Today in Music History for Jan. 20:
In 1889, Huddie Ledbetter, better known as Leadbelly, was born in Morningsport, La. Leadbelly, popular during the 1930s and '40s, was probably the first country blues artist to become known to the white audience. Many of his songs, such as ``Goodnight Irene,'' ``Rock Island Line'' and ``The Midnight Special'' are still sung wherever folk music is played. Leadbelly spent more than a dozen years in the prisons of Texas and Louisiana for violent crimes, including murder. He died in New York on Dec. 6, 1949.
In 1920, Yvonne King Burch was born in Utah. She was the matriarch of ``The King Family,'' a popular and enduring show business dynasty. She spent three decades singing and recording with ``The King Sisters,'' one of the most popular vocal groups of the 1930s and 1940s with hits such as ``Mairzy Doats,'' ``Miss Otis Regrets'' and ``The Hut-Sut Song.'' A Grammy nomination for their album ``Imagination'' capped the group's career in 1959. In 1963, Burch conceived and produced a church benefit concert with her sisters and three dozen relatives including brothers, husbands, wives, aunts, uncles and children that marked the debut of ``The King Family.'' It led to two TV variety series and 17 specials during the 1960s and 1970s. The family appeared on ``The Ed Sullivan Show'' and performed with entertainment legends, including Bing Crosby and Dean Martin. She died on Dec. 13, 2009.
In 1965, disc jockey Alan Freed, who helped spread rock 'n' roll music by playing black R&B records on his shows in Cleveland and New York, died of uremia in a hospital in Palm Springs, Calif. He was only 42 and a borderline alcoholic -- a broken man because of his involvement in the payola scandals. In December 1962, he was fined $300 and given a suspended sentence on two counts of commercial bribery -- accepting money for playing records. Three years earlier, he was the top disc jockey in the U.S. on New York station WABC, which fired him when he refused to sign a statement saying he had accepted bribes. Freed was facing charges of tax evasion when he died. He was said to have coined the term Rock 'n' Roll from the words to Bill Haley's 1952 recording of ``Rock A'Beatin' Boogie.''
In 1966, promoter Bill Graham began his notorious three-day Trips Festival at the Longshoreman's Hall in San Francisco. Music and LSD were available in large quantities.
In 1968, Bob Dylan and ``The Band'' horrified folk music purists by playing electric instruments at a Tribute to Woody Guthrie concert at New York's Carnegie Hall.
In 1973, Jerry Lee Lewis made his debut at the Grand Ole Opry, where officials allowed him to perform as long as he didn't use profanities and played only country music. By the end of the set, Lewis broke both agreements.
In 1979, the Bahamas declared Tavares Day in honour of the Tavares brothers, who had such disco hits as ``It Only Takes a Minute,'' ``Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel'' and ``Whodunit.''
In 1982, singer Ozzy Osborne was taken to hospital after biting the head off a dead bat during a concert in Des Moines, Iowa. He claimed he thought it was a toy thrown to him by an audience member.
In 1987, ``The Cure'' asked radio stations not to play their song ``Killing an Arab.'' The group said stickers would be attached to their album explaining that the song was really anti-violence.
In 1988, ``The Beatles,'' ``The Beach Boys,'' ``The Drifters,'' ``The Supremes'' and Bob Dylan became the third group of inductees into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. Former ``Beatle'' Paul McCartney refused to attend the ceremony in New York because he didn't want to take the stage with George Harrison and Ringo Starr. ``Beach Boy'' Mike Love hurled insults at McCartney, Diana Ross, Bruce Springsteen and Mick Jagger while ``The Beach Boys'' were being inducted.
In 1989, Canadian country singer Bob King, who had a string of hit records beginning in the mid-1950s, died in an Ottawa hospital at age 55.
In 1993, U.S. President Bill Clinton picked up his saxophone to jam with the likes of Ben E. King, Clarence Clemons, Herbie Hancock, Dionne Warwick and Chuck Berry at several of the dozen balls honouring his inauguration.
In 1995, Bonnie Raitt raised $80,000 at a New York City benefit for her project to provide guitar lessons for girls.
In 1996, baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan, one of the creators of the cool style of jazz, died in New York of complications from a knee infection. He was 68.
In 1996, Madonna arrived in Buenos Aires to begin filming the movie version of ``Evita,'' the musical about Eva Peron.
In 1998, singer Alice Nutter of ``Chumbawamba'' said on the U.S. TV talk show ``Politically Incorrect'' that it was OK to shoplift the group's albums from large chain stores because they could afford it. Virgin Megastores reacted by pulling their albums from the shelves and putting them behind the counters.
In 1998, Ray Charles and Ravi Shankar received Polar prizes, worth $125,000 each, from the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. Charles was honoured for influencing generations of singers and musicians. Shankar was commended for introducing Western audiences to Eastern music.
In 1999, police in Plantation, Fla., found dozens of dogs without food or water at the home of R&B singer Aaron Hall.
In 1999, rocker Ted Nugent urged American tourists to boycott Canada. Nugent, an avid bow-hunter, was angry at Ontario for banning its spring bear hunt.
In 2002, blues musician John Jackson died of liver and lung cancer at his home near Washington. He was 77.
In 2004, Walter Grealis, longtime supporter of the Canadian music industry, founder of the trade publication RPM and one of the inspirations behind the Juno Awards, died of cancer. He was 74. He entered the recording industry in 1960 and soon became the Ontario promotion manager for London Records before establishing RPM magazine. The publication promoted Canadian singers and musicians for 37 years before folding in November 2000. In 1964, RPM initiated the Gold Leaf Awards, which evolved into the Junos. In 1975, it also established the Big Country Awards along with the Canadian Academy for Country Music Advancement. Grealis received a people's award at the 1976 Junos and had a Juno for industry figures named after him. In 1993, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999.
In 2009, David (Fathead) Newman, a jazz musician who played with ``The Ray Charles Band'' and won fame as a tenor sax soloist, died of pancreatic cancer at age 75.
In 2012, legendary blues singer Etta James died from complications of leukemia. She was 73. Her performance of the enduring classic ``At Last'' was the embodiment of refined soul.
In 2012, Larry Butler, who produced some of Kenny Rogers' biggest hits and was the only Nashville producer to win a Grammy for Producer of the Year, died at age 69.
In 2012, charges were stayed against three companies in the 2009 fatal stage collapse at the Big Valley Jamboree in Camrose, Alta. A powerful windstorm caused the main stage to collapse. Donna Moore of Lloydminster, Alta., was killed and more than a dozen people were injured.
In 2014, Claudio Abbado, a star in the great generation of Italian conductors who was revered by musicians in the world's leading orchestras for developing a strong rapport with them while still allowing them their independence, died at his home in Bologna after a long illness. He was 80. Abbado made his debut in 1960 at La Scala in his home city of Milan and went on to be its music director for nearly 20 years.
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The Canadian Press