August 9, 1995: Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead died from a heart attack at age 53.
Jerry Garcia's final show with the Grateful Dead – held on July 9, 1995, at Chicago's Soldier Field – was no lasting tribute. Hoarse and tired, Garcia's shaky visage spoke to the health problems that would soon consume him. Relix magazine, in a brutally frank contemporary review, described the entire tour as "star-crossed."
Jerry Garcia |
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That run of bad luck continued on this night, as Garcia had equipment problems to match his personal ones. Aside from the moments when he was in the zone and losing himself in the music, Jerry looked like he really just wanted to go home and forget all this."
Read more: Ultimate Classic Rock
August 9, 1969: Three Dog Night released "Easy To Be Hard."
Featured on Three Dog Night’s 1969 album Suitable For Framing, ‘Easy To Be Hard’ was part of the vast and varied soundtrack to the summer of 1969, with its dreamlike quality and deeply introspective lyrics questioning humanity’s tendency to turn a blind eye to those in need.
‘Easy To Be Hard’ boasts the flawless three part harmonies characteristic of Three Dog Night, but it’s singer Chuck Negron who shines on the song’s lead vocals.
Read more: Society of Rock
August 9, 1969: Chicago Transit Authority, known as Chicago, first hit the chart with "Questions 67 And 68."
“Questions 67 and 68,” off of a 1969 eponymously titled debut album, didn’t do much on the charts, reaching only number No. 71 on the Hot 100. Later, in 1971, with Chicago firmly ensconced as one of the hottest bands in the galaxy, they edited the original album version of the song down to a length that would please radio programmers and re-released it. This time it reached No. 24 which, at the time, was disappointing for an outfit of Chicago’s stature.
Read more: Something Else Reviews
August 9, 1975: Janis Ian's biting "At Seventeen" was Number 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
Janis Ian, singer and songwriter:
I’d made the album Stars and was getting great reviews but couldn’t get any work. I was living with my mother, spending a lot of time writing. One day I was sitting at the dining room table, reading the New York Times Magazine. There was an article about a woman who’d thought her life would change and be perfect when she had her debutante ball. The first line was, “I learned the truth at 18.” Since “At Eighteen” didn’t scan, it became “At Seventeen."
Read more: The Guardian
August 9, 1975: "Jive Talkin'" by The Bee Gees hit Number 1 in the US, becoming their first disco hit.
Over the latter half of the ’70s, the Bee Gees landed eight songs at #1, holding down the spot for a grand total of 23 weeks. That’s more than anyone else over the entire course of the decade, and that’s not even counting the #1 hits that they wrote and produced for baby brother Andy Gibb and for others.
Bee Gees |
In 1978, the trio’s peak year, Bee Gees-related songs were at #1 more often than not. That period of total takeover ended quickly and suddenly, but it still makes for one hell of a run. And that run begins with “Jive Talkin’.”
Read more: Stereogum
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