Today in Music History for Feb. 9:
In 1891, the Canadian Pacific Railway opened its Vancouver Opera House with a performance by the Emma Juch English Opera company, a touring company from the U.S. The CPR paid the company $10,000 to perform Wagner's "Lohengrin." The opera house itself cost more than $200,000.
In 1914, Ernest Tubb, a country music legend known as the "Texas Troubadour," was born in Crisp, Texas. He was a pioneer of the honky-tonk style who wrote more than 250 songs and sold more than 30 million records. His "I'm Walking the Floor Over You" was a million-seller in 1941. Tubb said he wrote the song in 15 minutes. He was the first performer allowed to use an electric guitar on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry. That happened in 1942. He died of emphysema in September 1984.
In 1936, Canadian country singer-songwriter Stompin' Tom Connors was born in Saint John, N.B. to an unwed teenage mother and was begging on the street by the age of four. At age 8, he was adopted by a family in Skinner’s Pond, P.E.I., but ran away four years later to hitchhike across the country. Legend has it that he began his musical career when he found himself a nickel short of a beer at the Maple Leaf Hotel in Timmins, Ont., in 1964 at age 28. The bartender agreed to give him a drink if he would play a few songs but that turned into a 14-month contract to play at the hotel. Connors began recording in 1969, and his first single, "Bud the Spud," was a hit. Dubbed Stompin' Tom for his propensity to pound the floor with his left foot during performances, he garnered a devoted following through straight-ahead country-folk tunes that drew inspiration from his extensive travels and focused on the everyman. He won the Juno Award as male country singer each year from 1970 to '74. Although wide commercial appeal escaped Connors for much of his four-decade career, his heritage-soaked songs like "Canada Day, Up Canada Way," the beloved arena staple "The Hockey Song," "Bud the Spud," and "Sudbury Saturday Night," have come to be regarded as veritable national anthems thanks to their unabashed embrace of all things Canadiana. In 1978, he famously returned a handful of Juno Awards he had amassed in previous years, complaining that some artists were being awarded in categories outside their genre while other winners had conducted most of their work outside of the country. The declaration marked the beginning of a 10-year self-imposed exile from the spotlight. In 1988, he returned with the album "Fiddle and Song," but his strong convictions about the music industry remained, declining induction into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 1993. Accolades he did embrace included an appointment to the Order of Canada in 1996, and his own postage stamp. He died March 6, 2013.
In 1961, "The Beatles" (with Stu Sutcliffe and Pete Best) first performed at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, England.
In 1964, "The Beatles" made their live U.S. television debut on "The Ed Sullivan Show." "I Want to Hold Your Hand" could barely be heard over the screams from the audience, who were also treated to "All My Loving," "Till There Was You," "She Loves You" and "I Saw Her Standing There." There were 50,000 requests for the 725 available seats. "The Beatles" appeared on the show again a week later. Each program was watched by an estimated 70 million people.
In 1972, "Paul McCartney and Wings" began an unannounced tour of small clubs and halls in Britain with a show at Nottingham University.
In 1974, Iggy Pop performed for the last time with his band "The Stooges" at Michigan Palace in Detroit. As the show gradually degenerated into a near-riot, Iggy was struck in the face with a liquor bottle thrown from the audience. He responded by launching into the party classic "Louie Louie," which he threatened to make last 55 minutes.
In 1975, Cher's solo TV show premiered. Among the guests were Elton John, Bette Midler and Flip Wilson.
In 1976, conductor-arranger Percy Faith died in Los Angeles at the age of 67. The Toronto native had hit singles in 1952 with "Delicado," in 1953 with the "Song From Moulin Rouge" and in 1960 with "Theme From a Summer Place," which received the Grammy Award as Record of the Year.
In 1981, Bill Haley, the first idol of the rock 'n' roll era, died of a heart attack in Harlingen, Texas. He was 55. Local residents said Haley had spent the last several years of his life wandering the streets drunk. Although he had sold about 60 million records by the time of his death, Haley felt that he had not received the financial success or respect that was due him. In 1955 and until the middle of the following year, "Bill Haley and the Comets" were the biggest rock attraction in the world with hits such as "Shake, Rattle and Roll" and "Rock Around the Clock." But by 1958, Haley's career was basically over.
In 1990, Malaysia's Culture and Tourism Ministry cancelled a LaToya Jackson concert in Kuala Lumpur because her presence would be "against the values and norms of the Malaysian culture." Jackson, who had posed nude for "Playboy" the previous year, said "I guess this means I will cancel my order for candies for members of the government."
In 1991, Reverend James Cleveland, the man revered as the King of Gospel, died in Los Angeles of heart failure. He was 59. Cleveland taught a nine-year-old Aretha Franklin to sing gospel and inspired countless other artists. Cleveland produced Franklin's 1972 Grammy Award-winning gospel album "Amazing Grace." He's credited with writing and arranging more than 400 gospel songs.
In 1993, both Mick Jagger ("Wandering Spirit") and Paul McCartney ("Off The Ground") released solo albums.
In 1996, Michael Jackson and director Spike Lee arrived in Brazil to film a video for Jackson's song "They Don't Care About Us." The shoot in a Rio de Janeiro slum upset officials trying to revive the city's tourism industry. The crew was reported to have paid off drug traffickers so they could film in the shanty-town.
In 1997, Brian Connolly, lead singer for the 1970s glam rock band "Sweet," died in a London hospital following a heart attack. He was 52. Sweet's top-10 hits in North America included "Little Willy," "Ballroom Blitz," "Fox on the Run" and "Love is Like Oxygen."
In 1998, at the Brit Awards in London, Danbert Nobacon of the anarchist rock group "Chumbawamba" dumped a bucket of ice water on Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, who was watching the ceremony with his wife. The act was apparently in support of striking dockworkers in Liverpool. Nobacon fled through the audience after the attack. He was not charged. In a broadcast tribute during the awards, Elton John was given the Freddie Mercury Award by British Prime Minister Tony Blair. John was being honoured for his charity work, including the world's best-selling single at the time, "Candle in the Wind '97."
In 1998, Garth Brooks promised to donate seven days of earnings from his album "Sevens" to a college scholarship fund if Oprah Winfrey would promote the album on her show for a week. She agreed. Some viewed Brooks' gesture as a ploy to boost sales. Whatever the case, Oprah's promotion worked. Sales of "Sevens" more than doubled over the previous week -- to 125,000 copies. It had already sold more than five million.
In 2009, DJ Spencer Potter auctioned his New Jersey business, A Blast Entertainment, and his infamous phone number 867-5309, immortalized by the band "Tommy Tutone" in 1981. The winning eBay bid was US$186,853.09 to an anonymous bidder.
In 2009, the final curtain fell on the long-running Las Vegas female impersonators revue "An Evening at La Cage," ending a nearly 24-year run.
In 2010, Jacques Hetu, a prolific Quebec composer whose classical pieces have been performed around the world, died in Montreal at age 71. He was awarded the title of officer of the Order of Canada in 2001.
In 2010, a U.S. judge dismissed a civil lawsuit filed against "The Black Eyed Peas" manager Liborio Molina who punched blogger Perez Hilton in a Toronto nightclub the year before. Attorneys for both parties announced in court they had reached a settlement agreement.
In 2011, Chris Young's "Voices" finally made it to No. 1 on the Billboard Country singles chart in its 51st week, the longest non-consecutive rise to the top in the chart's 67-year history. It was initially released in June 2008 and peaked at 37 after 20 weeks, but after two successful No. 1 hits with "Getting' You Home" and "The Man I Want to Be," the song was re-released in July 2010. (Tracy Lawrence's 2006 single "Find Out Who Your Friends Are" still holds the record for uninterrupted rise to No. 1 at 41 weeks.)
In 2011, singer Ashlee Simpson filed for divorce from husband Pete Wentz of "Fallout Boy." They married in 2008 and have a son, Bronx.
In 2012, "Beatles" legend Paul McCartney was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame outside the Capital Records building. He was the last of the "Fab Four" to be given the honour. His star was placed alongside his bandmates John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.
In 2012, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame corrected past oversights by announcing it would induct six backing groups whose lead singers were already inducted. That includes: The Blue Caps (Gene Vincent); The Comets (Bill Haley); The Miracles (Smokey Robinson); The Crickets (Buddy Holly); The Famous Flames (James Brown); and The Midnighters (Hank Ballard).
In 2013, Toronto pianist Glenn Gould received a lifetime achievement award from the Grammys more than 30 years after his death, joining a select group of Canadians (Oscar Peterson, Joni Mitchell and The Band) to receive the honour.
In 2013, Canadian teen pop star Justin Bieber pulled double duty on "Saturday Night Live" as host and performer.
In 2014, CBS aired "The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to The Beatles," 50 years to the day The Fab Four made their first appearance in front of an American TV audience on "The Ed Sullivan Show."
In 2021, Chick Corea, a towering jazz pianist with a staggering 23 Grammy Awards who pushed the boundaries of the genre and worked alongside Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock, died of a rare form of cancer. He was 79.
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The Canadian Press
