Today in Music History for Sept. 28:
In 1928, the Victor Recording Co. organized the first commercial recording session in Nashville. "The Binkley Brothers' Dixie Clodhoppers" were the artists, recording such titles as "Hungry Hash House" and "I'll Rise When the Rooster Crows."
In 1928, blues singer Koko Taylor was born in Memphis, Tenn. She was a sharecropper's daughter whose regal bearing and powerful voice earned her the sobriquet "Queen of the Blues." Her career stretched more than five decades. While she did not have widespread mainstream success, she was revered and beloved by blues aficionados, and earned worldwide acclaim for her work, which includes the best-selling song "Wang Dang Doodle" and tunes such as "What Kind of Man is This" and "I Got What It Takes." She died on June 3, 2009 after complications from surgery for gastrointestinal bleeding.
In 1938, R&B singer Ben E. King, who first gained notice as the lead singer of "The Drifters" in the late 1950s, was born in Henderson, N.C. With King fronting the group, "The Drifters" hit No. 2 on the Billboard chart in 1959 with "There Goes My Baby." And the next year they went to No. 1 with "Save the Last Dance For Me." King left "The Drifters" for a solo career in late 1960, scoring top-10 hits the following year with "Spanish Harlem" and "Stand By Me." And in 1986, King's recording of "Stand By Me" was on the charts again after it was used as the title song of director Rob Reiner's hit movie. King and The Drifters were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. King died on April 30, 2015.
In 1946, 1960s British teen singer Helen Shapiro was born in London. She topped the UK chart twice in 1961, with "You Don't Know" and "Walkin' Back to Happiness." Although her records received some attention in Canada, Shapiro remained virtually unknown in the U.S. (Note for trivia buffs ... "The Beatles" first British tour was as Helen Shapiro's supporting act in 1963.)
In 1962, the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein gave the inaugural concert at the Philharmonic Hall at Lincoln Centre in New York. Canadian bass-baritone Donald Bell sang with the orchestra.
In 1966, bandleader Lucky Millinder died in New York at age 66. He did not play an instrument but fronted a band for more than two decades, beginning in 1930. Trumpeters Henry Allen, Harry Edison and Dizzy Gillespie, saxophonists Tab Smith and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and vocalists Wynonie Harris and Bull Moose Jackson were among those performing with his band. Millinder downsized his big swing orchestra into a rhythm-and-blues jump band in the mid-'40s. Those smaller R&B combos helped set the stage for rock 'n' roll.
In 1968, manager Albert Grossman announced that Janis Joplin was leaving "Big Brother and the Holding Company." Also leaving "Big Brother" was guitarist Sam Andrews, who joined Joplin's "Kozmic Blues Band."
In 1975, 40,000 people got to see "Jefferson Starship" and "Jerry Garcia and Friends" perform for free in San Francisco. "Jerry Garcia and Friends" ended up being the "Grateful Dead," who had not performed together in more than a year.
In 1976, A&M Records sued George Harrison after his album "Thirty-Three & 1/3" was distributed by Warner Brothers.
In 1988, singer John Denver offered the Soviet Union $10 million to put him on the Soyuz space shuttle.
In 1989, Joan Jett abruptly ended a concert in Bloomsburg, Pa., after the first set when she was hit in the face by a bracelet thrown from the crowd. She suffered a minor cut, and a member of her road company told the crowd the show was over because of "one jerk in the audience."
In 1991, Bryan Adams' "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" became the longest-running No. 1 hit ever in Britain. It occupied the top spot for 12 straight weeks. The previous record-holder, Slim Whitman's "Rose Marie," spent 11 weeks at No. 1 in 1955.
In 1991, trumpeter Miles Davis died in Santa Monica, Calif., at age 65. His death was caused by pneumonia, respiratory failure and a stroke. Davis was the innovator of more styles than any other jazz musician -- among them, cool jazz, hard bop, modal-playing, free-form and jazz-rock fusion. His ground-breaking recordings ranged from 1949's "Birth of the Cool" to the electronic blast of "Bitches Brew" 20 years later. Davis also was adept at spotting and developing talent. Among future jazz stars to emerge from his groups were pianist Herbie Hancock and drummer Tony Williams. Although some of his later experimentations with rock and electronics alienated his jazz fans, Davis didn't care. He wrote in his 1989 autobiography -- "Music isn't about standing still and becoming safe."
In 1991, "AC/DC," "Metallica" and "The Black Crowes" headlined the largest heavy metal concert in Soviet history. Seventy-six people were hurt, many of them by thrown bottles. Time Warner sponsored the show at a Moscow airfield as a gift to the youth of Russia for resisting a coup the previous month.
In 1991, Garth Brooks' "Ropin' the Wind" debuted at No.1 on the Billboard 200 Top Albums chart, the first country album to do so. Brooks' next album, "The Chase," also entered the chart at No.1 the following year.
In 1995, singer Bobby Brown escaped injury when a gunman opened fire outside a bar in Boston. But his sister's fiance was shot in the head and killed while he sat in Brown's car. Brown was standing outside the car with a bodyguard.
In 1996, "The Grateful Dead -- A Photofilm," a nine-minute work directed by Paul McCartney, had its North American premiere at the New York Film Festival. It was based on four rolls of film Linda McCartney had shot of the band in the 1960s.
In 1996, entertainer Tiny Tim suffered a heart attack on stage during a concert in Montague, Mass. He was just about to sing his first song when he collapsed. Tiny Tim would die of heart problems less than three months later.
In 1996, songwriter and folk musician Bob Gibson died in Portland, Ore., of a degenerative brain disease. He was 64. Gibson co-wrote "Abilene," which was a country and pop hit for George Hamilton IV in 1963. Among Gibson's other compositions are "There's a Meeting Here Tonight" and "You Can Tell the World."
In 1996, "Crosby, Stills and Nash," former "Eagles" Don Henley and Joe Walsh, and "Peter, Paul and Mary" were among the performers at a Boston fund-raising concert for Democratic Senator John Kerry. About 12,000 people turned out, among them U.S. President Bill Clinton.
In 2001, Courtney Love filed a lawsuit against Geffen Records and former "Nirvana" members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, to regain control of the recordings and works of her late husband Kurt Cobain and his band.
In 2004, a tribute concert to honour Ray Charles raised $15 million for the black liberal arts college in Atlanta, Morehouse College Center. Among the artists who performed his songs were Stevie Wonder, Travis Tritt, James Ingram and Michael McDonald. Charles had died on June 10, 2004.
In 2004, country singer-songwriter Randy Travis received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In 2004, Bertrand Cantat, frontman of "Noir Desir," arrived in France to serve out the remainder of the eight-year manslaughter sentence that he was serving in Lithuania since March 2004. Cantat had killed French actress Marie Trintignant in July 2003. Cantat was released on Oct. 17, 2007, after serving only half of his sentence.
In 2010, "Soundgarden's" "Telephantasm," a retrospective CD that featured some of the grunge band's biggest hits from its 1990s heyday as well as unreleased cuts, was released as part of "Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock." It was the first time a new album had been released in conjunction with a video game. The traditional CD was released on Oct. 5.
In 2010, Metropolitan Opera soprano and Broadway singer Dolores Wilson died in New Jersey at age 82. She made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1954 in the title role of "Lucia di Lammermoor," the first of what would be 26 appearances, including seven with its touring company. Her Broadway debut came in 1965, when she starred in the musical "The Yearling." She also appeared in "Fiddler on the Roof" and "Annie."
In 2010, "Green Day" frontman Billie Joe Armstrong made his Broadway debut as the persuasive drug dealer St. Jimmy in "American Idiot," the musical based on the band's album of the same name. He stepped in for eight performances for regular actor Tony Vincent, who was on temporary leave.
In 2010, a host of country music's enduring legends joined some of the day's biggest names on stage to kick off the Grand Ole Opry's "Country Comes Home" celebration. They began with a stirring rendition of "Will The Circle Be Unbroken?" as the curtain rose at the Opry house for the first time since the May flood damaged the building.
In 2010, a handful of the countless songs written by victims of the Holocaust and other Second World War prisoners made their world premiere at Emory University in Atlanta during "Testaments of the Heart," a program to help raise money to collect and preserve more of the music produced by captives of Germany and other countries, including Japan, from 1933-1945.
In 2011, 85-year-old Tony Bennett became the oldest living act to hit No. 1 on Billboard's album chart when "Duets 2" sold 179,000 copies its first week out. The previous record holder was Bob Dylan, who was 67 when "Together Through Life" debuted at the top spot in 2009. (In 2014, at age 89, Bennett hit No. 1 again with his collaboration with Lady Gaga, "Cheek to Cheek.")
In 2011, Elton John returned to Las Vegas for a three-year headlining gig at Caesars Palace with his new show titled "The Million Dollar Piano," named for the instrument he plays during the show that took manufacturer Yamaha four years to build.
In 2012, the owner of the site of the 2003 Warwick R.I., nightclub fire sparked by "Great White's" pyrotechnics that killed 100 people donated the land for a permanent memorial.
In 2015, Toronto rapper Drake debuted eight songs on the Billboard Hot 100 pushing his career total to a milestone 100 appearances, fourth behind Elvis (108), Lil Wayne (127) and the Glee Cast (207). (He has since moved up to number two.)
In 2015, famed tenor Michael Burgess, who spellbound theatre audiences as Jean Valjean in "Les Miserables" and was well-known to sports fans for his stirring rendition of "O Canada," died after a lengthy battle with skin cancer. He was 70.
In 2015, for the first time in Billboard Hot 100 history, Canadians held the top four spots. R&B singer The Weeknd held No. 1 (The Hills) and No. 3 (Can't Feel My Face), while Justin Bieber was No. 2 (What Do You Mean?) and rapper Drake sat at No. 4 (Hotline Bling). (The next week, the same four songs remained in the top four. Three weeks later, Stitches by Canadian teen pop star Shawn Mendes climbed to No. 4, behind The Hills, Hotline Bling and What Do You Mean?).
In 2015, Frankie Ford, 76, a rock 'n' roll and R&B singer whose 1959 hit "Sea Cruise" brought him international fame at age 19, died in Jefferson Paris, La.
In 2019, Mexican crooner José José, the elegant dresser who moved audiences to tears with melancholic love ballads and was known as the "Prince of Song," died at the age of 71. The icon had confirmed via a video message to fans in March 2017 that he was battling pancreatic cancer. José José, whose real name was José Rómulo Sosa Ortiz, climbed to the top of the Latin charts in the 1970s with slow songs such as "El Triste" or "The Sad Man," and "Amar y querer" or "Love and want." The power of his voice and ability to sing technically difficult tunes in a wide register made him a treasured cultural icon in Latin America. The artist's voice, a combination of baritone and lyric tenor, captivated audiences while his dress style of suits accented with bow ties, pocket handkerchiefs and silk scarves was copied at nightclubs across Latin America. The Latin Recording Academy recognized the singer with a Musical Excellence Prize at the 2004 Latin Grammy awards. That same year, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In 2020, Brett Kissel was a big winner at the Canadian Country Music Association Awards. The singer from Flat Lake, Alta., took home three trophies: male artist, fan's choice and album of the year for ''Now or Never.'' Other big winners included Dallas Smith as entertainer of the year and Tenille Townes as female artist for the second year in a row.
In 2022, one of the biggest names in '90s hip-hop died. Coolio -- who won a Grammy for best solo rap performance for "Gangsta's Paradise'' from the soundtrack of the film "Dangerous Minds'' -- was 59. His manager said Coolio -- whose legal name was Artis Leon Ivey Jr. -- died at the Los Angeles home of a friend.
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The Canadian Press