On October 14, 1977, Harry Lillis “Bing” Crosby, Jr. died aged 74. Being singer and actor, Crosby is the best-selling recording artist of the 20th century. He has sold over one billion records, tapes, compact discs and digital downloads worldwide. Crosby is one of the 22 people to have three stars on the “Hollywood Walk of Fame” (a star for motion pictures, radio, and audio recording); in 1944, he won an “Academy Award for Best Actor” for his role as Father Chuck O’Malley in the movie “Going My Way” and he received the first “Grammy Global Achievement Award”.
Tag Archives: 1977
David Bowie: Heroes
On October 14, 1977, “RCA” label released “Heroes” the twelfth David Bowie studio album. “Heroes” is the second album of Bowie’s “Berlin Trilogy” with Brian Eno (the other two releases are “Low” and “Lodger”). It was recorded July – August 1977, at the “Hansa Studio by the Wall” in West Berlin, and was produced by David Bowie and Tony Visconti. Magazine “NME” magazine voted “Heroes” album of year 1977.
Personnel:
- David Bowie – lead and backing vocals, keyboards, guitars, saxophone, koto
- Robert Fripp– lead guitar
- Carlos Alomar– rhythm guitar
- Brian Eno– synthesizers, keyboards, guitar treatments
- George Murray – bass
- Dennis Davis– drums, percussion
- Tony Visconti– percussion, backing vocals, engineer
- Antonia Maass – backing vocals
- Colin Thurston – engineer
- Eugene Chaplin – engineer assistant
- David Richards – engineer assistant
- Greg Calbi – mastering
- Masayoshi Sukita – photography
Track listing:
All tracks by David Bowie, except where noted.
- Beauty and the Beast
- Joe the Lion
- Heroes – David Bowie, Brian Eno
- Sons of the Silent Age
- Blackout
- V-2 Schneider
- Sense of Doubt
- Moss Garden
- Neukoln – David Bowie, Brian Eno
- The Secret Life of Arabia – David Bowie, Brian Eno, Carlos Alomar
Steely Dan: Aja
On September 23, 1977, “ABC” label released “Aja”, the sixth Steely Dan studio album . It was recorded January – July 1977, at the “Village Recorder” in West Los Angeles, “Producer’s Workshop” and “Sound Labs” in Hollywood, “Warner Bros” studios in Burbank, “ABC” studios in New York City, “A&R” studios in Manhattan, and was produced by Gary Katz. In July 1978, the album won the “Grammy Award for Best Engineered Non-Classical Recording”. In 2003 “Aja” was ranked number 145 on “Rolling Stone” magazine “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time” list. The album was certified Platinum in US by the “RIAA”.
Personnel:
- Donald Fagen- lead and backing vocals, synthesizer, police whistle
- Walter Becker- bass, guitar, guitar solos
- Larry Carlton- guitar, guitar solo
- Denny Dias- guitar
- Dean Parks- guitar
- Steve Khan- guitar
- Jay Graydon- solo guitar
- Victor Feldman- electric piano, vibraphone, piano, percussion
- Joe Sample- electric piano, clavinet
- Paul Griffin- electric piano, backing vocals
- Michael Omartian- piano
- Don Grolnick- clavinet
- Chuck Rainey- bass
- Paul Humphrey- drums
- Steve Gadd- drums
- Bernard Purdie- drums
- Rick Marotta- drums
- Ed Greene – drums
- Jim Keltner- drums, percussion
- Gary Coleman – percussion
- Tom Scott- tenor saxophone, lyricon, horn arrangements
- Wayne Shorter– tenor saxophone
- Pete Christlieb- tenor saxophone
- Jim Horn, Bill Perkins, Plas Johnson, Jackie Kelso – saxophones, flutes
- Chuck Findley, Lou McCreary, Slyde Hyde – brass
- Michael McDonald, Timothy B. Schmit, Clydie King, Sherlie Matthews, Venetta Fields, Rebecca Louis – backing vocals
Track listing:
All tracks by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen.
- Black Cow
- Aja
- Deacon Blues
- Peg
- Home At Last
- I Got The News
- Josie
Talking Heads: 77
On September 16, 1977, “Sire” label released “77”, the debut Talking Heads album. It was recorded 1976 – 1977, at the “Sundragon Studios” in New York City, and was produced by Tony Bongiovi, Lance Quinn, David Byrne, Jerry Harrison, Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth. “Rolling Stone” magazine ranked “77” at number 290 on its list of “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”.
Personnel:
- David Byrne – vocals, guitar
- Jerry Harrison– guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
- Tina Weymouth– bass guitar
- Chris Frantz– drums
All tracks by David Byrne, except where noted.
- Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town
- New Feeling
- Tentative Decisions
- Happy Day
- Who Is It
- No Compassion
- The Book I Read
- Don’t Worry About the Government
- First Week/Last Week..Carefree
- Psycho Killer – David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth
- Pulled Up
Johnny Winter: Nothin’ But The Blues
On August 30, 1977, “Blue Sky” label released “Nothin’ But the Blues”, the eight Johnny Winter studio album. It was recorded in 1977, at “The Schoolhouse” and was produced by Johnny Winter.
Personnel:
- Johnny Winter – vocals, guitar, harmonica, drums, bass
- Muddy Waters – vocals, guitar
- Bob Margolin – guitar
- Pinetop Perkins – piano
- James Cotton- harmonica
- Charles Calmese – bass
- Willie “Big Eyes” Smith – drums
All tracks by Johnny Winter, except where noted.
- Tired of Tryin’
- TV Mama
- Sweet Love and Evil Women
- Everybody’s Blues
- Drinkin’ Blues
- Mad Blues
- It was Rainin
- Bladie Mae
- Walkin’ Thru the Park – Muddy Waters
The Who: Who Are You
On August 18, 1978, “Polydor” label released “Who Are You”, the eight Who album. It was recorded October 1977 – April 1978, at “Ramport Studios”, “Battersea”, ”Olympic Studios”; “RAK Studios”, St John’s Wood” and Pete Townshend’s own studio in Goring-on-Thames and was produced by Jon Astley, Glyn Johns , Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle, Pete Townshend and Keit Moon. This was band’s last album with Keith Moon, he died twenty days after the release of album.
Personnel:
- Roger Daltrey – lead vocals, percussion
- John Entwistle – lead and backing vocals, bass guitar, synthesizer, brass
- Pete Townshend – lead and backing vocals, guitars, piano, synthesizer
- Keith Moon– drums, percussion
- Rod Argent– synthesizer, piano, keyboards
- Ted Astley– string arrangement
- Andy Fairweather-Low– backing vocals
- Billy Nicholls– backing vocals
- Michael Nicholls — backing vocals
Track listing:
All tracks by Pete Townshend, except where noted.
- New Song
- Had Enough – John Entwistle
- 905 – John Entwisltle
- Sister Disco
- Music Must Change
- Trick of the Light
- Guitar and Pen
- Love is Coming Down
- Who are You
Elvis Presley
On August 16, 1977, Elvis Aaron Presley, died aged 42. He was singer and actor, he had one of the most successful careers in the popular music ever and is regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century. He played key role in the popularization of Rock and Roll in America and worldwide and became the first global music icon and superstar. Presley is one of the best sold artists in the music history with an army of millions of devoted fans worldwide.
Peter Laughner
On June 22, 1977, Peter Laughner, died aged 24. He was musician (guitar), singer and songwriter, described by Richie Unterberger as “probably the single biggest catalyst in the birth of Cleveland’s alternative rock scene in the mid 1970s.” Laughner was the lead force in number of bands, including “Mr. Charlie”, “Cinderella Backstreet”, “Peter & The Wolves”, “The Blue Drivers and Friction”, but he is best known for his work with “Rocket From The Tombs” and the early work of “Pere Ubu”. He also wrote regularly for the magazine “Creem”.
Charles Mingus
On January 5, 1977, Charles Mingus Jr. Died aged 57. He was musician (bass), composer and bandleader, regarded as one of the most creative and influential Jazz artists of all times.
For his work and contribution to the modern music, Mingus has received many awards including:
- “Guggenheim Fellowship” (1971).
- Inducted in the “Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame” (1971).
- “National Endowment for the Arts” provided grants for a Mingus nonprofit called “Let My Children Hear Music” which cataloged all of Mingus’s works (1988)
- “The Library of Congress” acquired Mingus’s collected papers in what they described as “the most important acquisition of a manuscript collection relating to jazz in the Library’s history.(1993)]
- “The United States Postal Service” issued a stamp in his honor (1995).
- Posthumously awarded the “Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award” (1997)
- Album “Mingus Dynasty”(1959) inducted in the “Grammy Hall of Fame” (1999)
- Inducted in the “Jazz at Lincoln Center”, Nesuhi Ertegun “Jazz Hall of Fame” (2005)
Mingus has recorded and performed with some of the most important musicians of the modern music, including: Illinois Jacquet, Dinah Washington, Wilbert Baranco, Ivie Anderson, Lionel Hampton, Red Norvo, Billy Taylor, Oscar Pettiford, Max Roach, Bud Powell, Paul Bley, Teo Macero, Oscar Pettiford, Ada Moore, Charlie Parker, J.J. Johnson, Hazel Scott, John Mehegan, Thad Jones, John Dennis, Ralph Sharon, Miles Davis, Teddy Charles, The Metronome All-Stars, Jimmy Knepper, Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington, Max Roach and Eric Dolphy.
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