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Rock and Roll Birthdays

Today's Rock and Roll Birthdays

December 31st

December 31st Birthday, The Police guitarist Andy Summers, born Andrew Somers in 1942 in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, England.

December 31st Birthday, John Denver, born Henry John Deutchendorf in Roswell, New Mexico in 1943. Denver died while flying his personal aircraft on October 12th, 1997 at the age of 53.

December 31st Birthday, The Kinks bassist Pete Quaife, born Peter Alexander Greenlaw Quaife in 1943 in Tavistock, Devon, England. Quaife died on June 23rd, 2010 of kidney failure, aged 66.

December 31st Birthday, The Guess Who pianist, singer, songwriter and solo artist Burton Cummings, born in 1947 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

December 31st Birthday, R&B singer Donna Summer, born LaDonna Adrian Gaines in 1948 in Boston, Massachusetts. She died of lung cancer on May 17th, 2012, aged 63, in Naples, Florida.

December 31st Birthday, Aerosmith guitarist Tom Hamilton, born in 1951 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

December 31st Birthday, Guitarist, singer and composer Michael Hedges, born in Enid, Oklahoma in 1953. Hedges died in a car accident on December 2nd, 1997, aged 43, in Mendocino County, California.

December 31st Birthday, Solo artist, guitarist, vocalist, singer, songwriter from The Replacements, Paul Westerburg, born in 1959 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Today In Rock and Roll History

December 31st

December 31st, 1957 Sun Records release “Glad All Over” backed with “Lend Me Your Comb” by Carl Perkins on 45. “Glad All Over” was co-written by Aaron Schroeder, Sid Temper and Roy C. Bennett. Jay Perkins played rhythm guitar, Clayton Perkins played upright bass and W. S. “Fluke” Holland played drums. “Lend Me Your Comb” was a Kathleen Tworny, Benjamin Weisman and Fred Wise co-composition and featured Carl Perkins with his brother Jay. It was Perkins’ last single for the Sun Records label.

December 31st, 1960 Argo Records release “At Last” by Etta James on 45. Co-produced by Phil and Leonard Chess, the song was co-written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren for the 1941 musical film Sun Valley Serenade. The record became Etta Jamess signature song, peaking at No. 41 on February 11th, 1961, No. 2 on the R&B charts.

December 31st, 1961 The Beach Boys, formerly known as The Pendletons, make their onstage debut under their new name at a Ritchie Valens Memorial Concert in Long Beach, California.

December 31st, 1961 Janis Joplin makes her on-stage debut at the Halfway House in Beaumont, Texas.

December 31st, 1963 The Kinks make their on-stage debut at London’s Lotus House Restaurant.

December 31st, 1966 The Monkees topped the singles charts with “I’m A Believer” for the first of seven weeks. Because of over a million advance orders, the single went Gold two days after its release.

December 31st, 1966 The Buckinghams “Kind Of A Drag” enters the singles charts on the independent USA Records label out of the band’s hometown of Chicago. Released in November the song was written by Jim Holvay and the record was co-produced by Buckinghams’ manager Carl Bonafede and big band leader Dan Belloc at Chess Records in Chicago. The single became the group’s only No. 1 on February 18th, 1967.

December 31st, 1966 “Gimme Some Lovin’” by The Spencer Davis Group enters the singles charts, written by Jamaican-born musician Jackie Edwards, who had also penned their earlier hits, “Keep On Running” and “Somebody Help Me.” Co-produced by band manager Chris Blackwell and Jimmy Miller, the US single features slight changes lyrically and had reverb, added percussion elements, piano and backing female vocals on the chorus that weren’t on the original British single. Released on October 28th, “Gimme Some Lovin” reached No. 2 in Britain and No. 7 in the US, on February 25th, 1967.

December 31st, 1966 Liberty Records release Texas singer P. J. Proby’s “Niki Hoeky” on 45. Proby had several hits in England, Canada and Australia, but “Niki Hoeky” was his only Top Forty hit in the US. A year later, he recorded an LP of country and blues songs called “Three Week Hero.” The album was some of the earliest studio recordings of members of Led Zeppelin, then known as The New Yardbirds, as his backing band. The single entered the charts in January and peaked at No. 23 on March 25th, 1967.

December 31st, 1969 At a New Year’s Eve concert at the Fillmore East in New York City, Jimi Hendrix introduces his new group, The Band Of Gypsys. Capitol Records released an abridge version of the show as Jimi Hendrix “Band Of Gypsys” on March 25th. The record reached No. 5 in the US on May 16th, 1970, No. 6 in the UK.

December 31st, 1974 Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham are invited to join Fleetwood Mac.

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 Tina 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”.