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THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
Jan 13- Elvis Presley began new recording sessions in Memphis in 1969. Over
the next week and a half he recorded songs like “In the Ghetto,” “Gentle On My Mind,”
“Hey Jude,” and the classic, “Suspicious Minds.” Elvis hadn’t recorded
in Memphis since his last days with Sun Records, in the fall of 1955.
Pete Townshend of The Who dragged Eric Clapton out of a personal
low by organizing the Rainbow Concert in 1973. Clapton had fallen into alcohol abuse and drug dependency before Townshend
recruited chums, Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi and others to play a sold out show that was later released as
the album, Eric Clapton’s Rainbow Concert.
Jan 14 - In 1970, Diana Ross played her final Supremes concert before
going solo. The hit-makers played the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas, and would continue with Jean Terrell replacing Ross.
“Someday We’ll Be Together” was just falling down the charts, having been at the top a couple weeks
before. The song was their last number 1 hit, and was also the final song to hit the peak position in the 1960s.
It was around this time in 1973 when Frankie Miller’s debut album,
Once in a Blue Moon, was released. In the early ’70s, Miller had been in The Stoics when
he was asked to join Jude, a blues rock band with Robin Trower (formerly of Procol Harum). The project
fell apart before an album could be recorded, so Miller decided to try the solo route. He signed with Chrysalis Records
in 1972 and worked on material for his first album. Once in a Blue Moon was written mostly by Miller himself,
while he was backed musically by a hot local pub rock band, Brinsley Schwarz. Miller followed up with several
more gems in the ’70s, namely High Life and The Rock, which earned him the admiration of
people like Rod Stewart, Glenn Frey, Don Henley and anyone else who ever tried to sing the blues.
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