All of my "This Day in History" posts feature music and nostalgia. In the course of every person's life, there are historic moments and horrendous events that will be remembered until a person's dying day. So far in my lifetime, those events have been (1) JFK assassination, (2) Armstrong walking on the moon, (3) Challenger explosion, (4) Oklahoma federal building bombing, (5) 911 attacks. I remember where I was when JFK was shot on November 22, 1963: School lunch duty at Parkview elementary in Bellingham. My 6th grade teacher was Mrs. Thon.
Previously, I identified Deep Purple, by the duo Nino Tempo and April Stevens, as the top single in the country on the day JFK was killed. That pop song was a big hit, but it had no deep meaning--a light and happy cover of a standard from the 1930's. It is now, mainly, a forgotten little ditty.
However, if we dig deeper, take a look back at the top album in the land on the day Kennedy died, we get a better picture of what was really happening socially and culturally in the U.S.A. The #1 charting album, comprised of a number of protest songs, was a sign that new winds blew across America.
The album that topped the charts, for a total of five weeks in 1963, was by a trio from the New York City folk scene. Three of the cuts were written by a young American poet and songwriter--a rolling stone kind of guy--who would go on to be a legend and win a Nobel Prize. The name of the album was a reference to one track, penned by the poet, that had been released as a single and had helped catapult the 33 1/3 long-play record to the top of the charts.
To see the original artists perform their hit signature song, from the #1 album in the country, click on the vintage television set. In so doing, you will be taken back to November 22, 1963--the day President Kennedy died in Dallas.
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