Today in rock history: on this date in 1973, Jacksonville, Florida southern rock giants The Allman Brothers began a five-week run at the no. 1 spot of Billboard’s pop albums chart with its fourth album, Brothers and Sisters. The album is best known for its inclusion of classic tracks “Ramblin’ Man” and “Jessica.” It was an unparalleled success and achieved platinum sales status, selling over one million copies. It was the only Allman Brothers album to reach the coveted no. 1 spot on sales charts from its lengthy catalog. Gregg Allman’s death-defying final LP is streaming below as well.
Today in rock history: on this date in 1960, singer-songwriter Aimee Mann was born in Richmond, Virginia. Rising to fame in the 1980s as lead singer and prominent songwriter with new wave/pop band ‘Til Tuesday, Mann drew plenty of accolades for her unique singing voice and her deeply personal and introspective songs. A successful and acclaimed solo career has consistently displayed Mann’s many talents and cemented her place as a well-respected and revered artist. Mann has dabbled in acting and received Grammy and Oscar nominations for the music she contributed to the 1999 film, Magnolia and she’s appeared on albums by artists like Rush and X’s John Doe as a duet partner.
Today in rock history: on this date in 1978, David Bowie released his second live album, the 2-LP set Stage. Consisting mostly of material from his most current release at the time, the widely acclaimed and groundbreaking albums Station To Station, Low and Heroes, the album does pay homage to Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust era with the whole of side one consisting of songs from that legendary period of his career. The record consists of performances recorded in Philadelphia, Boston and Providence earlier in 1978 while David was in the midst of his “Isolar II” world tour.
Today in rock history: on this date in 1965, an advertisement appeared in entertainment trade magazines The Hollywood Reporter and Daily Variety looking to recruit young male singers/actors to audition for a brand new television series that was being developed. Although Davy Jones, a young British former child star, had already been selected for the project, Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork and Micky Dolenz were selected to fill the three remaining spots. The four young men would form The Monkees, star in a weekly prime time hit comedy and sell millions of albums & singles at the height of the band’s existence.
This article appears in Sep 7-14, 2017.
