This Day in Music
Michael Fitzgibbon
Talk-in' 'bout, Hey now! Hey now! I-ko, I-ko, un-day; Jock-a-mo fee-no ai na-né, jock-a-mo fee na-né, plus Elvis is shaken, on this day in music.
Dr. John’s Gumbo
1972: Legendary New Orleans blues-jazz-R&B singer-songwriter, pianist, and guitarist Dr. John releases his fifth studio album, “Dr. John's Gumbo.” A tribute to New Orleans, the album is a collection of Crescent City classics performed by a native son.
The LP features many standards, including the definitive version of James “Sugar Boy” Crawford's “Iko Iko” (from which the lyrics in my preamble were taken), which hit No. 71 on the Billboard Hot 100, Ahmet Ertegun's “Mess Around,” originally made famous by Ray Charles, Earl King's “Let the Good Times Roll,” Huey “Piano” Smith's “Little Liza Jane,” and a great track titled “Somebody Changed the Lock” by the good doctor himself, Malcolm John Rebennack Jr.
All the songs are performed beautifully by Dr. John and his huge band, including Lee Allen (ts), Ronnie Baron (key), Jimmy Calhoun (bg), Alvin Robinson (g), Freddie Staehle (d), plus too many wind players and backup singers to mention.
The record jacket depicts John walking with a cane in front of a huge mural painted on the side of The Farmer John Company building in Vernon, California. The facility was a slaughter house and meat-packing plant, making the mural of an idyllic farm with free-ranging pigs somewhat ironic. The company was famous for producing Dodger Dogs, the hot dogs sold at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The mural also appears in the 1976 Brian De Palma horror movie, Carrie.
An enduring classic, “Dr. John’s Gumbo” was ranked No. 404 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (c) 2012 (but it should be higher!), and spent eleven weeks on the Billboard 200, shockingly peaking at only No. 112.
Dr. John was the inspiration for the great muppet character Dr. Teeth, leader and keyboard player of the muppet band, The Electric Mayhem.
There is no disliking this album, and it’s one of my personal favourites of any artist in any genre. I encourage anyone who hasn’t heard it to buy it today!
Bridge of Sighs
1974: “Bridge of Sighs,” the second solo studio album from ex-Procol Harum guitarist Robin Trower is released. It’s a collection of blues-rock numbers composed by Trower and performed as a trio with James Dewar on bass and Reg Isidore on drums.
Named after a racehorse, which itself was most likely named for the famous covered bridge in Venice, the LP was a commercial breakthrough, reaching No. 7 on the Billboard 200, and still cited today as one of the classics of Rock and Roll.
The Monday Miles
1953: At WOR Radio Studio, the home of AM710 in New York City, Miles leads a recording session of six talented players, including Miles on trumpet of course, J.J. Johnson (tb), Jimmy Heath (ts), Gil Goggins (p), Percy Heath (b), and the legendary Art Blakey on drums.
The ensemble records six tracks, “Tempus Fugit,” “Enigma,” “Ray’s Idea,” “Kelo,” “C.T.A.,” and “I Waited for You.” The songs would later be released on the early Miles album “Miles Davis Volume 1” in 1955
The Daily Elvis
1957: “All Shook Up,” written by Otis Blackwell and performed spectacularly by Elvis Presley, reaches No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was his seventh No. 1 single in the U.S.
