Today in Music History for Oct. 27:
In 1782, Niccolo Paganini, the Italian violinist whose virtuosity became a legend, was born in Genoa. He died in 1840 of cancer of the larynx.
In 1917, a 16-year-old violin prodigy, Jascha Heifetz, made his American debut at New York's Carnegie Hall.
In 1923, Canadian musician, flautist, conductor and music educator Mario Duschenes was born in Altona, Germany. He moved to Canada in 1948 and settled in Montreal soon after. Heralded for the magical way he instilled musical aptitude and sensibility in children, he was an expert in the Orff method and developed and published an internationally recognized method of teaching the recorder. He also conducted extremely popular classical music concerts for young people with major symphony orchestras in Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa, and as far away as New Zealand. He died Jan. 31, 2009.
In 1928, Gilles Vigneault, one of Quebec's greatest chansonniers, was born in Natashquan on the North Shore. He's credited with revitalizing the Quebec chanson in the 1960s and with helping make Quebec culture known abroad. Vigneault's song "Mon Pays," first performed by Monique Leyrac in 1965 at an international song festival in Poland, became a virtual anthem for the Quebec independence movement. "Mon Pays" also helped make Vigneault one of the best-known Quebec performers outside his home province.
In 1933, country piano player Floyd Cramer was born in Shreveport, La. He is credited with inventing the slipnote style of piano playing which characterized the Nashville Sound that came to the fore in the early 1960s. He died in Nashville of cancer on Dec. 31, 1997.
In 1936, country music great Ernest Tubb made his first recordings -- "The Passing of Jimmie Rodgers" and "Jimmie Rodgers's Last Thoughts" -- for RCA. Rodgers, who was Tubb's hero, had died three years earlier.
In 1956, Clarence Henry's "Ain't Got No Home" was released. It was his first hit and the inspiration for his name "Frogman," since he sings like a frog on the record.
In 1958, Simon LeBon, lead singer of the British New Romantic band "Duran Duran," was born in Bushey, England. Helped by LeBon's pinup boy qualities, "Duran Duran" first hit the British charts in 1981 with the single "Planet Earth," scoring in North America the following year with "Hungry Like the Wolf." Other hits included "Union of the Snake," "The Reflex," "New Moon on Monday" and the theme from the James Bond movie "A View to a Kill." In the mid-1980s band members branched out as LeBon, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor formed "Arcadia" while Andy Taylor and John Taylor formed "Power Station" with Robert Palmer. The original band lineup reunited in 2001 but guitarist Andy Taylor left the band again in 2006. "Duran Duran" has sold more than 70 million albums.
In 1960, Ben E. King recorded "Spanish Harlem" and "Stand By Me" at Atlantic's New York studios. Songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller produced the session, assisted by Phil Spector. Both songs were top-10 hits in 1961, with "Stand By Me" enjoying a renaissance when it was used as the title song for the 1986 movie directed by Rob Reiner.
In 1964, the single "Come See About Me" by "The Supremes" was released.
In 1970, the rock opera "Jesus Christ, Superstar" was released in North America on an 87-minute double LP. The work, written by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, tells of the last seven days of Christ as seen through the eyes of children of the day. The cast included Ian Gillan of "Deep Purple," Murray Head and Yvonne Elliman. A Broadway production of "Jesus Christ, Superstar" opened a year after the album was released.
In 1975, Bruce Springsteen appeared on the covers of both "Time" and "Newsweek." His album "Born to Run" was on its way up the charts at the time.
In 1979, country singer Jimmie Skinner died of a heart attack at age 70. He had three top-10 hits in the 1950s -- "I Found My Girl in the USA," "What Makes a Man Wander" and "Dark Hollow."
In 1980, producer Robert Stigwood countersued the "Bee Gees" for $310 million, charging libel, extortion, corporate defamation and breach of contract. Stigwood also tried to have the band's $200 million mismanagement suit against him transferred to a British court. Both suits were settled out of court the following May.
In 1980, Steve Peregrine Took, percussionist with the 1960s British flower power band, "T. Rex," choked to death in London at the age of 31.
In 1984, 19-year-old John McCollum of Indio, Calif., shot himself in the head with a pistol after listening to an ode to suicide by British heavy metal rocker Ozzy Osbourne. The coroner concluded that McCollum took his life "while listening to devil music." McCollum's father sued Osbourne and CBS Records, but the suit was dismissed.
In 1993, a group of 1960s recording artists, led by Sam Moore of "Sam and Dave," sued their former record companies, claiming they were cheated out of $750 million in pension and health benefits. The suit claimed the benefits were cut because the record companies, including Motown and Capitol, consistently underreported the performers' earnings to their union.
In 1995, singer Gloria Estefan performed for Pope John Paul II as part of the celebration of his 50th anniversary in the priesthood. She was the first pop star to receive a call from the Pope to perform.
In 1997, Luciano Pavarotti won a special achievement award at the Gramophone Awards in London for raising $8.2 million for the war children of Bosnia. The following year, he also received a UN citation for his efforts.
In 1997, Johnny Cash announced that he was cancelling all appearances because he had Parkinson's disease. Two days earlier, the country legend had revealed his affliction to a concert audience in Flint, Mich. He almost fell over while trying to retrieve a guitar pick he had dropped on stage.
In 1999, rapper Master P was waived from the Toronto Raptors. It was his second try to reach the pro leagues. The Charlotte Hornets waived him the year before.
In 2008, the body of Julian King, the seven-year-old nephew of singer-actress Jennifer Hudson, was found in an SUV three days after Hudson's mother and brother were found shot to death in the Chicago home they had shared. The estranged husband of Hudson's sister, William Balfour, was charged in the killings. (In 2012, he was was found guilty and sentenced to three terms of life in prison.)
In 2009, Canadian singer Anne Murray released her autobiography "All of Me." It outlined her 40-year career, starting with her humble beginnings in the coal-mining town of Springhill, N.S. She achieved her first gold record in 1970 with "Snowbird," and went on to rack up a string of top-selling hits including "Talk It Over in the Morning," "What About Me" and "You Needed Me."
In 2009, "REO Speedwagon" released their first Christmas album, "Not So Silent Night: Christmas With REO Speedwagon." The CD included traditional songs like "Silent Night," "Little Drummer Boy" and "The First Noel," as well as John Lennon’s song "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)." Royalties from that song was donated to the John Lennon Foundation.
In 2010, "Achy Breaky Heart" hitmaker Billy Ray Cyrus and his wife Tish announced they filed for divorce, ending their 17-year marriage. Between them they had five kids: three of them together including teen sensation Miley Cyrus. (They later reconciled but Tish filed for divorce in 2013).
In 2011, "Poison" frontman Bret Michaels donated TVs and sound systems for a waiting room at the St. Joseph's Barrow Neurological Institute, where he was treated in April 2010 for a brain hemorrhage. In return, the waiting room was named after Michaels.
In 2011, David Rea, a versatile folk guitarist who played with such Canadian legends as Gordon Lightfoot, Ian & Sylvia and Joni Mitchell, died at age 65. Born in Ohio, he moved to Toronto at the age of 17 to participate in the city's burgeoning folk scene. He co-penned "Mountain's" enduring 1970 hit "Mississippi Queen."
In 2013, Lou Reed, the punk poet of rock 'n' roll who profoundly influenced generations of musicians as leader of the Velvet Underground and remained a vital solo performer for decades after, died at age 71 of complications following a recent liver transplant.
In 2013, Kenny Rogers, Bobby Bare and the late "Cowboy" Jack Clement were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville.
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(The Canadian Press)
The Canadian Press
