Checking my previous content revealed it had been six weeks since the most recent installment of my irregular music history feature. I felt this was a good reason for putting together another post. It also turned I had not covered yet March 14.
1958: The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) officially certified the first Gold single (1 million sold units): Catch a Falling Star by American pop vocalist and TV personality Perry Como. Co-written by Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss, it became Como’s final no. 1 hit in the U.S., topping Billboard’s Most Played by Jockeys chart, which was different from the Hot 100 where the single reached no. 3. The melody borrows from Academic Festival Overture by 19th century German classical music composer, pianist, and conductor Johannes Brahms. The backing vocals were provided by The Ray Charles Singers, a group of rotating vocals conducted and arranged by Ray Charles.
1963: British Merseybeat group Gerry and the Pacemakers released their debut single How Do You You It? Penned by English songwriter and record producer Mitch Murray, the song was an instant success in the UK, topping the charts there. George Martin, who saw hit potential, asked his then-new group The Beatles to record it. While the four lads did, they were less than excited. Martin ended up releasing their original song Love Me Do instead and giving How Do You Do It? to Gerry and the Pacemakers. It was a happy ending for both groups who also shared another commonality. Both were managed by Brian Epstein.
1968: BBC primetime television music program Top of the Pops premiered the promotional video of Lady Madonna. A March 14, 2016 article by Ultimate Classic Rock recalls The Beatles had started to make such videos in 1965, long before they would become the norm on MTV in the early ’80s. “Out of convenience, we decided we were just not going to go into the TV studios to promote our records so much,” explained George Harrison in the Anthology documentary. “It was too much of a hassle,” he added. “What we’ll do is just go and make our own little films, and we’ll put them out.” Notably, the video used studio footage of the band recording Hey Bulldog. Sounds like capturing video of Lady Madonna may have been too much trouble as well!
1972: Carole King’s legendary Tapestry album took the coveted Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards held at the Felt Forum in New York City. King also won in three additional categories: Record of the Year for It’s Too Late, Best Pop Vocal Performance for the album’s title track and Song of the Year for James Taylor’s rendition of You’ve Got a Friend, which she wrote. Among other winners that night were America (Best New Artist of the Year), Nilsson (Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male for Without You), Ike & Tina Turner (Best Rhythm & Blues Performance – Duo Or Group (Vocal Or Instrumental) for Proud Mary) and Bill Withers (Best Rhythm & Blues Song for Ain’t No Sunshine) – different times!
1987: Huey Lewis and the News hit no. 1 in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100 with Jacob’s Ladder. The song, which became third single from the group’s fourth studio album Fore!, was co-written by Bruce Hornsby and his younger brother and frequent collaborator John Hornsby. Jacob’s Ladder became the final of three no. 1 songs Huey Lewis and the News scored on the U.S. pop chart. Hornsby subsequently recorded his own version of the song for his May 1998 sophomore album Scenes from the Southside. His friend Huey Lewis was a guest, playing harmonica on Defenders of the Flag, another song Hornsby wrote with his brother.
1998: In an unusual move, Rick Rubin, who produced Johnny Cash’s 82nd studio album Unchained, aka. American II: Unchained, placed a full-page ad in Billboard magazine to thank “the Nashville music establishment and country radio” for their support. On February 25th of the same year, Unchained had won the Grammy for Best Country Album. The ad was bitter irony to make the point the Man in Black won the award despite country radio, which by that time had written him off as an aging artist. The shot originally was taken by photographer Jim Marshall during Cash’s 1969 performance at San Quentin prison after he had been prompted to “do a shot for the warden.”
Sources: Wikipedia; Songfacts Music History Calendar; Ultimate Classic Rock; YouTube