Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Music History Today: August 26, 2020

August 26, 1967: Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" entered the US music chart.
When Jimi Hendrix first laid down the riff for his iconic song “Purple Haze” it changed rock music forever. To put it in true perspective, the first chord played in this song has been universally called “the Hendrix chord.” 
Desktop Wallpaper Psychedelic Jimmy Hendrix
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Cellphone Wallpaper Psychedelic Jimmy Hendrix
“Purple Haze” is no doubt one of Hendrix’s most popular and well-known songs, but it’s also one of the most misinterpreted songs in music history as well. Commonly, people assume “Purple Haze” is a reference to a major psychedelic trip Jimi underwent after taking drugs, however this isn’t true.  
Read more: Society of Rock
August 26, 1970: Jimi Hendrix made his last live appearance in the UK at the Isle of Wight festival. 
Kris Kristofferson, Redbone, and Rosalie Sorrels performed on the opening day of the Isle of Wight Festival at Afton Down on the Isle of Wight.  

Isle of Wight 1970 concert poster

Chicago, The Who, the Moody Blues, Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, the Doors, Sly and the Family Stone, Donovan, Jethro Tull, Joan Baez, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Free, Miles Davis, Procol Harum, Melanie, Lighthouse, Ten Years After and Spirit all performed in subsequent days at the Festival.  


August 26, 1972: A New York quartet Looking Glass had the Number 1 tune in the US with "Brandy." 
All the original members of Looking Glass were students at Rutgers, and they got together in 1969, playing Rolling Stones covers at frat parties and Jersey Shore bars. Eventually, Clive Davis signed them to Epic, and at first, they were a non-starter.

Looking Glass band black and white pulicity photo
Looking Glass

Originally, “Brandy (You’re A Fine Girl)” was the B-side of a fairly standard rocker called “Don’t It Make You Feel Good.”  But then Harv Moore, a DJ at the DC station WPGC, fell in love with “Brandy” and threw it into heavy rotation. “Brandy” became a huge local hit in DC, and it spread from there.  
Read more:  Stereogum

August 26, 1978: Nearly sixteen years after he topped the US record charts with "Sherry," Frankie Valli had the Number 1 song again with the title track from the musical Grease. 
The song, with its instantly recognisable intro, was released in May 1978 and was a big hit worldwide, hitting No1 on the US Billboard and selling half a million copies in the UK. But today Frankie, 82, speculated that its writer - the Bee Gees' Barry Gibb - may never have let him sing it if he knew how big it would be.
On This Morning, he said: "I can start out by telling you I was a big fan of the Bee Gees for a very long time, and Barry Gibb and I had talked many times about doing something together.  "While the movie was being shot, the Bee Gees were also doing a movie and the movie they were doing was Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and I had a call from Barry and he said, 'I wrote this song, it's perfect for you'. He sent it over and I listened to it and I loved it."  
Read more: Express UK


August 26, 1989: Eagles' drummer Don Henley sees his solo effort, "The End of the Innocence," peak at Number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Released on June 27, 1989, The End of the Innocence arrived in stores with the title track and first single already in heavy rotation.  "The End of the Innocence" offered fans an unabashed mission statement for an album that found Henley surveying '80s America and wondering what had happened to the idealistic promise of his generation's youth.  
Read more: Ultimate Classic Rock

Purple Haze
Jimi Hendrix 

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