The very popular Shelley Fabares was born in Santa Monica, California, on this day in 1944. I was so stunned with the news that I had to check it out....it turned out to be true! For some of us, Shelley Fabares was "Mary", the teen daughter" in the very popular "The Donna Reed Show" of the 1960s. (You can still see the reruns and it was an entertaining series) More recently, she was Christine in "The coach", the funny TV comedy of a few years ago. Between "Donna Reed" and "The coach", Shelley played different roles on TV and even made 3 movies with Elvis. She also recorded "Johnny Angel", one of the biggest hits of the pre-Beatles era. It became one of the best selling "teen girl loves high school boy" songs of pop music history.
We remember Phil Everly who was born on this day in 1939 and died in 2014. If you love pop music, and I do, then you have to appreciate how The Everly Brothers influenced the music that we grew up listening to. Just listen to John Lennon & Paul McCartney sing "If I fell" or "I'll be back" or a few others. What you hear is John and Paul singing just like Don & Phil, or the harmonies that they used to hear as aspiring musicians in Liverpool radio. Like so many of the British groups, they learned to sing listening to those tight harmonies recorded by those two Kentucky brothers dominating the US charts. As Scott Johnson wrote, another political blogger who loves pop music, Don & Phil Everly brought "....the close harmony singing of traditional country music into the mainstream of American popular music." Phil Everly died at age 74 and you can hear his legacy every time that you hear a duo on the radio.
We remember Edgar Allan Poe, who was born on this in 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts. His parents, both professional actors, died before he was 3 years old. He was raised by John and Frances Allan as a foster child in Richmond, Virginia.In 1844, Poe and his wife moved to New York City. Shortly after, he published “The Raven", his most successful poem. He died young in 1849.
We remember Janis Joplin who was born in Port Arthur, Texas, on this day in 1943. She started singing with the band "Big Brother and the Holding Company" in 1966. In 1968, they released a very popular album "Cheap Thrills". Janis eventually went solo but but died in 1970 at age 27. After her death, the album "Pearl" became a huge bestseller. It included her biggest hit, "Me and Bobby McGee". Later, a "greatest hits" was released.
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