This Day in Music
Canadiana, Americana, and Elvis is blue, on this day in music.
Releases
1979: Canadian rockers Max Webster release their fourth studio album, “A Million Vacations.” Recorded in Toronto, the bulk of the songs are written by principal songwriters Kim Mitchell and Pye Dubois.
The record features three of the band's biggest hits, the title track, “A Million Vacations,” with vocals by drummer Gary McCracken, the softer “Let Go the Line,” written by keyboard player Terry Watkinson, and “Paradise Skies,” a No. 1 Canadian classic.
Reviews were generally positive, with AllMusic compiling a rating of 4-Stars and the Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal ranking it a 10/10. Newspaper The Globe and Mail, however, was hot and cold on the record, printing “...it's satisfying when they're right on, but even more annoying when they fiddle about on the fringes, wasting time on the sort of progressive rock material that is still oozing from the older British musicians on a daily basis.”
The LP peaked at No. 13 in Canada, where it was certified Platinum. It is considered by most fans to be an average Max Webster album.
1986: American singer-songwriter Steve Earle releases his debut album “Guitar Town.” Recorded in Nashville, the record is predominantly a work of country music, but with a rock edge to it.
Rated A- by Robert Christgau of the Village Voice, and 5-Stars compiled by AllMusic, it was described by Rolling Stone as “...the rocker's version of country, packed with songs about hard living in the Reagan Eighties.”
With the crossover hits “Guitar Town” and “Hillbilly Highway,” the LP performed well commercially, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, and being certified Gold in the U.S. and Platinum in Canada. It is ranked No. 489 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, 2012 version, cementing its legacy in country-rock lore.
People
1965: The Mannish Boys, an English R&B group named after the Muddy Waters song, featuring a young David Jones on vocals and Jimmy Page on guitar, release their first single, “I Pity the Fool.” Jones would soon change his name to David Bowie and worldwide fame ensued.
The Daily Elvis
1977: “Moody Blue,” a single by Elvis, hits No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Pictured: Max Webster in 1978, from L to R: Dave Myles (bg), Kim Mitchell (g; v), Terry Watkinson (key; v), and Gary McCracken (d; v).
