Paul Simon! Def Leppard! Al Kooper! All wicked good stuff today...

"FOX & Friends" All American Concert Series - Def Leppard
Def Leppard's Joe Elliott, June 2012. (Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
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2/5/1972 (48 years ago today) - Paul Simon releases his first record without Art Garfunkel, the classic single "Mother And Child Reunion", where it peaks at No. 4 on the Billboard chart -- Paul says he got the idea for the title from a chicken-and-egg dish called Mother And Child Reunion that he saw on a Chinese restaurant's menu...

2/5/1983 (37 years ago today) - Def Leppard's "Pyromania" album begins a 92 week run on the album chart (that's almost two years of non-stop active sales!) -- It doesn't make it to No.1 (though it does reach the No. 2 spot), but it doesn't matter either, selling over 6 million copies in the U.S. alone -- There are many reasons why it's still played on the radio every day all around the world, but mostly because it remains a 5-star kick-ass masterclass in how to take heavy riffs and give 'em a pop-metal shine. Nicely done.

2/5/1944 - Happy Birthday Al Kooper, 76 years old today -- Born Alan Peter Kuperschmidt, Al has had a truly unique and amazing career as a songwriter-producer-musician: founded The Blues Project and the original (i.e., best) line-up of Blood, Sweat & Tears; played organ on Bob Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone" and french horn(!) for The Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want"; produced Lynyrd Skynyrd's first three (i.e., best) classic albums; taught songwriting and record production at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston; and was inducted into Nashville's Musicians Hall Of Fame and Museum in 2008. In other words, the real deal, a genuine hepcat...

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"I know they say 'Let it be'/But it just don't work out that way...", xoxo!

 

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