Today In Oldies Music History: April 1
--Births
1921: Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith1932: Debbie Reynolds
1934: Jim Ed Brown (The Browns)
1939: Rudolph Isley (The Isley Brothers)
1942: Phil Margo (The Tokens)
1942: Frank Gari
1942: Alan Blakley (The Tremeloes)
1945: John Barbata (The Turtles, Jefferson Starship)
1946: Ronnie Lane (The Small Faces)
1947: M
1948: Jimmy Cliff
1948: Simon Cowe (Lindisfarne)
1949: Gil Scott-Heron
1951: Henry Gross (Sha Na Na)
Deaths
1917: Scott Joplin1984: Marvin Gaye
2003: Edwin Starr
2004: Paul Atkinson (The Zombies)
Events
1877: Thomas Edison designs plans for a telephone with a "carbon transmitter," a device that would later be altered to create the microphone.1928: The first gramophone with record-changing ability, Victor's "Automatic Orthophonic," goes on sale.
1955: George Martin becomes head of A&R for Parlophone, which will lead to his producing the Beatles seven years later when they are signed to the label.
1956: Elvis Presley arrives at Paramount Studios for a screen test, lip-synching "Blue Suede Shoes" and performing a scene as Bill Starbuck in The Rainmaker, still in production. Presley will eventually be passed over for this film, and his role taken over by Burt Lancaster. Still impressed, however, Paramount and director Hal Wallis sign Elvis to a seven-year contract five days later.
1957: Frankie Lymon becomes the youngest act to ever headline London's Palladium when he performs there with the Teenagers.
1957: Elvis Presley performs the first two of only four concerts he will ever stage outside the US when he headlines at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens.
1959: James Darren guest stars as teen idol "Buzz Berry" on tonight's "April Fool" episode of ABC-TV's The Donna Reed Show.
1960: In Miami, Elvis Presley tapes his post-Army comeback special, Frank Sinatra's Welcome Home, Elvis, also starring Sammy Davis Jr., Nancy Sinatra, Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford. Elvis sings "Fame And Fortune" and "Stuck On You," as well as Sinatra's own "Witchcraft." Frank responds by singing "Love Me Tender."
1961: The Beatles begin their second, more successful string of gigs in Hamburg, the first of 92 nights at the Top Ten Club in the notorious Reeperbahn section of town. The lads will play seven hours a night, eight on weekends, with 15 minute breaks each hour, resulting in 503 total hours of live performance in just over three months. While in Germany, occasional member Stu Sutcliffe has his hair styled by his girlfriend, band photographer Astrid Kirchherr, into what would later be adopted by all band members as the "mop top."
1969: A band called Ambrose Slade, later to go on to glam glory as simply Slade, makes its stage debut at Walsall Town Hall in Walsall, England.
1969: The Beach Boys leave the Capitol label, suing them for over $2 million in back royalties and announcing their intention to start their own label, Brother.
1970:Woodstock, the acclaimed musical documentary of the happening, premieres in Hollywood.
1970: Ringo Starr enters Abbey Road alone for what would be the very last Beatles session, overdubbing percussion on "The Long and Winding Road," "Across The Universe," and "I Me Mine." Producer Phil Spector wraps things up by applying strings to all three.
1970: John Lennon and Yoko Ono play an April Fool's joke on an already confused press by announcing that they would undergo mutual sex-change operations.
1975: The Bay City Rollers' UK variety show Shang-A-Lang premieres on ITV.
1976: AC/DC makes its live UK debut at London club The Red Cow.
1978: Paul Simon, Peter Frampton, and James Taylor's jointly-owned soccer team, the Philadelphia Fury, plays its first match.
1992: Jimmy Buffett is the proud father of his second daughter, Sarah Delaney, with wife Jane Slagsvol.
2008: Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich declares today "Cheap Trick Day" in honor of its native sons.
2009: Carlos Santana reaches an agreement with the Vegas Hard Rock Hotel and Casino to stage 36 concerts called The Supernatural Santana: A Trip Through the Hits.
Releases
1957: The Everly Brothers, "Bye Bye Love"1959: Freddy Cannon, "Tallahassee Lassie"
Recording
1961: Troy Shondell, "This Time"1966: The Troggs, "Wild Thing"
1967: The Beatles, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)"