Historic events this week from The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones and Soundgarden
MAY 8, 1970: THE BEATLES’ FINAL STUDIO ALBUM
The Beatles’ final album, Let It Be, was released 7 months after Abbey Road.
Producer Phil Spector omitted Lennon’s “Don’t Let Me Down” and added studio banter and string & choir arrangements to the final album.
33 years later, a stripped down version which Paul McCartney felt reflected the band’s
original vision, was released as Let It Be…Naked.
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MAY 11, 1981: HARRISON RELEASES “ALL THOSE YEARS AGO”
Although written for and recorded by Ringo Starr, Harrison wrote new lyrics and re-recorded the song after John Lennon’s murder.
Harrison retained Ringo’s original drum track and brought in McCartney for backing vocals.
“All Those Years Ago” was the first post-Beatles song to feature 3 ex-Beatles, and went to #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts.
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MAY 12, 1967: JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE’S DEBUT ALBUM
One of the greatest debut albums of all time, Are You Experienced? sold a million copies within months of its release due to instant classics such as “Purple Haze”, “The Wind Cries Mary”, “Fire”, and “Foxey Lady”.
Shortly after the album’s release, the Experience were back in the studio to record Axis: Bold as Love, which was released in December of the same year.
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MAY 12, 1972: ROLLING STONES RELEASE EXILE ON MAIN ST.
One of the best rock and blues-based albums of the 70s was panned by critics upon its release.
…IT DIDN’T SELL PARTICULARLY WELL AT THE BEGINNING, AND IT WAS ALSO PRETTY MUCH UNIVERSALLY PANNED. BUT WITHIN A FEW YEARS THE PEOPLE WHO HAD WRITTEN THE REVIEWS SAYING IT WAS A PIECE OF CRAP WERE EXTOLLING IT AS THE BEST FRIGGING ALBUM IN THE WORLD.
KEITH RICHARDS FROM THE BOOK ACCORDING TO THE ROLLING STONES
Featuring “Tumbling Dice”, the album sold 500,000 copies in its first 18 days.
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MAY 13, 1994: SOUNDGARDEN RELEASE “BLACK HOLE SUN”
Soundgarden scored their first of six #1 singles with the release of “Black Hole Sun.”
“Black Hole Sun” would spend 7 total weeks at #1 and earn the band a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance.
After Chris Cornell’s passing, the song’s lyrics “No one sings like you anymore”, have become a lasting tribute to the vocalist.
