Music History Today: August 13, 2020

August 13, 1951:  Dan Fogelberg was born in Peoria, Illinois. 

His best-known songs include “Longer,” “Hard to Say," “Leader of the Band," “Run For the Roses," and 1980’s “Same Old Lang Syne."

Dan Fogelberg

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August 13, 1952: The original version of "Hound Dog" was recorded by Willie Mae (Big Mama) Thornton.

Big Mama Thornton

Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton was a blues singer and songwriter whose recordings of “Hound Dog” and “Ball ‘n’ Chain” later were transformed into huge hits by Elvis Presley and Janis Joplin.

Read more: Black Past

August 13, 1964: Manfred Mann topped the U.K. charts with "Do Wah Diddy Diddy."

Manfred Mann had begun life as an R&B and jazz-inflected group.  To that point, they'd notched U.K. hits with original tunes, including "5-4-3-2-1," but nothing on this scale.  

Manfred Mann

"It hadn't started off as a "Do Wah Diddy Diddy"-type band at all," Mann told US magazine in 1973.  Their update of a minor hit by the Exciters from earlier in 1964, however, would hurtle Manfred Mann to No. 1 on both the U.S. and U.K. charts.  

Read more: Ultimate Classic Rock

August  13, 1966: "Sunshine Superman" from Donovan moved jumped from Number 61 to 20 on Top 100 Hits chart.

Singer Donovan August 1972.
(Photo by David Redfern/Redferns)

"Sunshine Superman" is a song written and recorded by Donovan. It' s generally considered to be one of the first examples of the musical genre that came to be known as psychedelia. Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, later of Led Zeppelin, play on the recording.

Read more: Wikipedia

August 13, 1973: Lynyrd Skynyrd release their debut album, Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd. 

Lynyrd Skynyrd burst onto the national scene with their 1973 debut Pronounced ‘lĕh-‘nérd ‘skin-‘nérd, which not only featured many of the band’s most popular songs but also defined the genre of “Southern Rock” more than any other album.

 This six-piece group out of Jacksonville, Florida fused blues, country, and straight-forward rock to forge an edge that is totally unpretentious and unassuming. 

Read more:  Classic Rock Review

August 13, 1977: Canada's Bachman-Turner Overdrive announce that they are splitting up. 

Randy Bachman had developed what would later become "Takin' Care of Business" while still a member of The Guess Who. His original idea was to write about a recording technician who worked on The Guess Who's recordings. This particular technician would take the 8:15 train to get to work, inspiring the lyrics "take the 8:15 into the city."  

Read more: Wikipedia

Another Auld Lang Syne
Dan Fogelberg