This Day in Music
An inexcusable crime takes the life of a legendary musician and ambassador for peace, and three doses of psychedelia are delivered, on this day in music.
Murder in New York
1980: At roughly 22:50, after lying in wait, [name not published]* followed John Lennon and Yoko Ono from their limousine through the archway of the building where they lived, The Dakota Apartments in New York’s Upper West Side. He fired five shots from a .38 Special revolver at a distance of less than three meters, striking Lennon twice in the back and twice in the shoulder. Lennon was rushed to Roosevelt Hospital, where he was pronounced dead-on-arrival at 23:15. He was only 40 years old.
His remains were cremated and later scattered by Yoko Ono in Central Park, New York, which is now the site of the Strawberry Fields mosaic and memorial.
One of the first sources of news of the shooting and Lennon’s subsequent death came from Howard Cosell while hosting the live broadcast of ABC’s Monday Night Football.
The perpetrator pled guilty to second-degree murder, though his actual crime was first-degree murder, and he was sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in prison, with a maximum of his natural life. He deservingly remains in prison to this very day.
It would be impossible to summarize Lennon’s life in this blog, but there are many great sources for his biography, including Wikipedia, and the books John Lennon: The Life by Philip Norman, The Last Days of John Lennon: A Personal Memoir by Frederic Seaman, and John by Cynthia Lennon, his first wife.
Today will be dedicated to listening to John Lennon’s music. Some of his best works include the albums “John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band,” “Double Fantasy,” “Imagine,” “Mind Games,” and “Rock and Roll.” Then there are the great Beatles songs with John as lead writer and lead singer, such as “Help,” “I Feel Fine,” “Ticket to Ride,” “Strawberry Fields Forever,” “Revolution,” “Nowhere Man,” “I Am the Walrus,” and “Baby, You’re A Rich Man,” among many others.
*The murderer of John Lennon will not be named in this blog because the commission of a heinous crime should not make a person famous.
Releases
1972: British hard rockers Deep Purple release their first live album, “Made in Japan.” Considered one of the greatest all time live albums, it reached No. 6 on the Billboard 200 and was certified Platinum. It’s a powerful performance that captured the band’s “Mark II” era at their best. Highlights of the collection include the energetic “Highway Star,” the organ and chanting demonstrated on the psychedelic track “Child in Time,” and of course Ian Paice’s powerful drum solo on “The Mule.”
1967: “Their Satanic Majesty’s Request,” the eighth studio album by The Rolling Stones, is released. Despised by critics at the time, but rated much higher retrospectively, it was a psychedelic album made to rival The Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” It sold quickly at first, sending it to No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and earning Gold record status, but sales soon fell off and it became one of the band’s least-commercially successful albums. Despite the lack of early critical acclaim or bustling sales numbers, this is a fantastic Stones’ album that everyone should experience.
1976: Eagles release their fifth studio album, the legendary “Hotel California.”
With the departure of founding member Bernie Leadon, the band decided to move away from the country-influenced rock of its previous records. They enlisted Joe Walsh, originally of The James Gang and enjoying a successful solo career at the time, to complement their new direction into straight-ahead Rock and Roll. Walsh’s influence is apparent on the tracks “Life in the Fast Lane,” “Pretty Maids All in a Row,” and his co-guitar solo with Don Felder on the title track, “Hotel California.”
The change worked. With near-universal acclaim from critics, and adored by fans, the record was a smash success, and is currently the sixth-best selling album in history, with an estimated 42 million-plus copies shipped. No. 1 on the Billboard 200, it was certified 25x Platinum in the US, multi-Platinum in the UK, and Diamond in Canada.
“Hotel California” was ranked No. 37 on Rolling Stone’s list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2012, but dropped to No. 118 in the 2020 revision. One presumes that 81 better albums were released in the eight years between 2012 and 2020.
1967: Birmingham, England’s psychedelic pioneers Traffic release their debut album, Mr. Fantasy, to rave reviews and commercial success. The record peaked at No. 16 on the UK Albums List, and No. 88 on the Billboard 200. It is ranked No. 517 on Colin Larkin’s “All Time Top 1,000 Albums,” 3rd Edition, 2000.
The Daily Elvis
1956: The second studio album by Elvis, titled simply, “Elvis,” hits No. 1 on the Billboard 200. It would go on to sell over one million copies for Gold certification, which became Platinum certification when the higher standard was introduced by the RIAA in 1976.
Pictured: Strawberry Fields Mosaic in memory of John Lennon, located just inside the W 72nd St. entrance to Central Park, the closest access from The Dakota Apartments.
