Chapter 01 — Today in music
On a day like today December 6
1969
Altamont: the concert that buried the sixties dream
The Rolling Stones headline the free Altamont festival in California, with the Hells Angels as improvised security. Young Meredith Hunter was stabbed to death in front of the stage while the band played, a tragedy captured in the documentary “Gimme Shelter”. Four months after Woodstock, the hippie utopia met its exact reverse.
The Rolling Stones
1896
Ira Gershwin is born, the first lyricist to win a Pulitzer Prize
On December 6, 1896, Ira Gershwin was born in New York, George's older brother and the lyricist for nearly everything he composed. In 1932 he became the first writer of song lyrics to win a Pulitzer. When George died at thirty-eight, Ira was left without his composer and took years to return; he later wrote with Kurt Weill, Jerome Kern and Harold Arlen, with whom he signed "The Man That Got Away".
Ira Gershwin
George Gershwin
1920
Dave Brubeck is born, who cancelled a tour rather than keep his bassist off stage
On December 6, 1920, Dave Brubeck was born in Concord, California. His quartet recorded "Time Out" in 1959: the first jazz album to sell a million copies, with a tune in five-four that nobody believed could swing. A year earlier he had cancelled a tour of the American South because promoters demanded he replace Eugene Wright, his Black bass player. He refused.
Dave Brubeck
Paul Desmond
1946
Frankie Beverly is born, who without a single number one became the soundtrack of the Black summer
On December 6, 1946, Frankie Beverly was born in Philadelphia, leader of Maze. He never had a number one on the pop chart and never needed one: "Before I Let Go" settled in as the unofficial anthem of every African American family cookout for forty years. In 2019 Beyoncé recorded it for "Homecoming" and a whole generation found out where the song came from.
Frankie Beverly
Maze
Beyoncé
1956
Randy Rhoads is born, who brought classical training to metal and died at 25
On December 6, 1956, Randy Rhoads was born in Santa Monica, a guitarist trained at his mother's music school and obsessed with classical technique. He left Quiet Riot to back Ozzy Osbourne on his first solo run and recorded two albums that rewrote the vocabulary of heavy metal. He died in 1982 at twenty-five, in the crash of a small plane buzzing the tour bus.
Randy Rhoads
Ozzy Osbourne
1988
Roy Orbison dies in mid-renaissance with the Traveling Wilburys
Roy Orbison dies of a heart attack at 52, weeks after the successful debut of the Traveling Wilburys with Dylan, Harrison, Petty and Lynne. The operatic voice of “Crying” and “Oh, Pretty Woman” went silent just as a new generation was rediscovering him. His album “Mystery Girl”, released posthumously, confirmed the injustice of the timing.
Roy Orbison
1931
Zeki Müren is born, the "Sun of Art" Turkey loved despite all its rules
On December 6, 1931, Zeki Müren was born in Bursa, the most beloved singer in Turkey for half a century. He appeared on television in make-up, false eyelashes and glittering costumes in a deeply conservative country, and audiences adored him anyway. He died in 1996 in a television studio, on stage, minutes after being honoured for his career.
Zeki Müren
1950
Joe Hisaishi is born, who took a stage name by copying Quincy Jones
On December 6, 1950, Mamoru Fujisawa was born in Nagano. He chose as a pseudonym a Japanese reading of Quincy Jones's name. As Joe Hisaishi he composed the music for nearly every Hayao Miyazaki film, from "Nausicaä" to "The Boy and the Heron": simple piano melodies that millions of people associate with childhood without ever having known his name.
Joe Hisaishi
Hayao Miyazaki
1956
Peter Buck is born, the record clerk who put R.E.M. together behind the counter
On December 6, 1956, Peter Buck was born in Berkeley. He was working at a record shop in Athens, Georgia, when he noticed a customer buying exactly the same things he did. That customer was Michael Stipe. R.E.M. came out of it, and out of Buck's Rickenbacker came the jangling sound that defined American college rock for a whole decade.
Peter Buck
R.E.M.
1995
A Boogie wit da Hoodie is born, number one without ever going through radio
On December 6, 1995, Artist Dubose was born in the Bronx. He started uploading songs to SoundCloud from home. His album "Hoodie SZN" reached number one on the American chart in 2019 with almost no radio play and no physical sales, driven entirely by streaming. It was one of the clearest signs that the rules of the business had already changed.
A Boogie wit da Hoodie
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