Nov 1st in Pop History
On this day, November 1st, in:
1969: Abbey Road by the Beatles moved into the # 1 position on the Album chart just three weeks after it’s release, giving the group their 13th # 1 album.
Regarding Abbey Road, Rolling Stone magazine writes, “As part of our newly updated survey of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, we’re publishing a series of pieces on the making and impact of key records from the list. The Beatles’ Abbey Road came in at number five.
“In the midst of the conflicts that would define their final days, the Beatles pulled it together for one last, magnificent collaboration. It was the culmination of their seven-year partnership: four men who had grown up together and who were now growing apart, collecting the fragments of their unfinished work and arranging them into a shining monument.
“At one point, it was going to be called Everest and it’s one of the peaks of their career. Following the rancor of the White Album and the disastrous sessions that would eventually be pieced into their last album, Let It Be, in 1970, the Beatles needed a return to the familiar. On the verge of breaking up, they returned to their longtime producer, George Martin, and studios, EMI’s Abbey Road complex, to create a true final statement. “Let’s do it the way we used to,” Paul McCartney is said to have told Martin. And so they did, sort of. Abbey Road actually came together bit by bit over the course of six months, at times without Martin.
“Abbey Road was, in many ways, the culmination of what the Beatles had been working toward as a band. But by the time it hit the shelves, on October 1st, 1969, the Beatles were effectively defunct.” They would more formally announce their breakup the next April (1970). But they had completed what many considered to be their Magnum Opus. The album would go on to be one of the best selling albums in history, at last count somewhere around 33 million copies. I have one of the original vinyl records that I bought back in the day as a school kid. It never gets old….
Also, on this day, November 1st, in:
• 1969 - Elvis Presley's Suspicious Minds hits # 1 in America, giving him his first chart-topper since Good Luck Charm back in 1962. It's his last # 1 in the US
• 1963 - The Beatles make their first appearance as a tour headliner at a show in Gloucestershire, England. On the set list: I Saw Her Standing There, From Me To You, and All My Lovin’
• 1975 - Due to lead singer Karen Carpenter's struggle with anorexia, The Carpenters are forced to cancel their upcoming European tour.
Also, on this day in…
• 1994 - Mariah Carey’s album Merry Christmas is released. By the end of the year, it has sold over 3 million copies
And finally, back to 1969 Albums:
On Nov. 1st, 1969: (as noted above) Abbey Road by the Beatles moved into the # 1 position on the Album chart after just three weeks of release, giving the group their 13th #1 album. Green River from CCR had held the spot for four weeks and fell to # 2. The Rolling Stones were at # 3 with Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2) and Blind Faith was at # 4. The rest of the Top 10: Johnny Cash At San Quentin, I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! by Janis Joplin moved from 16-6, the great debut from Crosby, Stills & Nash moved from 11-7, Hot Buttered Soul from Isaac Hayes, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida from Iron Butterfly fell to # 9, and the self-titled Santana was # 10
