History Highlight:

Charlyn Marie "Chan" Marshall, aka “Cat Power”, was born on this day in 1972, making her 54 years old today. Under the moniker “Cat Power” (which was originally the name of her first band), she has released 11 studio albums and critics have noted the evolution of her sound — going from punk to folk to blues to soul and beyond across the course of her 30-plus-year career; in fact, January 20 (yesterday) was the 20th anniversary of Cat Power’s seventh studio album, The Greatest, and the tour celebrating that album stops at First Avenue in Minneapolis on February 26. This Friday, January 23, Cat Power will release Redux, a three-song EP that celebrates the 20th anniversary of The Greatest. Redux will include a re-imagining of the song “Could We” from The Greatest, as well as Marshall’s covers of James Brown’s “Try Me” and Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U.” It won’t be the first time Marshall has covered a Minnesota artist. In 2022, Marshall gave a song-by-song performance of Bob Dylan’s 1966 Manchester concert that was recorded and released in 2023 as Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert.

Also, in:

1965 - The Byrds recorded Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" in Los Angeles.

1965 - Over 3,000 screaming fans met The Rolling Stones and Roy Orbison at Sydney Airport when they arrived for a 16-date tour of Australia and New Zealand.

1966 - The Trips Festival began at the Longshoreman's Hall in San Francisco. It was a three-day event with tens of thousands of people in attendance, featuring the Grateful Dead, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Jefferson Airplane, and lots and lots of LSD. The weekend was a landmark event in the evolution of psychedelic music and is largely recognized as the first to bring together what would be called the "hippie" movement.

1968 - The Jimi Hendrix Experience began recording their cover of Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" at Olympic Studios in London. Their cover later went on to be their only top-40 single in the U.S.

1977 - Pink Floyd released their 10th studio album, Animals. It features the tracks "Pigs on the Wing (Part One)," "Dogs," "Pigs (Three Different Ones)," "Sheep," and "Pigs on the Wing (Part Two)."

1978 - The soundtrack album Saturday Night Fever started a 24-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. album charts and stayed on Billboard's album charts for an incredible 120 weeks. It is one of the best-selling albums in history, selling around 40 million copies worldwide.

1980 - Split Enz released their sixth studio album, True Colours. It features “I Got You.”

1982 - B.B. King donated his entire record collection of over 20,000 discs to Mississippi University's Center for the Study of Southern Culture.

1983 - Lamar Williams (the bassist who replaced Berry Oakley in The Allman Brothers Band) died of lung cancer.

1984 - Yes reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for the first and only time with "Owner of a Lonely Heart," which spent two weeks at No. 1.

1984 - Soul singer Jackie Wilson died at age 49. A tenor with a four-octave vocal range, he was nicknamed "Mr. Excitement," and was important in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. Gaining fame in his early years as a member of the R&B vocal group Billy Ward and His Dominoes, he went solo in 1957 and recorded more than 50 hit singles that spanned R&B, pop, soul, doo-wop and easy listening. Wilson suffered a massive heart attack while playing a Dick Clark show at the Latin Casino in New Jersey on September 29, 1975, falling head-first to the stage while singing "Lonely Teardrops," and he remained in a coma until his death eight years later.

1985 - Run-D.M.C. released their second studio album, King of Rock. It features the title track, “You Talk Too Much,” and “Can You Rock It Like This.”

1987 - The Coasters became the first vocal group to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

1987 - During the second Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in New York City, B.B. King was inducted by Sting, ZZ Top inducted Bo Diddley, Mick Jones of Foreigner inducted Eddie Cochran, Keith Richards inducted Aretha Franklin, Ricky Nelson was posthumously inducted by John Fogerty and Roy Orbison was inducted by Bruce Springsteen.

1988 - David Lee Roth released his second studio album, Skyscraper. It features the singles "Just Like Paradise," "Stand Up," and "Damn Good."

1990 - Squeeze was the debut band on MTV's Unplugged program.

1991 - Jesus Jones released their second studio album, Doubt. It features the singles "Real, Real, Real," "Right Here, Right Now," "International Bright Young Thing," "Who? Where? Why?," and "Welcome Back Victoria."

1992 - Billy Idol pleaded guilty to assault and battery charges after an incident outside a West Hollywood restaurant. He was fined $2,700 and ordered to appear in a series of anti-drug commercials.

2002 - American singer and actress Peggy Lee died of complications from diabetes and a heart attack at the age of 81.

2003 - The Postal Service released the lead single “Such Great Heights” from their debut album, Give Up. The album came out on Feb. 18, 2003.

2004 - The Metallica documentary Some Kind of Monster made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival. The 141-minute film chronicles the recording of their album St. Anger (2001–2003), one of the more turbulent eras of Metallica's career. A thread throughout the film is the band’s therapy sessions with Phil Towle, a $40,000-a-month "performance-enhancing coach" tasked with getting the band over their mountains of emotional baggage.

2007 - Mika scored his debut U.K. No. 1 hit single with "Grace Kelly," which went on to become the third biggest-selling single in the U.K. that year. Amy Winehouse kept her place at the top of the U.K. album chart with Back to Black.

2008 - Lightspeed Champion (Devonté Hynes of Blood Orange) released his debut studio album, Falling Off the Lavender Bridge. It features the singles "Galaxy of the Lost" and "Tell Me What It's Worth."

2012 - Adele was at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with her second studio album, 21. The album yielded five hit singles, including the lead single, "Rolling in the Deep".

Birthdays:

Benny Hill, star of The Benny Hill Show with the zany theme song “Yakety Sax” by Boots Randolph, was born today in 1924.

DJ Wolfman Jack was born today in 1938.

Folk singer Richie Havens was born today in 1941.

Opera singer Plácido Domingo is 85.

Motown singer Edwin Starr, who had a No. 1 hit in 1970 with his cover of “War,” was born on this day in 1942.

Singer-songwriter Mac Davis was born on this day in 1942. Davis wrote several songs for Elvis Presley, including “A Little Less Conversation.” As a solo artist, Davis enjoyed such hits as “I Believe in Music,” “Baby Don’t Get Hooked on Me,” and “Stop and Smell the Roses.”

Jimmy Ibbotson of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is 78.

Billy Ocean is 76.

Jason Mizell, aka Jam Master Jay from Run-D.M.C, was born today in 1965.

Robert Del Naja of Massive Attack is 61.

Chris Kilmore of Incubus is 53.

Jason Moran is 51.

Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice") is 50.

Nokio of Dru Hill is 47.

Highlights for Today in Music History are gathered from This Day in Music, Song Facts and Wikipedia.