When asked if he thought Ringo was the best drummer in the world, John Lennon replied "Ringo's not even the best drummer in The Beatles."
When an interviewer asked Paul Simon "What's the smartest thing you ever heard anybody in Rock 'n' Roll say?", Simon answered "Be bop-a-lula, she's my baby."
When he was a boy living in Englewood, NJ in the early 1960s, Vincent Curatola, who went on to play Johnny "Sack" Sacramoni on the hit TV show The Sopranos, delivered newspapers. Some of his customers were Tony Bennett, Jerry Vale, Dizzy Gillespie, Leslie Gore, Sarah Vaughn and Tammy Tyrrel.
Led Zeppelin is the only band to have every one of their albums reach the Billboard Top Ten.
U2's vocalist, Paul Hewson has been called "Bono" by his family and fellow band members since his adolescence. The nickname is short for "Bono Vox", an alteration of Bonavox, a Latin phrase which translates to "good voice."
Although "Stairway To Heaven" is now one of Led Zeppelin's most popular songs, the first time they played it 'live', the audience booed. They came to hear "Whole Lotta Love".
Jimi Hendrix first UK gig took place in a pub in Newcastle and lasted about three minutes. He played so loud that he blew every fuse in the building and the show came to an end.
In the 1930s, Jazz musicians started calling gigs "apples" and New York city became "The Big Apple."
In Bill Withers' 1971 Billboard #3 hit "Ain't No Sunshine", he repeats the words "I know, I know, I know..." twenty-six times. This rather annoying repetition was originally meant as a place holder until Withers could think up some better lyrics that he never did come up with.
The epitaph on Sonny Bono's headstone reads: "And The Beat Goes On".
B.B. King named his guitar Lucille after nearly losing it in a fire started by two men fighting over a woman with that name.
The English rock band Duran Duran had three members whose last name is Taylor, but none of them are related.
When they were both youngsters, future Eagles member Don Felder gave guitar lessons to Tom Petty.
Courtney Love of the band Hole gained the distinction of being the first AOL subscriber to have her e-mail account shut down, mainly for the death threats she posted against people she thought deserved them.
In November, 2007, Neil Diamond finally revealed a secret that he had held onto for decades. The inspiration for his 1969 hit "Sweet Caroline" was President Kennedy's daughter.
"For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield got its title when Stephen Stills first played the song for the group, saying "Here's a new song I wrote, for what it's worth." When he finished playing, he was asked what the title was. Stills said he didn't have one. Someone then replied, "Sure you do. You just said it."
According to Bill Harry, founder of the UK music magazine Mersey Beat and personal friend of The Beatles, the rumor that the group took their name from a line in the movie The Wild Ones, is totally false, as the movie was not released in England until 1968. Nor did it have anything to do with "Beat" music, a term that didn't come out until after the band was established. He says it was Stu Sutcliffe who suggested "Let's have a name like The Crickets."
The birth of guitar fuzz distortion is believed to have come about by accident when Marty Robbins recorded "Don't Worry". Session man Grady Martin's guitar was plugged into a faulty amplifier, which created the strange effect. The crew liked it so much, they used it in the final mix. Their instincts proved correct as the song reached #3 on the Billboard Pop chart and #1 on the Country chart.
Steven Tyler of Aerosmith will not allow anyone to refer to him as Steve.
When The Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia heard the finished tape of The Jefferson Airplane's newest album, he remarked "Sounds like a surrealistic pillow," and the album's name was born.
"ALICE COOPER" was originally the name of the entire band, before lead singer Vince Furnier assumed the name for himself.
In 1972, Berry Oakley, bass player for the The ALLMAN BROTHERS band, was killed in a motorcycle accident, just three blocks away from the site of Duane's Allman's fatal crash.
By the time his song "Tighten Up" entered the Hot 100 in 1968, ARCHIE BELL was in the U.S. Army, recovering from a leg wound.
BARRY MANILOW's hit, "I Write The Songs" was actually written by Bruce Johnson of The BEACH BOYS.
BARRY MANILOW was once a page boy at CBS and was later Bette Midler's musical director. Before having his first hit record, Barry earned a living writing commercials, including the jingles for State Farm Insurance , Band Aids, Stridex, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Dr. Pepper, Pepsi, and McDonalds.
BARRY MANILOW's first hit, "Mandy", was written as "Brandy", but was changed when a band named "Looking Glass" had a chart hit with that name.
Scotland's BAY CITY ROLLERS chose their name by sticking a pin in a map of the United States. The pin landed near Bay City, Michigan.
The lead vocal of the BEACH BOYS hit, "Barbara Ann" was actually sung by Dean Torrence of JAN AND DEAN.
Among those who sang the chorus of the BEATLES' "All You Need Is Love" were Marianne Faithful, Graham Nash, Jane Asher, Patti Boyd, Keith Moon and Mick Jagger.
Former BEATLES drummer Pete Best appeared on TV's "I've Got A Secret" in 1964.
The BEE GEES' Robin Gibb survived one of England's worst train wrecks. More than fifty people were killed and over a hundred injured, while Robin escaped unharmed.
On July 18, 1966, just five months after "I Fought The Law" had entered the charts, BOBBY FULLER was found dead on the front seat of his mother's Oldsmobile, parked outside of a Los Angeles apartment building.
BOZ SCAGGS real name is William Royce Scaggs. The handle is shortened from a highschool nickname, "Bosley"
BILL HALEY and the Comets first hit record, "Rock Around The Clock" had initial sales of just 75,000, until it was used as the title track of "The Blackboard Jungle", 12 months later. It would eventually sell over 25 million copies.
England's "The Hollies" took their name in honor of BUDDY HOLLY.
Country singer Waylon Jennings was a guitar player in BUDDY HOLLY's backup band. He gave up his plane seat to J.P. Richardson (The Big Bopper) just moments before it took off. The plane crashed, killing all on board, including Holly.
Dick Clark's wife suggested that Ernest Evans change his name to "CHUBBY CHECKER" as a parody of "Fats Domino".
Even though he has recorded some of the most memorable rock and roll classics, the only gold record that CHUCK BERRY ever received was for "My Ding-a-ling".
CHUCK BERRY has spent time in prison on two different occasions. First, he served a two year sentence between 1962 and 1964 for violation of the Mann Act, then a four month term in 1979 for income tax evasion.
On June 7, 1979, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service charged CHUCK BERRY with 3 counts of tax evasion. Just hours later, he performed at a concert for President Jimmy Carter on the front lawn of the White House.
British singer CILLA BLACK, best remembered for her number one U.K hit "Anyone Who Had a Heart", had her stage name changed by accident. A reporter for the local paper remembered the wrong color as her surname. Her real name is Cilla White.
Before he became a rock star, DAVE CLARK of The DAVE CLARK FIVE worked as a stuntman in over 40 films.
DODIE STEVENS had a hit record called "Pink Shoelaces" in 1959. She would later go on to sing with Sergio Mendez and Brazil '66 and later still with Mac Davis.
Len Barry, who scored a 1963 hit with 1-2-3 was the lead singer of THE DOVELLS, who had a 1961 hit with "Bristol Stomp".
The original EAGLES, Glen Frey, Don Henley, Randy Meisner and Bernie Leadon first met when they were members of Linda Ronstadt's backup band.
Glen Frey of the EAGLES played rhythm guitar on Bob Seger's "Ramblin', Gamblin' Man".
The cover of the EAGLES' "Hotel California" was taken at The Beverly Hills Hotel.
As Reginald Dwight, ELTON JOHN was once a member of Long John Baldry's supporting band, Bluesology.
ELVIS PRESLEY had a twin brother named Jesse Garon Presley, who was stillborn.
ELVIS PRESLEY's father, Vernon, served eight months in prison for altering a check.
Tom Jones, ENGLEBERT HUMPERDINCK and Gilbert O'Sullivan all had the same manager, Gordon Mills.
Arnold George Dorsey uses the stage name "ENGLEBERT HUMPERDINCK", the name of the Austrian composer who wrote "Hansel and Gretel".
Dan Seals of "ENGLAND DAN AND JOHN FORD COLEY", earned the nickname, "England Dan" from his family, because as a youngster, Dan had fixated on the BEATLES and briefly affected an English accent. Dan is the brother of Jim Seals of Seals and Crofts.
ELTON JOHN played piano on the Hollies hit, "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother".
ELVIS PRESLEY offered the press a chance to interview him in June of 1972 for a fee of $120,000. There were no takers.
Bobby Vinton had more #1 hits than any other male vocalist of his time, including ELVIS PRESLEY and Frank Sinatra.
ERIC CLAPTON was born to an unwed mother and to shield him from the shame, Eric grew up believing that his grandparents were his parents and his mother was his sister.
THE EVERLY BROTHERS "Bye Bye Love," was rejected by 30 labels before Cadence Records picked it up. The song went to #2 on the pop chart and #1 on the Country & Western chart.
MIKE STOLLER, the co-writer of ELVIS PRESLEY's "Hound Dog", survived the sinking of the ship "Andrea Doria" in the Atlantic Ocean on July 25th 1956. Fifty one others died
The BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD was a band that lasted 19 months.
"Surf City", a 1963 number one hit by JAN AND DEAN was recorded in a converted garage underneath their apartment in Bel Air, California.
TOM JONES lost a paternity suit in July of 1989 and was ordered to pay $200 a week in child support to 27 year old, Katherine Berkery, of New York. The judge in the case was "Judge Judy" Sheindlin, who was still serving in her 15 year tenure as a New York Family Court judge before appearing in her court TV show, "Judge Judy".
PAUL REVERE of THE RAIDERS, was married on the fourth of July, 1976, on America's Bicentennial at King's Island Amusement Park in Cincinnati.
Three members of the YOUNG RASCALS, Felix Cavaliere, Gene Cornish and Eddie Brigati were once members of Joey Dee and The Starlighters, who scored a number one hit in 1961 with "The Pepperming Twist".
JAMES BROWN's wife tried to get her traffic tickets dismissed because of "diplomatic immunity" in June of 1988. She claimed her husband is the official "ambassador of soul". She lost the case
In 1975, THE ROLLING STONES became the first rock group ever to receive royalties from record sales in Russia.
While playing in front of a large lake at the Crystal Palace Bowl in London in 1970, PINK FLOYD played so loud, a number of fish were killed.
During a 1969 performance at the White House for a ball given by President Richard Nixon's daughter, Tricia. Mark Volman of THE TURTLES was reported to have fallen off the stage five times.
Former Animals bassist, Chas Chandler discovered and managed JIMI HENDRIX.
HARRY CHAPIN's hit song "I Wanna Learn A Love Song" is actually the true story of how he met his wife, Sandy.
JOHNNIE TAYLOR's "Disco Lady" became the first single to ever sell over 2 million copies in April, 1976.
Singer Axl Rose of GUNS N' ROSES married Erin Everly, Don Everly's daughter. The marriage lasted 27 days.
Telma Hopkins of TONY ORLANDO and Dawn is the voice you hear on Issac Hayes' song "Shaft", that tells him, "Shut your mouth".
TONY ORLANDO recorded his first two hits in separate studios from backup singers Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent Wilson. By the time they met, "Candida" and "Knock Three Times" had sold a total of nine million records.
Jan Berry of JAN AND DEAN has an I.Q. of 185, which puts him in the genius catagory.
JOHN DENVER was killed when his light plane crashed because it simply ran out of fuel.
Ray Sawyer, lead singer of DR. HOOK, wears an eye patch because he lost an eye in an auto accident.
GARY LEWIS of GARY LEWIS and the Playboys was supposed to be named "Carey" at birth, after actor Cary Grant, but the hospital made a mistake and recorded his name as "Gary".
MARVIN GAYE Sr. was convicted of killing his son Marvin, but was sentenced to only six years probation after a judge ruled the case "self defence".
Bobby Goldsboro once played in ROY ORBISON's backup band.
GRAND FUNK RAILROAD , took their name from a Michigan landmark, "The Grand Trunk Railroad".
CHUCK BERRY holds a degree in cosmetology.
During a 6-year period (1967-1972) THE GRASS ROOTS set a record for being on the Billboard charts an unbelievable 307 straight weeks.
JIMI HENDRIX was thrown out of high school for holding the hand of a white girl in class.
Peter Noone, lead singer of HERMAN'S HERMITS, got his nickname after the guys in the band remarked on Peter's resemblance to the character Sherman in the TV cartoon 'The Bullwinkle Show'. Peter misheard the name as Herman.
On December 12, 1957, 22 year old JERRY LEE LEWIS married 14 year old Myra Gale Brown, his second cousin.
Gene Simmons of KISS is a former elementary school teacher .
ROGER MILLER won 5 Grammy Awards in 1965 and followed in 1966 with six more.
"Walk Away Renee" by the LEFT BANKE was rejected by ten major labels before Smash Records took it on. Soon after it's release in Feb. 1966, it shot up the charts and peaked at #5.
British singer "LULU", best remembered for her hit "To Sir With Love", was married to Maurice Gibb of The BEE GEES from 1969 untill early 1973.
The rock band "LYNYRD SKYNYRD" took their name from their Physical Education teacher, Leonard Skinner, whom had given some of the guys a hard time in school.
Martha Reeves of THE VANDELLAS worked at Motown Records as a secretary. Her duties included supervising a very young STEVIE WONDER.
Over 400 musicians applied for a part in THE MONKEES, including Stephen Stills, John Sebastian and Harry Nilsson.
RICK NELSON's first wife, Kris Harmon, is the sister of Kelly Harmon, the pretty blonde girl in the Tic-Tac commercials. Their brother is actor Mark Harmon.
JOHN LENNON and Harry Nilsson were ejected from L.A.'s Troubadour club for disrupting The Smother's Brothers act in the mid 1970's.
Just hours before murdering JOHN LENNON, Mark David Chapman got Lennon's autograph.
ROY ORBISON's trademark look came about when he misplaced his regular glasses and had to rely on a pair of prescription sun-glasses. His management liked the mysterious look it gave him and soon, they were the only ones he wore.
THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS, Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield, took their name when an appreciative fan said about their music, "that's righteous, brothers".
KENNY ROGERS was once a member of the New Christy Minstrels, and can be heard singing the chorus of their hit record, "Green, Green", behind the lead vocal of Barry McGuire, who would later have a solo smash himself with, "Eve Of Destruction".
SONNY AND CHER were initially known as Caesar and Cleo.
Donald Fagen and Walter Becker of STEELY DAN, were once a part of Jay and the Americans' touring band in the late 1960's.
STEPPENWOLF's lead singer, John Kay , made a perilous midnight escape from post-war East Germany when he was a child.
The lead vocal of "Incense and Peppermints," by STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK is actually that of a friend of the band, 16 year old Greg Munford, who was just hanging around during the session and decided to try his hand at singing.
The name, "THREE DOG NIGHT" was inspired by a magazine article about Austrailian aborigines, who on cold nights, would sleep beside their dogs for warmth. The very coldest weather was called a "three dog night".
TOMMY JAMES named his very first band, "The Shondells" when he was just twelve years old.
Dionne Warwick and WHITNEY HOUSTON are cousins.
Motown singer, MARY WELLS suffered a bout of spinal meningitis as a small child, which left her temporarily paralyzed.
STEVIE WONDER was placed in an incubator when he was born and given too much oxygen, causing permanent sight loss.
THE YARDBIRDS are noted for giving rise to three of Britain's greatest guitarists: ERIC CLAPTON, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page.
Dusty Hill and Billy Gibbons of ZZ TOP sport two of the longest beards in all of show business, while drummer Frank Beard is clean shaven.
FRANK ZAPPA named his daughter, Moon Unit Zappa.
SAM COOKE's 1960 hit, "Wonderful World" was co-written by trumpeter Herb Alpert.
Johnny Caron's Tonight Show Theme was written by PAUL ANKA, who received $30,000 a year in royalties.
After the British Invasion duo of PETER AND GORDON had run their course, Peter Asher went on to become the manager of Linda Rondstadt and James Taylor.
Hoyt Axton wrote THREE DOG NIGHT's "Joy To The World". His mother, Mae Axton wrote "Heartbreak Hotel" for ELVIS PRESLEY.
An album called "The Wit and Wisdom of Ronald Reagan" was released by Stiff Records.The entire disc contained 40 minutes of silence.
Florence Ballard, one of the original SUPREMES died of a heart attack in 1975. She was on welfare at the time.
In 1972, LED ZEPPELIN was forced to cancel a concert in Singapore when officials wouldn't let them off the plane because of their long hair.
Members of The BEACH BOYS sang background vocals for Chicago's "Wishing You Were Here".
TINY TIM declared himself a New York City mayoral candidate in 1989.
The piano player on Art Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" is Larry Knechtel of the group "BREAD".
Rocker TED NUGENT autographed a man's arm with a bowie knife after the fan had requested it.
JAMES BROWN spent three years in a Georgia reform school when he was a boy.
FLEETWOOD MAC's former guitarist, Lindsay Buckingham has a brother named Greg who won a gold medal at the 1968 Olympics.
GLEN CAMPBELL played lead guitar on the BEACH BOYS "Dance, Dance, Dance" and "Good Vibrations".
Singer JESSI COLTER, best remembered for her 1975 hit, "I'm not Lisa", was married to both Duane Eddy and Waylon Jennings.
After they were no longer backing BUDDY HOLLY, The Crickets played on The Everly Brother's "'Till I Kissed You" in 1959.
JAMES BROWN peformed at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry in 1997.
Bobby Hatfield of THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS once had a tryout with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
BILLY JOEL wrote "Just the Way You Are" for his first wife, Elizabeth.
Gene Simmons of KISS has a tongue that is seven inches long, two inches longer than most men.
When she was just four years old, GLADYS KNIGHT won first prize on TV's Ted Mack's Amature Hour.
"The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia" was a number one hit in 1973 for Vicki Lawrence. The song was written by her then husband Leon Russel, who also wrote "This Diamond Ring" by GARY LEWIS and the Playboys. Cher was offered the song first, but turned it down.
There is no one named Marshall Tucker in the MARSHALL TUCKER BAND. The group named themselves after the owner of their rehearsal hall.
STEVE MILLER got his first guitar as a gift from the legendary Les Paul.
David Gates of the soft rock band "BREAD" was one of the musicians on Bobby "Boris" Pickett's "Monster Mash".
Millie Small's 1964 hit, "My Boy Lollipop" features a very young ROD STEWART on harmonica.
THE NEW CHRISTIE MINSTRELS, who had a mid sixties hit with "Green Green" have had several members who went on to find other fame. These include, country star KENNY ROGERS, Barry McGuire (Eve Of Destruction), Gene Clark of The Byrds as well as Kim Carnes ("Bette Davis Eyes").
An instumental called "No Matter What Shape" that was used in Alka Seltzer commercials in 1965, was performed by a band called The T-BONES. The group contained Dan Hamilton, Joe Frank Carollo and Tom Reynolds, who would have a smash hit in the seventies called "Don't Pull Your Love" as Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds.
THE STARLAND VOCAL BAND, who charted with "Afternoon Delight" in 1977, sang background vocals for JOHN DENVER's "Take Me Home, Country Roads" while they were still known as Fat City" in 1971.
Sly Stone, leader of SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE, was the producer of the Beau Brummels hits "Laugh, Laugh" and "Just A Little".
FREDDIE CANNON's first chart hit, 1959's "Tallahassee Lassie" was written by his mother.
In 1954, BILL HALEY married his pregnant girlfriend, just four days after he divorced his first wife.
USELESS MUSIC FACTS:
The Motown female group The Supremes, which dominated the pop charts in the 1960's, was originally called The Primettes.
According to Margaret Jones, author of a Patsy Cline biography, there are a dozen places in Virginia that could claim to be the hometown of the nomadic Cline. Her family moved 19 times before she was 15.
When the Yardbirds broke up in 1968, Jimmy Page was left to honor the band's commitments, performing as The New Yardbirds. The group eventually evolved into Led Zeppelin.
At age 47, the Rolling Stones' bassist, Bill Wyman, began a relationship with 13-year old Mandy Smith, with her mother's blessing. Six years later, they were married, but the marriage only lasted a year. Not long after, Bill's 30-year-old son Stephen married Mandy's mother, age 46. That made Stephen a stepfather to his former stepmother. If Bill and Mandy had remained married, Stephen would have been his father's father-in-law and his own grandpa.
The brass family of instruments include the trumpet, trombone, tuba, cornet, flügelhorn, French horn, saxhorn, and sousaphone. While they are usually made of brass today, in the past they were made of wood, horn, and glass.
Most toilets flush in E flat.
The rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd took their name from a high school teacher named Leonard Skinner who had suspended several students for having long hair.
According to Beatles producer George Martin, Neal Hefti's catchy composition of the 1960's "Batman" Emmy-winning theme song inspired George Harrison to write the hit song "Taxman."
At the tender age of 7, the multi-award-winning composer and pianist Marvin Hamlisch ("The Way We Were," "The Sting") was one of the youngest students ever admitted to the renowned Juilliard School of Music in New York City.
In the band KISS, Gene Simmons was "The Demon", Paul Stanley was "Star Child", Ace Frehley was "Space Man", and Peter Criss was "The Cat.
The song "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" was written by George Graff, who was German, and was never in Ireland in his life.
The famous Russian composer Aleksandr Borodin was also a respected chemistry professor in St. Petersburg.
In 1992, Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon, better known to country music fans as singer/comedienne Minnie Pearl, was awarded a National Medal of Arts by President George Bush. In 1994, Minnie became the first woman to be inducted into the Comedy Hall of Fame. She was too frail and sick to attend the ceremony, and so good friend and comedian George Lindsey ("Goober") accepted the award for her. She died in 1996 at age 83.
Bill Haley and the Comets, one of rock and roll's pioneer groups actually began their career's as Bill Haley's Saddle Pals - a country music act.
The voice of Tony the Tiger is Thurl Ravenscroft, who also sang the "Rotten Mr. Grinch" song in the movie, "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas".
He was also narrator for Disney's "A Spooky Night in Disney's Haunted Mansion" album. He performed for many Disney attractions including: voice of Fritz the parrot in "The Enchanted Tiki Room, " lead singer in "Grim Grinning Ghosts" in the Haunted Mansion, narrator on Monorail. He was the voice for the Disneyland LP based on the "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride. The flip side of this LP contained a number of sea chanties he sang.
In 1939 Irving Berlin composed a Christmas song but thought so little of it that he never showed it to anybody. He just tossed it into a trunk and didn't see fit to retrieve it until he needed it for a Bing Crosby-Fred Astaire movie, HOLIDAY INN 10 years later. Bing Crosby was a staunch Catholic and at first refused to sing the song because he felt it tended to commercialize Christmas. He finally agreed, took eighteen minutes to make the recording, and then the "throw-away" song become an all-time hit. Crosby's version has sold over 40 million copies. All together, this song has appeared in 750 versions, selling 6 million copies of sheet music and 90,000,000 recordings ,just in the United States and Canada. You might not recognize the song from the movie HOLIDAY INN...or from the composer's name of Irving Berlin. But you're bound to know it because it's on everyone's list of Christmas favorites: WHITE CHRISTMAS.
Dark Side of The Moon (a Pink Floyd album) stayed on the top 200 Billboard charts for 741 weeks! That is 14 years.
Brian Setzer, of the Brian Setzer Orchestra, started out in a garage band called Merengue.
"Mr. Mojo Risin" is an anagram for Jim Morrison.
The horse's name in the song Jingle Bells is Bobtail.
No one knows where Mozart is buried.
The Beatles featured two left handed members, Paul, whom everyone saw holding his Hoffner bass left handed, and Ringo, whose left handedness is at least partially to blame for his 'original' drumming style.
Tommy James was in a New York hotel looking at the Mutual of New York building's neon sign flashing repeatedly: M-O-N-Y. He suddenly got the inspiration to write his #1 hit, 'Mony Mony'
Tickets for Frank Sinatra's first solo performance at the Paramount Theatre in New York City in 1942, sold for 35 cents each.
Jim Morrison found the name "The Doors" for his rock band in the title of Aldous Huxley's book "The Doors of Perception", which extolls the use of hallucinogenic drugs.
The Granny Smith apple was used as the symbol for the Beatles' Apple Records label.
Verdi wrote the opera Aida at the request of the khedive of Egypt to commemorate the opening of the Suez canal.
Warner Communications paid $28 million for the copyright to the song "Happy Birthday".
John Lennon named his band the Beatles after Buddy Holly's 'Crickets.' The Beatles played the Las Vegas Convention Center in 1964. Some 8,500 fans paid just $4 each for tickets.
Jonathan Houseman Davis, lead singer of Korn, was born a Presbyterian, but converted to Catholic because his mother wanted to marry his stepfather in a Catholic church. He was also a member of his high school's bagpipe band. (For those of you who have been to Hume Lake's Christian Camps, if you know Cliff, the guy in charge, he was the guy who taught Jonathan Davis to play the bagpipe.)
"When I'm Sixty Four" was the first song to be recorded for the Sgt. Pepper album. "Within You Without You" was the last.
Jazz began in the 20th century, when bands in New Orleans began to apply the syncopated rhythms of ragtime to a variety of other tunes. In the first days of jazz, ensemble playing was emphasized. Only gradually did jazz come to be based on improvised solos.
The song with the longest title is 'I'm a Cranky Old Yank in a Clanky Old Tank on the Streets of Yokohama with my Honolulu Mama Doin' Those Beat-o, Beat-o Flat-On-My-Seat-o, Hirohito Blues' written by Hoagy Carmichael in 1943. He later claimed the song title ended with "Yank" and the rest was a joke.
Nick Mason is the only member of Pink Floyd to appear on all of the band's albums.
The Beatles appear at the end of "The Yellow Submarine" in a short live action epilogue. Their voices for the cartoon movie were done by Paul Angelis (Ringo), Peter Batten (George), John Clive (John), and Geoffrey Hughes (Paul). When the producers approached the Beatles about this film, the group, which hated the TV cartoon show of them, agreed to it only as a easy way of completing their movie contract. As such, they contributed only a few old songs and four quickly produced numbers, Only a Northern Song, Hey Bulldog, All Together Now, and It's All Too Much. However, when they saw the finished film, they were so impressed by it that they decided to appear in a short live action epilogue to the film.
Peter Batten was a deserter from the British Army at the time of the creation of the film. In the final weeks of production, he was arrested for desertion, and Paul Angelis had to finish voicing the part of George. In every show that Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt (The Fantasticks) did there was at least one song about rain.
The Beatles song 'A day in the life' ends with a note sustained for 40 seconds.
"Memory," has become a contemporary classic. It's been recorded more than 600 times, including as international hit recordings for such artists as Barbra Streisand, Barry Manilow and Judy Collins, among many others. It's most recent incarnations underline its diverse and universal appeal: as a #1 dance smash by European chanteuse Natalie Grant, and as a duet for Placido Domingo and Natalie Cole during a live telecast of the tenor's world tour.
Elvis Presley's hit recording of "Love Me Tender" entered Billboard's pop charts in October 1956. It stayed on the charts for 19 weeks, and was in the Number 1 spot for five of those weeks. The song, from Presley's debut film with the same title, was adapted from the tune "Aura Lee," which had been written back in 1861.
An eighteenth-century German named Matthew Birchinger, known as the little man of Nuremberg, played four musical instruments including the bagpipes, was an expert calligrapher, and was the most famous stage magician of his day. He performed tricks with the cup and balls that have never been explained. Yet Birchinger had no hands, legs, or thighs, and was less than 29 inches tall.
Montgomery is the birthplace of music great Nat King Cole, pop singers Clarence Carter and Toni Tenille, Metropolitan Opera singer Nell Rankin, and blues legend Willie Mae Big Mama Thornton.
Beethoven's Fifth, was the first symphony to include trombones.
EMI stands for ' Electrical and Musical Instruments'.
The only musical instrument you play without touching it is called the theremin. The technology is simple: when activated, the theremin generates a sonic field around a small antenna that sticks out vertically from the top. When you put your hand closer to the antenna, the sound field is broken and the unit emits a high-pitched, electronic wail-that's the music. Different varieties of pitch are achieved by placing your hand closer to the antenna and moving it away. When your hand approaches the antenna, a low pitch will be created. As your hand gets nearer the antenna, the pitch becomes higher. (It's easily recognized for its spooky "ooo-eee-ooo" sound. You know it if you've heard the Beach Boys song "Good Vibrations.")
Brian Epstein, a record store owner in London, was asked by a customer for a copy of the record, "My Bonnie", by a group known as The Silver Beatles. He didn't have it in stock so he went to the Cavern Club to check out the group. He signed to manage them in a matter of days and renamed them The Beatles.
In 1976 Rodrigo's 'Guitar Concierto de Aranjuez' was No 1 in the UK for only three hours because of a computer error.
George Anthiel composed film scores, but earlier in his life he had been an avant garde composer. In 1924 his "Ballet mecanique" was performed at Carnegie Hall. The work was scored for a fire siren, automobile horns, and an airplane propeller. After only a few minutes of this racket, an aging gentleman in the orchestra seats tied his handkerchief to his cane and began waving a white flag.
The Beach Boys formed in 1961.
The Beatles performed their first U.S. concert in Carnegie Hall.
Brian Epstein managed The Beatles to superstardom.
The leading female singer in an opera is called the prima donna.
Elvis Presley received his U.S. army discharge on March 5, 1960.
Mass murderer Charles Manson recorded an album called "Lie."
Vaudevillian Jack Norworth wrote "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" in 1908 after seeing a sign on a bus advertising BASEBALL TODAY - POLO GROUNDS. Norworth and his friend Albert von Tilzer (who write the music) had never been to a baseball game before his song became a hit sing-along.
The Japanese national anthem is expressed in only four lines. The Greek anthem runs 158 verses.
John Philip Sousa enlisted in the Marines at age 13. He worked as an apprentice in the band.
At age 14, George Harrison joined his friend Paul McCartney's band, the Quarry Men, led by John Lennon.
Dances with twisting motions accompanied jazz as far back as Jelly Roll Morton. The Paul Williams Saxtet - a sax-intensive jazz combo - recorded a two-sided 78 called "The Twister." Chubby Checker wasn't even the first man to record the song "The Twist." Hank Ballard was, in 1959.
At age 15, Jerry Garcia swapped his birthday accordion for an electric guitar.
At age 4, Mozart composed a concerto for the clavier.
At age 22, Jerry Lee Lewis married for the third time. His bride? His thirteen year old cousin.
In 1764 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart played for the Royal Family at Versailles in France. He was even given the honor of standing behind the Queen at dinner - Mozart was only eight years old.
Through the mid-1500s in France, the lute was still the favorite instrument, but in 1555, Balthazar de Beujoyeux, the first famous violinist in history, brought a band of violinists to Catherine's de Médicis court and made violin music popular.
Paul McCartney's younger brother, Michael, formed a group of his own, known as "The Scaffold" and goes by the name "Mike McGear". He is mentioned in the lyric of "Let 'Em In" as "Brother Michael" (available on McCartney's "Wings At The Speed Of Sound" album).
The Beatles held the Top Five spots on the April 4th, 1964 Billboard singles chart. They're the only band that has ever done that.
The most recorded song of all time - with more than 2,000 versions - is 'Yesterday'. Included on the 'Help!' soundtrack, it was number one for four weeks in 1965.