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Rock and Roll Birthdays

Today's Rock and Roll Birthdays

August 23rd

August 23rd Birthday, The Who drummer Keith Moon, born in 1946 in Wembley, Middlesex, England. Moon died on September 7th, 1978 at the age of 32 from an accidental overdose of pills he had been taking to combat alcoholism.

August 23rd Birthday, Singer, songwriter and solo artist Linda Thompson, also known professionally as Linda Peters, born Linda Pentiffer in Hackney, London, England in 1947. She recorded with her former husband Richard Thompson on several albums.

August 23rd Birthday, Singer, songwriter Rick Springfield, born Richard Lewis Springthorpe in 1949 in South Wentworthville, New South Wales, Australia.

August 23rd Birthday, Survivor singer Jimi Jamison, born Jimmy Wayne Jamison in 1951 in Durant, Mississippi. He died on September 1st, 2014 at the age of 63.

August 23rd Birthday, The Hudson Brothers singer, songwriter and record producer Mark Hudson, born in 1951 in Portland, Oregon.

Today In Rock and Roll History

August 23rd

August 23rd, 1964 The Beatles play The Hollywood Bowl. The concert was recorded by producer George Martin and Capitol Records producer Voyle Gilmore for a planned live album. The tapes were shelved until the 1977 “Live At The Hollywood Bowl” album, which combined tracks from 1964 with tapes recorded on back-to-back nights at the same venue in 1965. On September 9th, 2016, a remixed and remastered version of the Hollywood Bowl tracks were released as “Live At The Hollywood Bowl” to coincide with the theatrical release of the Ron Howard film Eight Days A Week which chronicled the The Beatles touring years 1962 through 1966.

August 23rd, 1967 Reprise Records release “Are You Experienced,” the first Jimi Hendrix Experience LP. The album entered the charts in September for a one hundred and six week stay, seventy-seven weeks in the Top Forty. “Are You Experienced” and its preceding singles were recorded over a five-month period, October 23rd, 1966 through April 4th, 1967 at De Lane Lea, CBS and Olympic Studios in London. The record peaked at No. 5 on October 5th.

August 23rd, 1967 The Beatles begin recording “Your Mother Should Know” at Chappell Studios in London.

August 23rd, 1968 Ringo Starr briefly quits The Beatles during a tension filled “White Album” recording session.

August 23rd, 1968 Blue Horizon Records in England release “Mr. Wonderful,” the second album by Fleetwood Mac. The record made the British Top Ten, produced by Mike Vernon live in CBS Studios in London in April. About half of the songs on the album were issued in America on the “English Rose” LP.

August 23rd, 1968 Regal Zonophone Records in England release “One Inch Rock” backed with “Salamander Palaganda” by Tyrannosaurus Rex on 45. Both songs were written by band guitarist Marc Bolan. The single was produced by Tony Visconti.

August 23rd, 1969 Columbia Records release “Alias Pink Puzz” by Paul Revere and The Raiders. The title of the album is a humorous reference to the band’s habit of sending new songs out to LA radio stations under a pseudonym. In this case, they presented themselves as Pink Puzz. Featuring the hit single “Let Me,” the record peaked at No. 48 on October 4th.

August 23rd, 1969 The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Soft Machine and Big Brother and The Holding Company play at the New York Rock Festival in Flushing Meadows, Queens, New York City.

August 23rd, 1969 The Rolling Stones enjoy their fifth US No. 1 with “Honky Tonk Women.” The record hit No. 1 in Britain as well. It was the last one to include original guitarist Brian Jones.

August 23rd, 1969 A&M Records release “Spooky Two” by Spooky Tooth following a March release in Britain. Jimmy Miller produced the LP at Morgan Studios in London with Andy Johns engineering. The band were Mike Harrison on keyboards and vocals, Luther Grosvenor on guitar. Gary Wright on keyboards and vocals, Greg Ridley on bass and Mike Kellie on drums. The album reached No. 44 in the LP charts on October 11th.

August 23rd, 1969 Los Angeles based band Smith release their version of the Burt Bacharach, Mark David and Luther Dixon song “Baby It’s You.” Originally released by The Shirelles in 1961, the new version was co-produced by Joel Sill and Steve Barri and arranged by Jimmy Haskell. The song went to No. 5 on November 1st and earned a Gold Record disc for over a million copies sold.

August 23rd, 1969 Windfall Records release “Mountain,” the solo debut by Leslie West. Produced by bassist Felix Pappalardi, the album plays like a blueprint for the band Mountain, West’s next project with Pappalardi. The record peaked at No. 72 on October 18th. The song “Long Red,” co-written by Leslie West, Felix Pappalardi, John Ventura and Norman Landsberg, was released as a single from the LP.

August 23rd, 1969 Deram Records release “Ssssh,” the fourth album by Ten Years After. A No. 4 record in Britain, the LP went to No. 20 in America on October 4th.

August 23rd, 1970 Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground performed together for the last time until the band’s reunion tour in the 1990’s, at Max’s Kansas City in New York.

August 23rd, 1972 ABC Records release Jim Croce’s “Operator (That’s Not The Way It Feels)” on 45. Written by Croce and co-produced by Terry Cashman and Tommy West, it was the second single released from the “Don’t Mess Around With Jim” LP and peaked at No. 17 on December 9th.

August 23rd, 1972 Capitol Records release “Rock ‘N’ Roll Soul” by Grand Funk Railroad” on 45. Written by band guitarist Mark Farner, the song was self-produced by the group from their forthcoming LP “Phoenix.” The single peaked at No. 29 on November 25th.

August 23rd, 1974 Island Records in Britain release “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” as a single by Bryan Ferry. Covering The Platters hit in 1958, the song was co-written by Jerome Kern and Otto Harbach for the musical Roberta in 1933.

August 23rd, 1974 Bachman-Turner Overdrive are awarded a Gold Record for sales of a million copies of their LP “Not Fragile.”

August 23rd, 1994 Columbia Records release “Grace” by Jeff Buckley. Recorded at Bearsville Studios in Woodstock, New York in the fall of 1993, the record peaked at No. 149 on June 10th, 1995, nearly a year later.

Miscellaneous August

August 1957 Ace Records release “Rockin’ Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogie Flu” by Huey “Piano” Smith on 45. The song was co-written by Smith and Johnny Vincent. The session for the track included Sidney Rayfield and “Scarface” John Williams on vocals, Lee Allen on tenor sax, Earl King on guitar, Frank Fields on bass and Charles “Hungry” Williams on drums. The record peaked at No. 52 on the Pop singles charts.

August 1958 Dot Records release “Scratchin’” backed with the novelty song “I Hates Rabbits” by Jerry Neal on 45. Neal was a stage name of Jerry Capehart. He co-wrote both songs with Eddie Cochran. Cochran is rumored to play all the instruments on “Scratchin’,” while Cochran plays lead guitar on “I Hates Rabbits.”

August 1958 Tune Town Records release “Boxtop” by Ike Turner, Carson Oliver and Little Ann, the first record release to feature the future Tina Turner on vocals. The song was written by Ike Turner, who heard the seventeen-year-old sing during the intermission of a Kings Of Rhythm set at the Manhattan Club in East St. Louis. Carson Oliver was one of the vocalists in Turner’s group, the Kings Of Rhythm band. The track was recorded at Turner’s house on Virginia Place, in East St. Louis.

August 1963 Original Sound Records release “Heavies” backed with “The Cruncher” by The Rotations on 45. The Rotations were an alias for Paul Buff and Dave Aerni. Both songs were co-written by Aerni and Buff, produced by Frank Zappa at PAL Studio in Cucamonga, California in June. A few seconds of “Heavies” is heard in the opening moments of “Nasal Retentive Caliope Music” on The Mothers Of Invention LP “We’re Only In It For The Money.”

August 1963 Original Sound Records release “Tijuana” backed with “Grunion Run” by The Hollywood Persuaders on 45. Paul Buff wrote the A-side. “Grunion Run” was performed by Paul Buff and Frank Zappa, recording at PAL Studios in Cucamonga, California in June. Zappa played guitars, bass and drums with Paul Buff on saxophone.

August 1965 Autumn Records release “Beau Brummels Volume II.” The record featured the hit “You Tell Me Why” and follow-up single “Don’t Talk to Strangers,” but didn’t chart. Sylvester Stewart, later known professionally as Sly Stone, is listed as the album’s producer, but members of the band didn’t recall him being there for the recording sessions.

August 1969 Immediate Records in Britain release the self-titled album by “The Nice,” the group’s second album.

August 1971 A&M Records release “White Light,” the second studio album by The Byrds’ singer, songwriter Gene Clark. The LP was recorded at A&M Studios and Village Recorders in Los Angeles with Jesse Ed Davis producing in the Spring, 1971. Playing on the record were Davis, bassist Chris Ethridge of the Flying Burrito Brothers, organist Michael Utley, pianist Ben Sidran and drummer Gary Mallaber, both of the Steve Miller Band.

August 1972 Thunderclap Newman pianist Andy Newman releases the solo LP “Rainbows” on Track Records in England. Pete Townshend is the executive producer of the album.

August 1974 Ardent Records release “September Gurls” by Big Star on 45. The song was written by Alex Chilton with autobiographical lyrics about several women in his life. The record was co-produced by Big Stay and John Fry on a six track recording console at Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee during sessions for the band’s second album “Radio City.”

August 1976 Mushroom Records in Australia release “Second Thoughts,” the second LP by Split Enz. The group’s first LP “Mental Notes” had not been released in America or in Europe, so Chrysalis Records issued “Second Thoughts” in September in Britain and January 1977 in the US – as “Mental Notes” with new cover art. “Second Thoughts” was produced by Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera at Basing Street Studios in London. The LP went to No. 18 in the New Zealand album charts.

August 1978 Chrysalis Records release “I’m Gonna Love You Too” by Blondie on 45, a cover version of The Crickets’ song from 1957. The song was written by Crickets’ bassist Joe Maudlin, guitarist Niki Sullivan and record producer Norman Petty. Produced by Mike Chapman, it was the first single released from Blondie’s “Parallel Lines” LP.

August 1980 Virgin Records in Britain release “Generals And Majors” by XTC on 45. Written by Colin Moulding and produced by Steve Lillywhite, it was the first single released from the band’s “Black Sea” album and peaked at No. 32 in England.

August 1980, Virgin Records release “Doc At The Radar Station” by Captain Beefheart. The album was recorded in June at Sound Castle Recording Studios in Los Angeles with Beefheart producing.

August 1983 Warner Brothers Records release “Song For A Future Generation” by The B-52’s as the second single from the “Whammy!” LP. The song was written collectively by The B-52’s, produced by Steven Stanley.

August 1984 EG Records release “The Pearl,” the second album by Harold Budd and Brian Eno. Recorded in Toronto, Canada with Daniel Lanois also producing, the premise of the recordings were established on the pair’s first collaboration “The Plateaux Of Mirror,” with Eno treating Budd’s improvised piano parts with studio effects and later making compositional decisions together to create the released tracks.

August 1986 IMP Records in Britain release “Tokyo Storm Warning” by Elvis Costello and The Attractions on 45, a song Costello wrote with his wife, The Pogues bassist Cait O’Riordan. The track was Costello’s first single release to give credit to his given name MacManus. “Tokyo Storm Warning” was co-produced by Nick Lowe and Colin Fairley.

August 1987 Virgin Records in England release “Psonic Psunspot,” the first full-length album by The Dukes Of Stratosphere, actually XTC under a different name with guitarist Dave Gregory’s brother Ian on drums. The record was co-produced by John Leckie and the band at Sawmills Studio in Fowey, Cornwall, England in June.

August 1987 Columbia Records release the movie soundtrack LP “Back To The Beach,” a various artists collection of songs from the film. Highlights include the Stevie Ray Vaughn/Dick Dale remake of “Pipeline,” songs by Dave Edmunds, Eddie Money, Aimee Mann, M<arti Jones and a Herbie Hancock version of “Wipe Out” featuring Dweezil Zappa on guitar and Terry Bozzio on drums.

August 1989 Virgin Records release “The Loving” by XTC on 45 in Britain. The track came from the band’s Paul Fox produced “Oranges And Lemons” LP.

August 1992 Warner Brothers Records in Britain release “Real Cool World” by David Bowie on 45. The song was the theme from Real Cool World movie, written by Bowie and produced by Nile Rodgers. The B-side was an instrumental version of the track.