This Day in Music
On this day in music, April 7, 2015, singer-songwriter Don McLean’s original manuscript for his iconic 1971 hit,“American Pie,” was auctioned at Christie’s in New York and fetched $1.2 million. Consisting of a 16-page draft containing hand-written lyrics and notes, the manuscript, said the singer, would “divulge everything there is to divulge” about a song whose words had intrigued listeners for years and referenced Buddy Holly’s death in a 1959 plane crash.
In 2020, 73-year-old singer-songwriter John Prine died from Covid-19 complications. The Illinois-born “Angel From Montgomery” songwriter initially worked as a mailman and was then drafted into the US Army during the Vietnam War before starting a music career. He went on to release 23 albums between 1971 and 2018, winning five Grammy awards along the way. The artist had many fans among his peers, including Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, and Kris Kristofferson, who all admired Prine’s gift as an eloquent storyteller.
In 1985, Wham! performed in Beijing, a groundbreaking moment that made them the first major Western band to appear in communist China. They sang before an audience of 12,000 in the city’s Peoples’ Gymnasium.
In 1978, The Police released “Roxanne,” the first single plucked from their debut album, Outlandos d’Amour. A song about a man who falls for a sex worker, it initially missed the UK charts but when reissued a year later – after their song “Can’t Stand Losing You” was a hit – it rose to No. 12.
In 1962, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards met Brian Jones for the first time at Ealing Jazz Club in West London. Jones, who went under the name Elmo Lewis, was playing slide guitar with Alexis Korner’s band, Blues Incorporated. Shortly afterward, they formed the Rolling Stones.
In 1977, The Damned became the first British punk group to perform live in America when they played the first of a four-night residency at New York’s iconic CBGBs.
BORN ON APRIL 7
1915: Billie Holiday
1942: Joel Dorn (Producer)
1947: Patricia Bennett (The Chiffons)
1947: Florian Schneider (Kraftwerk)
1949: John Oates (Hall and Oates)
1951: Janis Ian
1952: Bruce Gary (The Knack)
1991: Anne-Marie
