Today in Music History for May 7:
In 1824, Ludwig van Beethoven's monumental "Ninth Symphony" premiered in Vienna. The symphony's choral finale was based on dramatist Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller's "Ode to Joy," and has been revived by pop musicians numerous times, most notably in 1969 by Waldo De Los Rios as "Song of Joy."
In 1833, Johannes Brahms, one of the great masters of the romantic period, was born in Hamburg, Germany. Brahms' four symphonies are considered among the greatest in symphonic music, and his lullaby has long been a familiar melody throughout the world.
In 1840, one of the most popular composers in history, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, was born in Russia. His most popular works are his ballets -- "Swan Lake," "The Sleeping Beauty" and "The Nutcracker" -- plus his "Piano Concerto in B-Flat Minor" and the "Violin Concerto in D." He was able to devote himself entirely to composition because of an annuity from a wealthy patroness. He died of cholera in 1893, a few days after conducting the premiere of his "Sixth Symphony."
In 1894, pioneer country musician George Riley Puckett was born in Alpharetta, Ga. He was one of the most popular hillbilly singer-guitarists of the 1920s and '30s. He was the first hillbilly artist to yodel on record -- doing so at his 1924 debut session.
In 1931, 1950s pop vocalist Teresa Brewer was born in Toledo, Ohio. She was a radio star on the "Amateur Hour"' at the age of five, and was only 19 when she had her first million-seller, "Music, Music, Music," in 1950. Her other million-selling hits included "Till I Waltz Again With You," "Ricochet" and "Let Me Go Lover." She died Oct. 17, 2007.
In 1937, pioneer Canadian composer W.O. Forsyth died in Toronto at age 78. Of Canadian composers who spent their careers in their homeland, Forsyth was the first to have most of his work published.
In 1939, Johnny Maestro, lead singer of "The Crests" and "The Brooklyn Bridge," was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. "The Crests'" big hit was "Sixteen Candles" in 1959. Maestro later joined "The Del-Satins," which evolved into "The Brooklyn Bridge," whose only top-10 hit was 1969's "Worst That Could Happen." He died on March 24, 2010, after battling cancer.
In 1941, Glenn Miller and his orchestra recorded "Chattanooga Choo Choo" for RCA Victor.
In 1966, "Monday, Monday" by "The Mamas and the Papas" reached the top of the U.S. charts. The group's airy, California folk-pop sound was featured on five other top-five hits within the next year or so -- "California Dreamin'," "I Saw Her Again," "Words of Love," "Dedicated to the One I Love" and "Creeque Alley."
In 1968, at a Rome concert by the British group "The Move," riot police stormed the stage after the band set off explosives as part of their act. Suprisingly, no one was seriously hurt.
In 1972, "The Rolling Stones" released "Exile on Main Street," now considered one of their best albums.
In 1973, George Harrison released "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)."
In 1986, singer John Cougar Mellencamp joined protesting farmers on the steps of the Farmers' Home Administration Office in Chillicothe, Mo.
In 1990, Brian Wilson of "The Beach Boys" crashed a news conference to announce that he was fit to handle his own affairs. Wilson's cousin Stan Love was going to announce that he wanted to become a legal overseer of Wilson's life and estate.
In 1991, soul singer Wilson Pickett was arrested in his hometown of Englewood, N.J., after repeatedly driving over the lawn of his neighbour, Mayor Donald Aronson. He was charged with drunken driving and threatening to kill the mayor, and police seized a knife and a baseball bat from Pickett's van. The threatening charge was dropped after Pickett agreed to perform a free charity concert. He received a year's probation for drunken driving, which ran concurrently with a one-year jail term for a later drunk driving incident in which Pickett seriously injured an elderly pedestrian.
In 1991, 54-year-old "Rolling Stone" Bill Wyman ended his 22-month marriage to 21-year-old Mandy Smith. She received a $6.5 million divorce settlement, even though she spent only eight weeks with Wyman during their marriage. They first met when Smith was only 13.
In 1994, 1,322 guitarists, led by Randy Bachman, gathered in Vancouver to play "Bachman-Turner Overdrive's” "Takin' Care of Business" for 68 minutes and 40 seconds. The outdoor strumathon, at the time, set two world records -- the greatest number of guitarists and the longest mass guitar jam session.
In 1997, Marilyn Manson won his lawsuit against the New Jersey Sports and Exhibition Authority, who tried to prevent him from playing "Ozzfest" at Giants Stadium.
In 1998, as many as 50,000 young fans shut down central Tokyo for the funeral of a popular rock guitarist who hanged himself. One fan followed Hideto (Hide) Matsumoto in suicide, and two others tried. Matsumoto had killed himself four days earlier, leaving nothing to explain why. His group -- "X-Japan," one of the country's most popular -- had broken up the previous September.
In 1998, country-pop singer and songwriter Eddie Rabbitt died in Nashville of lung cancer. He was 56. Rabbitt had 26 No. 1 hits on the country chart, and one of his songs, "I Love a Rainy Night," also topped the pop chart in 1981. He got his first break in 1970 when Elvis Presley had a hit with his composition "Kentucky Rain."
In 2003, Ted Joans, a "Beat Generation" poet whose work drew from the African-American oral tradition and blended black consciousness with avant-garde jazz rhythm, was found dead in his Vancouver apartment. He was 74.
In 2010, Francisco Aguabella, the Cuban-born percussionist whose Latin rhythms backed up Peggy Lee, Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Sinatra and Paul Simon, died in Los Angeles after a battle with cancer. He was 84.
In 2011, John Walker, an American-born musician who was the frontman for "The Walker Brothers," one of the most successful bands of Britain's Golden Age of rock 'n' roll, died at his Los Angeles home of liver cancer. He was 67. The group had a string of pop hits in both the U.S. and England in the 1960s, including "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore."
In 2011, New Brunswick country and gospel musician Joey Knight died suddenly at the age of 56. He was named the Vista Rising Star at the Canadian Country Music Awards in 1988-89 and was inducted into the New Brunswick Country Music Hall of Fame in 1993.
In 2012, a judge in Los Angeles ruled the original lead singer of the "Village People," Victor Willis, can reclaim at least partial ownership of the copyrights to 33 of the group's songs, including "Y.M.C.A.," ''Macho Man," and "In the Navy."
In 2013, Tim Lambesis, lead singer of Grammy-nominated heavy metal band "As I Lay Dying," was arrested after authorities said he tried to hire an undercover detective to kill his estranged wife. (In February 2014, he pleaded guilty and was later sentenced to six years in prison.)
In 2020, the former lead singer of the British rock band Bad Company died. Brian Howe suffered a heart attack at his Florida home. He was 66.
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The Canadian Press