 1955, Capitol Records released what it claimed was the world's shortest record, Les Paul's "Magic Melody, Part II." It consisted of exactly two notes. Some disc jockeys had complained Paul's previous recording of "Magic Melody" was missing a couple of notes. So they got them -- on another record.
In 1967, "The Who鈥檚" appearance on 鈥淭he Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" was a little more explosive than expected. The band had rigged gunpowder to go off under Keith Moon鈥檚 drums at the end of 鈥淢y Generation" but the blast was bigger than planned. Moon was cut by metal bits from his cymbal and Pete Townshend鈥檚 hair was burned and his hearing damaged.
In 1967, "The Doors" performed "Light My Fire" on "The Ed Sullivan Show." Sullivan had requested that lead singer Jim Morrison change the line, "Girl, we couldn't get much higher," but Morrison refused.
In 1973, arranger and conductor Hugo Winterhalter died of cancer in Greenwich, Conn. He was 64. Winterhalter's 1956 recording of Canadian Sunset, with its composer, Eddie Heywood, at the piano, was a million-seller.
In 1977, Canadian jazz and ragtime pianist Lou Hooper died in Charlottetown at age 83. He recorded in New York during the '20s with some of the leading musicians and singers of the day. Among them were trumpeters Johnny Dunn and Louis Metcalf and singers Ethel Waters and Ma Rainey.
In 1980, Bette Midler's "Divine Madness" concert film premiered.
In 1981, recently-ordained minister Wolfman Jack married Mike Love of "The Beach Boys" to model Catherine Martinez in Santa Barbara, Calif.
In 1983, fledgling actress-singer Vanessa Williams of New York became the first black contestant to be crowned Miss America. The following July, she also became the first Miss America to resign after it was disclosed she had posed nude in "Penthouse" magazine.
In 1983, former teenybop idols "The Bay City Rollers" played their first British show in seven years at a festival in Leeds, England. The audience, there to see such punk acts as Billy Bragg, "Killing Joke" and "The Cult," tossed beer bottles at the "Rollers." The group's lead singer, Les McKeown, responded by throwing some of them back, and was arrested by police.
In 1988, the Amnesty International Human Rights Now tour hit Montreal's Olympic Stadium with 60,000 people turning out to hear such international stars as Bruce Springsteen, Tracy Chapman and Sting, as well as Quebec artists Daniel Lavoie and Michel Rivard.
In 1991, Hank Williams Jr. unveiled a statue of his father in Montgomery, Ala., where his funeral was held in 1953.
In 1991, fans lined up at record stores across North America as two simultaneously-released albums by "Guns N' Roses" - "Use Your Illusion I" and "Use Your Illusion II" went on sale at midnight. By the end of the year, the two albums had sold a combined six million copies.
In 1991, Rob Tyner, lead vocalist for the influential 1960s hard-rock band "MC5," died in Detroit of a heart attack at age 46. The group shouted revolution and profanity on their now-legendary 1969 album "Kick Out the Jams." Some stores refused to sell it, but it still made the top-30. "MC5" was a great influence on the punk rockers of the 1970s.
In 1992, Grammy-winning conductor Roger Wagner died in his native France at age 78. Wagner, who emigrated to the U.S. at age seven, was best known for his "Roger Wagner Chorale," founded in Los Angeles in 1946. The choral group performed on radio and TV and on movie soundtracks, as well as making records.
In 2003, David Lee Roth, former frontman of "Van Halen," injured himself onstage while performing a martial arts manouevre. A staff he was using cut his face and he needed 21 stitches. A few days later, the remainder of his tour was cancelled.
In 2009, fans packed Edmonton鈥檚 Rexall Place for a makeup concert for the wind-ruined Big Valley Jamboree in Camrose, Alta. Severe winds toppled the stage on Aug. 1, killing 35-year-old Donna Moore and injuring many others. The last day of the Jamboree was cancelled. Proceeds from the concert went to the Donna Moore Memorial Fund in support of her two children.
In 2009, Leon Kirchner, an American classical composer who won a Pulitzer Prize for his String Quartet No. 3, died in New York at age 90. Kirchner produced romantic and atonal work that has been interpreted and recorded by Yo-Yo Ma, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Orion Quartet. A pianist and conductor as well as composer, Kirchner won awards for his First and Second String Quartets, his Piano Concerto No. 1 and his Music for Cello and Orchestra.
In 2009, country music star Carrie Underwood was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame.
In 2009, a 1966 magazine signed by John Lennon containing his remark that "The Beatles" were more popular than Jesus sold for US$12,713.
In 2009, Buddy Miller won four awards at the Americana Music Association Honors and Awards Show: Artist of the Year, Album of the Year for "Written in Chalk" with wife Julie Miller, Duo/Group of the Year with his wife, and Song of the Year for "Chalk" performed with Patty Griffin. John Fogerty, formerly of "Creedence Clearwater Revival," received a lifetime achievement award for songwriting. Ray Benson and his band "Asleep at the Wheel" also received a lifetime achievement award for performing.
In 2009, singer Avril Lavigne announced in a blog on her MySpace page that she and husband Deryck Whibley of "Sum 41" had split up after three years of marriage.
In 2012, country music trio "Rascal Flatts" received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In 2014, Lecrae became the first artist to top both the Billboard 200 and Billboard Gospel album charts at the same time. His album 鈥淎nomaly鈥� sold 88,000 copies in its first week.
In 2014, Taylor Swift's fizzy smash "Shake It Off" topped the first-ever Canadian Billboard Hot 100 chart to incorporate streaming data, now factored in alongside sales data, radio airplay and digital downloads.
In 2020, in a surprise twist that fit an unexpected year of firsts, Carrie Underwood and Thomas Rhett tied for entertainer of the year at the Academy of Country Music Awards. Underwood had won the prize twice before, and said she was more than happy to share it with first-time winner Rhett. The show had been delayed and moved to Nashville due to COVID-19 and was held in empty venues.
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The Canadian Press
