By Keefer
ON THIS DAY IN MUSIC HISTORY:
1957 - 22-year-old Jerry Lee Lewis secretly wed his third wife, 13-year-old third cousin Myra Brown, in Tennessee. The marriage lasted 14 years and seriously damaged Lewis career. Effectively blacklisted, Lewis fades from the spotlight over the next decade.
1960 - Aretha Franklin made her New York stage debut performing blues and standards at the Village Vanguard.
1961 - The Marvelettes went to No. 1 with Please Mr. Postman . The song features Gladys Horton on lead vocals and accompaniment by The Funk Brothers, including 22-year-old Marvin Gaye on drums. It was the first Motown song to reach the number-one position on the pop singles chart. The Beatles covered it in 1963 as well as The Carpenters in 1975.
History Highlight:
Big Mama Thornton was born today in 1926. She was the first to record Leiber and Stoller s Hound Dog , in 1952, which became her biggest hit, staying seven weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard R&B chart in 1953 and selling almost two million copies. She also wrote and recorded the original version of Ball n Chain , and she has said, My singing comes from my experience. My own experience. I never had no one teach me nothin . I can t read music, but I know what I m singing! I don t sing like nobody but myself. She died in 1984 at age 57 from a heart attack.