This Day in Music
February 5th
Three lesser-known but enjoyable albums share release dates, and Elvis gets sued in New York, on this day in music.
Releases
1987: Legendary southern blues (not “southern rock”) singer-songwriter and musician, Gregg Allman, releases his fourth studio album, "I'm No Angel," the second under the name Gregg Allman Band.
The title track, his cover of the Tony Colton-Bill Palmer song first recorded by Bill Medley of The Righteous Brothers, was a rare hit for Allman, peaking at No. 1 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart. The second single from the album, an Allman original titled "Anything Goes," reached No. 3 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
Though the record received tepid reviews from critics and did not chart high on the Billboard 200, Allman fans showed their appreciation of the work, buying over 500,000 copies to earn it Gold certification for the second time in his career. It’s a good, but not great, Gregg Allman album.
1980: "Boys Don't Cry," the North American debut by English goth-rock band, The Cure, is released. A compilation of sorts, it contains eight tracks from the band's first UK album, 1979's "The Imaginary Boys," augmented with five additional songs recorded in 1978 and 1979. Though the album did not chart or earn certification in North America, the title track became a cult hit and made American goth fans take notice.
1996: Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds release their ninth studio album, "Murder Ballads." As the title suggests, it's a collection of ballads about murder, a sub-genre that sings of the act and repercussions of committing those violent crimes.
Though not well-known in North America, the band is popular in its native Australia, the UK, and Scandinavia. The single, "Where the Wild Roses Grow," featuring fellow Australian Kylie Minogue, was a Top-10 hit throughout Europe. The album itself was highly-rated by critics and peaked at No. 1 in Austria, Norway, and Sweden, and No. 2 in Australia. It was certified Gold in the UK.
The Daily Elvis
1965: Elvis and Paramount Pictures are sued by exotic dancer Little Egypt, who claims she owns the rights to the song "Roustabout," featured in the 1964 movie of the same name, and is owed royalties. Why she would sue Elvis instead of the composers remains a mystery. She lost the case.
Pictured: Gregg Allman in 1987.
