Today in Oldies Music History: May 14

Today In Oldies Music History: May 14

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Births

1916: Skip Martin
1917: Norman Luboff
1925: Al Porcino
1932: Bob Johnston
1936: Bobby Darin
1936: Charlie Gracie
1943: Jack Bruce (Cream)
1944: Troy Shondell
1945: Derek Leckenby (Herman's Hermits)
1945: Gene Cornish (The Rascals)
1947: Al Ciner (The American Breed)
1950: Arthur Grant (Edgar Broughton Band)

Deaths

1959: Sidney Bechet
1969: Martin Lamble (Fairport Convention)
1976: Keith Relf (The Yardbirds)
1988: Chet Baker
1998: Frank Sinatra
2005: Jimmy Martin

Events

1956: Buddy Holly visits his optometrist's office to correct his horrible 20/800 vision with primitive contact lenses, but Buddy hates them, and decides to keep his signature glasses.
1959: The juvenile delinquent film Serious Charges, the first film to feature British rock sensation Cliff Richard in a supporting role, premieres in Britain.
1966: For the record ninth time in three years, the Kingsmen's hit version of "Louie Louie" enters the Billboard singles charts.
1968: Elvis Presley meets with NBC-TV producer Bob Finkel, helming his upcoming Christmas special with Singer, and tells him he wants to use this event to reintroduce and prove himself once again to the rock audience.
1968: On a publicity tour to promote their new venture, Apple, John Lennon and Paul McCartney agree to appear on NBC-TV's Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Unfortunately, Carson is on vacation that week, and his replacement, sportscaster Joe Garagiola, has almost no idea what to talk about with the pair (at one point, he actually asks which one of the two is Ringo). Guest Tallulah Bankhead, for her part, seems to look upon the duo's appearance as an affront to her Golden Age of Hollywood stardom. The interview is a disaster, cut short so as to give the appearance that the two lead Beatles have somewhere to go. The only existing video copy is a three-minute excerpt a fan films by pointing a video camera at his TV set; fan audio of the entire interview has been widely bootlegged.
1985: Ronald Reagan presents Michael Jackson with a special Presidential Humanitarian Award at the White House for his work against drunk driving.
1987: Frank Sinatra, who had played South Africa in the past, suddenly condemns the apartheid regime publicly, referring to president P.W. Botha as "a bum."
1988: Atlantic Records' 40th Anniversary celebration takes place at New York's Madison Square Garden, featuring appearances from many famous artists on the label's roster: The Bee Gees, Wilson Pickett, The Rascals, The Coasters, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Crosby Stills and Nash, Foreigner, Yes, Genesis, and the event's main attraction, a rare reunion of Led Zeppelin, featuring John Bonham's son Jason taking over drums for his late father.
1993: Christie's auction house in London sells the acoustic guitar on which Elvis Presley recorded his first Sun single, "That's All Right, Mama" b/w "Blue Moon Of Kentucky," to an unnamed bidder for $152,000. On the same day, the US tabloid Weekly World News claims that Elvis Presley has only recently died.
2002: The Fiftieth Annual BMI Pop Awards in Beverly Hills presents its annual Icon Awards to Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, and Little Richard.
2006: Ashton "Family Man" Barrett, former bassist with Bob Marley's Wailers, loses a lawsuit alleging that Island Records and Marley's estate have failed to pay him millions in royalties.

Releases

1955: Elvis Presley, "Baby Let's Play House" b/w "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone"
1956: The Platters, The Platters
1970: Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, "Ohio"

Recording

1938: Duke Ellington, "Caravan"
1951: Howlin' Wolf, "Moanin' At Midnight"
1964: Elvis Presley, "Roustabout"
1964: Jan and Dean, "Little Old Lady (From Pasadena)"
1965: Elvis Presley: "What Every Woman Lives For," "Petunia, The Gardener's Daughter," "Look Out, Broadway," "Everybody Come Aboard"
1968: The Rascals, "People Got To Be Free"

Charts

1955: Les Baxter's "Unchained Melody" hits #1
1955: Bill Haley and his Comets' "Rock Around The Clock" enters the charts
1955: Bo Diddley's "Bo Diddley" enters the charts
1977: Leo Sayer's "When I Need You" hits #1

Certifications

1971: The Honey Cone's "Want Ads" is certified gold