This Day in Music
December 11th
Disgraceful thieves get their comeuppance, more ink for a Beatle, and a small error on a great album, all on this day in music.
Happenings
2002: Digital music pirates Napster, following several lawsuits by copyright holders, and its temporary shutdown since July of 2001, auctions off its computers, laptops, and servers in San Francisco. It had been ordered offline by a Federal Court judge until it ceased the practice of unauthorized trading of copyrighted music. Rather than operate an honest business that didn’t steal intellectual property from creators, Napster chose to shut down permanently. Napster was no morally better than an organized ring of car thieves. That the property they stole was digital rather than physical makes no difference. Good riddance to these thieves!
Releases
1984: Legendary Canadian singer-songwriter and poet Leonard Cohen releases his seventh studio album, “Various Positions.” The album reflected a more modern sound with the use of synthesizers and the increased presence of Jennifer Warnes, resulting in her credit for “vocals” rather than just “backing vocals.”
All nine tracks on the record are fabulous, including “Dance Me to the End of Love,” “Night Comes On,” and “The Captain,” but one in particular, “Hallelujah,” became possibly Cohen’s most well-known single. Having little popularity at first, recognition grew through cover versions by other artists, primarily Jeff Buckley. The song has since been covered dozens of times and used in numerous movie and TV productions. Though Cohen’s original is still the best, Rufus Wainwright performs a beautiful take, sometimes with his sister Martha on vocals.
“Various Positions” only reached No. 60 on the Canadian RPM 100, but peaked at No. 2 in Finland, where it was certified Gold, and No. 3 in Norway.
1970: Since there is no such thing as too much focus on John Lennon, this blog once again focuses on John Lennon. The topic today is the release of his debut solo album with backing musicians The Plastic Ono Band, a group put together by Lennon and Yoko Ono, and featuring John on guitar, Klaus Voorman on bass, and Ringo Starr on drums.
Titled, “John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band,” contemporary reviews of the album were mixed. Geoffrey Cannon of The Guardian predicted that the songs would have limited interest, and writing in The Times, Richard Williams described the album as “almost unbearably stark.” However, famously hard-to-please reviewer Robert Christgau of The Village Voice, chose the record as the best of 1970 in his year-end list. Most retrospective ratings now rightfully praise it highly, with Rolling Stone assigning it 5 Stars and New Musical Express grading it 8/10.
Lennon fans embraced “John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band” wholeheartedly, often ranking it as his best solo record. It reached No. 6 on the Billboard 200, No. 8 on the UK Albums list, and was a Top-10 placement in most other regions, including No. 1 in The Netherlands. It has been certified Gold in the United States.
The Daily Elvis
1971: “Elvis’ Christmas Album,” obviously by Elvis, hits No. 7 in the UK. Though the album was originally released in 1957 and should have been titled “Elvis’s Christmas Album,” it took some time to catch on in Britain. Featuring the great tracks “Blue Christmas,” “White Christmas,” and “Silent Night,” along with ecumenical songs taken from Elvis’s gospel EP, “Peace in the Valley,” the record reached No. 1 on Billboard’s precursor to the Billboard 200, the US Best Selling Pop LP’s chart. RCA Victor is forgiven for its grammatical error in the title.
Pictured: John Lennon and Yoko Ono on the album cover of “John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.”
