Chapter 01 — Today in music
On a day like today November 29
2001
George Harrison dies, the Beatle who sought something bigger than fame
George Harrison dies in Los Angeles at 58, after a long battle with cancer. The “quiet” Beatle was in truth the most restless: he brought the sitar and Indian spirituality into pop, invented the benefit concert with Bangladesh and produced films with HandMade Films. He departed, as his philosophy asked, without fear: all things must pass.
George Harrison
1915
Billy Strayhorn is born, who wrote Ellington's theme from the directions to his house
On November 29, 1915, Billy Strayhorn was born in Ohio. At twenty-three he met Duke Ellington, who wrote down how to reach his New York apartment; Strayhorn turned those directions into "Take the A Train", which became the orchestra's theme for decades. He wrote with Ellington for twenty-eight years and was openly homosexual in the 1940s, which was unheard of.
Billy Strayhorn
Duke Ellington
1946
Silvio Rodríguez is born, who wrote sixty songs on a fishing boat
On November 29, 1946, Silvio Rodríguez was born in San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba, an illustrator and the son of peasants. In 1969, pushed off television for saying what he thought, he spent four months aboard a fishing vessel; he came back with more than sixty songs, several of them the ones that made him famous. With Pablo Milanés he founded the nueva trova and became the singing voice of a whole generation.
Silvio Rodríguez
Pablo Milanés
1951
Roger Troutman is born, whose robotic voice carries "California Love"
On November 29, 1951, Roger Troutman was born in Ohio. With his brothers he formed Zapp and popularised the talk box: a tube carrying a keyboard's sound into the musician's mouth, shaped with the lips. That metallic voice is on "More Bounce to the Ounce" and, above all, on the hook of 2Pac's "California Love". In 1999 his brother Larry shot him dead and then killed himself.
Roger Troutman
Zapp
2Pac
1963
“I Want to Hold Your Hand” is released, the single that will conquer America
The Beatles release “I Want to Hold Your Hand” in the UK, with a million copies pre-ordered before it hit shops. It would be the key that within weeks opened the American market, where no British act had truly triumphed. The British Invasion, which would redraw the map of world pop, began with this handshake.
The Beatles
1879
Jacob Gade is born, who composed the world's most played tango in an afternoon
On November 29, 1879, Jacob Gade was born in Denmark, a violinist in a silent cinema orchestra. In 1925 he was asked for music for a film premiere and wrote "Tango Jalousie" in a hurry. It has not stopped playing since: it is reckoned that someone is performing it somewhere on the planet at any given moment. With the royalties he created a foundation for young musicians.
Jacob Gade
1917
Merle Travis is born: son of miners and author of "Sixteen Tons"
On November 29, 1917, Merle Travis was born in Kentucky, son of a coal miner. He developed a guitar technique with the thumb playing the bass and the other fingers the melody, so distinctive it is known by his surname. In 1946 he wrote "Sixteen Tons", about miners' endless debts to the company; nine years later, in someone else's voice, it was number one for eight weeks.
Merle Travis
Tennessee Ernie Ford
1939
Meco is born, who made a disco version of "Star Wars" and sold two million
On November 29, 1939, Domenico Monardo was born in Pennsylvania, a session trombonist turned producer. In 1977 he saw "Star Wars" four times in two days, came out convinced John Williams's music needed a dance beat, and recorded a fourteen-minute disco version. It went to number one in the United States and remains one of the best-selling instrumentals in history.
Meco
1940
Chuck Mangione is born, whose 1977 instrumental played on every radio on the planet
On November 29, 1940, Chuck Mangione was born in Rochester, son of Italian-Americans who invited visiting jazz musicians home for dinner: Dizzy Gillespie came so often he gave him a trumpet. He played with Art Blakey before finding his own path. In 1977 "Feels So Good", a flugelhorn instrumental running nearly ten minutes, became an improbable hit around the world.
Chuck Mangione
1963
Will Downing is born, who lost the use of his legs and went back to recording from a chair
On November 29, 1963, Will Downing was born in Brooklyn, a baritone who started out singing backing vocals for Billy Ocean and Jennifer Holliday before going solo. He built a long career of elegant soul ballads, much listened to in the United Kingdom. In 2007 he was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that left him unable to walk; he kept recording and returned to the stage in a wheelchair.
Will Downing
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