Today In Oldies Music History: April 9
--Births
1898: Paul Robeson1928: Tom Lehrer
1932: Carl Perkins
1943: Terry Knight
1944: Gene Parsons (The Byrds)
1945: Emil Stucchio (The Classics)
1946: Les Gray (Mud)
1948: Phil Wright (Paper Lace)
Deaths
1976: Phil Ochs1988: Brook Benton
1988: Dave Prater (Sam and Dave)
1997: Laura Nyro
1997: Mae Axton
2009: Randy Cain (The Delfonics)
Events
1860: French inventor Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville, not Thomas Edison, makes the first sound recording when he records a female voice singing onto his invention, the Phonautograph. Unfortunately, the inventor records the sound waves only to study them, not knowing how to play them back, though they have since been processed into a recordable format and heard.1953: A 14-year-old Elvis Presley appears in his high school's minstrel show singing the Stanley Brothers' "Keep Them Cold Icy Fingers Off Me," then is called back to perform Teresa Brewer's "Till I Waltz Again With You."
1962: At tonight's Academy Awards ceremony in Santa Monica, Henry Mancini wins Best Original Song for "Moon River," his contribution to the film Breakfast At Tiffany's.
1964: The Vee-Jay label suffers a fatal blow when it settles out of court with Capitol, who charged that nonpayment of royalties invalidated the label's licensing agreement to sell the Beatles' first few singles in the US.
1965: Bruce Johnston replaces Brian Wilson in the touring band of the Beach Boys, Brian having suffered a nervous breakdown while on the band's recent flight to Houston.
1966: During a Yardbirds show in Marseilles, France, guitarist Jeff Beck collapses from exhaustion; eleven years later to the day, his former bandmate Jimmy Page causes the end of a Led Zeppelin gig in Chicago when he's struck down by stomach cramps.
1967: The Doors play before their first large crowd when they appear (along with Jefferson Airplane) in front of 3,000 at a show in Venice, CA.
1973: Queen play their first show since being signed, a "showcase" gig at London's Marquee Club.
1974: Bruce Springsteen meets rock critic Jon Landau, who would go on to manage the singer and successfully hype him as "rock and roll's future."
1979: At tonight's Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, Best Original Song goes to Donna Summer's "Last Dance," from the flop movie Thank God It's Friday.
1982: Having revived her career in the UK with a hit cover of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together," Tina Turner begins a comeback tour in London.
1989: Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman, 52, announces his intention to marry model Mandy Smith, 19, further shocking the public by revealing that he's been dating Mandy for the past six years -- with her mother's permission. The marriage would last just under two years.
1994: Wayne Newton marries his second wife, lawyer Kathleen McCrone.
2003: Willie Nelson holds public celebrations of his 70th birthday at the Beacon Theatre in New York, featuring performances by (among many others) Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, Paul Simon, ZZ Top, Leon Russell, and Ray Price.
2008: Elton John's benefit concert at Radio City Music Hall raises two and a half million dollars for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.
Releases
1969: Bob Dylan, Nashville SkylineRecording
1956: Gene Vincent, "Be Bop-A-Lula"Charts
1966: The Righteous Brothers' "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration" hits #11977: ABBA's "Dancing Queen" hits #1
