This Day in Music
December 30th
ELP changes its name but not its acronym, Ol’ Blue Eyes records a classic, and Elvis licenses his arms, all on this day in music.
Events
1947: Colin Trevor Flooks is born in Cirencester (Gloucestershire), England. Known by his stage name, Cozy Powell, he was the immensely talented and influential drummer for numerous hard and prog rock acts, including The Jeff Beck Group, Rainbow, Michael Schenker Group, Whitesnake, Black Sabbath, and ELP (Emerson, Lake & Powell, instead of Palmer, at the time). For a small sample of his phenomenal playing, listen to the great song “Stargazer” by Rainbow, and especially Cozy’s drum intro. He sadly died in a car crash in April, 1988 at only 40 years old.
1968: Legendary American crooner Frank Sinatra records one of his most famous songs, “My Way.” Essentially a cover of the French song, “Comme d’habitude,” by Jacque Revaux and Gilles Thibault, rather than translating the words into English, Paul Anka wrote an entire new set of lyrics for Frank. The song was released in March of 1969 and reached No. 1 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart.
1967: The Beatles reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the 15th time with the single, “Hello, Goodbye.”
2009: Lead singer from classic rock band The Guess Who, Burton Cummings, is awarded Officer of the Order of Canada to mark a lifetime of outstanding achievement in music.
1981: “Freeze Frame,” the tenth studio album from The J. Geils Band, is certified Gold by the RIAA for selling 500,000 copies in the United States. It would reach Platinum certification for 1,000,000 copies only a few weeks later. The album would hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in February, and remain there for four weeks largely due to the success of its two lead singles, “Centerfold,” which reached No. 1, and “Freeze Frame,” which peaked at No. 4. It was the first No. 1 album for The J. Geils Band, with the prior year’s “Love Stinks” peaking at No. 18, and 1973’s “Bloodshot” rising to No. 10.
The Daily Elvis
1970: On a tour of FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., Elvis Presley requests, and is granted, a permit to carry a gun in every state. TV retailers across the nation rejoiced.
Pictured: Elvis Presley, The King of Rock and Roll and Highly Irresponsible Gun Owner.
