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Rock and Roll Birthdays

Today's Rock and Roll Birthdays

September 10th

September 10th Birthday, The Mothers of Invention percussionist Artie Tripp, born Arthur Dyer Tripp III in Athens, Ohio in 1944.

September 10th Birthday, Three Dog Night vocalist Danny Hutton, born in 1942 in Buncrana, Ireland.

September 10th Birthday, Guitarist and singer Jose Feliciano born in Lares, Puerto Rico in 1945.

September 10th Birthday, Slade drummer Don Powell, born in Bilston, Staffordshire, England in 1946.

September 10th Birthday, Session bassist Rick Rosas, born in East Los Angeles in 1946. Rosas played with Neil Young, Joe Walsh, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Buffalo Springfield, Jerry Lee Lewis and others. Rosas died on November 6th, 2014 at the age of 65.

September 10th Birthday, 1970’s era Jethro Tull drummer Barrie Barlow, born in 1949 in Birmingham, England.

September 10th Birthday, Aerosmith guitarist and songwriter, Joe Perry born in 1950 in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

September 10th Birthday, Eire Apparent and Pretty Things guitarist Pete Tolson, born in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, England in 1951.

September 10th Birthday, The Boomtown Rats keyboardist Johnny Fingers, born John Peter Moylett in Dublin, Ireland in 1956.

Today In Rock and Roll History

September 10th

September 10th, 1954 Elvis Presley, Scotty Moore and Bill Black record “Good Rockin Tonight” with producer Sam Phillips at Sun Studios in Memphis. The song was released on 45 backed with “I Don’t Care If The Sun Don’t Shine” by Sun Records on September 22nd, 1954, the second single credited to Elvis, Scotty and Bill.

September 10th, 1958 Waylon Jennings records his first single in Lubbock, Texas with Buddy Holly producing both songs. The record was released by Brunswick Records on May 18th, 1959. Buddy Dee wrote the cajun fiddle song “Jole Blon” with origins dating to the early 1900’s, while Bob Venable wrote the record’s B-side “When Sin Stops.” Buddy Holly played guitar on both songs. King Curtis plays saxophone and The Roses sang backing vocals.

September 10th, 1964 Rod Stewart cuts his first solo record, a cover version of Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl.” Recorded at Decca Studios, West Hampstead, London with producer Ray Horricks, future Led Zeppelin member John Paul Jones played bass on the session. Jimmy Page plays on the single’s B-side “I’m Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town.” Decca Records in England issued the single on October 30th.

September 10th, 1965 The second of five days of sessions at Columbia Studios with The Byrds and producer Terry Melcher cutting “Turn! Turn! Turn!” The song had first been arranged by the Byrds’ lead guitarist Jim McGuinn in a chamber-folk style during sessions for Judy Collins 1963 album, “Judy Collins 3.” When it was rearranged in a folk-rock style that suited The Byrds, they took the song into the studio. The master recording of the song reportedly took The Byrds seventy-eight takes to perfect. The single, released October 1st, hit No. 1 in America on December 4th.

September 10th, 1965 The Animals record “It’s My Life” with producer Mickie Most. At Most’s request, the song was co-written by professional Brill Building songwriters Roger Atkins and Carl D’Errico specifically for The Animals. MGM Records released the track as a single on October 30th, 1965. The record entered the US charts in November and peaked at No. 23 on January 1st, 1966.

September 10th, 1966 Bell Records release “I’m Your Puppet” by the cousin duo James and Bobby Purify, the stage names of James Lee Purify and his cousin Robert Lee Dickey. Co-written by Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham and produced by Papa Don Schroeder at Fame Studios in Muscles Shoals Alabama, the record reached No. 6 on November 26thand sold over a million copies.

September 10th, 1966 Imperial Records release Johnny Rivers’ “Poor Side Of Town.” An important record for Rivers, the mood of the song took him away from his early pop sound to a more soulful style. Co-produced and written by Lou Adler and Johnny Rivers, American pianist, composer, record producer, music director and conductor Marty Paich provided the songs string arrangement. The song went to No. 1 on November 12th.

September 10th, 1966 ABC Records release “Hooray For Hazel” by Tommy Roe on 45. Co-written by Roe with singer, songwriter and guitarist Lee Mallory, a member of the bands The Millennium and Sagittarius, who also sang backing vocals on the song. The record was produced by Curt Boettcher for OUR Productions. “Hooray For Hazel” was an international hit, reaching No. 1 in New Zealand, No. 2 in Canada and No. 6 in the US, on November 5th.

September 10th, 1971 Chrysalis Records in Britain release “Life Is A Long Song” by Jethro Tull as a five-song seven-inch EP. The track was taped at Sound Technics Studios in London on May 17th with Ian Anderson producing. It was the band’s first recording to feature new group drummer Barrie Barlow and reached No. 11 in the British singles charts.

September 10th, 1974 Warner Brothers Records release “Good Old Boys,” the fifth album by Randy Newman. Co-produced by Lenny Waronker and Russ Titelman at Warner Brothers Studios in North Hollywood, “Good Old Boys” was conceived as a concept album about a single character but expanded to a character study of viewpoints from the Deep South and addressed taboo topics such as slavery and racism as well as actual historical events. The album peaked at No. 36 on November 30th.

September 10th, 1974 Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention release the live two album set “Roxy And Elsewhere.” Most of the songs on the album were recorded over three nights, December 8th, 9th and 10th at The Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles. The double album live set peaked at No. 27 on November 23rd.

September 10th, 1975 Elton John’s “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” is certified Gold.

September 10th, 1975 Casablanca Records release the double live album “Alive!” by Kiss. The record was recorded at concerts in Detroit, Cleveland, Wildwood, New Jersey and Davenport, Iowa on May 16th, June 21st, July 20th and the 23rd, 1975. The LP featured the hit “Rock And Roll All Night,” charted for one hundred and nine weeks and peaked at No. 9 on December 13th.

September 10th, 1976 Island Records in Britain release “Let’s Stick Together,” the third solo LP by Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music. Recording for the album with Chris Thomas and Bryan Ferry co-producing took place at AIR and Island Studios in London. Made up of singles and EP material, sessions spanned 1973 through 1976. Only three tracks on the record were previously unreleased and five songs were rerecorded songs from the Roxy Music catalog. Various members of Roxy Music as well as John Wetton and Mel Collins from King Crimson, make guest appearances on the LP.

September 10th, 1976 Columbia Records release Bob Dylan’s live LP “Hard Rain.” Recorded live during the second leg of Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Review tour, the record peaked at No. 17 on October 30th.

September 10th, 1976 Columbia Records release the self-titled debut album by Karla Bonoff. Recorded at The Sound Factory in Los Angeles with producer Kenny Edwards, the record included Bonoff’s version of several songs she’d previously written and placed with Linda Ronstadt and Bonnie Raitt. The LP peaked at No. 52 on November 26th.

September 10th, 1977 “Come Sail Away” by Styx enters the singles charts. Written by singer and keyboardist Dennis DeYoung and self-produced by Styx, the single version of the track was edited to half of the album version length. The record was one of the biggest hits of the band’s career, peaking at No. 8 on January 28th, 1978.

September 10th, 1984 Mushroom Records in Australia release “I Walk Away” by Split Enz on 45. The song was written by Neil Finn, co- produced by Jim Barton and Split Enz at AAV Studios in Melbourne, Australia.

September 10th, 1988 Elektra Records release “Kokomo” by The Beach Boys on 45. The track was produced by Terry Melcher, who co-wrote the song with John Phillips, Scott McKenzie and Mike Love. Issued as a single from the soundtrack album of the Tom Cruise movie Cocktail, the record hit No. 1 on November 5th.

September 10th, 1991 DGC Records release “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana on 45. Credited to Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl and produced by Butch Vig, the record peaked at No. 6 on January 1st, 1992.

September 10th, 1991 Chrysalis Records release “Catfish Rising,” the eighteenth studio album by Jethro Tull. With all songs on the LP written by Ian Anderson, it was the first of the group’s albums with new band keyboardist Andrew Giddings. The record peaked at No. 88 on September 28th.

Miscellaneous September

September 1965 Muriel Records release “Lookie There” backed with “Wail Baby Wail” by Tommy Louis with Marshall and The Versatiles on 45. Ike Turner plays guitar on the tracks.

September 1967 CBS Records in Britain release “Love Chronicles,” the second album by Al Stewart. “Love Chronicles” was issued in the US in September. The album was issued in America in January 1969 on Epic Records. The LP was co-produced by Roy Guest, John Wood and Al Stewart. Session musicians included Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and four members of Fairport Convention, Simon Nicol, Richard Thompson, Martin Lamble and Ashley Hutchings. Songs on the record were orchestrated by Alexander Faris.

September 1970 Liberty Records release “Love Is A Game” backed with “Takin’ Back My Name” by a solo Ike Turner on 45. “Love Is A Game” was written by Tina Turner’s sister Ailllene Bullock. “Takin’ Back My Name” was credited to Leah Graham, an alias for Ike Turner, who produced and arranged the tracks as well.

September 1973, RCA Records in Britain release “The Tra La La Days Are Over” by Neil Sedaka. Recorded at Strawberry Studios in the Spring with Eric Stewart producing and 10cc as the backing band, the LP produced “Love Will Keep Us Together.” The song, co-written by Sedaka with Howard Greenfield, would become a huge hit for The Captain And Tennille in 1976.

September 1975 A&M Records release “White Punks On Dope” by the Tubes on 45. The song was co-written by Bill Spooner, Roger Steen and Michael Evans and produced by Al Kooper from the band’s eponymous first album. The single was edited to omit the curse word in the lyrics.

September 1977 DEVO release their second single on their own Booji Boy label. “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” was a cover version of The Rolling Stones song. “(I Saw My Baby Getting) Sloppy” was co-written by DEVO. The 45 was produced by the group. “Satisfaction” was rerecorded by DEVO and released as their major label debut for Warner Brothers Records a year later.

September 1979 Reprise Records release “Rust Never Sleeps (Hey Hey, My My [Out Of The Blue])” by Neil Young on 45. The A-side was the acoustic version of the song. The flip side was the full band version, recorded with the band Crazy Horse and both from the “Rust Never Sleeps” LP.

September 1979 CBS Records in Ireland issue the seven-inch EP “Out Of Control” backed with “Stories For Boys” & “Boy/Girl,” the first release by U2. All three songs were written collectively by the band and co-produced by U2 and Chas De Whalley.

September 1981 David Bowie records the five songs written for Bertolt Brecht’s Baal. Bowie appeared in the BBC television production of Baal. The play was transmitted in Britain on March 2nd, 1982. The tracks were co-produced by David Bowie and Tony Visconti, who also played bass on the recordings. The EP was released in September 1982, reaching No. 29 in Britain.

September 1981 Island Records in Britain release “Gloria” by U2 on 45. The second single released from the group’s second album “October,” the song was written collectively by U2. “Gloria” was recorded during July and August sessions with producer Steve Lillywhite at Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin, Ireland. The record peaked at No. 55 in Britain.

September 1986 Warner Brothers Records release “Summer Of Love” by The B-52’s on 45. The song was co-written Keith Strickland, Rocky Wilson, Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson, produced by Tony Mansfield from the LP “Bouncing Off The Satellites.” The single had a unique remix with additional production by Shep Pettibone.