1969 in music

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1 Events
2 Albums released
3 Top hits on record
4 Published popular music
5 Classical music
6 Opera
7 Musical theater
8 Musical films
9 Births
10 Deaths
11 Awards
12 External Charts

[edit] Events

Perhaps the most famous musical events of 1969 are two legendary concerts. At a Rolling Stones concert in Altamont, California, a fan was stabbed to death by Hell's Angels, a biker gang that had been hired to provide security for the event. In retrospect, many commentators have concluded that the violence signalled the failure of the so-called "hippies", who espoused an ethos of free love and peace. Even more famous than the Altamont concert is Woodstock, which consisted of dozens of the most famous performers in the world at the time, playing together in an atmosphere of peace with nature and love, with many thousands of concertgoers; it is still one of the largest concerts in the history of the world. The isle of wight festival saw the return of Bob Dylan to live music after his motorbike accident in 1966 Soul Shakedown was the debut album by Bob Marley & the Wailers, who would go on to become one of the most popular groups around the world. The album achieved very little popularity outside of the group's native country, Jamaica, but began establishing themselves as superstars there. Musically, Soul Shakedown is more ska than reggae, the style of music the Wailers would eventually make world-famous; the pioneering style of the music helped move ska and rocksteady towards reggae.

David Bowie's debut single, "Space Oddity", became a huge hit in this year, being released at the time that American astronauts first landed on the moon. The song, the story of an astronaut named Major Tom who goes into space and is entranced by the beauty of seeing Earth from such a great distance and consequently lets himself float off into space, never again to return, was chosen by the BBC as the theme song for the television coverage of the moon landing. The remainder of the album, Man of Words/Man of Music, was too avant-garde for mainstream acceptance, though it established a devoted fanbase for Bowie, who would go on to become one of the most popular musicians in the world.

King Crimson's In the Court of the Crimson King is a pioneering album in the development of prog rock. The album drew upon influences like Procol Harum, The Moody Blues and The Nice to form an original sound melding rock and roll with classical influences in long, avant-garde pieces of music. Similar albums by The Moody Blues, Procol Harum and The Nice, as well as Genesis, Yes and Pink Floyd were also released this year, expanding the range of prog rock and developing it into a full-fledged genre.

The Stooges' eponymous debut, The Stooges, was also released this year to little critical or popular acceptance. The album, however, went on to become one of the most important recordings in the early development of punk rock.

Johnny Cash's At San Quentin included his only Top Ten pop hit, "A Boy Named Sue". The album was a sequel to last year's At Folsolm Prison. Also in country music, Merle Haggard's Same Train, Different Time, a tribute to Jimmie Rodgers, was enormously popular and influenced the development of the Bakersfield sound into outlaw country within a few years.

Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso released enormously popular albums in Brazil, Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso, respectively. The pair's fusion of bossa nova, samba and other native Brazilian folk influences, melded with politically and socially aware lyrics, kickstarted what came to be known as Tropicalia. Both musicians moved to London after a period of imprisonment for anti-government activities in Brazil.

Family release their second album, Family Entertainment, in their native Britain. It is their first top ten album in the United Kingdom, hitting number six. "The Weaver's Answer"", which opens the record, becomes their most popular song in their concert performances. By the end of the year, however, they lose and replace two members, and their first attempt to break through commericaly in the United States backfires miserably.

Elvis Presley returns to live performances at the International Hotel in Las Vegas; 57 concerts. He breaks all attendance records in Vegas. He also enjoys a great success with his songs "In The Ghetto" and "Suspicious Minds".

January 4 - Guitarist Jimi Hendrix causes complaints of arrogance from television producers after playing an impromptu version of "Sunshine of your Love" past his allotted timeslot on the BBC1 show Happening for Lulu.
January 12 - Led Zeppelin's eponymous debut album released.
January 18 - Pete Best wins his defamation lawsuit against the Beatles. Best had originally sought $8 million, but ended up being awarded much less.
January 30 - The Beatles perform for the last time in public, on the roof of the Apple building at 3 Savile Row, London. The performance, which was filmed for the Let It Be movie, is stopped early by police after neighbors complain about the noise.
February 3 - John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr hire Allen Klein as the Beatles' new business manager, against the wishes of Paul McCartney.
February 4 - Paul McCartney hires the law firm of Eastman & Eastman, Linda Eastman's father's law firm, as general legal counsel for Apple.
At the Toronto Rock & Roll Revival concert, Alice Cooper, a then unknown musician, supposedly bit the head off of a live chicken. Years later Cooper explained that this never occurred.
February 7 - George Harrison is admitted to London's University College Hospital with an infected back molar that has infected his tonsils.
February 8 - George Harrison's tonsils are removed at London's University College Hospital.
February 15 - Vickie Jones is arrested for impersonating Aretha Franklin in a concert performance. Jones' impersonation was so convincing that nobody in the audience asked for a refund.
February 17 - Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan record together in Nashville, Tennessee. Only one song, "Girl from the North Country", would be released from these sessions.
February 18 - Lulu and Bee Gee Maurice Gibb are married in England
March 1 - During a performance at Miami's Dinner Key Auditorium, Jim Morrison of the Doors is arrested for exposing himself during the show. Morrison is officially charged with lewd and lascivious behavior, indecent behavior, open profanity and public drunkenness.
March 9 - The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour is canceled by CBS
March 12 - The 11th Grammy Awards are presented
March 12
- Paul McCartney marries Linda Eastman
- George Harrison and his wife Pattie are arrested in England on charges of hashish possession
March 20 - John Lennon marries Yoko Ono in Gibraltar
March 25-31 - John Lennon and Yoko Ono host a "bed-in" for peace in their room at the Amsterdam Hilton, turning their honeymoon into an antiwar event. Lennon also learns from a morning newspaper that publisher Dick James has sold his shares of Northern Songs to Lew Grade's Associated Television (ATV).
April 1 - The Beach Boys file a lawsuit against their record label, Capitol Records, for $2,041,446.64 in unpaid royalties and producer's fees for Brian Wilson. Capitol retaliates by deleting most of its Beach Boys catalog, severely limiting the band's income.
April 8 - Opening for Ten Years After at the Fillmore East in New York City, Family perform their first U.S. concert, and the show is an unmitigated disaster. The band is underrehearsed and irritable, and frontman Roger Chapman - marking his 27th birthday - gets so disgusted with the blase response of the audience, he throws a microphone stand through the air, unintentionally in the direction of Fillmore East impresario Bill Graham. The bad vibes for Family in the United States are thus set.
April 20 - The L.A. Free Festival in Venice, California ends early following a riot of audience members, 117 of which were arrested.
April 22
- The first complete performance of The Who's rock opera Tommy during a performance in Dolton, England
- John Lennon officially changes his name from John Winston Lennon to John Ono Lennon.
April - The Beatles make a $5.1 million counter offer to the Northern Songs stockholders in an attempt to keep Associated TV from controlling the band's music.
April - Chicago releases its debut album, The Chicago Transit Authority.
May 3**Sly & the Family Stone release their breakthrough album, Stand!, which became one of the top-selling albums of the decade and made the band one of the most popular acts in rock and soul music.
- Jimi Hendrix is arrested by Canadian Mounties at Toronto's International Airport for possession of narcotics. Hendrix is released on $10,000 bail.
May 6 - In London, representatives of Warner Brothers-Seven Arts discuss the purchase of fifteen percent of The Beatles' Northern Songs.
May 10 - The Turtles perform at the White House. Singer Mark Volman falls off the stage five times.
June 2 - John Lennon and Yoko Ono host a "bed-in" at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Canada. The couple records the song "Give Peace a Chance" live in their suite with Tommy Smothers, Timothy Leary, and several others.
June 29 - Bass player Noel Redding formally announces to the media that he has quit the Jimi Hendrix Experience, although he effectively ceased to be with Hendrix during most of the recording of Electric Ladyland.
August 9 - Sharon Tate and several others are found murdered, in the home Tate shares with husband Roman Polanski. The culprits turn out to be Charles Manson, a would-be folk singer, and his "Family".
August 15-17 - The Woodstock Music and Art Festival was held at Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, near Woodstock, New York. Performers included Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Joan Baez, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Jefferson Airplane, Santana, Country Joe and the Fish, Ten Years After, and Sly & the Family Stone.
August 28 - Elvis Presley returns to live performances in Las Vegas.
September 13 - John Lennon and Yoko Ono perform at a rock and roll revival festival at Varsity Stadium in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, backed by Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann and Alan White. Other performers on the bill include Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis and up-and-comers Chicago. It is Lennon's first-ever public rock performance without one or more of the Beatles since meeting Paul McCartney in 1957. Well-received, Lennon decides before returning to England to leave the Beatles permanently.
September 24 - Deep Purple and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra perform the Concerto for Group and Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall in London, in the first elaborate collaboration between a rock band and an orchestra.
October - Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band release Trout Mask Replica.
October 14 - The final single by Diana Ross & The Supremes, "Someday We'll Be Together," is released. The single becomes the final #1 hit of 1969 (and of the 1960s). After a farewell concert in January 1970, Diana Ross leaves the Supremes for a solo career.
November 1 - After seven years off the top of the charts, Elvis Presley's song "Suspicious Minds," hits No. 1 on the Billboard chart (this was the last time any song by Presley hit no. 1 while he was still alive).
November 8 - Simon and Garfunkel, on tour for the first time with a band, give live concert in Carbondale, Illinois, presumably at Southern Illinois University. The concert is not released until 1999 as part of a recording compiled by Head Records, called Village Vanguard.
November 11 - Simon and Garfunkel give live concert at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. The recording is later released in the 1990s as Back To College on Yellow Dog Records and A Time Of Innocence on Bell Bottom Records.
November 30 - Simon and Garfunkel air TV special Songs Of America, ostensibly an hour-long show that is anti-war and anti-poverty featuring live footage from their 1969 tour.
November - Simon and Garfunkel give live concert in Ames, Iowa, presumably at Iowa State University, where they record track "Bye, Bye Love" for their upcoming album, Bridge Over Troubled Water.
December - The Jackson 5 release their debut album, Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5.

Zubin Mehta marries Nancy Kovack.
Elvis Presley starts the jumpsuits as he returns to live performances in Las Vegas for the first time in eight years.
Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash perform together on The Johnny Cash Show.
A Rolling Stones fan is killed at the group's Altamont, California, concert by members of the Hell's Angels.
Cream breaks up, and Blind Faith is formed
David Bowie's musical career begins with the single "Space Oddity", the unofficial anthem for the moon landing in August of this year
Brian Eno's musical career begins as a member of Cardew's Scratch Orchestra
Black Sabbath forms in Birmingham, England
Jim Croce's musical career begins
Roberta Flack's musical career begins
Mott the Hoople's musical career begins
King Crimson's musical career begins
Bonnie Raitt's musical career begins
Judas Priest forms in Birmingham, England
John Denver leaves the Chad Mitchell Trio for a solo career
Alice Cooper's musical career begins
Rod Stewart leaves The Faces for a solo career
The Doobie Brothers form
Melanie's musical career begins
Wishbone Ash form

[edit] Albums released

Abbey Road - The Beatles
And Then Play On - Fleetwood Mac
Aoxomoxoa - Grateful Dead
Arthur or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire - The Kinks
As I Am - The Troggs
Ball - Iron Butterfly
Ballad of Easy Rider - The Byrds
The Band - The Band
Barabajagal - Donovan
Basket of Light - Pentangle
Bless Its Pointed Little Head - Jefferson Airplane
Blind Faith - Blind Faith
Blood Sweat & Tears - Blood, Sweat & Tears
Blues Obituary - The Groundhogs
The Brothers: Isley - The Isley Brothers
Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show - Neil Diamond
Caetano Veloso - Caetano Veloso
Canta In Italiano - Dalida
Chicago Transit Authority - Chicago (debut)
Clouds - Joni Mitchell
Country Folk - Waylon Jennings
Crosby, Stills & Nash - Crosby, Stills & Nash
David's Album - Joan Baez
Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5 - Jackson 5
Dizzy - Tommy Roe
Doing His Thing - Ray Charles
Donovan's Greatest Hits - Donovan
Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde - The Byrds
Easy - Marvin Gaye
Elephant Mountain - The Youngbloods
Ella - Ella Fitzgerald
Empty Sky - Elton John
English Rose - Fleetwood Mac
Everybody Knows This is Nowhere - Neil Young
Family Entertainment - Family
Four in Blue - Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
From Elvis In Memphis - Elvis Presley
From Genesis to Revelation - Genesis
Galveston - The Lawrence Welk Orchestra
Get Down to It - James Brown
Gilberto Gil - Gilberto Gil
Goodbye - Cream
Grand Canyon Suite - Johnny Cash
Grand Funk - Grand Funk Railroad
Green River - Creedence Clearwater Revival
Hair (West End) - Original Cast
He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother - The Hollies
Hello, I'm Johnny Cash - Johnny Cash
Hollies Sing Dylan - The Hollies
Hollies Sing Hollies - The Hollies
The Holy Land - Johnny Cash
Hot Rats - Frank Zappa
I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! - Janis Joplin (solo debut)
I'm All Yours-Baby! - Ray Charles
Instant Replay - The Monkees
The Instrumental Sounds of Merle Haggard's Strangers - Merle Haggard & the Strangers
In the Court of the Crimson King]] - King Crimson (debut)
I Say a Little Prayer - Aretha Franklin
It's a Mother - James Brown
It's Our Thing - The Isley Brothers
Jackson - Johnny Cash
J.J. Jackson's Greatest Little Soul Band in the Land - J.J. Jackson
Joe South's Greatest Hits Vol.1 - Joe South
Johnny Cash - Johnny Cash
Just to Satisfy You - Waylon Jennings
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin (debut)
Led Zeppelin II - Led Zeppelin
Let It Bleed - The Rolling Stones
Live/Dead - Grateful Dead
Live at Yankee Stadium - The Isley Brothers
Love Man - Otis Redding
Ma Mère me disait - Dalida
A Man Alone - Frank Sinatra
Man of Words/Man of Music - David Bowie (later re-released as Space Oddity)
Moby Grape '69 - Moby Grape
The Monkees Present - The Monkees
Monster Movie - Can
More Old Golden Throat - Johnny Cash
Mott the Hoople - Mott the Hoople (debut)
M.P.G. - Marvin Gaye
Music from the Film More - Pink Floyd
My Brother the Wind, Vol. 1 - Sun Ra
My Brother the Wind, Vol. 2 - Sun Ra
My Cherie Amour - Stevie Wonder
My Own Peculiar Way - Willie Nelson
My Way - Frank Sinatra
Nashville Skyline - Bob Dylan
Neil Young - Neil Young
New York Tendaberry - Laura Nyro
The Nice - The Nice
Odessa - The Bee Gees
Offering (re-released as Ticket To Ride) - Carpenters
Okie from Muskogee - Merle Haggard & the Strangers
On the Threshold of a Dream - The Moody Blues
On Time - Grand Funk Railroad
The Open Mind - The Open Mind
Ornette at 12 - Ornette Coleman
The Popcorn - James Brown
Pretties For You - Alice Cooper
Pride in What I Am - Merle Haggard & the Strangers
Rehearsals for Retirement - Phil Ochs
Rhymes and Reason - John Denver (debut)
A Salty Dog - Procol Harum
Same Train, Different Time - Merle Haggard & the Strangers
At San Quentin - Johnny Cash
Santana - Santana
Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud - James Brown
Scott 3 - Scott Walker
Scott 4 - Scott Walker
Seattle - Perry Como
The Simon Sisters Sing The Lobster Quadrille And Other Songs For Children - The Simon Sisters
The Soft Parade - The Doors
Soul Shakedown - Bob Marley & the Wailers (debut)
Stand Up - Jethro Tull
The Stooges - The Stooges (debut)
Sunshine of your Love - Ella Fitzgerald
Surround Yourself with Cilla - Cilla Black
This Is - Desmond Dekker
Three in the Attic - Chad and Jeremy
Three Week Hero - P.J. Proby
Tommy - The Who
To Our Children's Children's Children - The Moody Blues
Touching You, Touching Me - Neil Diamond
Trogglomania - The Troggs
Truly Fine Citizen - Moby Grape
Turtle Soup - The Turtles
Ummagumma - Pink Floyd
Unhalfbricking - Fairport Convention
The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground
Volunteers - Jefferson Airplane
Waylon Jennings - Waylon Jennings
What We Did on Our Holidays - Fairport Convention
Wonder Where I'm Bound - Dion DiMucci
Words and Music by Bob Dylan - The Hollies
Yellow Submarine - The Beatles
Yes - Yes (debut)
The Young Mods' Forgotten Story - The Impressions
20/20 - The Beach Boys

[edit] Top hits on record

"Aquarius/Let the Sunshine in" - Fifth Dimension
"Aquele Abraco" - Gilberto Gil
"Baby Make It Soon" - The Marmalade
"Badge" - Cream
"The Ballad of John and Yoko" - The Beatles
"Blackberry Way" - The Move
"But You Know I Love You" - Kenny Rogers and The First Edition
"The Boxer" - Simon and Garfunkel
"In The Ghetto" - Elvis Presley
"Call Me Number One" - The Tremeloes
"Cissy Strut" - The Meters
"Cloud Nine" - The Temptations
"Crimson and Clover" - Tommy James & the Shondells
"Curly" - The Move
"Don't Give In To Him" - Gary Puckett & The Union Gap
"Everyday People" - Sly & the Family Stone
"Get Back" - The Beatles
"Get Ready" - Rare Earth
"Get Together" - The Youngbloods
"Gimmie, Gimmie Good Lovin'" - Crazy Elephant
"Give Peace a Chance" - John Lennon
"Good Times Bad Times" - Led Zeppelin
"Hello Susie" - Amen Corner
"Hello World" - The Tremeloes
"Higher And Higher" - Jackie Wilson
"Honky Tonk Women" - Rolling Stones
"I Can Hear Music" - The Beach Boys
"I Can't Get Next to You" - The Temptations
"I Don't Know Why" - Stevie Wonder
"If Paradise Is Half As Nice" - Amen Corner
"I Heard It Through The Grapevine" - Marvin Gaye
"In the Ghetto" - Elvis Presley
"In the Year 2525" - Zager and Evans
"The Israelites" - Desmond Dekker and the Aces
"It Miek" - Desmond Dekker and the Aces
"L'An 2005" - Dalida
"Lay Lady Lay" - Bob Dylan
"Le Clan des Siciliens" - Dalida (soundtrak)
"The Liquidator" - Harry J.'s All Stars
"Listen to the Band" - The Monkees
"Living In The Past" - Jethro Tull
"Love Child" - Diana Ross & the Supremes
"My Cherie Amour" - Stevie Wonder
"Pinball Wizard" - The Who
"Proud Mary" - Creedence Clearwater Revival
"Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" - B.J. Thomas
"Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town" - Kenny Rogers and The First Edition
"Run Away Child, Running Wild" - The Temptations
"Someday We'll Be Together" - Diana Ross & the Supremes
"Something/Come Together" - The Beatles
"Sophisticated Cissy" - The Meters
"Space Cowboy" - Steve Miller Band
"Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" - Crosby, Stills & Nash
"Suspicious Minds" - Elvis Presley
"Sugar, Sugar" - The Archies
"This Girl Is A Woman Now" - Gary Puckett & The Union Gap
"Touch Me" - The Doors
"Wait A Million Years" - The Grass Roots
"Whole Lotta Love" - Led Zeppelin
"Winter World of Love" - Engelbert Humperdinck

[edit] Published popular music

"The April Fools" w. Hal David m. Burt Bacharach from the film April Fools
"Bad Moon Rising" w.m. John C. Fogerty
"The Brady Bunch theme", by Frank DeVol
"Bridge Over Troubled Water" w.m. Paul Simon
"But, Mister Adams" w.m. Sherman Edwards
"Cool, Cool Considerate Men" w.m. Sherman Edwards
"Didn't We?" w.m. Jimmy Webb
"Down On The Corner" w.m. John C. Fogerty
"The Egg" w.m. Sherman Edwards
"Everybody's Talkin'" w.m. Fred Neil
"Hawaii Five-O" m. Mort Stevens
"He Plays The Violin" w.m. Sherman Edwards
If You Could Read My Mind" w.m. Gordon Lightfoot
"In The Ghetto" w.m.Mac Davis
"Is Anybody There?" w.m. Sherman Edwards
"Is That All There Is?" w.m. Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller
"Israelites" w.m. Desmond Dekker & Leslie Kong
"Keem-O-Sabe" m. Bernard Binnick & Bernice Borisoff
"Jean" w.m. Rod McKuen from the film The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie
"Just Leave Everything to Me" w.m. Jerry Herman, from the film version of Hello Dolly!
"Leaving On A Jet Plane" w.m. John Denver
"The Lees Of Old Virginia" w.m. Sherman Edwards
"Marrakesh Express" w.m. Graham Nash
"Molasses To Rum" w.m. Sherman Edwards
"Momma, Look Sharp" w.m. Sherman Edwards
"Odds And Ends (Of A Beautiful Love Affair)" w. Hal David m. Burt Bacharach
"Piddle, Twiddle And Resolve" w.m. Sherman Edwards
"Proud Mary" w.m. John C. Fogerty
"Put A Little Love In Your Heart" w.m. Jimmy Holiday, Randy Myers & Jackie DeShannon
"Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" w.Hal David m.Burt Bacharach. Introduced by B. J. Thomas on the soundtrack of the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The song won the Academy Award.
"Sweet Caroline" w.m. Neil Diamond
"Till Then" w.m. Sherman Edwards
"What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?" w. Alan Bergman & Marilyn Bergman m. Michel LeGrand
"Yellow River" w.m. Christie (band)
"You Don't Love Me When I Cry" w.m. Laura Nyro
"Yours, Yours, Yours" w.m. Sherman Edwards

[edit] Classical music

Benjamin Britten - Harp Suite
Gavin Bryars - The Sinking of the Titanic
Sylvano Bussotti - Rara Requiem
George Crumb - Night of the Four Moons for alto, alto flute/piccolo, banjo, electric cello, and percussion; Madrigals, Books III (for soprano, harp, and percussion) and Books IV for soprano, flute/alto flute/piccolo, harp, double bass, and percussion
Mario Davidovsky - Synchronisms No. 5 for percussion players and tape
Peter Maxwell Davies - St Thomas Wake
Vagn Holmboe - String Quartet no. 10, op. 102
György Ligeti - Ramifications for 12 solo strings (1968-69)
Francis Jackson - Sonata for Organ No. 1
Miklós Rózsa - Concerto for Cello
Dmitri Shostakovich - Symphony No. 14, Op. 135 for soprano, bass, string orchestra and percussion
Leif Thybo - Concerto for violin and orchestra