Music History - January 10

In 1949, RCA Victor announced the creation of a new record format logically nicknamed the "45," since the two-sided seven-inch vinyl discs were designed to play at 45-RPM. There are some contradictions as to when 45s actually started.  (for more information go to history-of-rock.com )

In 1950, having established himself over the previous three years as a successful country music singer/songwriter, Hank Williams made the first of his religious-themed recordings, many of which were recitations rather than singing, as "Luke The Drifter." Williams used the alias to avoid hurting the marketability of his name, fearful that disc jockeys and jukebox operators might hesitate to accept these unusual recordings.

In 1952, at the Capitol Recording Studio in Hollywood, Nat "King" Cole recorded "Somewhere Along The Way."

In 1955, Alan Freed hosted his first New York stage show, featuring The Clovers, The Drifters and Fats Domino.

In 1956, Elvis Presley recorded his first songs as an RCA Victor artist in Nashville. Elvis recorded "Heartbreak Hotel,""I Was the One,""I’m Counting On You,""I Got a Woman" and "Money Honey." During the eight-hour recording session, Elvis was backed by a drummer (D.J. Fontana) for the first time, plus guitarists Scotty Moore and Chet Atkins, bassist Bill Black, pianist Floyd Cramer, Gordon Stoker of the Jordanaires and two members (Ben and Brock) of the Speer Family gospel group. On April 14, 1956, the same studio was used by Elvis one final time to record "I Want You I Need You I Love You" with the same backup musicians, except Marvin Hughes substituted for Floyd Cramer.

In 1956, Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers released the single "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?" It reached #1 on the R&B chart, #6 on Billboard's Pop Singles chart, and #1 on the UK Singles Chart.  It was ranked #307 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

In 1959, Jerry Lee Lewis has his only UK #1 single with "Great Balls Of Fire."

In 1960, Frankie Avalon sang his hit, "Why," on CBS-TV's "The Ed Sullivan Show."

In 1962, Patsy Cline released the single "She's Got You."

On January 10, 1964, the first US Beatles album, 'Introducing The Beatles,' was released on Vee-Jay records. The album cover showed John, Paul and George with their now famous "mop top" haircuts, but Ringo had yet to convert. Vee-Jay would be forced to stop selling the disc by the end of the year because of legal complications, but by then over 1.3 million copies had been sold. 

Starting in the late 1960s and continuing through the 1990s,' Introducing The Beatles' was frequently counterfeited. These counterfeits can be identified by the cover printing and quality, the label, or the sound quality.

The counterfeits may have some differences from the commercial issue. For example, one common variation has the title of the album and the group's name separated by the center spindle hole, even though all variations legitimately released by Vee-Jay Records have both the title and the group's name above the hole.

On another counterfeit variation, dating from the late 1970s, George Harrison's shadow is not visible on the right side of the cover. However, all legitimate copies of the album and even most counterfeits include his shadow.

Nearly all fakes claim to be in stereo (though the actual sound of the record is often in mono). As legitimate stereo copies of Introducing... The Beatles are rare, the majority of copies with "stereo" or "stereophonic" printed on the cover are counterfeits

In 1964, in London, the Rolling Stones recorded Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away." The single reached #48 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The single also reached #44 on the Cashbox pop singles chart and #33 in Australia based on the Kent Music Report.  It was their first Top 5 hit in the UK, reaching #3.

In 1966, Peter & Gordon released the single "Woman."

In 1968, Aretha Franklin's single "Chain of Fools" was certified Gold.

In 1969, frustrated at Paul McCartney's dominance during the filming of 'Let It Be,' George Harrison nonchalantly tells the rest of the band that he is quitting immediately and sarcastically says as he walked out, "See you around the clubs." George would later say that while he had a growing backlog of new material, he constantly had to work on Lennon and McCartney's songs before the group would work on his. George was the second Beatle to quit; Ringo had left the group for a brief period a year earlier.

In 1976, the North American fascination with CB radios helped push C.W. McCall's truck driving song, "Convoy" to the top of the Billboard Pop chart. McCall, whose real name is William Dale Fries, Jr., used a pre-Rap vocal technique that wavers between singing and speaking called "sprechgesang" (German for spoken-song and spoken-voice). He would place three more songs on the Hot 100 and a dozen on the Country chart.

In 1976, Foghat's "Slow Ride" becomes the first of their five Billboard chart entries and the only one to crack the Top 20.

Also in 1976, 66 year old Chester Arthur Burnett, better known as Howlin' Wolf, passed away at the age of 66. Although he never gained mainstream popularity, the legendary American Blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player was ranked by Rolling Stone magazine at #51 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

In 1978, litigation between the Beatles, Apple, Allen Klein and ABKCO is declared settled.

In 1981, John Lennon and Yoko Ono's 'Double Fantasy' LP goes Platinum a little over a month after Lennon's assassination. The album would be #1 in the US for eight weeks.

In 1984, Cyndi Lauper became the first female recording artist since Bobbie Gentry in 1967 to be nominated for five Grammy Awards: Album of the Year, Best New Artist, Best Pop Vocal Performance (Female), Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

In 1987, singer/actress Marion Hutton, older sister of actress/singer Betty Hutton and a featured vocalist with the Glenn Miller band from 1938 to 1942, died of cancer at age 67.

On January 10, 1989, Lou Reed released the LP 'New York.' A universal critical success, it is widely considered one of his best solo albums.  The single "Dirty Blvd." was a #1 hit on the newly created Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart for four weeks. Velvet Underground drummer Maureen Tucker played on a few tracks on the album.

In 1990, the world's largest entertainment company was created as Time Inc. and Warner Communications Inc. completed their $14 billion merger.

In 2000, Melissa Etheridge announced that the father of her and Julie Cypher's children was David Crosby.

In 2003, a collection of 500 Beatles tapes known as the 'Get Back sessions,' which were stolen in the 1970's, were found after UK police cracked a major bootleg operation in London and Amsterdam. Five men were arrested.

In 2003, Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees was rushed to a hospital in Florida with a stomach emergency. He had a heart attack during surgery.

On this day in 2004, "Hey Ya!" by Outkast was the #1 song.

In 2006, the iTunes Music Store reached 850 million songs sold.

In 2007, the iTunes Music Store reached 2 billion songs sold.

In 2007, a fire razed the Clio, Michigan home of ? and The Mysterians leader Rudy Martinez, destroying all of his memorabilia. He did not have insurance on the house and was forced into living in a mobile home nearby.

In 2008, Rod Allen, the last remaining original member of The Fortunes, died of liver cancer at the age of 64. The band scored a trio of Billboard Top 40 hits, including "You've Got Your Troubles" in 1965 and "Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again" in 1971.

In 2011, singer/actress Margaret Whiting, sister of actress Barbara Whiting and daughter of songwriter Richard A. Whiting, died at the age of 86.

birthdays today include (among others):  Ronnie Hawkins (79), Frank Sinatra, Jr. (70), Rod Stewart (69), Bob Lang (Mindbenders) (68), Aynsley Dunbar (Journey, Whitesnake) (68), Neil Smith (Alice Cooper) (67), Donald Fagen (Steely Dan) (66), Pat Benatar (64), Michael Schenker (UFO, Scorpions) (59), Shawn Colvin (58), Brad Roberts (Crash Test Dummies) (50), Joey Santiago (Pixies) (49), Matt Roberts (3 Doors Down) (36) and Brent Smith (Shinedown) (36)