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This Day In Music: 11 Dec 1964

Sam Cooke is murdered.

Soul singer Sam Cooke, was assassinated at the Hacienda Motel in Los Angeles California. Bertha Franklin, the motel manager, told police that she shot and killed Cooke in self-defence after he attacked her. Cooke's body was discovered in Franklin's apartment-office, dressed only in a sports jacket and shoes, with no shirt, pants, or underwear. The shooting was eventually ruled to be a justifiable homicide.

Cooke was born in Mississippi and later relocated to Chicago with his family at a young age, where he began singing as a child and joined the Soul Stirrers as lead singer in the 1950s. Going solo in 1957, Cooke released a string of hit songs, including "You Send Me", "A Change Is Gonna Come", "Cupid", "Wonderful World", "Chain Gang", "Twistin' the Night Away", "Bring It On Home to Me", and "Good Times".

Cooke's early contributions to soul music aided the rise of Aretha Franklin, Bobby Womack, Al Green, Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and Billy Preston, as well as popularising the work of Otis Redding and James Brown. Cooke was dubbed "the inventor of soul music" by AllMusic biographer Bruce Eder, who described him as having "an incredible natural singing voice and a smooth, effortless delivery that has never been surpassed."

Cooke was also a central part of the Civil Rights Movement, using his influence and popularity with the white and black population to fight for the cause. He was good friends with boxer Muhammad Ali, activist Malcolm X and football player Jim Brown, who together campaigned for racial equality.

Cooke was killed at the age of 33 on December 11, 1964. Police discovered Cooke's body after responding to separate reports of a shooting and a kidnapping at the motel. He had a gunshot wound to the chest that was later found to have pierced his heart. Bertha Franklin, the manager of the motel, claimed she shot him in self-defence. Cooke's acquaintances immediately disputed her account. Evelyn Carr, the owner of the motel, stated that she was on the phone with Franklin at the time of the incident. Carr claimed she overheard Cooke's intrusion, as well as the subsequent conflict and gunshot, and called the cops.

Some of Cooke's family and supporters, however, have rejected Franklin and Carr's version of events.

They believe there was a conspiracy to murder Cooke and that the murder occurred in a way that differed from the official accounts. Singer Etta James who saw Cooke's body before his funeral, questioned the official version of events. She wrote that the injuries she saw were far worse than the official account of Cooke fighting Franklin alone. According to James, "Cooke's head was nearly separated from his shoulders, his hands were broken and crushed, and his nose was mangled." Some believe Cooke's manager, Allen Klein, played a role in his death. Klein owned Tracey, Ltd, which eventually owned all of Cooke's recordings. There has been no concrete evidence presented to support a criminal conspiracy.

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This Day In Music: 10 Dec 2007

Led Zeppelin make a comeback.

Led Zeppelin performed their first concert in 19 years as part of the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert at London's 02 Arena. Jason Bonham, the son of their late drummer John Bonham, joined Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and John Paul Jones on stage. More than a million people voted in a ballot for the 20,000 tickets available for the show, with all proceeds benefiting Ahmet's own charity. Zeppelin played 16 songs, with two encores. Dave Grohl, Jeff Beck, Brian May, David Gilmour, The Edge, Peter Gabriel, Mick Jagger, Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Jerry Hall, Priscilla Presley, and Paris Hilton were among those who attended the show.

In 1968, Led Zeppelin formed in London. The members of the band were vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. They are regarded as one of the forefathers of hard rock and heavy metal, with a heavy, guitar-driven sound, despite drawing influences from a wide range of genres, including blues and folk music. Led Zeppelin are credited with having had a significant impact on the nature of the music industry, particularly in the development of album-oriented rock and stadium rock.

Page wrote most of Led Zeppelin's music, particularly early in their career, while Plant wrote most of the lyrics. Jones's keyboard-based compositions later became central to their music, which featured increasing experimentation. The latter half of their career saw a series of record-breaking tours that earned the group a reputation for excess and debauchery.

Led Zeppelin is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with total worldwide record sales estimated to be between 200 and 300 million units. They had eight consecutive UK number-one albums and six consecutive US Billboard 200 number-one albums, with five of their albums certified Diamond in the US. They were dubbed "the heaviest band of all time," "the biggest band of the Seventies," and "unquestionably one of the most enduring bands in rock history" by Rolling Stone magazine. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995; according to the museum's biography of the band, they were "as influential" in the 1970s as the Beatles were in the 1960s.

On June 27 1980, during a concert in Nuremberg, Germany, John Bonham collapsed onstage and was rushed to hospital in the middle of the third song. The press speculated that his collapse was caused by excessive alcohol and drug use, but the band claimed that he had simply overeaten.

The band's first North American tour since 1977 was set to begin on October 17, 1980. Bonham was picked up by Led Zeppelin assistant Rex King on September 24th to attend rehearsals at Bray Studios. During the trip, Bonham requested a breakfast stop, where he drank four quadruple vodkas with a ham roll. He said to his assistant, "breakfast," after taking a bite of the ham roll. After arriving at the studio, he continued to drink heavily. Late that evening, the rehearsals were called off, and the band retired to Page's home, the Old Mill House in Clewer, Windsor.

Bonham, who had fallen asleep, was taken to bed and placed on his side shortly after midnight. The next day, at 1:45 p.m., Benji LeFevre (Led Zeppelin's new tour manager) and John Paul Jones discovered Bonham dead. The cause of death was asphyxiation from vomit, and the death was determined to be accidental.

The planned North American tour was cancelled and apart from an ill fated Live Aid performance, as well as some private gigs for band members birthdays Led Zeppelin didn't play together until the benefit concert in 2007. Despite almost annual rumours to reform, the band haven't played again in public since.

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This Day In Music: 9 Dec 1967

Jim Morrison arrested after sex in the shower incident.

The Doors performed in New Haven Connecticut, at the New Haven Arena. A police officer discovered singer Jim Morrison having sex with an 18-year-old girl in a backstage shower before the show, and after an argument, the officer sprays mace in Morrison's face. Morrison tells the story of the backstage incident and begins taunting the police officers who drag him off the stage and arrest him. The crowd riots, leaving the venue in disarray, and many people are arrested. Later, more than 100 protestors gathered at the police station, and more arrests were made.

Morrison co-founded the Doors in 1965 in Venice, California, with pianist Ray Manzarek. The group spent two years in obscurity before breaking out with their number-one single in the United States, "Light My Fire," from their self-titled debut album. Morrison recorded six studio albums with the Doors, all of which were commercially successful and critically acclaimed. Morrison was famous for improvising spoken word poetry passages while the band was performing live. Morrison, according to Manzarek, "embodied hippie counterculture rebellion."

Throughout the band's career, Morrison developed an alcohol addiction, which hampered his stage performances at times.  

Morrison announced his intention to go to Paris after recording L.A. Woman with the Doors in Los Angeles. His bandmates thought it was a good idea. In March 1971, he moved to Paris to live with girlfriend Pamela Courson in an apartment she had rented for him at 17–19 Rue Beautreillis in the 4th arrondissement's Le Marais. He described going for long walks through the city alone in letters to friends. He shaved his beard and lost some of the weight he had gained in the previous months during this time.

Courson discovered Morrison's body in the apartment's bathtub around 6:00 a.m. on July 3, 1971. He was 27 years old at the time.  Although no autopsy was performed because it was not required by French law, the official cause of death was listed as heart failure. Several eyewitnesses have also claimed that his death was caused by an accidental heroin overdose.

He died two years to the day after Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones and about nine months after Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, all of whom died at the age of 27, giving rise to the  infamous'27 club.' Courson died of a heroin overdose three years after Morrison, also at the age of 27. Morrison's death has sparked a slew of conspiracy theories in the years since his death.

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This Day In Music: 8 Dec 1980

John Lennon is murdered.

Twenty-five year-old Mark Chapman shot John Lennon five times outside the Dakota building in New York City, where John and his wife Yoko lived. Chapman had been waiting for Lennon outside the Dakota apartments since mid-morning, having requested an autograph earlier in the day. At 11.30 p.m., Lennon was pronounced dead from a massive blood loss. Chapman has since stated that he shot the former Beatle in order to "steal" his fame, claiming that he was now a bigger nobody than he was before. He also revealed that he planned the murder for three months and considered killing other celebrities he considered "phonies."

Lennon, who was born in Liverpool, became involved in the skiffle craze as a teenager. He founded the Quarrymen in 1956, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. He was known as "the smart Beatle" and was the group's de facto leader at first, a position he gradually relinquished to Paul McCartney.

His songs, beginning with "All You Need Is Love," became anthems for the anti-war movement and the larger counterculture. In 1969, he formed the Plastic Ono Band with his second wife, artist Yoko Ono, and staged the two-week-long anti-war protest Bed-Ins for Peace. In late 1969, John Lennon left the Beatles.

As a performer, writer or co-writer, Lennon had 25 number one singles in the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Following the murder, Chapman's legal team planned to mount an insanity defence based on testimony from mental health experts who said he was in a delusional psychotic state. He was more cooperative with the prosecutor, who argued that his symptoms did not meet the criteria for schizophrenia. As the trial approached, he told his lawyers that he wanted to plead guilty based on what he believed to be God's will. Chapman's request was granted, and the judge ruled that he was competent to stand trial. He was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison, with the condition that he receive mental health treatment.

After serving twenty years in prison, Chapman became eligible for parole for the first time in 2000. From that year forward, he is required by New York state law to have a parole hearing every two years. Chapman has been denied parole eleven times since that time by a three-member board. Before Chapman's first parole hearing, Yoko Ono wrote to the board requesting that he be imprisoned for the rest of his life. Furthermore, New York State Senator Michael Nozzolio, chairman of the Senate Crime Victims, Crime, and Correction Committee, wrote to Parole Board Chairman Brion Travis, saying, "It is the New York State Parole Board's responsibility to ensure that public safety is protected from the release of dangerous criminals like Chapman."

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This Day In Music: 7 Dec 1967

Otis Redding started recording (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay.

Otis Redding went into the studio to record the song "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay." The song would go on to become his biggest hit. Redding did not live to see it's release; he died three days later in a plane crash. The first verse of the song, titled 'Dock of the Bay,' was written by Otis Redding on a houseboat at Waldo Point in Sausalito, California, shortly after his appearance at The Monterey Pop Festival. Redding's familiar whistling heard before the song fade was the singer's prank; he had planned to return to the studio at a later date to replace the whistling with words.

Redding was born in Dawson, Georgia, and moved to Macon, Georgia, when he was two years old. Redding dropped out of school at the age of 15 to support his family by working with Little Richard's backing band, the Upsetters, and performing in talent shows at Macon's historic Douglass Theatre. In 1958, he joined Johnny Jenkins' band, the Pinetoppers, as a singer and driver, and toured the Southern states with them. In 1962, an unscheduled appearance on a Stax recording session resulted in a contract and his first hit single, "These Arms of Mine."

Redding wrote and recorded his iconic "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" with Steve Cropper shortly before his death in a plane crash. The song went on to become the first posthumous number-one single on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the R&B charts. The Dock of the Bay became the first posthumous album to debut at number one on the UK Albums Chart. Stax was devastated by Redding's untimely death. Already on the verge of insolvency, the label soon discovered that Atlantic Records' Atco division owned the rights to his entire song catalogue.

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This Day In Music: 6 Dec 1969

Hell's Angels kill a man at a Rolling Stones concert.

The Rolling Stones, along with Jefferson Airplane, Santana, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and Crosby Stills Nash & Young, performed at a free festival in Altamont, California. Meredith Hunter, a Rolling Stones fan, was stabbed to death by Hell's Angels who had been hired to police the event. Hunter is said to have been waving a revolver. Another man drowned, two men were killed in a hit-and-run, and two babies were born.

The hastily planned Altamont Speedway Free Festival, billed as "Woodstock West," descended into shocking violence, leading critics and supporters alike to conclude that the spirit of the 1960s counter-culture movement had died at the motorsports track in northern California on December 6, 1969.

Meredith Curly Hunter, Jr., an African-American from Berkeley, CA, died at the free concert. After sunset, a gang of Hells Angels stabbed and beat Hunter to death while the headline act, the Rolling Stones, performed "Under My Thumb" on a small, crowded stage. Hunter was 18 years old.

Hunter's sister warned him not to attend the day-long festival with his white girlfriend because of racial tensions at the time. Hunter ignored her advice, but he did arm himself with a.22 calibre revolver. The flashy teen donned his signature avocado-coloured zoot suit, a black silk shirt, and a broad-brimmed hat before picking up his girlfriend and another couple in a '65 Mustang.

The Stones had informally hired Hells Angels bikers to secure the stage area for the show in exchange for $500 in beer.

Altamont organisers settled on the race track for the festival just two days before the concert after other locations, including San Francisco, fell through. They were eager to capture the spirit of the successful Woodstock concert held four months prior in upstate New York.

As the sun set, Hunter and his girlfriend made their way to the left side of the stage to see the Rolling Stones. The Hells Angels had been drinking for hours and had parked their bikes in front of the stage, while speed-laced LSD circulated among the crowd. Bikers were seen using pool cues to beat up concertgoers. Marty Balin, a member of the Jefferson Airplane, was not spared. When Balin attempted to intervene in a scuffle that erupted in front of the stage as the Airplane performed, a biker knocked him unconscious.

Throughout the day, footage shows the crowd and biker members becoming increasingly agitated. Meredith was among those in the crowd who pressed forward minutes after the Rolling Stones took the stage.

According to eyewitnesses, a Hells Angel began the altercation by grabbing Hunter's head and punching him. The biker then pursued a fleeing Hunter into the crowd, where four other bikers pounced on him.

Hunter, stumbling and clearly in pain, pulled out the gun. Rather than confronting him and seizing the weapon, Alan Passaro immediately drew a hunting knife from near his ankle, leapt at Meredith, and plunged the blade into his neck.

According to eyewitnesses, other bikers joined in on the beating of Meredith. Hunter was stabbed at least four times and kicked in the head several times. As he lay dying, he allegedly told his assailants that he had no intention of shooting anyone. A biker stepped on his head and warned onlookers not to attempt to help him. "Don't touch him; he's going to die,"

Hunter's body was eventually taken to a tent. He passed away while waiting for an ambulance.

Passaro was later found not guilty of murder because he was deemed to be acting in self-defense.

The Stones reached an agreement with the Hunter family for a reported $10,000. Years after being acquitted of Hunter's murder, Passaro was discovered dead in a lake with ironically $10,000 in his pocket.

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This Day In Music: 5 Dec 1987

Belinda Carlisle tops the charts.

Belinda Carlisle's 'Heaven Is a Place on Earth' reached No. 1 on the US singles chart, marking the ex-Go-Go's member's first solo No. 1, as well as a No. 1 hit in the UK. Carlisle's husband Morgan Mason appears in the promotional video, which was directed by Academy Award-winning actress Diane Keaton.

Carlisle married political operative and film producer Morgan Mason, the son of actor James Mason, in 1986. Carlisle's music videos "Mad About You" and "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" featured him. James Duke Mason, their only child, was born in 1992. Carlisle and her family relocated to Fréjus in south-eastern France following the 1994 Northridge earthquake. They lived between there and the United States. The couple relocated to Bangkok in 2017.

Carlisle developed a serious cocaine and alcohol addiction during the early stages of her time with the Go-Go's that lasted 30 years. Simultaneously, she had developed an eating disorder, which she blamed on media comments about her appearance; her excessive cocaine use assisted in keeping her weight down. Carlisle also admitted to using LSD, quaaludes, and MDA on a regular basis as a teenager and adult. In a 2017 interview with The Guardian, she stated that she "couldn't believe [she wasn't] dead."

At the height of her drug abuse, Carlisle spent three days bingeing cocaine in a London hotel room in 2005. At one point, she recalled looking in the mirror and being concerned that she "didn't see a light or a soul" in her eyes. "I sat in my room all evening and did [cocaine]. I smoked cigarettes, played video games on my laptop, and paced the room in between lines of cocaine. In two days, I must have smoked ten packs of cigarettes." Carlisle claimed she had a vision of herself being discovered dead in a hotel on the third day, which was accompanied by an auditory hallucination in which a loud voice told her, "You are going to die here if you keep going like this." Carlisle says the incident jolted her into seeking sobriety, and she has been sober since 2005.

In 2014, she told The Sydney Morning Herald: "I don't smoke, I don't drink, and I don't do drugs any longer. I am very interested in Buddhism. I considered turning 40 [in 1998] to be a watershed moment in my life." Carlisle states in her autobiography Lips Unsealed: A Memoir that she has practised Nichiren Buddhism as a member of the Soka Gakkai International since 2002, and she frequently mentions Namu Myh Renge Ky in press interviews. She has also said that the practise has helped her stay sober.

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This Day In Music: 4 Dec 1971

The Montreux Casino burns down.

The Montreux Casino in Switzerland burned down during a performance by Frank Zappa. Deep Purple's 'Smoke On The Water' is a song about the incident. The Montreux Jazz Festival, the brainchild of music promoter Claude Nobs, was held at the Casino from 1967. On the night of the fire, Nobs rescued several young people who had hidden in the casino, believing they would be safe from the flames. The outbreak and fire announcement can be heard on a Frank Zappa bootleg album titled Swiss Cheese / Fire.

English rock band Deep Purple  first released "Smoke on the Water"  on their 1972 album Machine Head. The song chronicles the 1971 fire at the Casino and the resulting derailment of the band's plans and schedule for recording the album.

A Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention concert was held in the casino's theatre on the eve of the recording session. This was to be the final concert at the theatre before the casino complex closed for its annual winter renovations, allowing Deep Purple to record there. The place caught fire at the start of Don Preston's synthesiser solo on "King Kong" when someone in the audience fired a flare gun toward the rattan-covered ceiling, as mentioned in the "some stupid with a flare gun" line. Despite the fact that no one was seriously injured, the ensuing fire destroyed the entire casino complex, as well as all of the Mothers' equipment. The "smoke on the water" that became the song's title (credited to bass guitarist Roger Glover, who related how the title came to him when he awoke from a dream a few days later) referred to the smoke from the casino fire spreading over Lake Geneva as Deep Purple members watched from their hotel. "It was probably the biggest fire I'd ever seen up to that point, and probably the biggest fire I'd ever seen in my life," Glover said. "It was a massive structure. Because there didn't appear to be much of a fire at first, there was little panic in getting out. But when it did catch, it exploded like a fireworks display." The "Funky Claude" running in and out refers to Claude Nobs, the director of the Montreux Jazz Festival who assisted some of the audience members in escaping the fire. Zdenk Pika, a Czechoslovak refugee living in Épalinges, was named as a suspect in the case by Swiss police, but he fled Switzerland shortly after.

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This Day In Music: 3 Dec 1976

Pink Floyd’s giant inflatable pig breaks free.

After breaking free from its moorings, a massive 40-foot inflatable pig was seen floating above London, England. The pig, dubbed Algie, was being photographed for the cover of Pink Floyd's forthcoming Animals album. The Civil Aviation Authority issued a warning to all pilots that a flying pig was on the loose. The pig eventually crashed into a barn in Godmersham, Kent, scaring the farmer's cows.

Pink Floyd formed in London in 1964, as one of the first British psychedelic bands. They were notable for their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics, and elaborate live shows. They rose to prominence as a pioneering band in the progressive rock genre, with some hailing them as the greatest progressive rock band of all time.

After early success in Britain with their debut album in 1967, 'The piper at the gates of dawn', the band went through some line-up changes, most notably their creative leader Syd Barrett being replaced by David Gilmour.

This lead to bassist Roger Waters becoming the primary lyricist and thematic leader, responsible for the band's peak success with the albums The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977), and The Wall (1979).

Pink Floyd have sold over 250 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling musicians of all time. The albums Wish You Were Here, The Dark Side of the Moon, and The Wall are among the best-selling albums of all time, with the latter two inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Four of the band's albums charted at the top of the US Billboard 200, and five of their albums charted at the top of the UK Album Chart.

They were inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005.

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This Day In Music: 2 Dec 1983

MTV aired the full 14 minute version of Michael Jackson’s Thriller video.

The video is now regarded as the most influential pop music video of all time, and it was inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 2009, the first music video to receive this honour for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically" significant.

Rod Temperton, an English songwriter who had previously written for Jackson's 1979 album Off the Wall, wrote "Thriller." Temperton wanted to write something theatrical to appeal to Jackson's love of movies. He improvised with bass and drum patterns until he developed the song's bassline, then wrote a chord progression that built to a climax. "I wanted it to build and build – a bit like stretching an elastic band throughout the song to heighten suspense," he explained.

Temperton's first rendition was titled "Starlight," and the chorus lyric was "Give me some starlight / Starlight sun." The production team, led by Quincy Jones, believed the song should be the album's title track, but that "Starlight" was not a strong album title. They preferred something "mysterious to match Michael's evolving persona." Temperton considered a number of titles, including "Midnight Man," which Jones thought was "moving in the right direction." Finally, he came up with "Thriller," but was concerned that it was "a terrible word to sing... It sounded terrible!" We did, however, get Michael to spit it into the microphone a few times, and it worked."

Temperton wrote lyrics in "a couple of hours" after deciding on a title. He had an idea for a spoken-word sequence at the end of the song, but he wasn't sure what shape it should take. It was decided that a well-known horror voice would perform it, and Jones' then-wife, Peggy Lipton, suggested her friend Vincent Price. Temperton wrote the lyrics for Price's part in a taxi on the way to the recording studio on the day of the session.

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This Day In Music: 1 Dec 1990

Vanilla Ice tops the UK charts.

Vanilla Ice began a four-week run at No. 1 in the UK with the single 'Ice Ice Baby' on December 1st, 1990. The bass intro to Queen and David Bowie's No. 1 single 'Under Pressure' was sampled. 'Ice Ice Baby' was originally released as the B-side to the rapper's cover of 'Play That Funky Music,' but it quickly became the A-side after US DJs began playing it.

Vanilla Ice (born Robert Matthew Van Winkle on October 31, 1967) is an American rapper, actor, and television host. He  was born in Dallas and raised in Texas and South Florida.

'Ice Ice Baby' did cause him some legal troubles though. It was based on the bassline of "Under Pressure" by British rock band Queen and British singer David Bowie, who did not receive song-writing credit or royalties until after it had become a hit.

Following the song's success, California rapper Mario "Chocolate" Johnson, a friend of record producer Suge Knight, claimed that he had contributed to the song's writing but had not received credit or royalties. Van Winkle was eating at The Palm in West Hollywood when Knight and two bodyguards arrived. After pushing Van Winkle's bodyguards aside, Knight and his bodyguards sat opposite Van Winkle, staring at him before finally asking, "How you doin'?" Several similar incidents occurred before Knight arrived at Van Winkle's suite on the fifteenth floor of the Bel Age Hotel, accompanied by Johnson and a Los Angeles Raiders player. According to Van Winkle, Knight took him out on the balcony by himself and threatened to throw him off unless he signed over the rights to the song to Knight.

Despite his success, Ice later regretted his business arrangements; he was paid to adopt a more commercial appearance in order to appeal to a larger audience, and fabricated biographical information was published without his knowledge. Mind Blowin', Ice's second mainstream studio album, featured an image change that resulted in a massive drop in popularity.

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This Day In Music: 30 Nov 1982

Michael Jackson releases the album Thriller.

Thriller spent 190 weeks on the UK album chart and went on to become the best-selling pop album of all time, selling over 66 million copies. The album spawned seven singles, including 'Beat It,' which featured guitarists Eddie Van Halen and Steve Lukather on 'Billie Jean.'

Thriller is Michael Jackson's sixth studio album, which was released on November 30, 1982 by Epic Records. Quincy Jones produced it, having previously worked with Jackson on his 1979 album Off the Wall. Jackson desired to make an album in which, "every song was a killer." With the ongoing disco backlash, he took a new musical direction, resulting in a blend of pop, post-disco, rock, funk, and R&B sounds.

Thriller became Jackson's first number one album on the US Billboard Top 200 chart where it spent a record 37 weeks at number one.

By the end of 1983, Thriller had sold 32 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling album of all time. It was the best-selling album in the world in 1983, and it was the first to be the best-selling album in the United States for two years in a row, in 1983 and 1984. The album helped Jackson break down racial barriers in popular music, allowing him to appear on MTV and meet with President Ronald Reagan at the White House. It was one of the first to use music videos as promotional tools; the videos for "Billie Jean," "Beat It," and "Thriller" are credited with elevating music videos to the status of a serious art form. With its songs, music videos, and promotion strategies, the album's success set the standard for the music industry, influencing artists, record labels, producers, marketers, and choreographers.

Thriller remains the best-selling album of all time, with sales of 70 million copies worldwide.

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This Day In Music: 29 Nov 2001

Beatles guitarist George Harrison dies.

On the 29th November 2001, George Harrison the guitarist for the Beatles, died of lung cancer in Los Angeles at the age of 58. Following The Beatles' breakup, Harrison went on to have a successful solo career and later as a member of the Traveling Wilburys. His compositions include 'Taxman,' 'Here Comes the Sun,' 'Something,' and 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps.' He was the Beatles' youngest member (he was 16 when he joined). In 1970 Harrison released the critically acclaimed triple album All Things Must Pass, which yielded the worldwide No. 1 single 'My Sweet Lord.'

Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian culture and helped broaden the scope of popular music through his incorporation of Indian instrumentation and Hindu-aligned spirituality in the Beatles' work

George Formby and Django Reinhardt were among Harrison's earliest musical influences, followed by Carl Perkins, Chet Atkins, and Chuck Berry. By 1965, he was leading the Beatles into folk rock with his interest in Bob Dylan and the Byrds, and into Indian classical music with his use of the sitar on "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)." He was the driving force behind the band's embrace of Transcendental Meditation in 1967, and he later became involved with the Hare Krishna movement.

He also co-organized the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh with Indian musician Ravi Shankar, which served as a forerunner to later benefit concerts like Live Aid. Harrison worked as a music and film producer for the Beatles' Apple record label before launching Dark Horse Records in 1974 and co-founding HandMade Films in 1978.

As a solo performer, Harrison had several chart-topping singles and albums. He co-founded the platinum-selling supergroup the Traveling Wilburys in 1988. He was a prolific recording artist who appeared as a guest guitarist on tracks by Badfinger, Ronnie Wood, and Billy Preston, among others, and collaborated on songs and music with Dylan, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, and Tom Petty. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him 11th among the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time." He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, once as a member of the Beatles in 1988, and once posthumously for his solo career in 2004.

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Born Today In Music

Berry Gordy, founder of Motown Records.

Berry Gordy Jr was born in Detroit, Michigan on 28 November 1929. The seventh of eight children, Gordy dropped out of high school in the eleventh grade to become a professional boxer in hopes of becoming rich quickly; he boxed professionally until 1950, when he was drafted by the United States Army in 1951 for service in the Korean War. Arriving in Korea in May 1952, Gordy was first assigned to the 58th Field Artillery Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, near Panmunjom. He later became a chaplain's assistant, driving a jeep and playing the organ at religious services at the front. His tour in the Korean War was completed in April 1953. He obtained a General Educational Development degree.

After his return from Korea in 1953, Gordy pursued his musical interests by writing songs and opening the 3-D Record Mart, a record store that featured jazz music and 3-D glasses. The store failed, and Gordy sought employment at the Lincoln-Mercury plant, but his family connections put him in touch with Al Green (no relation to the singer Reverend Al Green), owner of the Flame Show Bar Talent Club, where he met Jackie Wilson.

Wilson recorded "Reet Petite," a song Gordy co-wrote with his sister Gwen and writer-producer Billy Davis, in 1957. It was a minor hit, but it was more successful internationally, particularly in the United Kingdom, where it reached the Top 10 and later topped the chart on re-release in 1986. Over the next two years, Wilson recorded six more songs co-written by Gordy, including "Lonely Teardrops," which topped the R&B charts and reached number 7 on the pop chart. At Chess Records, the Gordy brothers and Davis also wrote "All I Could Do Was Cry" for Etta James.

Gordy put the money he made from his song writing success back into production. He discovered the Miracles (originally known as the Matadors) in 1957 and began amassing a portfolio of successful artists. Gordy borrowed $800 from his family to start an R&B record label in 1959, with the encouragement of Miracles leader Smokey Robinson.

The company began operating on January 12, 1959 under the name Tamla Records with several sister labels, one of which was Motown. In 1960 the Tamla and Motown labels were merged to form Motown Record Corporation.

Gordy's gift for identifying and bringing together musical talent, along with the careful management of his artists' public image, made Motown a major national and then international success. Over the next decade, he signed such artists as the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, Jimmy Ruffin, the Contours, the Four Tops, Gladys Knight & the Pips, the Commodores, the Velvelettes, Martha and the Vandellas, Stevie Wonder and the Jackson 5.

In 1988, Gordy was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 1998, he was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame, and in 2009, he was inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame.

On June 13, 2013, Gordy became the first living person to be awarded the Songwriters Hall of Fame's Pioneer Award.

President Barack Obama awarded Gordy the National Medal of Arts in 2016 "assisting in the development of a trailblazing new sound in American music He helped build Motown as a record producer and songwriter, launching the careers of countless legendary artists. His distinct voice aided in shaping the storey of our country."

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This Day In Music: 27 Nov 1942

This day in music 1942, guitarist Jimi Hendrix was born.

James Marshall Hendrix, born Johnny Allen Hendrix on the 27th November 1942 in Seattle Washington.

Despite the fact that his mainstream career lasted only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most influential electric guitarists in popular music history, as well as one of the most celebrated musicians of the twentieth century. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he is "arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music."

Hendrix, who was born in Seattle, Washington, began playing guitar at the age of 15. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1961, but was discharged the following year. Soon after, he relocated to Clarksville, Tennessee, and began working on the chitlin' circuit, earning a spot in the Isley Brothers' backing band and later with Little Richard, with whom he worked until mid-1965. He then worked with Curtis Knight and the Squires before relocating to England in late 1966, after Animals bassist Chas Chandler became his manager. Within months, Hendrix and the Jimi Hendrix Experience had three UK top ten hits: "Hey Joe," "Purple Haze," and "The Wind Cries Mary." He rose to prominence in the United States following his appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, and his third and final studio album, Electric Ladyland, debuted at number one in the country in 1968. Hendrix's most commercially successful release, as well as his first and only number one album, was the double LP. He was the world's highest-paid performer, headlining the Woodstock Festival in 1969 and the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970 before passing away on September 18, 1970, in London, from barbiturate-related asphyxia.

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This Day In Music: 26 Nov 1968

On the 26th November 1968 Cream performed their farewell concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

Yes and Taste were also on the bill. The concert was filmed and released as Cream’s Farewell Concert, which was widely panned for its mediocre sound and visual effects: during Ginger Baker’s drum solo, he appears to change clothes at breakneck speed due to careless post-editing.

Cream were a British rock band that formed in 1966 in London. The band’s members included bassist Jack Bruce, guitarist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker. Although Clapton and Baker also sang and contributed songs, Bruce was the primary songwriter and vocalist. They are widely regarded as the world’s first supergroup, formed from members of previously successful bands. Cream were well-known for the instrumental prowess of each of their members. Tensions between Bruce and Baker led to their decision to split up in May 1968, though the band was persuaded to record a final album, Goodbye, and tour, culminating in two final farewell concerts at the Royal Albert Hall on November 25 and 26, 1968, which were filmed and shown in theatres, then released as a home video, Farewell Concert, in 1977.

Blind Faith, a band that included both Clapton and Baker, was formed following the demise of Cream, as a result of Clapton’s attempt to recruit Steve Winwood into Cream in the hope that he would act as a buffer between Bruce and Baker. Clapton was influenced by more song-based acts and went on to perform very different, less improvisational material with Delaney & Bonnie, Derek and the Dominos, and in his own long and varied solo career.

With the release of Songs for a Tailor in 1969, Bruce launched a varied and successful solo career, while Baker formed Ginger Baker’s Air Force from the ashes of Blind Faith, featuring Winwood, Blind Faith bassist Rick Grech, Graham Bond on saxophone, and Moody Blues guitarist Denny Laine.

After Cream, all three members continued to explore new musical ideas and partnerships, perform concerts, and record music for over four decades.

In 1993, Cream were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They were included in both Rolling Stone and VH1’s lists of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”, at number 67 and 61 respectively. They were also ranked number 16 on VH1’s “100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock”.

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This Day In Music: 25 Nov 2003

This day in music 2003, singer Glen Campbell is arrested.

Glen Campbell was arrested in Phoenix, Arizona, with a .20 blood alcohol level after his BMW collided with a Toyota Camry. He was charged with 'extreme' drunk driving, hit-and-run, and assault on a police officer. Campbell hummed his hit 'Rhinestone Cowboy' repeatedly while in custody, according to a police officer.

Campbell, who was born in Billstown Arkansas, began his professional career as a studio musician in Los Angeles, where he spent several years with the group of instrumentalists later known as "The Wrecking Crew." After becoming a solo artist, he charted a total of 80 songs on the Billboard Country Chart, Billboard Hot 100 Chart, or Adult Contemporary Chart, with 29 reaching the top ten and nine reaching number one on at least one of those charts.

Campbell announced in June 2011 that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease six months earlier. In 2014, he was admitted to an Alzheimer's long-term care and treatment facility. The documentary Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me, directed by long-time friend James Keach, examined Campbell's Alzheimer's diagnosis and how it affected his musical performances during his final tour across the United States with his family that same year. The documentary received critical acclaim, and it was one of the few films to receive a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Campbell died on August 8, 2017, at the age of 81, in Nashville, Tennessee. He was laid to rest in Billstown Arkansas, at the Campbell family cemetery.

Kim Campbell, Campbell's wife of 34 years, published Gentle on My Mind: In Sickness and in Health with Glen Campbell, a memoir of their life together, in June 2020.