single

November 29: I want to hold your hand by The Beatles was released in 1963

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and recorded in October 1963, it was the first Beatles record to be made using four-track equipment.

With advance orders exceeding one million copies in the United Kingdom, “I Want to Hold Your Hand” would have gone straight to the top of the British record charts on its day of release (29 November 1963) had it not been blocked by the group’s first million seller “She Loves You”, their previous UK single, which was having a resurgence of popularity following intense media coverage of the group. Continue reading “November 29: I want to hold your hand by The Beatles was released in 1963” →

November 24: The Beatles released Hello, Goodbye / I Am The Walrus in 1967

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

The Beatles’ third single of 1967 was released in the UK on November 24: ‘Hello, Goodbye’, with ‘I Am The Walrus’ on the b-side (The single was released on 27 November in the US.)

“Hello, Goodbye” is written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. Backed by John Lennon’s “I Am the Walrus“, it was issued as a non-album single in November 1967, the group’s first release since the death of their manager, Brian Epstein. The single was commercially successful around the world, topping charts in the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada, Australia and several other countries. Continue reading “November 24: The Beatles released Hello, Goodbye / I Am The Walrus in 1967” →

November 12: Bob Dylan released the single George Jackson in 1971

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

Sometimes I think this whole world
Is one big prison yard.
Some of us are prisoners
The rest of us are guards.

“George Jackson” is a song by Bob Dylan, written in 1971, about the Black Panther leader George Jackson, who had been shot and killed by guards at San Quentin Prison on August 21, 1971, during an attempted escape from prison. The event indirectly provoked the Attica Prison riot.

There are controversies about how Dylan portrays George Jackson. Several writers have argued that Bob Dylan’s lyrics are a bit lacking in the facts department.

Continue reading “November 12: Bob Dylan released the single George Jackson in 1971” →

September 20: Everyday/Peggy Sue the single was released by Buddy Holly in 1957

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

peggy_sue_nor_va_jak_1957

“Peggy Sue” is a rock and roll song written by Buddy Holly, Jerry Allison, and Norman Petty, recorded  early July of 1957. The Crickets are not mentioned on label of the single (Coral 9-61885), but band members Joe B. Mauldin (string bass) and Jerry Allison (drums) played on the recording. This recording was also released on Holly’s eponymous 1958 album.

The song went to number 3 on the Billboard Top 100 chart in 1957.

In 1999, National Public Radio (NPR) included “Peggy Sue” on the NPR 100, a list of the “100 most important American musical works of the 20th century”. The song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. Acclaimed Music ranked it as the 106th greatest song of all time and the third best song of 1957. Rolling Stone magazine ranked it number 197 on its list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” in 2010.  The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum placed the song on its list of the “Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll”.

Peggy Sue (tv performance from Dec. 1957):

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January 6: Chuck Berry recorded the classic Johnny B. Goode in 1958

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

DeepdowninLouisiana’crossfromNewOrleans,
waybackupinthewoodsamongtheevergreens.
There stood a log cabin made of earth and wood
Where lived a country boy named Johnny B. Goode,
Who never ever learned to read or write so well
But he could play a guitar just like a ringin’ a bell.

You can’t copyright guitar licks and maybe that’s good, because if you could, Chuck might have hoarded them as he does his Cadillacs. Without The Chuck Berry Riff, we’d lose not just the Beach Boys, but essential elements of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Bob Seger, and Bruce Springsteen — to mention only the most obvious examples. In a way, what was at the center of the first wave of the British Invasion could be described as a Chuck Berry revival.
~Dave Marsh (The Heart of Rock and Soul)

Live 1958:

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December 16: Jimi Hendrix released the classic single Hey Joe in 1966

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

Folk rock singer Tim Rose’s slower version of the song (recorded in 1966 and claimed to be Rose’s arrangement of a wholly traditional song) inspired the first single by The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

The ex-bassist for The Animals, Chas Chandler, who was now focusing on managing other acts, had also seen Rose performing the song at the Cafe Wha? in New York City and was looking for an artist to record a rock version of “Hey Joe”. Chandler discovered Jimi Hendrix, who had also been playing at the Cafe Wha? in 1966 and performing an arrangement of “Hey Joe” inspired by Rose’s rendition. Chandler decided to take Hendrix with him to England in September 1966, where he would subsequently turn the guitarist into a star. Tim Rose re-recorded “Hey Joe” in the 1990s, re-titling it “Blue Steel .44” and again claimed the song as his own arrangement of a traditional song.

Continue reading “December 16: Jimi Hendrix released the classic single Hey Joe in 1966” →