Today in History

[MisterCairo]

I wish Canada had a drinking song anthem...

 

[GHT]

I wish Canada had a drinking song anthem...

A poster in the students union room, way back in my college days, had the graffiti: "Dean Martin saw the poster, Drink Canada Dry, so he went there and did."
But as I was ignorant of the beverage called Canada Dry, the joke was lost on me.

 

[GHT]

The first time that I ever heard My Country 'Tis of Thee, was in Savanah GA. I couldn't believe the tune: God Save The Queen: I remember researching it: More royalties:
Samuel Francis Smith wrote the lyrics to "My Country 'Tis of Thee" in 1831, while he was a student at the Andover Theological Seminary in Andover, Massachusetts. His friend Lowell Mason had asked him to translate the lyrics in some German school songbooks or to write new lyrics. A melody in Muzio Clementi's Symphony No. 3 (also called 'The Great National' and contains the melody of 'God Save the Queen' as a tribute to Clementi's adopted country) caught his attention. Rather than translating the lyrics from German, Smith wrote his own American patriotic hymn to the melody, completing the lyrics in thirty minutes.
Smith gave Mason the lyrics he had written and the song was first performed in public on July 4, 1831, at a children's Independence Day celebration at Park Street Church in Boston. First publication of "America" was in 1832.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

This day in 1901, the 25th president of the United States, William McKinley, died from gangrene havng been shot 8 days previously by anarchist, Leon Czolgosz.

This day in 1944, Maastricht was liberated by the Allies. It was the first city in the netherlands to be liberated.

 

[2jakes]

1901 Theodore Roosevelt is sworn in as the youngest man to serve as US President, after William McKinley finally dies after an anarchist shoots him in Buffalo.

 

[GHT]

On this day in 1752, the 3rd of September became the 14th as the Gregorian Calendar was introduced into Britain. Crowds of people rioted on the streets demanding, 'Give us back our 11 days.'

On this day in 1852 The Duke of Wellington, victor at Waterloo, died aged 83. He was known as the Iron Duke and was Prime Minister from 1828-30.

Anyone into golf? On this day in 1868, at the Open Championships at Prestwick, the legendary Scottish golfer Tom Morris scored the first recorded hole-in-one, on the 8th hole (166 yards).

 

[Woodtroll]

1901 Theodore Roosevelt is sworn in as the youngest man to serve as US President, after William McKinley finally dies after an anarchist shoots him in Buffalo.
View attachment 135571

He was one of the great ones. I was once asked in an interview, "If you could go back in history to meet any person except Jesus, who would it be?" My answer was, "Theodore Roosevelt".

 

[GHT]

On this day in 1934, saw the birth of Brian Epstein, best known for being the manager of The Beatles until his death in 1967. Decca declined to sign the Beatles to a contract and after approaching nearly all of the major recording companies in London and being rejected, Epstein met a record producer, George Martin, who offered a contract on behalf of EMI's small Parlophone label.

A fascinating footnote to Decca's rejection is that of Dick Rowe. In 1962, he was the head of A&R at Decca Records, and the man who infamously turned down signing a promising new group called the Beatles to his label. While lightening usually doesn't strike twice, Rowe was not about to let this blunder happen again.
On a recommendation by none other than Beatle, George Harrison, Rowe ventured out to catch another promising new act called the Rolling Stones. On May 5, 1963, Rowe caught the band at the Crawdaddy Club in London; within the week, the band was signed to the label.

 

[Fading Fast]

On this day in 1934, saw the birth of Brian Epstein, best known for being the manager of The Beatles until his death in 1967. Decca declined to sign the Beatles to a contract and after approaching nearly all of the major recording companies in London and being rejected, Epstein met a record producer, George Martin, who offered a contract on behalf of EMI's small Parlophone label.

A fascinating footnote to Decca's rejection is that of Dick Rowe. In 1962, he was the head of A&R at Decca Records, and the man who infamously turned down signing a promising new group called the Beatles to his label. While lightening usually doesn't strike twice, Rowe was not about to let this blunder happen again.
On a recommendation by none other than Beatle, George Harrison, Rowe ventured out to catch another promising new act called the Rolling Stones. On May 5, 1963, Rowe caught the band at the Crawdaddy Club in London; within the week, the band was signed to the label.

Only 'cause I'm a Stones fanatic, I did know (most of) that incredible story. Decca (and subsequent owners of Decca) have made a ridiculous amount of money from those early Stones' recordings. I often think about that when I hear a twenty second cut from an early Stones' song being used in a movie, a commercial or something - you know that somewhere, the Decca cash register is ringing.

 

[GHT]

Only 'cause I'm a Stones fanatic, I did know (most of) that incredible story. Decca (and subsequent owners of Decca) have made a ridiculous amount of money from those early Stones' recordings. I often think about that when I hear a twenty second cut from an early Stones' song being used in a movie, a commercial or something - you know that somewhere, the Decca cash register is ringing.

At the time, the British Press implied that there was some sort of competitive feud between the two bands but in reality that was nothing more than spin, and if it kept both relative newcomers in the public eye, so much the better. Here's Wiki's take on it:

Released as their second single on 1 November 1963, the Stones' version was an early hit, peaking at number 12 on the British chart. Their rendition features Brian Jones' distinctive slide guitar and Bill Wyman's driving bass playing. It is one of the few Rolling Stones songs to feature only Brian Jones on backing vocals. In the US, the song was initially released as London 45-LON 9641 (with "Stoned" on the B side) without any success and was soon after re-released on 6 March 1964 as the B-side to "Not Fade Away".

According to various accounts, either the Rolling Stones' manager/producer Andrew Loog Oldham or the Rolling Stones themselves ran into Lennon and McCartney on the street as the two were returning from an awards luncheon. Hearing that the band were in need of material for a single, Lennon and McCartney went to their session at De Lane Lea Studio and finished off the song – whose verse they had already been working on – in the corner of the room, while the impressed Rolling Stones, watched.

The song is, "I Wanna Be Your Man." The probable truth about the two bands relationship is that The Beatles played a gig at the LSE where Mick Jagger was a student, later Jagger met George Harrison and found that they shared a love of early African American music, hence The Stones Elmore James style of their rendition of I Wanna Be Your Man. You can hear that influence on The Stones version of Not Fade Away. It's much more Bo Diddley than Buddy Holly.

The Rolling Stones also had a bad boy reputation, which according to Bill Wyman, on a radio interview that I heard, many years later, was deliberately contrived to give them an 'edge' over other bands of the time. But in truth, The Stones were both hard working and appreciative of the music that had gone before. I heard that from Keith Richard, praising the Everley Brothers, whom they did a UK tour with, in their early years.

 

[Fading Fast]

At the time, the British Press implied that there was some sort of competitive feud between the two bands but in reality that was nothing more than spin, and if it kept both relative newcomers in the public eye, so much the better. Here's Wiki's take on it:

Released as their second single on 1 November 1963, the Stones' version was an early hit, peaking at number 12 on the British chart. Their rendition features Brian Jones' distinctive slide guitar and Bill Wyman's driving bass playing. It is one of the few Rolling Stones songs to feature only Brian Jones on backing vocals. In the US, the song was initially released as London 45-LON 9641 (with "Stoned" on the B side) without any success and was soon after re-released on 6 March 1964 as the B-side to "Not Fade Away".

According to various accounts, either the Rolling Stones' manager/producer Andrew Loog Oldham or the Rolling Stones themselves ran into Lennon and McCartney on the street as the two were returning from an awards luncheon. Hearing that the band were in need of material for a single, Lennon and McCartney went to their session at De Lane Lea Studio and finished off the song – whose verse they had already been working on – in the corner of the room, while the impressed Rolling Stones, watched.

The song is, "I Wanna Be Your Man." The probable truth about the two bands relationship is that The Beatles played a gig at the LSE where Mick Jagger was a student, later Jagger met George Harrison and found that they shared a love of early African American music, hence The Stones Elmore James style of their rendition of I Wanna Be Your Man. You can hear that influence on The Stones version of Not Fade Away. It's much more Bo Diddley than Buddy Holly.

The Rolling Stones also had a bad boy reputation, which according to Bill Wyman, on a radio interview that I heard, many years later, was deliberately contrived to give them an 'edge' over other bands of the time. But in truth, The Stones were both hard working and appreciative of the music that had gone before. I heard that from Keith Richard, praising the Everley Brothers, whom they did a UK tour with, in their early years.

All form my collective memory of reading too many books and watching too many documenataries on the Stones over the past forty or so years, that all seems consistent with what I know.

 

[GHT]

I often think about that when I hear a twenty second cut from an early Stones' song being used in a movie, a commercial or something - you know that somewhere, the Decca cash register is ringing.

You sound like Roger Daltrey of The Who. Pete Townsend's song: "Who Are You" is the theme to the TV show CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Did you know that an episode even took its title from the song? Also in the series 150th episode, Roger Daltrey himself guest-starred in the season 7 episode "Living Legend." Daltrey admitted that the royalties the band has earned from the use of that song in a popular television show, has made ten times or more than it did when it was released.

 

[Fading Fast]

You sound like Roger Daltrey of The Who. Pete Townsend's song: "Who Are You" is the theme to the TV show CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Did you know that an episode even took its title from the song? Also in the series 150th episode, Roger Daltrey himself guest-starred in the season 7 episode "Living Legend." Daltrey admitted that the royalties the band has earned from the use of that song in a popular television show, has made ten times or more than it did when it was released.

And to think, Andrew Loog Oldham (the first Stones manager) had to force Mick and Keith to write songs as, until then, they just played covers. One can only imagine the money that pours into their pockets everyday from the decades of songs they wrote.

 

[1mach1]

Today in 1957, the first underground nuclear test takes place in Nevada.

 

[GHT]

On this day in 1964, The Beatles' first US tour ended with a charity concert in New York. The Beatles were due onstage at 10.45pm but the other acts' sets were cut so they could go on 45 minutes earlier. Outside the Paramount Theatre 200 police officers attempted to control 100,000 fans. Tickets for the concert had been sold for up to $100, to a combination of young fans and New York's wealthy elite; and 3,682 people were in attendance. Ed Sullivan paid a backstage visit to The Beatles, and Gloria Steinem was reporting for Cosmopolitan magazine. Afterwards the group stayed at the Riviera Motel near John F Kennedy International Airport. They were accompanied by Bob Dylan and his manager Albert Grossman.

Ticket for The Beatles at the Paramount Theatre, New York City, 20 September 1964

 

[GHT]

On this day, September 2nd, 1692. The last people were hanged for witchcraft in Britain's North American colonies.
The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused, nineteen of whom were found guilty and executed by hanging (fourteen women and five men). One other man was pressed to death for refusing to plead, and at least five people died in jail. It was the deadliest witch hunt in the history of the United States.

 

[GHT]

Are there any scuba divers amongst you? On this day in 1641 The Merchant Royal, a 17th century English merchant ship was lost at sea off Land's End. On board were at least 100,000 pounds of gold (nearly one billion pounds in today's money), 400 bars of Mexican silver and nearly 500,000 pieces of eight and other coins, making it one of the most valuable wrecks of all times. The wreck remains undiscovered.

 

[GHT]

On this day in 1888, the first use of the name, 'Jack the Ripper' in an anonymous letter to the Central News Agency. He went on to kill five women, and it's believed he may have been responsible for the deaths of four more.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

This day in 1955, a certain James Dean had a rendez-vous with destiny & entered the halls of legend. He was 24. An icon was born.

 

[Peacoat]

100 years ago today Henry Ford introduced the Model T. Came in one color only.