This Day in Music

January 3rd

Confusion, rain, and hurricanes on this day in music.

Releases

1972: American singer-songwriter Jackson Browne releases his debut album, “Jackson Browne,” on an unspecified date in January of 1972.

Though the official title was eponymous, many record buyers thought the title was “Saturate Before Using.” Those words appear at the top of the album cover, but what’s not readily noticeable is that the cover is designed to look like an old western water bag, which must be emerged in water before use to be effective, hence the instructing words on the bag. Adding to the confusion, when the record had its CD release, “Saturate Before Using” was written on the spine of the jewel case insert, which is where the title should be. Browne was a collector of interesting things and had a water bag hanging in his room as decor when he was contemplating the album cover design.

The LP was well-received by critics, with ratings of 4-stars from The Rolling Stone Album Guide, and 8/10 from the Great Rock Discography. It was also embraced by fans, sending it to No. 53 on the Billboard 200 and No. 34 in Canada.

With performances from many talented musicians, including Leland Sklar on bass, Russ Kunkel on drums and percussion, David Crosby and Graham Nash on vocals, and Jim Gordon on organ instead of drums, the record produced the great track, “Doctor, My Eyes.”

Events

1976: The song “Hurricane” by Bob Dylan, from his 1976 album, “Desire,” peaks at No. 33 on The Billboard Hot 100. The 20-verse song faithfully recounts the killing, police corruption, and miscarriage of justice that would wrongfully convict Rubin “Hurricane” Carter of murder. Along with Carter’s 1974 book, The Sixteenth Round: From No. 1 Contender to No. 45472, the song set in motion a series of legal events that would ultimately lead to the Passaic County DA filing for dismissal of the case nine years later. Rubin moved to Toronto, became a Canadian citizen, and devoted the remaining 30 years of his life to help free other wrongfully convicted prisoners.

1960: Bobby Darin and Connie Francis both appear on the Ed Sullivan Show. Along with each singer performing solo, they sang as a duet for two songs, “You Make Me Feel So Young” and “You’re the Top.”

1970: American singer and songwriter B. J. Thomas reaches No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time with his third Top-10 hit, “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” which he wrote and performed for the movie soundtrack, “Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid.”

1965: When a clip of their performance on BBC’s The Mersey Sound is played on The Tonight Show with Jack Paar, The Beatles officially appear on US national television for the first time. Paar was not a fan, and made fun of their haircuts.

1969: Thirty thousand copies of the album “Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins” by John Lennon and Yoko Ono are seized at Newark Liberty International Airport (Newark Metropolitan Airport at the time) in New Jersey because the couple appear naked on the cover. Meanwhile, in Chicago, a record store is raided and shut down by the vice squad for displaying the album in its window. The distributor would ultimately begin shipping the album with a plain brown wrapper covering the two artists.

1967: The Bee Gees reach No. 1 for the first time when their song, “Spicks and Specks” tops the Australian singles list. Though it didn’t chart in the UK or America, it reached No. 1 in the Netherlands.

1974: Bob Dylan and The Band reunite to tour their respective new albums, “Planet Waves” and “Moondog Matinee.” The tour would produce the legendary double-live LP, “Before the Flood.”

The Daily Elvis

1977: Elvis flies his fiancée Ginger Alden and her family to Arkansas, so she could attend her grandfather's funeral. The trip made headlines across the United States.

Picture 1: The Jackson Browne album cover.

Picture 2: An old western water bag, designed to cool water through evaporation.