Today in Rock & Roll History: September 10th

1963: Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham invited John Lennon and Paul McCartney of the Beatles to the Studio 51 Jazz Club in London where the Stones were rehearsing. While they were there, Lennon and McCartney finished writing “I Wanna Be Your Man,” which was released in late November as part of the Beatles’ second album, With the Beatles. The Stones had been in need of new song, so they too recorded the song and released it as their second single at the beginning of November.

1964: Nineteen-year-old Rod Stewart cut his first solo record, a cover of Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Good Morning Little School Girl.” The recording was done at Decca Records’ studios in London with future Led Zeppelin member John Paul Jones on bass. Despite his appearance on UK television program Ready Steady Go! shortly after the single was released in mid-October, the song failed to chart.

1964: The Kinks achieved their first #1 record when “You Really Got Me” went to the top of the UK singles chart. The song was also the group’s first to chart in the US, where it reached #7 on the Billboard pop chart.

1965: The Byrds recorded their rearranged version of Pete Seeger’s “Turn! Turn! Turn!” at Columbia Studios in Hollywood. The song later became the group’s second US #1 single.

1965: The Animals recorded “It’s My Life” at RCA Studios in Hollywood. The song was written by Roger Atkins and Carl D’Errico of New York’s Brill Building scene of songwriters, who been solicited by Animals manager Mickie Most for material for the group.

1966: The Beatles’ seventh album, Revolver, went to #1 on the Billboard pop chart for the first of six weeks.

1966: Three debut singles entered the Billboard Hot 100: “Last Train to Clarksville” by The Monkees, “Walk Away Renée” by the Left Banke, and “Psychotic Reaction” by Count Five, which became the group’s only top 10 hit.

1966: “You Can’t Hurry Love” by The Supremes hit #1 in the US. It was their seventh #1 on the Billboard and Cash Box pop charts and their fourth R&B #1.

1967: Elvis Presley and producer Felton Jarvis invited country guitarist Jerry Reed to recording sessions in Memphis. Presley and Reed got along so well, that over the next few days, they recorded Presley’s cover of Reed’s “Guitar Man,” as well as “Big Boss Man,” “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” “Hi-Heel Sneakers,” and several other songs.

1970: B.B. King performed for inmates at the Cook County Jail in Chicago, Illinois. A recording of the show was later released as Live in Cook County Jail and eventually rose to #1 on the Billboard R&B album chart. Throughout the summer and autumn of that year, King played shows in several jails and prisons as part of an outreach program to bring music to inmates. The following year, King and Boston attorney F. Lee Bailey formed the Foundation for the Advancement of Inmate Rehabilitation and Recreation (FAIRR), an organization dedicated to the improvement of prison conditions.

1973: Eric Clapton’s Rainbow Concert was released. Recorded live at the Rainbow Theatre in London in January, the two concerts had been organized by Pete Townshend of the Who and marked Clapton’s comeback after years of inactivity. In addition to Townshend, supporting musicians included Steve Winwood, Ronnie Wood, Ric Gretch, Rebop Kwaku Baah, and Jim Capaldi. In the years following the concerts, Clapton was able to recover from his heroin addiction.

1974: Randy Newman released his fourth studio album, Good Old Boys. It became his first album to obtain major commercial success, reaching #36 on the Billboard pop chart.

1978: Harry Chapin released “Flowers Are Red” from his eighth studio album, Living Room Suite.

1979: The Who made their first appearance in the US after the death of drummer Keith Moon. Taking his place at a show at Passaic, New Jersey’s Capitol Theater was former Small Faces and Faces drummer Kenney Jones.

1983: Session guitarist Michael Sembello, who’d previously worked with Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson, reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Maniac,” the lead single from his debut solo album and only top 10 single.

1990: Bob Dylan released his twenty-seventh studio album, “Under the Red Sky.” The LP is a rarity in Dylan’s catalog for its inclusion of celebrity cameos by Jimmie Vaughan, Slash, Elton John, George Harrison, David Crosby, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Bruce Hornsby.

1991: Jethro Tull released Catfish Rising, their eighteenth studio album and first to feature keyboardist Andrew Gidding. Two weeks later the LP was issued in the UK.

1996: John Mellencamp released his fourteenth studio album, Mr. Happy Go Lucky.

2001: Bob Dylan’s thirty-first studio album, Love and Theft, was released in the UK. The album was issued the following day in the US.

2002: Peter Wolf released his sixth solo studio album, Sleepless. The LP features guest appearances from Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Steve Earle, and Wolf’s former J. Geils bandmate, Magic Dick.

2012: Bob Dylan released his thirty-fifth studio album, Tempest.

Birthdays Today

Roy Brown, R&B singer, songwriter, and musician who had a significant influence on the early development of rock and roll and the direction of R&B, was born in Kinder, LA in 1920.

Roy Ayers, funk, soul, and jazz composer, keyboardist, vocalist, and vibraphone player known as “The Godfather of Neo Soul,” was born in Los Angeles, CA in 1940.

Danny Hutton, singer, songwriter, and one of the three lead vocalist for Three Dog Night, was born in Buncrana, Donegal, Ireland in 1942.

Art Tripp, musician best known as a percussionist with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention and Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band during the 1960s and 1970s, was born Arthur Dyer Tripp III in Athens, OH in 1944.

José Feliciano, guitarist, singer, and songwriter, was born José Monserrate Feliciano García in Lares, Puerto Rico in 1945.

Barrie “Barriemore” Barlow, drummer and percussionist for Jethro Tull from 1971-1980, was born in Birmingham, England in 1949.

Pete Tolson, guitarist for the Pretty Things during the 1970s and early 1980s, was born in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, England in 1951.

Johnnie Fingers, keyboardist and founding member of Boomstown Rats, was born John Peter Moylett in Dulbin, Ireland in 1956.

Miles Zuniga, vocalist and guitarist for Fastball, was born in Laredo, TX in 1966.