This Day in Music

Bob is in Japan, Bobbie is in Mississippi, Frank is in Sweden, and Elvis is in Texas, on this day in music.

Ode to Billie Joe

1967: American country singer-songwriter Bobbie Gentry releases her debut studio album, “Ode to Billie Joe.” Kelly Gordon produced the album for Capitol Records, his first production project.

Gentry had intended to be just a songwriter, but sang vocals on her Capitol Records submission to save the cost of hiring a singer. The album’s opening track, “Mississippi Delta,” impressed Capitol so much, the company offered her a recording contract.

As the LP’s title suggests, it includes the famous No. 1 hit record, “Ode to Billie Joe.” The mysterious lyrics sing of the suicide of a teenaged boy who was the secret sweetheart of the first-person narrator, and the heartless reactions of the conservative rural farming community in which she lived.

The song shot straight to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Singles Chart, along with No. 1 in Canada, and Top-10 placements in Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, and two other Billboard charts in the U.S. In the U.K., it peaked at No. 13 on the Official Singles chart.

With all songs written by Bobbie Gentry herself, the album “Ode to Billie Joe” was a commercial success. It hit No. 1 on both the Billboard 200 and the Billboard Country charts. Despite chart success, neither the single nor the album earned sales certifications in the United States or elsewhere.

At Budokan

1978: Bob Dylan releases his third contemporary live LP, the double-album, “At Budokan.” It was recorded on the nights of February 28th and March 1st of 1978 at the famous Nippon Budokan Hall in Tokyo, while on his world tour.

Featuring a veritable greatest hits of Dylan songs, the tracks had been re-worked from their studio arrangements, employing a much larger band that included the use of woodwinds and background vocalists.

The album was mostly panned by critics, an unfair assessment. Music writers were not pleased with the different versions of the songs, and that some of those versions were more conventional arrangements. Christgau’s Record Guide graded the album a “C+,” while Rolling Stone rated it an insulting 1-Star out of five, and the Encyclopedia of Popular Music gave it 3-Stars.

The critics were just plain wrong. This is a fantastic album. The whole point of live albums is to present the songs in a new fashion. After all, if people want the originals, they need only buy those records or listen to the radio. Furthermore, by 1978 Bob Dylan had recorded 18 albums in a variety of styles. To make a live album of those songs consistent, they had to be modified into a cohesive style. I think this album succeeded!

As so often is the case, audiences disagreed with the critics. “At Budokan” reached No. 13 on the Billboard 200, No. 4 on the U.K. Official Albums Chart, and was Top-10 in Austria, Sweden, Norway, New Zealand, and Netherlands.

Maybe I’m just a Bob Dylan keener, but I’m going to be listening to this album today, and I’ll be enjoying it immensely!

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Ritual de lo Habitual

1990: “Ritual de lo Habitual,” the second studio album by American alt-rockers Jane’s Addiction, is released. It would be the last LP to feature bass player Eric Avery, and the last before the band broke-up the first time. They would reunite in 1997. Avery and the band itself would become on-again/off-again drama queens to this very day.

The cover art drew controversy in the United States. It was a photograph of a papier mâché sculpture by frontman Perry Farrell and artist Casey Niccoli that included references to the Afro-Cuban religious order, Santeria. Despite being made of papier mâché, American retailers just couldn’t abide the human nudity, and refused to stock the album.

A second cover, the “clean cover,” was created. It is black printing on a white background simply stating the name of the band and title of the album. It also erroneously includes the text of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

“Ritual de lo Habitual” is an excellent album that was well-received by critics and audiences alike. It went double-Platinum in the United States, where it reached No. 19 on the Billboard 200, and Gold in Canada, where it peaked at No. 33.

The most famous track on the LP is the No. 1 hit “Been Caught Stealing,” the video of which also earned heavy rotation on MTV. However, all the songs are very good and the record is well-worth one’s time.

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The Friday Frank

1973: The Mothers of Invention are in Stockholm, Sweden, where they play a concert at the Solliden outdoor theatre of the Skansan Museum. The show was filmed and broadcast on the Swedish TV program Opopoppa.

Forming the band’s lineup was of course Frank Zappa (v; g) along with George Duke (key), Jean-Luc Pony (v), Ruth Underwood (perc), Ian Underwood (as; bcl; synth), Bruce Fowler (tb), Tom Fowler (bg), and Ralph Humphrey (d).

Among the many songs performed that night were “Cosmik Debris,” which would appear on the 1974 studio album, “Apostrophe(');” “Penguin in Bondage,” first released on the legendary 1974 live LP, “Roxy & Elsewhere;” “Montana,” a song that would be included on the following month’s new studio album, “Over-Nite Sensation;” and “Farther Oblivion,” an epic-length jazz-fusion jam with solos, not to be confused with “Father Oblivion,” also from “Apostrophe(').”

The Daily Elvis

1954: The Mint Club in Gladewater, TX, is the setting for the first-ever performance by Elvis outside of Tennessee. The small honky-tonk was jam-packed with rough and rowdy drinkers who were tamed by the 19-year old’s undeniable charm and talent. DJ Tom Perryman was so impressed, he immediately set-about booking a Texas state tour for The King, including at clubs, schools, oil camps, and town fairs.

Jane’s Addiction in 1988, from left to right: Eric Avery (bg), Dave Navarro (g), Perry Farrell (v; p), and Stephen Perkins (d).