OCT 31-NOV 6: Historic events this week from CCR, George Harrison, Eagles, Tom Petty and Queen
NOVEMBER 2, 1969: CCR’s WILLY and the POOR BOYS
CCR released three albums in 1969:
Bayou Country in January, Green River in August and Willy and the Poor Boys in November.
The 2x Platinum album featured the double A-side “Down on the Corner” / “Fortunate Son”, which would sell over 2 million copies on its own.
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NOVEMBER 2, 1987: GEORGE HARRISON’S CLOUD NINE
George Harrison followed up one of his worst charting solo albums (1982’s Gone Troppo [#108]), with one of his best.
The Jeff Lynne-produced Cloud Nine included a cover of “Got My Mind Set On You”, which gave Harrison his first US #1 single since “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)” in 1973.
It was the final album Harrison released in his lifetime, and is his second biggest selling solo album behind All Things Must Pass.
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NOVEMBER 3, 1979: THE LONG RUN IS #1
Five weeks after its release, The Long Run started a 9 week run at #1.
It would remain at the top of the charts for the rest of 1979, on its way to 7 million sold, and a Grammy award for “Heartache Tonight”
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NOVEMBER 5, 1996: TOM PETTY and THE HEARTBREAKERS BACK JOHNNY CASH
Johnny Cash’s Unchained, the second album in his acclaimed American Recordings series, featured Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers as his backing band.
The album included a number of covers of songs by Beck, Soundgarden, and even Tom Petty’s “Southern Accents”.
Unchained took home the Grammy for Best Country Album.
• • •
NOVEMBER 6, 1995: QUEEN RELEASE MADE IN HEAVEN
Queen’s 15th & final studio album arrived 4 years after Freddie Mercury’s death.
Through his illness, Mercury laid down as many vocal tracks as possible, in hopes Queen would one day finish the songs.
Queen returned to the recordings in ’93 and completed the album in February ’95.
Brian May called Made In Heaven “possibly the best Queen album we ever made.” (MOJO, December 2013)
