Today in Music History for Dec. 26:
In 1791, a cantata by English composer John Bentley was performed in Quebec City at the constitutional meeting which marked the partition of the colony into Upper and Lower Canada.
In 1921, composer, musician and TV personality Steve Allen was born in New York. He was the first host of the late night TV program "The Tonight Show." Allen was also the host of a prime time variety series in the 1950s. It was on this show that Jerry Lee Lewis made his national TV debut in 1957. Other performers introduced to the TV audience by Allen included Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, Andy Williams and Bill Dana. Allen played the title role in the 1956 film "The Benny Goodman Story." Allen's 4,000 compositions included such pop standards as "This Could Be the Start of Something Big" and "Gravy Waltz." He died on Oct. 30, 2000, after a minor traffic accident caused a blood vessel in his heart wall to rupture.
In 1931, the musical play "Of Thee I Sing," which would win a Pulitzer Prize, opened on Broadway.
In 1937, Canadian country singer Ronnie Prophet was born in Hawkesbury, Ont. Starting in 1961, Prophet pursued his career mainly in the U.S., although he was host of the Canadian TV shows "Country Roads," "The Ronnie Prophet Show" and "Grand Old Country" in the 1970s. He won a 1977 Juno Award as top male country vocalist. Chet Atkins described Prophet's act as the greatest one-man show he ever saw. Prophet's performance includes songs, comedy and showy guitar instrumentals. The Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame member died on March 2, 2018.
In 1940, the greatest record producer of the 1960s, Phil Spector, was born in New York City. He revolutionized recording techniques by adding layer upon layer of instruments to form what became known as the "wall of sound." Forming his own record company in 1961, his beautiful production work graced the records of such artists as "The Crystals," "The Ronettes," Ike and Tina Turner and "The Righteous Brothers." After a period of retirement, Spector returned to produce "The Beatles" "Let It Be" album, George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass" and the three-LP set of the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh. He also worked -- less successfully -- with "The Ramones." In November 2003, Spector was charged with murder in the shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson at his hilltop mansion in southern California. In the first trial in 2007, the jury deadlocked 10-2 favouring conviction. In the 2009 re-trial, he was convicted of second-degree murder and later sentenced to 19 years to life in prison.
In 1955, Decca Records released "See You Later, Alligator" by "Bill Haley and the Comets."
In 1957, Elvis Presley got a temporary draft deferment so he could finish the movie "King Creole."
In 1957, country singer Jimmie Osborne committed suicide at age 34. He had three top-10 hits from 1948-1950 - "My Heart Echoes," "The Death of Little Kathy Fiscus" and "God Please Protect America."
In 1958, famous Ottawa-native mezzo-soprano Eva Gauthier died in New York at the age of 73. She presented a historic recital in New York in 1923 at which she sang the music of Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin and George Gershwin, with Gershwin at the piano. Orchestra conductor Paul Whiteman was in the audience and, impressed with the talent of Gershwin, commissioned him to write a work for piano and orchestra. The result was "Rhapsody in Blue."
In 1963, Capitol Records in the U.S. released "I Want to Hold Your Hand" by "The Beatles," which became the band's first No. 1 hit in the U.S. The company had refused to put out prior "Beatles" records which had been British hits, songs such as "Love Me Do," "She Loves You" and "Please Please Me." Those records were leased to such small U.S. labels as Swan and Vee-Jay.
In 1964, "The Kinks" second hit single, "All Day and All of the Night," was released in the U.S. It reached No. 7 on the Billboard pop chart.
In 1967, "The Beatles" "Magical Mystery Tour" film had its world premiere on BBC television. Both critical and audience reaction was negative, resulting in "The Beatles" first flop.
In 1968, "Led Zeppelin" played its first U.S. show, opening for "Vanilla Fudge."
In 1970, George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord," produced by Phil Spector, reached No. 1 on the U.S. charts. The record was chosen as the year's best single in a poll by the British magazine "Melody Maker," and Harrison was picked as the top male vocalist in a poll of disc jockeys conducted by "Record World" magazine. (In 1981, a judge ruled Harrison unknowingly plagiarized the song from the old "Chiffons" hit "He's So Fine" and ordered to pay US$587,000.)
In 1979, "Paul McCartney and Wings," "Queen," "The Who" and Elvis Costello headlined a super-concert at a London theatre to raise money for the people of Kampuchea, or Cambodia. The concert was set up during talks between McCartney and UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim.
In 1996, 1950s pop singer Joe Valino died in Philadelphia of a heart attack at age 67. His recording of "Garden of Eden" was a No. 12 hit on the Billboard chart in 1956.
In 1999, composer and songwriter Curtis Mayfield, known for his inspirational and socially progressive lyrics, died in Atlanta at age 57.
In 2007, Joe Dolan, one of Ireland's first pop music stars, died in suburban Dublin at age 68.
In 2010, Bernie Wilson, baritone member of the R&B group "Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes," died following a stroke and a heart attack. He was 64. The group produced a string of hits in the '70s that helped define the Sound of Philadelphia, including "If You Don't Know Me by Now."
In 2010, Teena Marie, who made history as Motown's first white act but developed a lasting legacy with her silky soul pipes and with hits like "Lovergirl," ''Square Biz," and "Fire and Desire" with mentor Rick James, died at age 54. Known as the "Ivory Queen of Soul," she was certainly not the first white act to sing soul music, but she was arguably among the most gifted and respected, and was thoroughly embraced by the black audience.
In 2011, Sam Rivers, an internationally-known jazz musician who played with Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie, died from pneumonia. He was 88.
In 2012, Fontella Bass, a St. Louis-born soul singer who hit the top of the R&B charts with "Rescue Me" in 1965, died of complications from a heart attack she suffered three weeks earlier. She was 72. Bass had also suffered several strokes since 2005.
In 2012, "Kings of Leon" drummer Nathan Followill and his wife, singer-songwriter Jessie Baylin, welcomed their first child, Violet Marlowe Followill.
In 2014, renowned jazz clarinetist Buddy DeFranco, who led the way on his instrument in the transition between the swing and bebop eras, died at the age of 91.
In 2016, a Russian military plane crashed two minutes after taking off from the southern Russian city of Sochi, killing all 92 people aboard, including dozens of singers from the country's world-famous Red Army choir who were going to the Russian Air Force base in Syria to perform at a New Year's concert.
In 2016, Grammy Award-winning singer P!nk and her motocross champion husband Carey Hart welcomed their second child, a boy named Jameson Moon Hart.
----
The Canadian Press
