Historic events this week from Bob Dylan, Robert Plant, The Beatles and Van Halen
FEBRUARY 7, 1976: BOB DYLAN’S DESIRE IS #1
Dylan’s 17th studio album was his third to go to #1 in the US, after Planet Waves and Blood on the Tracks.
The album contained the protest song, “Hurricane”, about the wrongful conviction of boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter.
At 5-straight weeks, Desire spent more time at #1 than any other Bob Dylan album.
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FEBRUARY 8, 2009: RAISING SAND WINS FIVE GRAMMYS
Alison Krauss & Robert Plant’s Raising Sand is the highest charting album for Robert Plant outside of his work with Led Zeppelin.
The album won 5 Grammys; sweeping all categories in which it was nominated:
Record of the Year, Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals, Best Country Collaboration with Vocals, Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album, and Album of the Year.
FEBRUARY 9, 1964: THE BEATLES APPEAR ON ED SULLIVAN
The Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show for the first of 3 consecutive Sunday appearances.
73 million viewers tuned in to see the Beatles play “All My Loving”, “Till There Was You”, “She Loves You”, “I Saw Her Standing There” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand”.
Two days later, on Feb. 11, they played their first US concert at Washington Coliseum in D.C. in front of 8,000 fans.
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FEBRUARY 10, 1978: VAN HALEN’S DEBUT ALBUM
Van Halen’s self-titled debut was recorded in 3 weeks for $40,000. Containing “Jamie’s Cryin'”, “Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love”, “Runnin’ with the Devil” and a cover of The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me”, it has sold well over 10 million copies in the US alone.
