Monday, October 4, 2021

Music History Today: October 5, 2021

October 5, 1973: Elton John releases Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, his most successful studio album.
It was designed to be a blockbuster and it was.

Elton John Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album
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This 1973 album was a statement of purpose spilling over two LPs, which was all the better to showcase every element of John's spangled personality. Opening with the 11-minute melodramatic exercise "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" -- as prog as Elton ever got -- Goodbye Yellow Brick Road immediately embraces excess but also tunefulness. 
Read more: Allmusic
October 5,  1958: "Summertime Blues" by Eddie Cochran peaked at Number 8 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart.
Eddie Cochran wrote “Summertime Blues” in 1958 with Jerry Capehart. 

Eddie Cochran
Eddie Cochran

On the same year, he recorded the song as the A-side to his single “Love Again.” Cochran’s song has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Furthermore, “Summertime Blues” was chosen by Rolling Stone as one of the greatest songs of all time. 

 

October 5,  1965: Henry Mancini's soundtrack LP The Pink Panther is certified gold.
The Pink Panther is another fine, early-'60s soundtrack from Henry Mancini.  

The Pink Panther movie poster

The title track became one of his most recognizable themes and kicks off a pleasant program of dreamy lounge cuts and Latin-tinged numbers. As he did on many other movie/TV albums (Touch of Evil, Peter Gunn, etc.), Mancini also includes some noirish, big band numbers, like "The Tiber Twist" and the main title. 
Read more: Allmusic

 

October 5, 1970: Led Zeppelin released "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" from the album Led Zeppelin III.
Bron-yr-Aur is the cottage in Wales where Jimmy Page and Robert Plant wrote much of Led Zeppelin III in 1970 after a grueling US tour. The cottage had no electricity or running water, but the change of scenery provided inspiration for many songs on the album. Robert Plant wrote this for his dog, Strider. He took the pooch with him to Bron-yr-Aur. 
Read more: Songfacts

 

October 5, 2002:  Eminem had the highest debuting song this week, at Number 43, with "Lose Yourself" from the movie 8 Mile.
Written for Eminem’s autobiographical drama 8 Mile, “Lose Yourself” won the Best Original Song Oscar in 2003. 

Eminem 8 Mile movie

But Eminem, who also blew off the Grammys that year, didn’t attend the ceremony. That might have been for the best, because Oscars producers were “reportedly nervous” about him performing the song and slipping in profanity. His award was instead accepted by presenter Barbra Streisand and picked up by his co-writer Luis Resto.  
Read more: Vox


Funeral For A Friend / Love Lies Bleeding
Elton John

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