Man Oh Man

Ugg Boot

1948, Sonny Til & the Orioles' "It's Too Soon To Know" moves onto the charts ... the song will reach #11 on the pop chart and #1 on the R&B chart ... it is the first time that a black group singing a song in the "race style" penetrated such a high place on the pop chart...

1956, Elvis begins recording his second album in Los Angeles ... it is to include covers of Little Richard hits "Rip It Up," "Long Tall Sally," and "Ready Teddy" ... Elvis even plays piano on some of the tracks...

1962, The Beatles hit Abbey Road recording studio for the first time, recording "Love Me Do" in about 16 takes with drummer Andy White ... a demo of the song had been recorded with Pete Best on drums, but George Martin suggested, since Ringo had just joined the band, that they use him and session man Andy White ... a version was recorded with White on drums and another with Ringo ... the White version was released in England and the Ringo version was later released in Canada and the U.S ... six years later to the week, Eric Clapton lays down one of the most famous solos ever at Abbey Road on The Beatles' tune "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"...

1963, "Be My Baby" by The Ronettes hits the charts ... the song will later be cited as the perfect pop song by Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys and one can maybe hear a touch of it in Brian's own "Good Vibrations"...

1968, "Piece of My Heart" by Big Brother & The Holding Company with Janis Joplin singing lead hits the charts ... it is Joplin's and the band's first hit ... meanwhile in Chicago, because of fears of street violence during the National Democratic Convention, The Rolling Stones' "Street Fighting Man" is banned from air play in Chicago...

1976, Fleetwood Mac's album Fleetwood Mac reaches number one this week ... it has been on the charts for 13 months, relentlessly working its way toward the top...

1990, Tom Fogerty, an original member of Creedence Clearwater Revival and brother of John, dies of tuberculosis this day at age 48 ... he had parted from the band at the height of its success in 1971, a casualty of sibling rivalry ... and although he recorded a number of albums on his own, never scored a hit after his Creedence days...

1991, country music star Dottie West dies from internal injuries suffered in a car accident in the parking lot of The Grand Ole Opry ... the crash occured a few days earlier when an elderly neighbor who was giving West a ride to work lost control of the car ... also this week, Vincent Lance dies ... he is a leather-clad rocker from England who established a career in France ... often in trouble with the law and prone to messianic delusions, he served as the model for David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust...

1997, Pat Smear announces he will no longer be a Foo Fighter and that Franz Stahl will take his place...

2000, The Doobie Brothers offer 15 new tracks for free download to promote their latest album Sibling Rivalry...