Today in Oldies Music History: January 31

Births

1892: Eddie Cantor
1921: Mario Lanza
1923: Carol Channing
1928: Chuck Willis
1944: Charlie Musselwhite
1946: Terry Kath (Chicago)
1951: Harry Wayne Casey (KC and the Sunshine Band), Phil Manzanera (Roxy Music)

Deaths

1970: Slim Harpo
1978: Greg Herbert (Blood Sweat and Tears)
1985: Barbara Cowsill (The Cowsills)

Events

1956: Elvis Presley signs with the William Morris Agency in order to make himself available to film studios.
1959: Just three days before their death in a plane crash, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper play the Armory in Duluth, MN. In attendance: a seventeen-year-old Robert Zimmerman, who would be inspired to become a musician by this performance. We now know him as Bob Dylan.
1961: NBC airs the Bobby Darin And Friends television special, originally meant as a pilot for a weekly variety series.
1963: A seventeen-year-old Neil Young makes his stage debut at a country club in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
1967: While in Sevenoaks, Kent, England, John Lennon visits an antique shop and purchses a circus poster from 1843. It is this poster which inspires most of the lyrics to the Beatles' "Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite."
1969: Bobby Darin is refused permission to perform his latest single, "Long Line Rider," on CBS' Jackie Gleason Show. The song, written by Darin, deals with recent prisoner abuses in the Arkansas penal system. Darin promptly walks off the set.
1969: Billy Preston signs with Apple Records.
1970: In New Orleans, the Grateful Dead are arrested for possession of LSD and barbituates, an incident which would inspire one of their most famous songs, "Truckin'." (Apparently the band had fun afoul of mob interests in Texas, and the mob alerted the NOPD. This explains lines like "Houston, too close to New Orleans" and "Set up, like a bowling pin.")
1971: Mahalia Jackson's funeral is held at Chicago's Great Salem Baptist Church. Over 40,000 mourners attend the open-casket service, which features a closing version of "Precious Lord, Take My Hand" performed by Aretha Franklin. Famous mourners include Coretta Scott King, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and Sammy Davis, Jr.
1971: The Jackson 5 are given the key to their hometown of Gary, IN, by Mayor Robert Pastrick.
1979: Bo Diddley opens up for punk band The Clash at the beginning of their first US tour.
1988: Herb Alpert performs the national anthem at Superbowl XXII in San Diego, CA. (Chubby Checker performs at the halftime show.)
1985: Creedence Clearwater Revival's John Fogerty gives his first live performance in fourteen years at the Chaplin Stage in Hollywood, CA.
1993: Michael Jackson performs with 3,500 local children at the Superbowl XXVII in Pasadena, CA.
1998: The Bruce Springsteen "Come Together" benefit concert, organized for the family of a New Jersey police officer killed in the line of duty, turns into an impromptu E Street Band reunion that also features Southside Johnny and other Jersey musicians.
1999: Cher performs the national anthem at Superbowl XXXIII in Miami, FL. (Stevie Wonder performs at the halftime show.)

Releases

none

Recording

1963: The Beach Boys: "Surfin' U.S.A.," "Shutdown"
1969: The Beatles: "The Long And Winding Road," "Let It Be," "Two Of Us"
1956: Elvis Presley: "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry," "Tutti Frutti"

Certifications

1968: John Fred and his Playboy Band's "Judy in Disguise" is certified gold
1968: The American Breed's "Bend Me, Shape Me" is certified gold
1972: Joan Baez' album Any Day Now is certified gold

Charts

1960: Jimmy Jones' "Handy Man" enters the R&B charts
1970: The Jackson 5's "I Want You Back" hits #1
1976: The Ohio Players' "Love Rollercoaster" hits #1