Wax Museum Radio

Today In Rock and Roll History

December 16th

December 16th, 1964 Chuck Berry records “Dear Dad,” “I Want To Be Your Driver,” “Spending Christmas,” “The Song Of My Love,” “Butterscotch” and “His Daughter Caroline” at Ter-Mar Recording Studio in Chicago, Illinois with Leonard and Phil Chess producing. Chess Records released “Dear Dad” as a single on March 15th, 1965. Playing on the song with Berry were Jules Blatner on guitar, Bill Hamilton on tenor saxophone, Bill Bixner on bass and Howard Jones on drums. Written by Berry, the record entered the charts in April and peaked at No. 95 on April 17th.

December 16th, 1965 Peter and Gordon record the Paul McCartney song “Woman,” with producer John Burgess. An additional string arrangement by Bob Peiper was added on the 31st of December. Capitol Records released “Woman” on 45 in the US on January 10th, 1966, credited to Bernard Webb as an attempt to see if the song would become a hit without the McCartney name attached to it. Entering the charts in February, “Woman” peaked at No. 14 on April 2nd.

December 16th, 1965 The Mamas & The Papas record “Monday Monday” at Western Recorders, Los Angeles with session players from The Wrecking Crew stable of studio musicians, Hal Blaine on drums, Larry Knechtel on piano, Joe Osborn on bass and P.F. Sloan on guitar. Released in March on Dunhill Records, it became the group’s only No. 1 single in the states on May 7th, 1966. Written by John Phillips and produced by Lou Adler, the song won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal on March 2nd, 1967.

December 16th, 1969 Tamla Records release Marvin Gaye’s “Gonna Give Her All The Love I Got” backed with “How Can I Forget” on 45. Produced by Norman Whitfield, who co-wrote both songs with Barrett Strong, “Gonna Give Her All The Love I Got” was a hit originally for Jimmy Ruffin in 1967. “How Can I Forget” was originally recorded by The Temptations as a ballad in 1968. Marvin Gaye’s version was in the psychedelic soul style popularized by Norman Whitfield’s productions with The Temptations. Both versions clocked in under two minutes long. ““How Can I Forget” went to No. 41 on February 7th, 1970. “Gonna Give Her All The Love I Got” featured the backing of The Funk Brothers and The Detroit Symphony Orchestra. It had it’s own chart run, peaking at No. 67 on March 21st, 1970.

December 16th, 1969 Keith Emerson and Greg Lake play music together for the first time. Lake’s King Crimson and Emerson’s band The Nice were on the same bill on this night at the Fillmore West in San Francisco.

December 16th, 1971 Frank Zappa’s film 200 Motels premieres, starring The Mothers Of Invention, Flo and Eddie, Keith Moon as a nun and Ringo Starr as --- Frank Zappa.

December 16th, 1972 Mercury Records release “Sweet Lorraine” backed with “Blind Eye” by Uriah Heep. Co-written by Heep members Mick Box, David Byron and Gary Thain, “Sweet Lorraine” came from the groups fifth studio album, the Gary Bron produced “The Magician’s Birthday.” The record entered the charts in January 1973 and went to No. 91 on February 3rd.

December 16th, 1974 British rock band Mott The Hoople announce their breakup when singer Ian Hunter quits the band.

December 16th, 1974 Apple Records release John Lennon’s “#9 Dream” on 45 in the US, out over a month later, January 24th, 1975, in Britain. The cryptic phrase repeated in the chorus came to Lennon in a dream. Lennon liked the string arrangement he wrote for Harry Nilsson’s rendition of “Many Rivers to Cross,” from the “Pussy Cats” album he produced, so much so that he decided to incorporate it into the arrangement for “#9 Dream.” Session musicians on the record include Nicky Hopkins on electric piano, Jesse Ed Davis on electric guitar, bass guitarist Klaus Voormann and Jim Keltner on drums. The record reached No. 9 in the US on February 22nd, No. 23 in Britain.

December 16th, 1978 Nigel Olsson’s “Dancin’ Shoes” enters the singles charts, the former Elton John drummer continuing his solo career begun before his departure from The Elton John Band. Written by Carl Storie and produced by Paul Davis, “Dancin’ Shoes” was Olsson’s biggest solo hit, peaking at No. 18 on March 3rd, 1979.

December 16th, 1983 Polydor Records release the interview album “Heartplay: Unfinished Dialogue” by John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

December 16th, 1983 The Who officially break up - - - for the first time.

Miscellaneous December

December 1951 RPM Records release “3 O’clock Blues” backed with “That Ain’t The Way To Do It,” the first single by B. B. King. Both songs were written by B.B. King. Johnny Ace played piano on the track.

December 1953 Specialty Records release “The Things I Used To Do” backed with “Well, I Done Got Over It” by Guitar Slim and His Band on 45. The tracks were recorded at Cosimo Matassa’s J&M Studio in New Orleans with John Vincent producing. The songs were arranged by Ray Charles, who plays piano on the sessions. Both tracks were written by Guitar Slim, credited to his real name, Eddie Jones. Slim was seriously injured in an automobile accident at the time “The Things I Used To Do” was the No. 1 R&B single in the country.

December 1959 Checker Records release the Bo Diddley album “Have Guitar Will Travel.”

December 1963 Daytone Records release “Hurricane” backed with “Sweet Love” by Conrad and The Hurricanes on 45. The tracks were taped at PAL Studios in Cucamonga, California. Both songs were written by Ed Sigarlaki and produced by Frank Zappa and Dave Aerni using the aliases Curry, Ivan. The single was reissued on Era Records in June 1964 with the A&B sides reversed.

December 1964 Fantasy Records release “Don’t Tell Me No Lies” backed with “Little Girl (Does Your Mama Know?),” the first record by The Golliwogs on 45. Both sides were co-written by Tom and John Fogerty, using the names Rann Wild and Toby Green. The Golliwogs renamed themselves Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1967.

December 1965 Sue Records release “The New Breed (pts. 1&2)” by Ike Turner and His Kings Of Rhythm on 45. The instrumental was written by Ike Turner and co-produced by he and Tinas Turner.

December 1968 Verve Forecast Records release “Reason To Believe” by Tim Hardin on 45. The song was a No. 62 hit for Rod Stewart when it was released as the first single from Stewarts “Every Picture Tells A Story” LP in 1971.

December 1968 Island Records in Britain release “What We Did On Our Holidays,” the second album by Fairport Convention, their first to feature singer and songwriter Sandy Denny. Produced by Joe Boyd, the record was released in America with a different cover and a self-titled name.

December 1969 Mercury Records release “Earth” backed with “Step On Me” by Smile at 45. The A-side was written by singer and bassist Tim Staffell. “Step On Me” was co-written by Staffell and guitarist Brian May. Drummer Roger Taylor and May changed the name of the band to Queen when Staffell quit the group and they hired singer Freddie Mercury.

December 1969 Island Records in Britain release the Joe Boyd produced “Liege And Lief” album by Fairport Convention. The record was issued in America on A&M Records the following July. A No. 17 hit in England, it was Fairport’s third album of 1969 and their first following the road accident that killed drummer Martin Lamble.

December 1970 The Famous Charisma Label in Britain release “H To He Who Am The Only One,” the third album by Van der Graaf Generator. The LP was recorded at Trident Studios in London with John Anthony producing. Dunhill Records in the US issued the album in February 1971. Robert Fripp of King Crimson played guitar on the track “The Emperor And His War Room.”

December 1972 Epic records release “R.E.O. T.W.O.,” the second studio LP by REO Speedwagon. Initial sessions for the LP were recorded in Nashville, then moved to The Record Plant in Los Angeles. The album was co-produced by Paul Leka and Billy Rose II.

December 1972 United Artists Records release The Move compilation “Splits Ends.” The tracks drew mostly from the band’s previous album “Message From The Country” as well as earlier group singles.

December 1974 Atlantic Records release “Can’t Stop The Music (He Played It Much Too Long)” by Hall and Oates on 45. Written by John Oates, the record was produced by Todd Rundgren at Secret Sound Studios in New York City.

December 1987 Barking Pumpkin Records release Frank Zappa “Old Masters Box Three.” The set completed a trio of archival reissues of the original albums Zappa recorded with The Mothers Of Invention. The release featured the albums “Waka/Jawaka,” “The Grand Wazoo,” “Over-Nite Sensation,” “Apostrophe (‘),” “Roxy And Elsewhere,” “One Size Fits All,” “Bongo Fury” and “Zoot Allures”.