This Day in Music
December 10th - A cursed tour comes to a violent end, the Queen toasts the Marx Brothers, and the King is No. 1, all on this day in music.
People
1971: While playing the Beatles song “I Want to Hold Your Hand” during a post-show encore set with the legendary “Flo & Eddie” version of The Mothers of Invention, Frank Zappa was pushed off stage at The Rainbow Theatre by a crazed fan. Zappa fell three meters into the orchestra pit, breaking his leg in several places, causing a concussion, lost consciousness, and other injuries. The perpetrator thought Zappa had been flirting with his girlfriend throughout the show, and flew into a jealous rage.
The incident led to the cancellation of the tour, which had been cursed only six days prior. While performing at Casino Montreux in Switzerland, “some stupid with a flare gun, burned the place to the ground,” as sung by Ian Gillen of Deep Purple in their classic memorial to the event, “Smoke on the Water.” The band lost all of their equipment in the conflagration and had to rent substitute instruments and a sound system for the show in London.
While recovering at home in Los Angeles, Frank launched solo projects that would eventually become the albums “Waka/Jawaka” and “The Grand Wazoo,” resulting in his decision to dissolve The Mothers of Invention “Mark II” version (to use Deep Purple terminology).
1967: Capitol Records signs an unknown and unrecorded act named The Steve Miller Blues Band for an eye-popping $750,000. After dropping the “Blues” from their name, the band went on to record 15 albums for Capitol, all of which hit the Billboard 200, and produced nine Top-40 singles.
Releases
1976: Post-Beatles McCartney band, Wings, releases a triple-live album titled “Wings Over America.” Recorded between May 7th and June 23rd of 1976 during the American leg of Wings’ Over the World Tour, it is the only official live album issued by the band. In addition to numbers by Wings, the 28-song package includes five classics from The Beatles, the McCartney solo hit, “Maybe I’m Amazed,” and even a Paul Simon tune, “Richard Cory,” from the album “Sounds of Silence” by Simon & Garfunkel. The release was a huge commercial success, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard 200, No. 1 on the Canadian RPM 100, and certified Platinum in both countries.
1976: “A Day at the Races,” the fifth studio album from popular British band Queen, is released. A companion album to their previous release, “A Night at the Opera,” it was the second straight title borrowed from a Marx Brothers movie, and the first album entirely self-produced by the band. Including the monster hits “Somebody to Love” and “Tie Your Mother Down,” the mixed critical reviews did not deter fans from buying over one million copies worldwide. The record reached No. 1 on the UK Albums list, No. 5 on the Billboard 200, and No. 4 on the Canadian RPM 100. It was certified Platinum in Canada and the US, and Gold in the UK.
The Daily Elvis
1960: The soundtrack to the movie G.I. Blues, performed by and starring Elvis, hits No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Pictured: The Mothers of Invention c.1971. From L to R: Howard Kaylan aka Flo aka The Phlourescent Leech (v), Jim Pons (bg), Ian Underwood (ts; f; key), Mark Volman aka Eddie (v), Frank Zappa (g), Bob Harris (key), and Aynsley Dunbar (d).
