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Rock and Roll Birthdays

Today's Rock and Roll Birthdays

February 11th

February 11th Birthday, Singer from soul, gospel group The Blind Boys Of Alabama, Jimmy Carter, born in 1932 in Birmingham, Alabama.

February 11th Birthday, Rockabilly pioneer Gene Vincent, born Vincent Eugene Craddock in 1935 in Norfolk, Virginia. He died on October 12th, 1971, aged 36.

February 11th Birthday, One half of the hit songwriting team Goffin and King with wife Carole King, Gerry Goffin, born in 1939 in Brooklyn, New York City. He died on June 19th, 2014, aged 75.

February 11th Birthday, Monster Mash singer, songwriter Bobby “Boris” Pickett, born Robert George Pickett in 1938 in Somerville, Massachusetts. Pickett died on April 25th, 2007 of leukemia at the age of 69. His Boris Karloff impression, “The Monster Mash” was a No. 1 single in 1962.

February 11th Birthday, Composer, pianist and singer Sergio Mendes, born in 1941 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

February 11th Birthday, Soul and blues legend, singer Otis Clay, born in 1942 in Waxhaw, Mississippi. He died on January 8th, 2016, aged 73.

February 11th Birthday, Singer and multi-instrumentalist Derek Shulman from Simon Dupree And The Big Sound and Gentle Giant, born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1947.

February 11th Birthday, Singer songwriter, solo artist Sheryl Crow, born in 1962 in Kennett, Missouri.

Today In Rock and Roll History

February 11th

February 11th,1963 Following the chart success of their first two singles, The Beatles record three sessions for their first full-length album in Studio Two at EMI Studios, 3 Abbey Road, St. John’s Wood, London with producer George Martin, engineer Norman Smith and second engineer Richard Langham, from 10am-1pm, 2:30-6pm and 7:30-10:45pm. Recorded that day were “There’s A Place” co-written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Ten takes recorded during the first session that day; “Seventeen” co-written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Later retitled “I Saw Her Standing There,” with nine takes recorded during the first session that day; “A Taste Of Honey” co-written by Bobby Scott and Ric Marlowe. Seven takes recorded during the second session that day; “Do You Want To Know A Secret” co-written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Eight takes recorded during the second session that day; “There’s A Place” co-written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Three more takes recorded at the second session that day; “I Saw Her Standing There”co-written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Three more takes recorded at the second session that day; “Misery”co-written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Eleven takes recorded at the second session that day; “Hold Me Tight”co-written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Thirteen takes recorded at the third session, unreleased from this session that day; “Anna (Go To Him)” written by Arthur Alexander. Three takes recorded during the third session that day; “Boys” co-written by Luther Dixon and Wes Farrell. One take recorded at the third session that day; “Chains”co-written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. Four takes recorded at the third session that day; “Baby It’s You”co-written by Mack David, Barney Williams and Burt Bacharach. Three takes recorded at the third session that day; “Twist And Shout” co-written by Phil Medley and Bert Berns.Two takes recorded at the third session that day. George Martin initiated and performed piano overdubs to “Misery” and first celeste and piano and an unused piano part to “Baby It’s You” on February 20th in Studio One at EMI Studios, 3 Abbey Road, St. John’s Wood, London, with balance engineer Stuart Eltham and tape operator Geoff Emerick. No Beatle was present for the session. The three sessions from this date became the basis for The Beatles “Please Please Me” LP on Parlophone Records, released in the Britain on March 22nd in both stereo and mono.

February 11th, 1964 After the success of their Ed Sullivan Show appearance, The Beatles play their first live show in the US at The Washington Coliseum. Opening the show were Tommy Roe, The Caravelles and The Chiffons.

February 11th, 1967 “Da Capo,” the second album by Love, enters the album charts following a January release on Elektra Records. The song “7 And 7 Is” was recorded first, at Sunset Sound in Hollywood with Jac Holzman producing and was issued as a single. LP sessions were moved to RCA Studios in Hollywood with producer Paul A Rothchild, following his work on the first album by The Doors. The Love album peaked at No. 80 on April 8th.

February 11th, 1967 The Monkees’ second album, “More of the Monkees” hits No. 1 for the first of eighteen straight weeks.

February 11th, 1967 Canterbury Records release “Yellow Balloon” by The Yellow Balloon on 45. The LA based band’s lineup included Don Grady who played Robbie Douglas on the 1960’s sitcom “My Three Sons.” The record entered the charts in April and reached No. 25 on May 20th.

February 11th, 1970 The satirical film The Magic Christian, co-starring Ringo Starr and Peter Sellers, premiers in New York City. The film’s soundtrack album, featuring Badfinger’s “Come And Get It,” is released on the same day.

February 11th, 1972 David Bowie unveiled his Ziggy Stardust alter-ego for the first time at a concert in Tollworth, England.

February 11th, 1973 Columbia Records release “Tyranny and Mutation,” the second album by Blue Oyster Cult. Sessions for the album were taped at Columbia Studios in New York City with co-producers’ Marty Krugman and Sandy Pearlman. The record reached No. 122 on May 12th.

February 11th, 1976 Reprise Records release Emmylou Harris’ version of the Lennon and McCartney song “Here There And Everywhere” on 45. The record began a five-week run on the charts in March and peaked at No. 65 on April 10th.

February 11th, 1977 Dark Horse Records in Britain release George Harrison’s “True Love” on 45. Co-produced by Harrison and Tom Scott, the record was written by Cole Porter and published in 1956.

February 11th, 1977 Harvest Records release “Bullinamingvase,” the ninth album by Roy Harper. In America the title was changed to “One Of These Days In England.” Henry McCullough, Jimmy McCulluch, B.J. Cole, Percy Jones, Alvin Lee, Herbie Flowers and Paul and Linda McCartney were among the musicians who play and sing on the record.

February 11th, 1977 The UK release date of “Songs From The Wood” by Jethro Tull, the band’s tenth studio album. Chrysalis Records released “The Whistler” as a single from the LP on the same day. Produced by Tull’s Ian Anderson from September through November 1976 at Morgan Studios in London, the album came out on February 21stin America and peaked at No. 8 on May 14th.

February 11th, 1978 “Flash Light” by Parliament began a sixteen-week run on the singles charts. Co-written by George Clinton, Bernie Worrell and William “Bootsy” Collins, the record peaked at No. 16 on April 22nd.

February 11th, 1978 “Little One” by Chicago enters the singles charts. The song was co-written by drummer Danny Seraphine with keyboardist David “Hawk” Wolinski, from the band Rufus. The record was co-produced by Dominic Frontiere and James Pankow. The record peaked at No. 44 on April 1st.

February 11th, 1978 “Hot Legs” by Rod Stewart enters the singles charts following a January release on Warner Brothers Records. Co-written by Stewart and Gary Grainger and produced by Tom Dowd from the LP “Footloose And Fancy Free,” the single went to No. 5 in Britain and No. 28 in the US on April 1st.

February 11th, 1978 “Thank You For Being A Friend” by Andrew Gold enters the singles charts following a January release on Asylum Records. The song was written by Gold and co-produced by he and Brock Walsh, who sings backing vocals on the track. Also on the session were Waddy Wachtel on guitars, Kenny Edwards on bass and backing vocals and Jeff Porcaro on drums. The single peaked at No. 25 on April 15th.

February 11th, 1983 The Rolling Stones concert film Let’s Spend The Night Together opens in New York City.

February 11th, 2003 Mercury Records release the Rush compilation “The Spirit Of Radio: Greatest Hits 1974-1987.” The record initially peaked at No. 62 but was re-serviced in 2020 and peaked at No. 45 on January 25th.

Miscellaneous February

February 1957 Gale Records release “Chickee Wah Wah” by Bobby Marchan on 45. The song was co-written by Huey “Piano” Smith and John Vincent. Smith played piano on the track. Marchan was the lead singer in Smith’s band Huey “Piano” Smith and The Clowns, a popular live attraction in New Orleans in the 1950’s and 1960’s.

February 1964 Polydor Records in Britain release “I Just Wanna Make Love To You” backed with “Let The Good Times Roll,” the first single by Scottish singer Alex Harvey and His Soul Band. Harvey wrote the A-side lyrics, reworking the Willie Dixon song. The flip side was penned by Leonard Lee, a cover version of the Shirley and Lee song from 1961.

February 1968 Lee Hazelwood’s LHI Records release “Safe As Home” by The International Submarine Band. Led by twenty-one-year-old Gram Parsons, the LP was recorded at Western Sound (Studio B) in Hollywood with producer Suzi Jane Hokom. Parsons had accepted the offer to join The Byrds before the album was released.

February 1973 Harvest Records release “Lifemask,” the sixth album by Roy Harper. Produced by Peter Jenner at Abbey Road Studios in London, Jimmy Page and Nice drummer Brian Davidson were among the studio musicians on the record.

February 1973 John Martyn’s “Solid Air” album is released. Recording began in July 1972 at Sound Techniques in Chelsea with producer John Wood. Further sessions took place in September and recording was completed by December 9th, 1972.

February 1974 A&M Records release “When The Morning Comes” by Hoyt Axton on 45. Written by Axton who co-produced the track with Allan McDougall, the song features Linda Ronstadt on backing vocals.

February 1975 Warner Brothers Records release “Rock The Nation,” the debut single from Montrose. Co-produced by the band and Ted Templeman, the band included lead vocalist Sammy Hagar, guitarist Ronnie Montrose, Bill Church on bass and Denny Carmassi on drums.

February 1976 RCA/Equinox Records release “Jamaica Farewell” by California Music on 45. The traditional song was co-credited to Terry Melcher, Curt Boettcher and Gary Usher. Usher and Melcher were in the group along with Beach Boy Bruce Johnston.

February 1977 DEVO release their first single on their own record label, Booji Boy Records. “Mongoloid” backed with “Jocko Homo” was co-credited and produced by the band. Both songs would be rerecorded for the group’s first LP “Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are DEVO!” in 1978.

February 1978 Columbia Records release “Godzilla” by Blue Öyster Cult on 45. The song was written by Cult guitarist Donald Roeser from Blue Öyster Cult’s fifth album “Spectres.” The record was co-produced by the band, Murray Krugman, Sandy Pearlman and David Lucas.

February 1980 CBS Records in Ireland release “Another Day” backed with “Twilight” by U2 on 45. The group co-wrote the LP collectively and co-produced the disc with Chas De Walley.

February 1980 Virgin Records in the US release the first stateside single by XTC. “Ten Feet Tall” was written by bassist Colin Moulding and produced by Phil Wainman, While the label copy states the song is from the band’s “Drums And Wires” LP, the version issued on the 45 in not the same as the one on the album.

February 1987 Legacy Records in Britain release “Staring Up” by Roy Wood. The LP was written produced and arranged by Roy Wood, playing and singing all the instruments and vocals himself.