Today in Oldies Music History: August 15

Today In Oldies Music History: August 15

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Births

1896: Leon Theremin
1909: Hugo Winterhalter
1925: Oscar Peterson
1925: Bill Pinkney (The Drifters)
1930: Jackie Brenston
1933: Bobby Helms
1933: Floyd Ashman (The Tams)
1941: Johnny Thunder
1941: Don Rich
1942: Peter York (The Spencer Davis Group)
1946: Jimmy Webb
1948: Tom Johnston (The Doobie Brothers)
1951: Bobby Caldwell

Deaths

1971: Thomas Wayne
1984: Norman Petty
1992: Jackie Edwards

Events

1939: After five directors, several script drafts, and endless casting changes, The movie musical The Wizard Of Oz premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
1956: "Colonel" Tom Parker, actually a Dutch immigrant who merely played at being a Southern aristocrat, becomes "special adviser" to Elvis Presley, effectively taking over management duties from Bob Neal, who knew managing the King was about to become a full-time job.
1958: Buddy Holly marries Maria Elena Santiago, a former receptionist at his music publishing company, in a private ceremony held at Holly's boyhood home in Lubbock, TX.
1964: After the massive success of the Beatles' first film, A Hard Day's Night, United Artists rushes to sign up-and-comers The Dave Clark Five to a film project entitled Catch Us If You Can (which was released in the US as Having A Wild Weekend).
1965: At 8 pm EST, the Beatles take the stage at Shea Stadium in New York City, marking the very first time a rock band would headline a stadium concert and a major victory for promoter Sid Bernstein, who had arranged the gig after his gamble of booking the then-unknown group at Carnegie Hall had paid off. Tickets for the show, sold merely by word of mouth created by kids who asked Bernstein about the next Beatles show while he strolled in Central Park, sold out in just three weeks, beating the stadium's old seating record with 56,000 seats sold. Two thousand professionals were pressed into service for security. The concert, filmed for BBC and NBC both, also featured openers Brenda Holloway, The King Curtis Band, and Bernstein's new obsession, the Young Rascals.
1969: Promising "three days of peace, love, and music," The Woodstock Music and Art Fair begins on Max Yasgur's sixty-acre farm in Bethel, NY (nearby Woodstock being the original location). Featuring two dozen of the country's hottest bands, the festival draws over 450,000 hippies to the tiny town, causing unimaginable traffic and logistics problems but nevertheless impressing the ordinary citizens. Three deaths, two births, four miscarriages, and a wedding are all reported before Jimi Hendrix ends the festivities with his legendary rendition of the US national anthem. Also appearing were (in part) Joe Cocker, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Santana, The Who, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Band, Canned Heat, Joan Baez, Santana, Melanie, Ten Years After, Sly and the Family Stone, Johnny Winter, Jefferson Airplane, Ravi Shankar, Country Joe and the Fish, Blood Sweat and Tears, and Arlo Guthrie. Among those who elected not to attend were Tommy James and the Shondells, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Byrds, Jethro Tull, and The Moody Blues.
1973: Baltimore, MD, declares today "Cass Elliot Day" in honor of the native singer for The Mamas and the Papas.
1980: George Harrison's acclaimed autobiography I Me Mine -- the first by any Beatle -- hits the shelves.
1980: John Lennon enters the Record Plant Studios in New York to record his "comeback" album, Double Fantasy.
1996: A New York women's shelter refuses to take money raised by a recent benefit concert when they learn that one of the performers was James Brown, often accused of emotional and physical abuse of women.
2000: David Bowie and his wife, supermodel Iman, become the proud parents of their first child, Alexandria Zahra Jones.
2005: Sly Stone comes out of a long seclusion to visit the Knitting Factory in Los Angeles, where his little sister Vet headlines with the latest version of the Family Stone.
2007: The Osmonds reunite for the first time in over two decades to perform their 50th anniversary concert for PBS.

Releases

none

Recording

1941: Ben Bernie, "Au Revoir, Pleasant Dreams"
1966: Bobby Darin, "If I Were A Carpenter"
1968: The Beatles, "Rocky Raccoon"
1969: The Beatles: "Golden Slumbers," "Carry That Weight," "The End," "Something," "Here Comes The Sun"

Charts

1953: Perry Como's "No Other Love" hits #1
1960: Elvis Presley's "It's Now Or Never" hits #1
1964: Dean Martin's "Everybody Loves Somebody" hits #1
1970: Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Looking Out My Back Door" enters the charts

Certifications

1969: Three Dog Night's self-titled LP is certified gold