“People said I’d never make 35, then I’d never make 40, 45; now I’m almost 50, so Im beginning to think maybe they might be wrong.”
– Chet Baker
Continue reading “December 23: The late Chet Baker was born in 1929”
Music Calendar
December 20: The Beatles’ 1968 Christmas Record
The first Beatles Christmas fan-club disc to be recorded separately, the 1968 offering is a collage of odd noises, musical snippets, and individual messages. McCartney’s song “Happy Christmas, Happy New Year” is featured, along with John’s poems “Jock and Yono” and “Once Upon a Pool Table.” Also notable is a rendition of “Nowhere Man” by the ukulele-playing Tiny Tim. Also included is a sped-up snippet of the Beatles’ own “Helter Skelter” and a brief snippet of Perrey & Kingsley’s “Baroque Hoedown” which was used three years later in Disneyland’s Main Street Electrical Parade. “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” and “Birthday” are also heard in the background for part of the message.The dialogue and songs for the flexi-disc were organised and edited together by DJ and friend of the Beatles, Kenny Everett.
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December 20: Pat Hare was born in 1930
If highly distorted guitar played with a ton of aggression and just barely suppressed violence is your idea of great blues, then Pat Hare’s your man.
~Cub Koda (allmusic.com)….Auburn “Pat” Hare, the most aggressive picker to work at Phillips’ studio [Sun Studions that is]. Together, Hare and James Cotton produced one of the truly great blues recordings, “Cotton Crop Blues.”
~From the book: “Good Rockin’ Tonight: Sun Records and the Birth of Rock ‘N’ Roll“
James Cotton (Pat Hare on guitar) – Cotton Crop Blues (May 1954):
December 19: The Beatles’ Seventh Christmas Record: Happy Christmas 1969
The final Beatles Christmas offering was also recorded separately, as the band had effectively split by this point. It features an extensive visit with John and Yoko at their Tittenhurst Park estate, where they play “what will Santa bring me?” games. Harrison only appears briefly, and Starr only shows up to plug his recent film, The Magic Christian. Paul sings his original ad-lib, This is to Wish You a Merry, Merry Christmas. Starting at 1:30, at the tail-end of Ringo’s song, the guitar solos from The End are heard, followed by Yoko interviewing John.
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December 19: Carl Perkins recorded Blue Suede Shoes in 1955
“Blue Suede Shoes” is a rock and roll standard written and first recorded by Carl Perkins in 1955 and is considered one of the first rockabilly (rock and roll) records and incorporated elements of blues, country and pop music of the time. Perkins’ original version of the song was on the Cashbox Best Selling Singles list for 16 weeks, and spent 2 weeks in the No. 2 position.
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December 17: The Beatles’ Third Christmas Record 1965
Several off-key, a cappella versions of Yesterday are dispersed throughout the record, alongside Lennon’s Happy Christmas to Ya List’nas, Auld Lang Syne, a one-and-a-half-line version of the Four Tops’ It’s the Same Old Song, which they quickly stop before they violate the copyright, and an original poem titled Christmas Comes But Once a Year. A second version of Auld Lang Syne segues messily into a cover of Barry McGuire’s Eve of Destruction. I find this both funny and interesting and my favorite among the Christmas records.
Continue reading “December 17: The Beatles’ Third Christmas Record 1965”