The single was recorded on March 6, 1959 with Ben E. King as the lead vocalist.
Here comes “There Goes My Baby”:
Posted 4-24-24
‘Anyone Who Had A Heart’
By Steven Brodsky
… to commemorate Dusty Springfield’s birthday:
Dusty Springfield was born 85 years ago on April 16, 1939.
Posted 4-16-24
Many people found it easy to love Minnie Riperton’s recording of ‘Lovin’ You’
By Steven Brodsky
… 49 years ago, when the single for the song arrived at the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on April 5, 1975.
You’ll likely love listening to the recording today.
Posted 4-5-24
Remembering Solomon Burke (March 21, 1940 – October 10, 2010) on Solomon Burke’s birthday
By Steven Brodsky
Solomon Burke, Grammy-winner and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, was born in West Philadelphia. His records and concerts influenced some of the greatest artists in soul, rock, and other genres.
… and read the chapter “The Song of Solomon: A Triptych” in Peter Guralnick’s excellent Looking to Get Lost: Adventures in Music and Writing.
On July 19, 2002, the City of Philadelphia honored Solomon Burke by declaring the day to be Solomon Burke Day.
I had the honor of doing a longform radio interview with Solomon Burke. The interview aired live on May 21, 2010.
Posted 3-21-24
Whether or not the song character in ‘I’m Not in Love’ was in love
By Steven Brodsky
… 49 years after 10cc’s The Original Soundtrack album was released, “I’m Not in Love” (on one of the album’s tracks) continues to be loved by many people.
The Original Soundtrack was released on March 11, 1975.
Posted 3-11-24
Janis Joplin’s album ‘Pearl’ was at the top of the Billboard 200 chart 53 years ago
By Steven Brodsky
… on February 27, 1971; it would go on to be in the number one position on that chart for a total of nine weeks.
The album had been released on January 11, 1971.
Janis Joplin passed away on October 4, 1970 at age 27.
Posted 2-27-24
Fifty-one years ago, Bruce Springsteen performed a concert at Villanova University’s St. Mary’s Hall auditorium
By Steven Brodsky
… That concert took place on January 16, 1973 before an audience of only fifty or fewer people because advertising for the concert could not run in a campus newspaper (because of a newspaper strike) and because The Boss was young in his career.
How young? Springsteen’s debut studio album, Greetings from Asbury Park, was newly released; the album was released on January 5, 1973.
“Spirit in the Night,” a track from Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ:
Posted 1-16-24
There weren’t many attendees at Bob Dylan’s Carnegie Hall debut performance
By Steven Brodsky
… nearly 62 years ago, on Saturday, November 4, 1961. Reportedly, 53 people purchased tickets to see the then 20-year old Dylan perform in a small auditorium that was located in Carnegie Hall. Tickets were priced at $2.00.
Bob Dylan did not perform “Blowin’ in the Wind.”
The song hadn’t been released nor had it been recorded.
Bob Dylan recorded “Blowin’ in the Wind” on July 9, 1962 at Columbia Recording Studios.
The recording was released on the A-side of a single on August 13, 1963 (the B-side is “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”); it appears as a track on the album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, released on May 27, 1963.
Bob Dylan’s Philadelphia debut didn’t draw much of crowd either, as this concert too was performed prior to the release of “Blowin’ in the Wind.” Gene Shay invited Dylan to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to perform the concert. The concert took place on Saturday, May 3, 1963 at the Philadelphia Ethical Society building on Rittenhouse Square. Approximately 45 people were in attendance. Tickets were priced at $1.50.
A few months before Bob Dylan’s Philadelphia debut, Dylan performed “Blowin’ in the Wind” on a television show:
Gene Shay told me that Dylan’s Philadelphia debut concert almost didn’t take place: the sound system components for the concert were inaccessible.
Gene Shay passed away from COVID-19 on April 17, 2020. He is greatly missed.
Posted 10-4-23
‘Mercy,’ indeed
By Steven Brodsky
… Roy Orbison’s ‘Oh, Pretty Woman’ was released 59 years ago.
Released on August 29, 1964:
Posted 8-29-23
There’s a bluebird in many hearts
By Steven Brodsky
… whose presence may be more apparent today, the birthday of Charles Bukowski (August 16, 1920 – March 9, 1994).
A recitation of Charles Bukowski’s “Bluebird”:
Miranda Lambert co-wrote and recorded “Bluebird.” The song was penned with some inspiration from the same-named Bukowski poem.
Shel Silverstein’s ‘A Boy Named Sue’ was released by Johnny Cash 54 years ago, on July 26, 1969
By Steven Brodsky
Shel Silverstein, a creative genius, wrote many other songs. He was a children’s book author, a cartoonist, and he was a poet. Read about the life of Shel Silverstein in the book A Boy Named Shel, by Lisa Rogak.
Posted 7-26-23
‘I was glad to get it over with, and I thought that would be the last of it.’
By Steven Brodsky
… said Freddy Fender about recording “Before the Next Teardrop Falls.”
Of course, it wasn’t the last of it: many millions of people would hear and adore the record.
“Before the Next Teardrop Falls” was released on February 1, 1975.
It arrived at the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on May 31, 1975 (and would remain on that chart for a total of 21 weeks).
On the 48th anniversary of the record reaching the summit of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, enjoy:
Freddy Fender was born Baldemar Huerta, in 1937, in a Texas border town. He was the son of migrant workers.
Freddy Fender served in the U.S. Marines for three years.
After his discharge, he achieved recognition as a singer of Spanish translations of rock and roll and other songs.
In 1960, his release of “Wasted Days and Wasted Nights” took off in the U.S. This national breakthrough was soon tamped down by a prison sentence. He served nearly three years of a five-year sentence in a very tough Louisiana prison for possessing two marijuana joints.
After his prison release, there was a long period of time working various jobs—with music a part-time endeavor.
While Freddy Fender was at work in a car wash, a record producer heard him singing and recognized his voice. Freddy was handed the producer’s business card. The encounter resulted in Freddy returning to recording.
Janis Ian, born in New Jersey on April 7, 1951, turned 71 years old today.
Happy birthday wishes to Janis Ian.
The song begs the question: What “truths,” dear readers, did you or will you learn at seventeen? There are some “truths” that are best unlearned.
Posted 4-7-23
An extraordinary marketing coup on behalf of a charitable effort
By Steven Brodsky
… occurred 38 years ago, on April 5, 1985, when thousands of radio stations across the globe simultaneously aired the single for “We Are the World.” This helped to ensure that the “We Are the World” single and video releases on behalf of those who had been suffering from a famine in Africa would be tremendously successful.
Posted 4-5-23
Imagination
By Steven Brodsky
… it can run away with us, as it did for the guy in the song that was in the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart 52 years ago on April 3, 1971. That song, “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me),” recorded by The Temptations, would go on to occupy a spot on that chart for a total of 15 weeks.
Imagine watching a great cover performance by the Rolling Stones of “Just My Imagination, (Running Away With Me).”
Even better, just watch this:
Posted 4-3-23
On the 83rd anniversary of Woody Guthrie penning the lyrics to ‘This Land is Your Land’
By Steven Brodsky
Woody Guthrie wrote the lyrics to “This Land is Your Land” on February 23, 1940 in a hotel that was located on the northwest corner of 43rd Street and Sixth Avenue in Manhattan (Sixth Avenue is now also known as Avenue of the Americas).
He was the ‘Jackie Robinson of television’; on his ‘show rode the hopes and fears and dreams of millions of people’; his show debuted nationally on November 5, 1956
By Steven Brodsky
… He was Nat King Cole, the first African American to host a television show on nationwide television. That show was TheNat King Cole Show. Today is the 66th anniversary of the national debut of the Nat King Show on NBC TV.
Nat King Cole ranks among the most acclaimed jazz and pop musicians of all time. Born as Nathaniel Adams Coles in Montgomery Alabama in 1919, he would go on to achieve recording and concert performance success that was nearly unmatched by others of his generation. “Mona Lisa,” “Unforgettable,” “The Christmas Song,” are among the nearly 700 songs that he recorded. Well over 100 of Nat King Cole’s records charted. He was a prominent presence on national television shows (he appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show on six occasions).
The Nat King Cole Show was popular and attracted some of the most sought-after entertainers, but it could not secure a national sponsor (other than a few sponsors for brief periods of time before the show expanded from 15 minutes to a half hour). There were 30 sponsors with cooperative arrangements supporting the show across the country on local stations, but nationwide—not one.
In an essay in the February 1, 1958 issue of Ebony titled “WHY I QUIT MY TV SHOW” by Nat King Cole (as told to Lerone Bennett Jr.), Nat King Cole said, “For 13 months, I was the Jackie Robinson of television… On my show rode the hopes and fears and dreams of millions of people.”
