On this day in rock history:
- 1961 – Bob Dylan made his concert debut at Carnegie Hall. 58 people attended (mostly Bob’s personal friends). Bob’s take of the box office was $20
- 1965 – Paul McCartney’s “Scrambled Eggs” (also known as “Yesterday”) hit number one on the charts
- 1969 – Abbey Road, the Beatles’ final masterpiece, was released in the UK (yes, the Beatles get more than one mention because, well, they’re the Beatles)
- 1975 – Pink Floyd’s concept album Wish You Were Here became the number one LP in America (Free cup of virtual coffee for anyone who knows what “LP” is short for.)
- 1980 – Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” rather prophetically became the longest running number one hit of the band’s career
- 1988 – John Lennon’s album Imagine was released worldwide…and the rest is history
“Don’t stand so close” to that truck. “They’ll be watching you.”
Dude!
It’s not too late…to whippet good.
“There’s a sign on the wall, but she wants to be sure…”
Spoon some jazz on me.
Actually, the Who are playing at a different venue that night.
Long Play
We have a winner! Would you like virtual cream and sugar with that?
I wanted to go to Dylan’s first concert, but only being one year old at the time made it difficult to arrange the travel.
Yeah, you’re so dependent on others when you’re that age. But once you get your own tricycle, look out!
Hi Mitch… hope all is going well in your life. It’s hard to imagine how Imagine hadn’t reached every corner of our world until 1988. That’s actually something I didn’t know prior to taking your musical memory lane tour.
The “A” to your “Q” is Long Playing. Make my virtual coffee a cup of medium roast espresso with skim milk and one tsp of sugar. To help keep our Trivial Pursuit game going… what do the following numbers 78 – 45 – 33 1/3 – 16 2/3 all have in common? Bonus Q: What was reason for 16 2/3?
The virtual barista is steaming your brew now, Tom. Those are rpms (revolutions per minute). 16s (technically 16 2/3, as you point out) played longer, but were only used for spoken language records due to their poorer quality sound reproduction.
Thanks for the coffee! It really hit the spot on this coolish, early fall p.m. There probably aren’t too many Qs we could pose that would stump either of us. I do recall having a lot of long, long, long ago fun playing faster rpm records at that 16 2/3 speed.
I wonder how many people under the age of 35 will get the Who’s On First reference.
Not too many. My daughter Amanda will. She’s a Millennial, but she has a broader knowledge of history and media than most people her age.
But is it Long Play or Long Playing? How RPM? Get a virtual donut with that java?
Long Playing, though people often say Long Play. Revolutions Per Minute. One virtual donut coming up–old fashioned, I presume?
Haha—am I aging myself again?
Loved the Abba and Costello, btw.
Actually it was Nov 4 that Dylan played “small” Carnegie Hall (the annex)
Oh, yeah? Got my dates from a This Day in Music History site. Thanks for the correction.
Hmm, got my info from a couple of sites—who really knows? Call up Bobby.🤔
The ABBA and Costello meme alone got you this ‘like’ Teemly. Don’t let it happen again. 😉
Great info Mitch. I am late but, I knew Long Play, and I really enjoyed seeing the Utensils band.
During my growing-up years it was classical music that resonated through the house. Dad would often ask, “What’s this composition? Who wrote it?” Now Dad is 94. On a recent visit we were listening to–you guessed it–classical music, and I proudly said, “Dad–I know this one! It’s Grieg’s First Piano Concerto!” After the slightest pause and with a twinkle in his eye, he asked, “What key?” Have to wonder how many people would know THAT one! P.S. The answer is: A Minor–just so no one loses any sleep over it.
I loved classical growing up, too, Nancy. Beatles, Beethoven, Bob (Dylan), Bach, Beach Boys, Bernstein. Something about the Bs. Seriously, though, I am a fan of Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite.
Brilliant and another great giggle–thanks Mitch!!!!
Bob Dylan made his debut at Carnegie Hall?
Not his debut per se–he’d been playing coffee houses, etc.–but his Carnegie Hall debut.