ON THIS DAY IN 1960, THE BEATLES WRAPPED UP A 56 NIGHT RUN AT THE KAISERKELLER IN HAMBURG

The group began their residency on the 4th of October, working intensive nights from 7:30pm to 2:00am with various half hour breaks between sets, sharing their workload with another Liverpool group, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, also featuring Ringo Starr on drums. The Beatles later reported that the Kaiserkeller was a dangerous venue filled with gangsters, with tensions between English and German patrons often flaring into violence. Despite these unsafe conditions, the group made many friends in the venue and claimed to thoroughly enjoy their time there.

Unfortunately, the band did prefer to spend their leisure time in the nearby Top Ten Club, a direct rival to the Kaiserkeller, and eventually made a verbal agreement with the owner to play there. This infuriated Bruno Koschmider, the Kaiserkeller’s owner, who promptly terminated their contract. The Beatles did stay on to play for another 3 weeks, even after George Harrison was deported on the 20th of November for being under 18 years of age. The band continued to play without Harrison, although they began moving their belongings to the Top Ten Club.

Upon packing for their new accomodation, the band lit a small fire to see around the room as they packed. Different accounts mention a rag, wall tapestry or a condom on a nail as the ignited item. Regardless of the object, the flame quickly spread to the wall, and the band hurried to extinguish it, leaving no damage but a small burn mark on the wall. Bruno Koschmider was further infuriated and reported them to the police for arson. Paul McCartney and original drummer Pete Best were subsequently arrested for trying to burn down the Kaiserkeller and spent a night in jail before being deported the following day. McCartney apparently found the situation somewhat amusing claiming “we couldn’t have burned the place even if we had gallons of petrol – it was made of stone.”

On this day in 1960, all members of The Beatles recorded together as a group for the first time

George Harrison, John Lennon and Paul McCartney were already established with Pete Best as their drummer and were in the middle of a series of shows at a number of German clubs. Ringo Starr was in the middle of a residency alongside Rory Storm and the Hurricanes at the Kaiserkeller club in Hamburg, the same venue that their rivals, The Beatles, occupied.

Despite their competition, promoter for both bands Allan Williams united the groups for a session. Hurricanes vocalist Lu Walters had been booked to record three songs, the Peggy Lee hit “Fever”, Kurt Weill’s “September Song” and George Gershwin’s “Summertime.” Williams decided the latter song needed something more and decided to hire his other clients to back Walters on the track. Drummer Pete Best was in town running an errand so Ringo Starr remained on the drums.

Members of The Beatles didn’t think much of the session with Harrison remarking that Walters was “a guy who thought he was a singer” who “paid to have the record made himself.” The song was pressed to record but only a handful of copies were made and many report that no copies are known to have survived. Regardless, the group must have thought highly of Starr’s drumming as he was asked to join the band two years later.

ON THIS DAY IN 1960, ARETHA FRANKLIN PERFORMED THE FIRST NON-GOSPEL CONCERT OF HER CAREER

Taking the stage at Vanguard Village in New York, an 18 year old Franklin performed a variety of blues and pop standards.

Thirteen days later, Franklin achieved her first R&B chart single, “Today I Sing the Blues.” Written by Curtis Lewis, the song reached #10 on the U.S Charts. It was re-recorded in 1969, where it reached #101 on the pop charts.

This launched an immense career, with Franklin selling over 75 million records worldwide and receiving multiple awards and honours, including 18 Grammy Awards. Perhaps most recognised is her placing at #1 in Rolling Stone’s 2008 list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.

ON THE 2ND OF FEBRUARY IN 1959, A TALENTED AND RENOWNED MUSICIAN BY THE NAME OF BUDDY HOLLY WOULD PLAY WHAT WOULD BE HIS FINAL SHOW. THE SHOW AT THE SURF BALLROOM IN CLEAR LAKE, IOWA WAS A REGULAR, HIGH-SPIRITED EVENT THE AUDIENCE ENJOYING HOLLY’S PERFORMANCE AND THAT OF HIS FELLOW PERFORMERS AND FRIENDS RITCHIE VALENS, DION AND THE BELMONTS AND J.P. RICHARDSON ALSO KNOWN AS THE BIG BOPPER

The show wasn’t scheduled as part of the groups “Winter Dance Party” tour but the tour promoters offered the gig to the Surf Ballroom in the hopes of filling an open slot, an offer which was promptly accepted. By the time the tour bus arrived at Iowa, Holly had grown tired of these travel arrangements and opted to book a charter flight to the tours next stop at Fargo, North Dakota.

Waylon Jennings and Tommy Allsup were originally intended to join Holly on the flight, but Richardson asked Jennings for his seat as he had contracted a flu and Ritchie Valens flipped a coin with Allsup to secure his seat on the plane. After the show ended, the three men were driven to the airport where they met their pilot, 21 year old Roger Peterson.

The cause of the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper as well as pilot Roger Peterson was determined to be a combination of faults. To begin with, the pilots briefings did not properly relay the severity of the snowy weather outside. Later investigationon also found that Peterson’s license shouldn’t have allowed him to fly with such low visibility and the incorrect instrument training for the type of aircraft he was flying. The plane impacted with terrain at high speed (270 kph) and banked hard to the right and nose-down. The right wing tip hit the ground first, sending the plane into a cartwheel for around 160m before coming to rest. All occupants of the plane had been killed instantly.

The wreckage was found the following morning when the owner of the charter plane company failed to contact the pilot and flew over the expected flight path, finding the crash site within 10km of the airport they had embarked from. The grisly task of identifying the bodies fell to ballroom manager Carroll Anderson. Holly’s widow suffered a miscarriage days later from emotional trauma and was unable to attend the funeral, while his mother reportedly screamed and collapsed upon hearing the news.

The group has been eulogised many times over the years, most famously in the 1971 Don McLean song “American Pie” in which he dubbed the incident “The Day the Music Died” which reportedly symbolised for McLean a loss of the early innocence of the rock ’n’ roll genre and his sadness over Buddy Holly’s death.

“A long long time ago

I can still remember how

That music used to make me smile

And I knew if I had my chance

That I could make those people dance

And maybe they’d be happy for a while

But February made me shiver

With every paper I’d deliver

Bad news on the doorstep

I couldn’t take one more step

I can’t remember if I cried

When I read about his widowed bride

Something touched me deep inside

The day the music died”

-Don McLean, American Pie, 1971

ON THIS DAY IN 1958, ELVIS PRESLEY’S SONG JAILHOUSE ROCK BECAME THE FIRST SINGLE TO ENTER THE U.K POP CHARTS AT NUMBER ONE

Written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, the song was released on a 45 rpm single in 1957. The track featured real characters such as The Purple Gang, a Chicago mob and Shifty Henry, who was not actually a criminal but rather a well-known LA musician. “Sad Sack” was a nickname coined in WW2 for a loser and later became the name of a successful comic strip and book.

The track became a US number one hit for seven weeks in late 1957 before debuting in the UK charts at number one in 1958, an unprecedented feat. The song has become a classic in the rock and roll genre, covered by bands like Queen, The Beatles, Motley Crue as well as being featured in films like Casper (1995) and The Blues Brothers (1980) as well as Elvis’ own film of the same title.

As well as the covers and performances, Jailhouse Rock has also earned multiple accolades such as reaching number 67 in Rolling Stones list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, as well as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll, and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2016.

ON THIS DAY IN 1957, ELVIS PRESLEY WAS SERVED HIS DRAFT NOTICE BY THE US ARMY

Presley had already reached superstar status with six number one hits and was enjoying his Christmas holidays in his newly-purchased Memphis mansion, Graceland, when the draft notice arrived.

At the time, all young American males were required to serve in the military for two years of active duty as well as four years as a reserve. The Army had reportedly passed the singer as fit for service earlier that year in January, though some say he chose to forego the possibility of a “special Service”, which was basic training followed by two years entertaining fellow troops. Others say his manager Colonel Tom Parker forced him into regular duty in order to improve his image with older American audiences, a ploy that worked if true.

Some conspirators say that the US government drafted Presley as a way of keeping his from young American audiences, as his performances were still considered controversial and inappropriate for the youth that were his main consumers. While there is no proof of this, it is said that the army received tens of thousands of fan letters asking for their idol to be spared from duty, to no avail.

ON THIS DAY IN 1957, PAUL MCCARTNEY MADE HIS DEBUT STAGE APPEARANCE

Playing lead guitar, McCartney joined The Quarrymen alongside John Lennon, Eric Griffiths, Colin Hanson and Len Garry. Playing at the New Clubmoor Hall Conservative Club in Liverpool, a nervous McCartney fumbled his solo on “Guitar Boogie” but the group is still booked as a regular act for Saturday night dances.

While this gig marked the first time Lennon and McCartney played onstage together, marking a significant occasion in Beatles history, promoter Charlie Mac’s verdict was less impressive, as he scribbled “Good & Bad” on the bands visiting card.

The band added George Harrison in 1958 and went on to become The Beatles in 1960. The remaining members of the Quarrymen reunited in 1997 and have since toured the world and released four new albums.

ON THIS DAY IN 1957, THE OFFICIAL ELVIS PRESLEY FAN CLUB WAS LAUNCHED

A year beforend, Look magazine reported that Presley records had grossed over $6 million and that the singer received over 3,000 fan letters a week. This was considered a monumental success after around 3 years in the music industry.

The fan club launched with a significant amount of members and continued to grow rapidly, reaching 7,000 members by 1959. Newsletters were issued bi-monthly and twice a year a larger journal would be issued. Other merchandise was also available, such as pins, photos and calendars.

The Official Elvis Presley Fan Club continues today at the domain www.elvispresleyfanclub.co.uk. While the number of official members is unknown, the groups Facebook currently has over 47,000 likes, and the club is still able to be joined. The group is now considered to be one of the largest fan clubs in music history.

TODAY MARKS ANOTHER MONUMENTAL DAY IN BEATLES AND POPULAR MUSIC HISTORY AS THE ANNIVERSARY OF JOHN LENNON AND PAUL MCCARTNEY’S FIRST MEETING

On this day in 1957, John Lennon was playing a church fete with his band, the Quarrymen, after which his bass player introduced him to one of his classmates, a 15 year old Paul McCartney. The pair were impressed with each others talents and Paul was asked to join the band shortly after, and the rest was history.

The decision to include McCartney did not come easily to John Lennon and the other Quarrymen as they feared his talents would steal the spotlight, but it was decided he would be an asset to the group. So began the next four decades of tenuous friendship, with occasions with the pair co-writing some of the most instrumental songs in the success of The Beatles, and others where they confronted each other either physically or in courtrooms. Despite the pairs differences, when they got along their musical prowess was undeniable, as proven by the above video. For more information on Lennon’s thoughts during the Beatles split, Ritchie’s book is an essential read!

Paul McCartney will be touring Australia in December of 2017, and the show has been receiving fantastic reviews. Tickets are available at ticketmaster.com

ON THIS DAY IN 1956, ELVIS PRESLEY MADE HIS ACTING DEBUT IN “LOVE ME TENDER”

The film, based on the true story of the four Reno brothers, a group of brothers existing in civil war America, with Presley playing the youngest, Clint.

Elvis had reportedly always expressed an interest in acting, in fact on his first meeting with future manager Colonel Tom Parker, he expressed this desire to be an actor. Parker’s plans for Presley’s acting career always included a musical component for the purpose of cross-promotion, sometimes at the cost of a good script.

Presley however was hardworking, arriving on the first day with all of his lines memorised, as well as most of the other actor’s, and had recorded his parts and music in little more than a month. Presley performed “love Me Tender” for the first time in early September and two weeks later, RCA confirmed the single had gone gold before it’s release, an industry first.

The film closed it’s first week at #2, only behind a posthumous James Dean release, and while many critics had lukewarm responses, a number of others viewed the film favourably. At cinema openings, teenage girls screamed, making it difficult to follow the story and leading Elvis to tell his friend Cliff Gleaves that he found this type of reaction to be embarrassing, and prevented him from being viewed as a serious actor.