Music History - December 26

In 1957, in New York, Alan Freed's "Christmas Show of Stars" concert series, featuring Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly and the Crickets, the Everly Brothers, the Rays, Paul Anka, and Danny & The Juniors, began a 12-night engagement at the Paramount Theater.

In 1957, Patti Page and the Four Esquires were the guests on ABC-TV's "American Bandstand."

In 1958, Clyde McPhatter, the Olympics, Duane Eddy, Moms Mabley, the Solitaires, the Versatones, and Billy Barnes performed on stage at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.

In 1960, at Van Gelder Studios in Hackensack, New Jersey, Ray Charles recorded "I've Got News For You."

In 1961, Jay & The Americans recorded what became their first hit, "She Cried," featuring lead vocalist John "Jay" Traynor, who soon departed the group and was replaced by Jay Black.

On December 26, 1963, Capitol Records, the EMI-affiliated company which rejected the US rights to every Beatles record that they were offered until then, finally releases "I Want to Hold Your Hand" backed with "I Saw Her Standing There." The song was currently topping the UK chart with "This Boy" on the flip side. Within five weeks the record will rise to #1 in the US, where it would stay for seven weeks.  The demand was insatiable; in the first three days alone, a quarter million copies had already been sold (10,000 copies In New York City every hour). Capitol was so overloaded by the demand, it contracted part of the job of pressing copies off to Columbia Records and RCA.  In 2004, it was ranked #16 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time."

In 1964, the Rolling Stones, whose long hair had helped set the new standard for teenagers, took out an advertisement in the music newspaper New Musical Express wishing starving UK hairdressers and their families a "Happy Christmas."

In 1966, John Lennon made his third visit to Peter Cook and Dudley Moore's BBC-TV comedy show "Not Only… But Also." Lennon had previously appeared in the series' pilot in late 1964 and returned in early 1965. For this 1966 "Christmas Special" Lennon played a men's room attendant.

Also in 1966, in London, Jimi Hendrix wrote the lyrics to a new song called "Purple Haze" while backstage following an afternoon show at the Uppercut Club.

In 1967, the original Dave Brubeck Quartet formally disbanded after saxophonist Paul Desmond left the group.

In 1967, the Beatles movie, 'The Magical Mystery Tour' was shown in black and white by BBC-TV on Boxing Day. The concept was to load the band into a bus, drive around for a while and see what happened. Unfortunately, nothing did. Audiences were mystified, critics were either disappointed or contemptuous, and the Beatles suffered their first flop. The negative reaction was so strong that a US television deal for broadcasting the movie was cancelled. A Daily Express critic wrote that he had never seen "such blatant rubbish."

In 1967, the Monkees recorded "Valleri."

In 1968, at the Auditorium Arena in Denver, Led Zeppelin began their first U.S. tour, opening for Vanilla Fudge.

In 1970, George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" becomes the first Beatles solo single to top the Billboard Hot 100. Five years later, a New York state judge would find Harrison guilty of copyright infringement for plagiarizing the Chiffon's 1963 hit, "He's So Fine."

In 1979, the concerts for the people of Kampuchea began in London with performances by Queen, the Clash, Elvis Costello, the Pretenders, the Who, Wings and others.

In 1999, soul singer/songwriter/producer Curtis Mayfield died of diabetes at age 57. He had been paralyzed from the waist down due to an accident on stage in 1990.

On this day in 2001, "How You Remind Me" by Nickelback was the #1 song.

In 2006, Michael Jackson filed suit against his former Los Angeles accountants, claiming that over a three-year period they withdrew $2.5 million a year from his bank accounts but did not properly pay his bills.

In 2010, singer/songwriter/musician Teena Marie, known as the "Ivory Queen of Soul," died at the age of 54.

Also in 2010, singer Bernie Wilson, a founding member of Harold Melvin And The Blue Notes, died from complications of a stroke and heart attack at 64.

In 2011, jazz musician/composer Sam Rivers died of pneumonia at age 88.

In  2012, R&B singer Fontella Bass died of complications from a heart attack at 72.

birthdays today include (among others): Phil Spector (74), Bob Carpenter (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) (67), Henning Schmitz (Kraftwerk) (60), James Kottak (Scorpions) (51), Lars Ulrich (Metallica) (50), Peter Klett (Candlebox) (44), James Mercer (Shins) (43), Jared Leto (30 Seconds to Mars) (42) and Chris Daughtry (Daughtry) (34)