TODAY IN HISTORY – September 29th
1907 - Born this day, Gene Autry, perhaps the greatest singing cowboy of all time, was born in Tioga, Texas.
While still a boy, Autry moved with his family to a ranch in Oklahoma where he learned to play the guitar and sing. The young Autry was quickly attracted to a new style of music that was becoming popular at the time, which combined the traditional cowboy music popular in Texas and Oklahoma and the folk songs, ballads, and hymns of southern-style country music.
Known as country-western, the new sound was popularised by musicians from the East Coast and the South who had never been near a horse and couldn't tell a stirrup from a lariat. Donning cowboy hats and boots and affecting what they thought were western drawls, hundreds of these newly minted 'cowboys' were soon crooning popular western ballads like Tumbling Tumble Weeds all around America.
While Autry was also no cowboy, he was, at least, a genuine westerner who had lived on a ranch. After a chance encounter with cowboy-humorist Will Rogers, who encouraged his dream of singing professionally, Autry made his first recording in 1929, and for several years performed as 'Oklahoma's Yodeling Cowboy' on a Tulsa radio program. Following a stint as the star of the Chicago-based National Barn Dance radio show, he signed a recording contract with the Sears label, which also marketed a Gene Autry guitar through its famous catalogue.
Autry's lasting fame, though, came from his career as the film industry's favorite singing cowboy. His first movie, In Old Santa Fe, was eventually followed by nearly 100 other films that made him one of the most popular stars in America and vastly expanded the audience for country-western music around the world.
He died in October 1998 at the age of 91. (owner of California Angels).
1935 - Born this day, Jerry Lee Lewis, (1958 UK No.1 single Great Balls Of Fire, 1957 multi million seller Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On, Breathless, Highschool Confidential).
1956 - Bill Haley had five songs in the UK top 30, Rockin Through The Rye, Saints Rock n' Roll, Rock Around The Clock, Razzle Dazzle, and See You Later Alligator.
1967 - Working at Abbey Road in London, The Beatles mixed the new John Lennon song ‘I Am the Walrus’ which included the sound of a radio being tuned through numerous stations, coming to rest on a BBC production of William Shakespeare's "King Lear". Lennon composed the song by combining three songs he had been working on. When he learned that a teacher at his old primary school was having his students analyse Beatles' lyrics, he added a verse of nonsense words.
1968 - Born on this day, Matt & Luke Goss, Bros, 1988 UK No.1 single 'I Owe You Nothing' plus 10 other UK Top 40 singles).
1973 - Grand Funk Railroad went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'We're An American Band', the group's first of two US chart toppers.
1975 - Jackie Wilson had a heart attack while performing live on stage at the Latin Casino, New Jersey, he lapsed into a coma, suffering severe brain damage, he died on 21 January 1984.
1976 - Enjoying his own birthday celebrations singer Jerry Lee Lewis accidentally shot his bass player Norman Owens in the chest while blasting holes in a office door. Owens survived but sued his boss.
1979 - The Police had their first UK No.1 single with Message In A Bottle.
1984 - Prince and the Revolution started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with Let's Go Crazy, his second US No.1, and a No.7 hit in the UK.
1987 - Pink Floyd’s thirteenth studio album A Momentary Lapse Of Reason was on the UK chart. The shoot for the album cover involved dragging 800 hospital beds onto Saunton Sands in Devon, but rain interrupted the session and they had to repeat the exercise two weeks later. A hang glider can be seen in the sky, a possible reference to the track Learning to Fly. Photographer Robert Dowling won a gold award at the Association of Photographers' Awards for the image, which took about two weeks to create.
1989 - While travelling on his motorbike from Los Angeles, Bruce Springsteen called in at Matt's Saloon in Prescott, Arizona, and jammed with the house band for an hour. He also donated $100,000 to a barmaid's hospital bill.
1992 - American singer, songwriter Paul Jabara died from lymphoma related to AIDS at the age of 44. He wrote Donna Summer's Oscar and Grammy Award-winning hit ‘Last Dance’ and Barbra Streisand's ‘The Main Event/Fight’ and co-wrote the Weather Girls hit, ‘It's Raining Men’ with Paul Shaffer.
1999 - The Manic Street Preachers were given a bill for £28,000 after smashing up equipment during their show at Scotland's T In The Park festival.
2001 - Jennifer Lopez married dancer Cris Judd in Calabasa, California. The couple separated nine months later.
2002 - US TV Pop Idol winner Kelly Clarkson started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with A Moment Like This.
2004 - Keith Moon's five-piece drum kit, custom-made for The Who drummer in 1968, sold for £120,000 pounds ($215,772) in London to an American collector, setting a world auction record for a set of drums.
2004 - The Sun reported that Michael Jackson had a secret fourth child who was now 19. The story claimed that Norwegian Omar Bhatti was born after a one night stand and had stayed with Jackson at his Neverland home in California.
2012 - The UK press reported that there really was a girl who works down the chip shop and swears she's Elvis' daughter, after Lisa Marie Presley was spotted serving up deep-fried treats on a mobile motor called Mr Chippy. The 44-year-old, offspring of Elvis and actress Priscilla, donned an apron and cooked battered cod for the locals. Kim Scales, who owned the business, said: "Lisa Marie likes to see how we live and experience British life. We were laughing because the customers didn't know who she was. She really enjoyed it." The singer, had moved to the quaint village of Rotherfield, East Sussex, two years ago from Los Angeles.
1907 - Born this day, Gene Autry, perhaps the greatest singing cowboy of all time, was born in Tioga, Texas.
While still a boy, Autry moved with his family to a ranch in Oklahoma where he learned to play the guitar and sing. The young Autry was quickly attracted to a new style of music that was becoming popular at the time, which combined the traditional cowboy music popular in Texas and Oklahoma and the folk songs, ballads, and hymns of southern-style country music.
Known as country-western, the new sound was popularised by musicians from the East Coast and the South who had never been near a horse and couldn't tell a stirrup from a lariat. Donning cowboy hats and boots and affecting what they thought were western drawls, hundreds of these newly minted 'cowboys' were soon crooning popular western ballads like Tumbling Tumble Weeds all around America.
While Autry was also no cowboy, he was, at least, a genuine westerner who had lived on a ranch. After a chance encounter with cowboy-humorist Will Rogers, who encouraged his dream of singing professionally, Autry made his first recording in 1929, and for several years performed as 'Oklahoma's Yodeling Cowboy' on a Tulsa radio program. Following a stint as the star of the Chicago-based National Barn Dance radio show, he signed a recording contract with the Sears label, which also marketed a Gene Autry guitar through its famous catalogue.
Autry's lasting fame, though, came from his career as the film industry's favorite singing cowboy. His first movie, In Old Santa Fe, was eventually followed by nearly 100 other films that made him one of the most popular stars in America and vastly expanded the audience for country-western music around the world.
He died in October 1998 at the age of 91. (owner of California Angels).
1935 - Born this day, Jerry Lee Lewis, (1958 UK No.1 single Great Balls Of Fire, 1957 multi million seller Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On, Breathless, Highschool Confidential).
1956 - Bill Haley had five songs in the UK top 30, Rockin Through The Rye, Saints Rock n' Roll, Rock Around The Clock, Razzle Dazzle, and See You Later Alligator.
1967 - Working at Abbey Road in London, The Beatles mixed the new John Lennon song ‘I Am the Walrus’ which included the sound of a radio being tuned through numerous stations, coming to rest on a BBC production of William Shakespeare's "King Lear". Lennon composed the song by combining three songs he had been working on. When he learned that a teacher at his old primary school was having his students analyse Beatles' lyrics, he added a verse of nonsense words.
1968 - Born on this day, Matt & Luke Goss, Bros, 1988 UK No.1 single 'I Owe You Nothing' plus 10 other UK Top 40 singles).
1973 - Grand Funk Railroad went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'We're An American Band', the group's first of two US chart toppers.
1975 - Jackie Wilson had a heart attack while performing live on stage at the Latin Casino, New Jersey, he lapsed into a coma, suffering severe brain damage, he died on 21 January 1984.
1976 - Enjoying his own birthday celebrations singer Jerry Lee Lewis accidentally shot his bass player Norman Owens in the chest while blasting holes in a office door. Owens survived but sued his boss.
1979 - The Police had their first UK No.1 single with Message In A Bottle.
1984 - Prince and the Revolution started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with Let's Go Crazy, his second US No.1, and a No.7 hit in the UK.
1987 - Pink Floyd’s thirteenth studio album A Momentary Lapse Of Reason was on the UK chart. The shoot for the album cover involved dragging 800 hospital beds onto Saunton Sands in Devon, but rain interrupted the session and they had to repeat the exercise two weeks later. A hang glider can be seen in the sky, a possible reference to the track Learning to Fly. Photographer Robert Dowling won a gold award at the Association of Photographers' Awards for the image, which took about two weeks to create.
1989 - While travelling on his motorbike from Los Angeles, Bruce Springsteen called in at Matt's Saloon in Prescott, Arizona, and jammed with the house band for an hour. He also donated $100,000 to a barmaid's hospital bill.
1992 - American singer, songwriter Paul Jabara died from lymphoma related to AIDS at the age of 44. He wrote Donna Summer's Oscar and Grammy Award-winning hit ‘Last Dance’ and Barbra Streisand's ‘The Main Event/Fight’ and co-wrote the Weather Girls hit, ‘It's Raining Men’ with Paul Shaffer.
1999 - The Manic Street Preachers were given a bill for £28,000 after smashing up equipment during their show at Scotland's T In The Park festival.
2001 - Jennifer Lopez married dancer Cris Judd in Calabasa, California. The couple separated nine months later.
2002 - US TV Pop Idol winner Kelly Clarkson started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with A Moment Like This.
2004 - Keith Moon's five-piece drum kit, custom-made for The Who drummer in 1968, sold for £120,000 pounds ($215,772) in London to an American collector, setting a world auction record for a set of drums.
2004 - The Sun reported that Michael Jackson had a secret fourth child who was now 19. The story claimed that Norwegian Omar Bhatti was born after a one night stand and had stayed with Jackson at his Neverland home in California.
2012 - The UK press reported that there really was a girl who works down the chip shop and swears she's Elvis' daughter, after Lisa Marie Presley was spotted serving up deep-fried treats on a mobile motor called Mr Chippy. The 44-year-old, offspring of Elvis and actress Priscilla, donned an apron and cooked battered cod for the locals. Kim Scales, who owned the business, said: "Lisa Marie likes to see how we live and experience British life. We were laughing because the customers didn't know who she was. She really enjoyed it." The singer, had moved to the quaint village of Rotherfield, East Sussex, two years ago from Los Angeles.