#1 Song 1961: “Quarter to Three,” Gary “U.S.” Bonds
Born: Blues singer “Big Bill” Broonzy (William Lee Conley), 1893; Billy Davis, Jr. (the Fifth Dimension), 1940
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1893 “Big Bill” Broonzy—one of Chicago’s early blues guitar influences—was born today. Broonzy started recording in 1927 and had a hit with “Big Bill’s Blues.” By the ’50s he was billing himself as the “last blues singer.”
1954 One of the first singles by the Platters, “Tell the World ($200), was released.
1961 The Spinners’ debut single, “That’s What Girls Are Made For,” charted, reaching #5 R&B and #27 pop. The quintet was discovered by the Moonglows leader/producer Harvey Fuqua at Detroit’s Make Way for Youth show, and it was Fuqua who sang the lead on this and their follow-up single, “Love (I’m So Glad) I Found You.”
1964 The Supremes, the Shirelles, the Crystals, and Major Lance, among others, performed at the Fairgrounds Grandstand in Allentown, PA, on Dick Clark’s Caravan of Stars tour.
1965 Wilson Picket’s “In the Midnight Hour” charted, reaching #1 R&B, #21 pop. It was the first of five #1s for “the wicked Pickett,” a nickname he earned at Atlantic records office for his affection for the label’s ladies.
1993 Stevie Wonder performed with prince at the Purple One’s Grand Slam Club in Los Angeles.
Ann
What a great era in the history of music. So many great songs from a common background