Today in Music History for Sept. 1:
In 1933, country singer Conway Twitty was born Harold Lloyd Jenkins in Friars Point, Miss. He took his stage name from the towns of Conway, Ark. and Twitty, Texas. He began as a rockabilly singer, scoring a minor hit in 1957 with "I Need Your Lovin'." But his biggest success on the pop charts came when he switched to a rock ballad style on "It's Only Make Believe," a No. 1 record in 1958. (Note for trivia buffs ... Twitty and his drummer, Jack Nance, wrote the song in a Hamilton hotel room while on a Canadian tour.) That was followed in 1960 with "Lonely Blue Boy," which made it to No. 6 on the Billboard chart. However, by 1962, Twitty's pop career was over. In 1965, he began recording country songs for Decca. Twitty would become one of the best-selling country artists of all time. His No. 1 records included "Next in Line" from 1968, "To See an Angel Cry" from 1969 and "(Lost Her Love) on Our Last Date" from 1972. He also recorded a series of hit duets with Loretta Lynn, beginning with 1971's "After the Fire is Gone." Twitty died on June 5, 1993, in a Springfield, Mo., hospital. He had suffered a ruptured blood vessel in his stomach, and died of complications from surgery.
In 1946, Barry Gibb of the "Bee Gees" was born on the Isle of Man. The "Bee Gees" became one of the wealthiest pop groups in the world following the success of the soundtrack to the 1976 disco movie "Saturday Night Fever," to which they contributed five songs. Three of them -- "Stayin' Alive," "Night Fever" and "How Deep is Your Love" -- went to No. 1. The album was the best-selling LP of all-time until dethroned by Michael Jackson's "Thriller." Barry Gibb also had some success with several duets recorded with Barbra Streisand for her 1980 album "Guilty." Barry and Robin Gibb were awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire awards from the Prince of Wales in May 2004. Adam Gibb collected the honour on behalf of his late father, Maurice. In 1996-1997, the "Bee Gees" were given the American, World and British Music Awards Lifetime Achievement honours. They were also inducted into the Songwriter Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
In 1956, Elvis Presley bought his mother a pink Cadillac.
In 1967, guitarist and vocalist Boz Scaggs joined "The Steve Miller Band." Scaggs and Miller had played together in a high school group in Dallas. Scaggs would leave for a solo career in 1969.
In 1976, Lou Adler, the president of Ode Records, and an employee were kidnapped from Adler's home in Malibu, Calif. They were released eight hours later after a ransom of $25,000 in $1 bills was paid. A couple were arrested for the kidnapping the following week.
In 1977, new wave band "Blondie," fronted by Deborah Harry, signed with Chrysalis Records. It was the group's first contract with a major label after two albums for a small, independent company brought them a cult following. "Blondie" would go on to sell millions of copies of such LPs as "Parallel Lines," "Eat to the Beat" and "Autoamerican."
In 1978, a package of celebrity imitators called the "Legends on Tour" opened in Atlanta to less-than-enthusiastic response. The imitators had all had plastic surgery, and among them were two Elvis Presleys -- one male and one female -- a Janis Joplin and a Jimi Hendrix.
In 1979, "INXS" played its first gig in Sydney, Australia.
In 1982, rock star Frank Zappa announced that he wouldn't tour Europe because it was "too expensive and too violent."
In 1983, guitarist and vocalist Mick Jones was fired from the political rock group "The Clash." The other members said Jones had drifted apart from the original idea of the band.
In 1983, Sotheby's in London auctioned a booklet of John Lennon's notes, some of them about the other "Beatles," for US$13,500. An original draft of Lennon's song "Imagine" brought $11,000, but two items of "The Rolling Stones" memorabilia were withdrawn because of low bids.
In 1989, young female fans tossed panties and bras on stage during a pop concert by soap opera heartthrob Michael Damien in Dubuque, Iowa. Police reported more than 60 people were slightly hurt when some in the crowd of 4,000 toppled barriers.
In 1989, a judge in Dublin, Ireland, decided not to convict "U2" bassist Adam Clayton of marijuana possession, even though he admitted to the crime. Clayton agreed to contribute US$34,500 to a women's centre in Dublin.
In 1994, 10 people were hurt and more than 100 arrested in Santiago, Chile, after youths smashed cars and pelted police with rocks and bottles. The trouble began when the youths were denied tickets to a concert featuring "Black Sabbath" and "KISS."
In 1995, the U.S. issued a postage stamp honouring jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong. The release was marked by a New Orleans jazz concert featuring trumpeters Wynton Marsalis, Al Hirt and Doc Cheatham. Armstrong was also included in a set of 10 jazz musician stamps released two weeks later at the Monterrey Jazz Festival in California. Among the others honoured were Jelly Roll Morton, Coleman Hawkins, John Coltrane and Charlie Parker.
In 2008, Jerry Reed, a singer and actor who appeared in the "Smokey and the Bandit" movies, died of complications from emphysema at age 71. Reed was a gifted guitarist who later became a songwriter, singer and actor. In 1968, Elvis Presley recorded two of his songs, "U.S. Male" and "Guitar Man." He also wrote the hit "A Thing Called Love," which was recorded in 1972 by Johnny Cash. As a singer in the 1970s and early 1980s, he had a string of hits that included 1971 Grammy Award winner "When You're Hot, You're Hot," "Amos Moses," "East Bound and Down," and "The Bird."
In 2009, Erich Kunzel, the award-winning conductor who headed the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra since its founding three decades earlier and won international fame through sales of more than 10 million recordings, died of cancer. He was 74.
In 2009, CSI, a group that represents Canadian songwriters and music publishers, filed a lawsuit against Canadian Satellite Radio Inc., the subsidiary of XM Radio, stating it was owed royalties dating back to 2005, when XM Radio first went on the air in Canada. A deal was reached two weeks later for XM to make royalty payments.
In 2009, country star LeAnn Rimes announced on her website that she and husband Dean Sheremet were getting divorced after seven years of marriage. Tabloid reports had linked Rimes with actor Eddie Cibrian, her co-star in the TV movie "Northern Lights." Cibrian filed for divorce from his wife of eight years the previous week. (Rimes and Cibrian married in 2011.)
In 2010, a "Guns N' Roses" concert in Dublin started nearly an hour late. Frontman Axl Rose warned fans to stop throwing bottles or they'd leave. Someone threw another bottle, and Rose left the stage. The promoters would not let Rose leave the venue until he finished the gig, so the band went back on stage an hour later, but played to a mostly empty venue.
In 2010, Texas singer-songwriter Miranda Lambert was nominated for the nine Country Music Association Awards, the most ever for a female country artist. She ended up winning three -- Female Vocalist, Album of the Year ("Revolution") and Video (The House That Built Me").
In 2010, Grammy-winning rapper T.I. was arrested along with his wife on suspicion of possessing methamphetamines, five months after the hip-hop star finished a prison stint on weapons charges. In mid-October, a federal judge later ordered him back to prison for 11 months for violating the terms of his parole.
In 2012, Hal David, the lyricist who teamed with Burt Bacharach on dozens of timeless songs for movies, television and a variety of recording artists in the 1960s and beyond, died of complications from a stroke. He was 91. They were among the most successful teams in modern history, with top-40 hits including "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," ''(They Long to Be) Close to You" and "That's What Friends are For." They won an Oscar for "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" (from the movie "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"), Grammys and Tonys for the songs from the hit Broadway musical "Promises, Promises."
In 2014, Jimi Jamison, who sang lead on Survivor hits such as "Burning Heart" and "Is This Love," died of a stroke at his home in Memphis, Tenn. He was 63. He joined the group in 1984 after it had already become known for "Eye of the Tiger," the theme song to the Sylvester Stallone film "Rocky III." Jamison also co-wrote and sang the "Baywatch" theme song, "I'm Always Here."
In 2023, singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett died at the age of 76. His song ''Margaritaville" was released in 1977 and spent 22 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100.
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The Canadian Press