This Month in Rock and Roll - September

This Month In Rock and Roll History – September
By Hunter60

September 21, 1959: The Isley Brothers release "Shout". While performing Jackie Wilson's "Lonely Teardrops" on stage one night, brothers O'Kelly and Randolph responded to Ronalds gospel-like delivery with the improvised line "Weeeellll…. You make me want to SHOUT!" in a familiar throwback to their days singing in a Cincinnati church as a successful gospel group. The crowd went wild. RCA hired the band based one the strength of the song and it's wild abandon, rhythmic pounding and practically indecipherable lyrics. Although the song never made it higher than number 47 on the pop charts (and it never made the R&B charts) in it's original release, it has been done by several other bands, has sold a million copies and is considered and rock and rhythm and blues classic. A version by Joey Dee and the Starlighters was a US Top hit in 1962. Interestingly, their original church organist, Professor Herman Stephens, played the organ on the original recording.

September 12, 1966: The Monkees television show debuts. When the original casting advertisement ran in Variety, it called for "running parts for four insane boys" and was, for all intents and purposes, an American television version of The Beatles 'A Hard Days Night". Although in hindsight it may seem difficult to appreciate, this was a radical concept at the time, the blending of pop music with giddy and zany action. Mickey Dolenz, The Monkees ersatz drummer, later said about The Monkees "The only other time you saw long haired kids on television was when they were being arrested." Although Peter Tork and Michael Nesmith were actual musicians when originally cast, session musicians played the songs that were featured on the shows and the top of the line freelancers wrote the songs. More knowledgeable music fans refused to take the band seriously because of these facts, however the show, originally not terribly successful at first, eventually found an audience. John Lennon was one such fan. He was so enamored with the show that he actually permitted the use of The Beatles tune "Good Morning, Good Morning" in an episode.

September 22, 1969: The Band releases their self-titled second album "The Band". Although The Band had begun to gain some notice from their debut album," Music From The Big Pink", it was "The Band" that solidified their place as purveyors of American roots music at its finest. Primarily a Canadian band (keyboardist Levon Helms was the sole American), The Band took their cue and their sound from the American south. Every song on "The Band" was written by lead guitarist Robbie Robertson, although through their inventive use of harmonies and mixed leads, all the members of The Band shared a practically singular voice. This iconic second album mixed folk, blues, gospel and R&B as well as an element of classical (keyboardist Garth Hudson was a classically trained musician) and ended up becoming a solely unique sound at a time when rock and roll was dominated by a psychedelic sound. Classic tracks such as "The Night They Drove Ol' Dixie Down", "Rag Mama Rag" and "Up On Cripple Creek" continue to be mainstays on classic radio to this day. The Band never quite recaptured this sound up until their demise in 1976.


September 19, 1970: The first Glastonbury Festival is held. In June 1970, Michael Eavis and his wife snuck through the hedge into the Bath Festival of the Blues and Progressive Rock and saw Led Zepplin perform. So impressed were they with the festival, Eavis decided to have one on his 150-acre farm in Glastonbury. Three weeks later he put together the Pilton Pop, Folk and Blues Festival (later named The Glastonbury Fayre for the event the following year) featuring a pre-electrified T. Rex, a nascent Rod Stewart and relatively unknown bands like Steamhammer and Quintessence. The bands performed on a scaffolding and plywood stage that had been hastily assembled by a local carpenter. The price for admission: 1 pound and the price of admission included milk from Eavis's farm. By 2005, the Fayre was able to boast 150,000 fans and performances by over 385 acts on its 900-acre location.

September 22, 1985: The first Farm Aid concert is held. Held in Champaign, Illinois as a relief effort for failing family farms in the United States actually had its start at the Live Aid concert. During his acoustic set with Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, Bob Dylan made an off-handed remark, asking concert organizers if they would put aside "one or two million" from the proceeds to help American farmers. Many people found the remark incredibly offensive in light of the fact that there were millions starving to death in Africa but it caught the ears of John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson and Neil Young who put together the first Farm Aid Benefit Concert. They brought together an impressive and varied line up for the show including; Alabama, The Beach Boys, Arlo Guthrie, Lou Reed , John Fogerty, Foreigner Emmylou Harris, Joni Mitchell and X. Later, Mellencamp and Nelson brought farmers to testify before Congress and through tireless advocacy were partially responsible for the Agricultural Credit Act of 1987 to help save family farms from foreclosure.

September 10, 1991: Nirvana releases "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Prior to this song, Nirvana was a relative unknown other than in their somewhat close-knit Pacific Northwest rock scene. However, when "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was released, Nirvana and practically every other "grunge" band gained a foothold into mainstream rock. Until the song was recorded and released, the lyrics of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" were constantly in flux. Kurt Cobain, Nirvana's guitarist and lead singer often downplayed the significance of the lyrics but eventually said that the song was made up of "contradictory ideas" and was also a comment on his generations general apathy. Although considered the first strike of the grunge movement, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" clearly shows Cobain's ability to understand and write with a pop sensibility in mind as well.



Notable Birthdays This Month:

9/5/69: Dweezil Zappa
9/5/47: Buddy Miles
9/6/44: Roger Waters
9/7/51: Chrissie Hynde
9/7/36: Buddy Holly
9/10/56: Joe Perry
9/11/53: Tommy Shaw
9/12/68: Larry LaLonde
9/13/61: David Mustaine
9/16/25: B.B. King
9/19/58: Lita Ford
9/21/34: Leonard Cohen
9/22/51: David Coverdale
9/29/35: Jerry Lee Lewis
9/30/47: Mark Bolan