#1 R&B Song 1958: “Lonely Teardrops,” Jackie Wilson
Born: Jesse Belvin, 1933; Alan Freed, 1922; Cindy Birdsong (the Bluebelles), 1939; Harry Ray (Ray; Goodman & Brown), 1946; Stevie D. Lundy, (Force M.D.’s), 1965
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1956 The Nutmegs’ “Comin’ Home” and the Cufflinks’ “Guided Missiles” were released.
1973 While Isaac Hayes’s single “Joy” charted, reaching #7 R&B, the singer was suing his record label over a $270,000 check they paid to him that promptly bounced.
1979 Sax player Jackie Brenston, whose 1951 hit “Rocket 88” is considered by many to be the frst rock ‘n’ roll record, died of a heart attack at age forty-nine. The recording was #1 R&B for five weeks. Breston was actually a vocalist and sax player in the uncredited band on the single, Ike Turner & His Kings of Rhythm.
1988 James Brown was sentenced to six years in jail for various criminal activities over the previous years, most notably the events of May 18, when he took police on a high-speed chase through two states.
1996 Luther Vandross sang “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” at the fifteenth annual Christmas in Washington concert at the National Building Museum.
Ann
