Today in Music History for Oct. 26:
In 1813, English organist Henry Smart was born. Though largely self-taught, he published many compositions, two of which are still popular as hymn tunes: "Lancashire (Lead On, O King Eternal)" and "Regent Square (Angels From the Realms of Glory)."
In 1842, the Halifax Harmonic Society, a choir and instrumental ensemble, was formed. The Society, which gave its first public performance the following January, was the first organization in Halifax to tackle major choral and orchestral works and to continue performing for a number of years.
In 1936, country singer "Roy Acuff and his Crazy Tennesseans" had their first recording session for the ARC company, which later merged with Columbia. Among the tracks recorded during two sessions for ARC that year were "Great Speckled Bird" and "Wabash Cannonball."
In 1961, Bob Dylan signed a contract with Columbia Records. He had auditioned for producer John Hammond the previous month and after a glowing New York Times review of a Dylan performance, Hammond signed him.
In 1963, Bob Dylan played Carnegie Hall in New York. The album "The Times They Are A-Changin'" was recorded at the concert.
In 1965, "The Beatles" were invested as members of the Order of the British Empire by the Queen at Buckingham Palace. The announcement of their honour led several previous members to return their medals. John Lennon later said the four musicians smoked marijuana in the palace washroom. Lennon returned his medal in 1969 because of Britain's involvement in Biafra and its support of the U.S. war in Vietnam.
In 1966, Liberace played the parts of both a good and evil pianist on the TV-series "Batman."
In 1978, "Hot Child in the City" by Nick Gilder hit No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart. It took 20 weeks from the time it entered the Hot 100 to reach the top, longer than any single before it.
In 1981, David Bowie met with "Queen" in Montreaux, Switzerland, to record "Under Pressure" in an all-night session.
In 1986, Mark Knopfler, lead singer and guitarist of the British rock band "Dire Straits," broke his shoulder when his car crashed during a celebrity race at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.
In 1993, Madonna caused a scandal by pulling the Puerto Rican flag between her legs during a concert in San Juan. The Puerto Rican House of Representatives unanimously condemned the pop star for showing disrespect for the flag.
In 1993, Broadway composer Harold Rome, whose 1962 musical "I Can Get It For You Wholesale" brought Barbra Streisand to prominence, died in New York at age 85. He was known for slipping politically liberal sentiments into his musicals, which included 1952's "Wish You Were Here," 1954's "Fanny" and "Destry Rides Again," produced in 1959.
In 1994, R&B singer Wilbert Harrison, whose recording of "Kansas City" was No. 1 in 1959, died in Spencer, N.C., at age 65. He had suffered a stroke.
In 1995, Yolanda Saldivar was sentenced in Houston to life in prison for the shooting death of Tejano singing star Selena at a Corpus Christi motel the previous March. Saldivar, who managed Selena's clothing boutiques, shot her after the singer confronted her with allegations that she had embezzled $30,000.
In 1998, rapper Keith Murray surrendered in New Britain, Conn., to begin serving a three-year sentence for assault. He was supposed to surrender a month earlier but failed to show up. Murray was convicted for a 1995 fight at a nightclub in which he beat a 16-year-old with a bar stool, leaving the youth with disfiguring scars on his head. Murray's first album, "The Most Beautiful Thing in the World," went gold after its release in 1994.
In 1999, Hoyt Axton, the folksy singer who wrote "Joy to the World" and songs that were performed by artists from Elvis Presley to Ringo Starr, died at age 61 in Helena, Mont.
In 2000, rapper Eminem performed at Toronto's SkyDome (now Rogers Centre) despite efforts by the Ontario government to bar his entry into Canada because his lyrics advocated violence against women.
In 2008, singer-songwriter Matraca Berg, songwriter Tom Shapiro and singer-songwriter John Hiatt, were inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
In 2009, Madonna marked the start of construction of her girls school in Malawi by planting a Moringa tree at the planned site of the $15-million school. In February 2011, it was announced that logistical problems and other concerns forced her to abandon the project.
In 2009, former "Go Go's" lead singer Belinda Carlisle joined the cast of "Hairspray" in London. She played the role of Velma Von Tussle.
In 2009, Michael Jackson's posthumous two-disc CD "This Is It" was released, a companion to his documentary of the same name based on his final few weeks of rehearsal for a planned series of 50 concerts at London's O2 Arena. Disc One featured the original album masters of some of his biggest hits arranged in the same sequence as they appeared in the film. Disc One ends with two versions of the never-released song "This Is It," co-written by Paul Anka back in 1983. Disc Two offered demo versions of some of his classic songs as well as a spoken word poem "Planet Earth."
In 2009, Bruce Springsteen cancelled a performance in Kansas City after his cousin Lenny Sullivan, who was a member of the road crew, was found dead at his hotel room hours before Springsteen and the E Street Band were to take the stage. An autopsy determined he died of an accidental drug overdose.
In 2010, Gospel and R&B singer James Phelps, who performed with soul greats including Lou Rawls and Sam Cooke, died in Los Angeles. He was 78. He was a founder of the group "Clefs of Calvary" and had a hit single, "Love is a Five-Letter Word," in 1965 with Chess Records.
In 2011, a coroner reported that singer Amy Winehouse died from accidental alcohol poisoning. She fought drug and alcohol problems for years and was found dead in bed at her London home on July 23.
In 2014, blind country-soul singer and pianist Ronnie Milsap joined bluegrass vocalist Mac Wiseman and the late songwriter Hank Cochran as the newest members of the Country Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Nashville, Tenn.
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(The Canadian Press)
The Canadian Press
