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1996 – Brian Wilson Begins Innovative Recording of ‘Good Vibrations’
On this day in music, February 18, 1966, Beach Boy leader Brian Wilson began recording the band’s soon-to-be classic, “Good Vibrations.” Riffing on themes of extrasensory perception, Wilson was inspired by a story that his mother often told about dogs barking at people in response to their “bad vibrations.” The recording process, meanwhile, was unprecedented and found musicians recording more than 90 hours of interchangeable footage, with Wilson later assembling the fragments into a larger, symphonic structure, which reflected various moods. Released in October of that year, “Good Vibrations” was an instant critical and commercial success. Widely considered to be among the era’s most important recordings, the song went on to influence countless other bands, while, in the decades since its release, “Good Vibrations” has ranked on numerous lists, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s “500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll” and Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time.” It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1994.
2014 – Queen
Queen made UK chart history by becoming the first act to sell six million copies of an individual album. Their first Greatest Hits collection, which includes the hits ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘
Bohemian Rhapsody‘ had extended its lead after being Britain’s highest-selling album for several years. The Official Charts Company said one in three British families now owned a copy of the 1981 compilation.
2003 – British Phonographic Industry
The British Phonographic Industry reported its biggest sales decline in decades, with the biggest slump in a single year since the birth of the CD market in the early 1980s. Piracy, illegal duplication and distribution by international criminals of CD’s were all blamed for the decrease.
1972 – Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin scored their third US Top 20 hit single with ‘Black Dog / Misty Mountain Hop’, peaking at No.15, and taken from their fourth album. The song’s title is a reference to a nameless black Labrador retriever that wandered around the Headley Grange studios during recording.
Robert Plant recorded his vocal for the track in two takes.
In 1959 – Ray Charles
Ray Charles recorded one of his signature hits, “What’d I Say,” at Atlantic Records’ New York City studio. The song, which originated from a call-and-response improvisation between Charles and his background vocalists, The Raelettes, reached the top of the R&B chart and No.6 on the pop chart. It later gave Charles his first Gold record.
Source: thisdayinmusic.com
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