April 17

1971: Three Dog Night hits #1 with Joy To The World.

1969: In San Francisco, The Band plays its first gig as headliner (after backing up Bob Dylan on his tours).

1967: Singer-songwriter Liz Phair is born. Exile In Guyville was her debut album.  Rolling Stone magazine ranks it #328 on the list of the “500 Greatest Albums Of All Time”.  Divorce Song is one of the best-known songs from the album.

1964: Them (led by an 18 year old Van Morrison) make their first concert appearance at Belfast’s Maritime Hotel.  The band has a hit with G-L-O-R-I-A.

1958: Ricky Nelson records Poor Little Fool.

1955: Fats Domino’s Ain’t That a Shame hits #1.

1934: Producer Don Kirshner is born.  He launched the careers of The Monkees, The Archies, Neil Sedaka, Bobby Darren and Carole King. 

The Songs of The Day:

Joy To The World (Three Dog Night); Gloria (Them); Poor Little Fool (Ricky Nelson); Sugar, Sugar (The Archies); G-L-O-R-I-A (Them); Divorce Song (Liz Phair); Ain’t That A Shame (Fats Domino)