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Rock and Roll Birthdays

Today's Rock and Roll Birthdays

February 9th

February 9th Birthday, Barry Mann, born Barry Imberman in Brooklyn, New York City in 1939. He was one half of the hit songwriting team Mann and Weil with wife Cynthia Weil. (pronounced Vale)

February 9th Birthday, English drummer, pianist, composer and producer Brian Bennett from The Shadows, born in 1940 in Palmers Green, North London, England.

February 9th Birthday, Singer, songwriter, solo artist Carole King, born Carol Joan Klein in Manhattan, New York City, in 1942.

February 9th Birthday, Singer, songwriter and guitarist Joe Ely, born in Amarillo, Texas in 1947.

February 9th Birthday, The Delphonics singer and solo artist Major Harris, born in 1947 in Richmond, Virginia.

February 9th Birthday, Frankie Goes To Hollywood singer Holly Johnson, born in Liverpool, England in 1960.

Today In Rock and Roll History

February 9th

February 9th, 1959 Imperial Records release “Never Be Anyone Else But You” backed with “It’s Late” by Rick Nelson on 45. Backing Nelson on the recording session, co-produced by Ozzie Nelson and Jimmy Haskell, were vocal group The Jordanaires. The A-side of the single was written by Baker Knight and peaked at No. 6 on April 11th. “It’s Late” was written by Dorsey Burnette, who first recorded the song on August 28th, 1958. The B-side peaked at No. 9 on April 11th.

February 9th, 1959 Hunt Records re-release “Guitar Boogie Shuffle” by Philadelphia, Pennsylvania band The Virtues on 45. First issued on the independent Sure Records label in 1958, the song was co-written by John C. Hill, Jim Diamond and Beth Merle, the wife of band leader Frank Virtue. The song itself was a rocking rewrite of Arthur Smith’s 1958 country hit “Guitar Boogie.” Frank Virtue would later own Philadelphia’s Virtue Recording Studios and worked as staff producer and engineer. “Guitar Boogie Shuffle” peaked at No. 5 on May 2nd.

February 9th, 1959 Lloyd Price’s “Stagger Lee” hits No. 1 in the US.

February 9th, 1962 Neil Sedaka records his original version of “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do.” Co-written by Sedaka with Howard Greenfield, the song’s iconic scat intro was a result of the two songwriters being unable to come up with a lyric for that section of the song. Sedaka improvised the vocalise, which they liked so much that they kept it on the finished record. Background vocals on the song are performed by the female group The Cookies. Released in June the single became his fifth Top Ten hit and first No. 1 on August 11th. Sedaka would revisit the song again in 1975 with a slower arrangement. The 1975 version peaked at No. 8 in February 1976.

February 9th, 1964 The Beatles made their live American television debut before seventy-three million people on The Ed Sullivan Show.

February 9th, 1967 The Beatles begin recording “Fixing A Hole” at Regent Sound Studios in London, the first British Beatles recording session not held at EMI Studios. In attendance was a man McCartney had met in front of his house, claiming he was Jesus Christ. McCartney brought him inside for tea and later invited him to attend the recording session, providing he wasn’t disruptive. On the track, McCartney played harpsichord and sang, George Harrison played lead guitar, John Lennon played bass and Ringo Starr played drums. John, Paul and George then added backing vocals. The track was completed back at EMI on February 21stwith added bass, lead vocals and a harpsichord played by George Martin.

February 9th, 1967 Tamla Records release “Travlin’ Man” by Stevie Wonder on 45. The record entered the charts in March and peaked at No. 32 on April 1st. The single’s B-side “Hey Love” charted as well, peaking at No. 90 on May 27th.

February 9th, 1970 Straight Records release “Lucille Has Messed Up My Mind” by Jeff Simmons. Frank Zappa produced, played on and wrote songs for the LP, using the name LaMarr Bruister. Simmons was a member of The Mothers Of Invention twice between 1970 and 1974. He met Zappa when his earlier band Easy Chair opened for The Mothers at the Seattle Center Arena on August 24th, 1968.

February 9th, 1970 Bizarre Records release the album “Burnt Weeny Sandwich” by The Mothers Of Invention. Released after Frank Zappa dissolved the original Mothers, the LP is a collection of previously unreleased studio recordings by the band. The record reached No. 94 on April 4th.

February 9th, 1970 Elektra Records release “Morrison Hotel/Hard Rock Cafe,” the fifth album by The Doors. Sessions for the album began in November 1969 at Elektra Sound Recorders in LA. After the use of strings and brass on their previous album, “The Soft Parade,” the band returned to their original blues-rock style. The iconic front cover photo was shot by famous rock photographer Henry Diltz. “Morrison Hotel” peaked at No. 4 on March 21st and became the band’s fifth Gold Record album for sales of over a million copies two weeks after its release.

February 9th, 1971 Elektra Records release the self-titled debut album by Carly Simon. Produced by Eddie Kramer, the LP reached No. 30 on July 31st. The record featured the hit single “That’s The Way I’ve Always Heard It Should Be,” which was nominated for the Grammy in 1972 for “Best Pop Female Vocalist,” and the same year won a Grammy for “Best New Artist Of The Year.”

February 9th, 1974 Hall and Oates’ “She’s Gone” enters the singles charts, released the previous November and again in 1976. The first time around, the single stalled at No. 60. After the duo moved to RCA Records and scored a major hit with “Sara Smile,” Atlantic Records re-released the single. The single entered the charts in July 1976 and peaked at No. 7 on October 30th, three years after its first release.

February 9th, 1974 Capitol Records release “Silver Threads And Golden Needles” by Linda Ronstadt on 45. The song was co-written by Dick Reynolds and Jack Rhodes and was first recorded by Wanda Jackson in 1956, followed by a Top Twenty cover by The Springfields in 1962. It was Ronstadt’s second recording released of the song, first issued on her debut solo album “Hand Sown - - - Home Grown,” in 1969. The new version came from her September 1973 LP “Don’t Cry Now,” entered the charts in April and peaked at No. 67 on May 11th.

February 9th, 1979 Island Records release “Last Love Song” by Cat Stevens on 45. Released from the “Back To Earth” LP, the record was co-produced by Stevens and Paul Samwell-Smith.

February 9th, 1980 Nemperor Records release “What I Like About You” by The Romantics on 45. Co-written by band members Wally Palmar, Mike Skill and Jimmy Marinos and produced by Pete Solley in September at Coconuts Recording Studio in Miami, Florida. The record peaked at No. 49 on March 15th.

February 9th, 1981 Phil Collins releases his debut solo album “Face Value.” Collins began putting material together for the LP during a break in Genesis activity, recording demos in 1979. Sessions with Collins and Hugh Padham co-producing were recorded at The Town House in London, Old Croft in Shalford, Surrey, England and The Village Recorders in Los Angeles. Daryl Stuermer, Eric Clapton, Alphonso Johnson, Stephen Bishop and L. Shankar were among the musicians who played on the record. Arif Mardin did string arrangements for two songs. The album reached No. 7 on July 4th and featured the hit singles “In the Air Tonight,” and “I Missed Again.”

February 9th, 1985 “Just Another Night,” the first solo single by Rolling Stones’ front man Mick Jagger, enters the charts following a January release on Columbia Records. The song was written by Jagger, who co-produced the 45 with Bill Laswell. “Just Another Night” peaked at No. 12 on March 30th.

February 9th, 1986 Atlantic Records release “All The King’s Horses” by The Firm on 45. Written by Paul Rodgers, the record was co-produced by Jimmy Page, Paul Rodgers and Julian Mendelsohn, reached No. 61 in the singles charts on March 22nd.

February 9th, 1989 Columbia Records release “Dylan And The Dead,” a live LP by Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead. The album was co-produced by Jerry Garcia and John Cutter, recorded on tour in 1987. The record peaked at No. 54 on March 25th.

February 9th, 1993 Mick Jagger releases his third solo album “Wandering Spirit.” The album was co-produced by Jagger and Rick Rubin. Lenny Kravitz guested on the Bill Withers cover, “Use Me.” Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea appeared on three songs. Billy Preston, Benmont Tench and Jim Keltner also played on the LP. “Wandering Spirit” reached No. 11 in the US on February 27th, No. 12 in Britain.

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.